There has been a lot of flirting amongst the top 100 law firms this year. Even if hasn’t led to much action. A new piece of research shows that three-quarters of top-100 law firms have been approached by other firms with a view to merging this year reports the Gazette .

However, a fifth of firms unsuccessfully tried to complete a merger over the past year, according to a survey by accountancy and financial services group Smith & Williamson.

The greatest level of merger activity was predicted by firms in the mid-tier, with 83% of firms with between 50 and 99 partners expecting law firm mergers to increase.

Speculation about consolidation has been rife with firms looking to partner up as the music of the boom times ground to a halt. And the worse things have got, the more popular the idea has become:

In 2008, 60% of top 100 firms expected an increase in law firm mergers, while in 2007, 49% expected an increase.

With 2009 reaching 75%, will more happy unions brighten up Spring 2010?

Firms that made the leap this year – Hill Dickinson which announced a merger with London-based Middleton Potts in May; Thompsons merged with rival Rowley Ashworth around the same time. And more recently, management teams at Lovells and Hogan & Hartson unanimously backed the firms’ proposed merger and recommending that their respective partnerships back the union to create a new top 10 global law firm.