?McKenna Long?????Dentons?????? Consolidation at the top of the global legal industry is showing no signs of stopping with the confirmation that Dentons, fresh off its last big international tie-up, wants to again walk down the aisle — this time with U.S.-bound McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. Denton's potential addition of the Atlanta-based, 575-lawyer McKenna Long would add a significant new branch to Dentons' growing international structure, which now includes about 2,500 lawyers in 50 countries. If completed, the merger would bring Dentons to a top-three spot in the industry by size, with about 3,100 lawyers. In McKenna Long, Dentons would acquire a well-regarded but somewhat undifferentiated general services firm with solid roots in government contracts, established offices in a handful of major U.S. markets, a network of Washington contacts and no significant international profile. Among its more notable offerings is the firm's intellectual property and technology practice led by D.C.- and Seoul-based partner Song Jung, which has done considerable work for Korean tech giant LG Corp., among others. The addition of McKenna Long "adds to [Dentons'] capacities in D.C. and Los Angeles and San Francisco,” said firm management consultant Eric Seeger, a principal at legal consultant firm Altman Weil Inc. "They already had Chicago, and it gives them a large Atlanta office." For the McKenna Long partners now considering the deal, joining Dentons would immediately vault them from an increasingly squeezed U.S. middle tier into a global network with a slew of multinational clients, but one that is likely still experiencing growing pains from repeated cross-border mergers, experts say. A source familiar with the potential deal said Dentons was keen on McKenna Long’s Washington and Atlanta offices and looking to jump-start practice areas as its U.K. branch has faced a discouraging financial picture. And for McKenna Long, a Dentons tie-up could help sooth long-standing discord from its last merger in 2002, while raising its profile over many solid but otherwise unremarkable general service firms and providing the international presence the firm largely lacks. McKenna Long and Dentons have confirmed that merger talks are underway, but representatives for both firms said they had no further comment Tuesday. "Consistent with our growth strategy, MLA has on-going discussions with firms and lawyers we believe will provide exceptional value to our clients," McKenna Long said in a statement. "Dentons, with 75 locations in more than 50 countries and a commitment to delivering creative, dynamic business and legal solutions, is one such firm. While we continue to have discussions about the future, we do not have a relationship to announce." Dentons said it had been "very clear" in its intention to grow in the U.S. and globally. "This has included discussions with firms and lawyers for whom we have great respect and share common goals," the firm said in a statement first released Monday evening. "McKenna Long & Aldridge is one such firm, having built in the U.S., Europe and Asia a very admirable team of lawyers and professionals with whom many of our people have worked for years." Citing anonymous sources, the American Lawyer reported Monday that the firms are hoping to complete a deal by Jan. 1. Such mergers typically require a partnerwide vote, and a more- than-a-majority percentage to pass. Dentons' predecessor SNR Denton was the 2010 product of a merger between Denton Wilde Sapte and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, one of the major tie-ups of recent years. Just two years later, the firm's leaders announced their intention to do a three-way merger with Canadian firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP and European firm Salans LLP, a deal that was finalized in March to create what is now called Dentons. McKenna Long, the result of the 2002 marriage of Washington, D.C.-based McKenna & Cuneo and the Atlanta's Long Aldridge & Norman, also recently absorbed San Diego, Calif., firm Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps. That deal, announced in January, put McKenna Long among the 80 largest U.S. firms. At least 10 Luce partners also jumped ship after the deal was announced, including Pat Swan, the former managing partner of the firm’s headquarter office, who is now with Jones Day. Legal consultant Kent Zimmermann of Zeughauser Group said the latest potential tie-up is not surprising in the current industry climate, as more big firms join the "arms race” for geographic reach, a deeper bench in revenue-growth practice areas, and a wider referral network — even if it means absorbing less dynamic or profitable firms. Other recent international mergers or announcements include that between U.K.-based Ashurst LLP and the legacy "Big Six" Aussie firm Blake Dawson, and the pending deal between King & Wood Mallesons and London firm SJ Berwin LLP. This year saw 58 firm mergers and acquisitions in the first three quarters, according to Altman Weil's MergerLine tally, compared to 60 for all of 2012. “Everybody is talking to everybody [about potential mergers], and from what I see there are more firms in the top 200 that want to do deals than don’t want to do deals,” Zimmermann said. "And when you get big and rich, you have more money to spend on laterals with profitable books of business, and more money to spend on branding and differentiating yourself in a competitive landscape.".