By Sara Merken

NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Law firms are staying busy on the merger front in the final weeks of the year, with a new combination announced on Wednesday giving a large Midwest firm access to the largest U.S. legal market.

Kansas City, Missouri-founded firm Spencer Fane said it will enter New York through a combination with 50-lawyer firm Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe. Spencer Fane will have 700 lawyers in 31 U.S. offices after the deal, which is set to take effect February 2.

On Monday, Chicago-founded Winston & Strawn and UK firm Taylor Wessing said they expect to combine in May, creating a 1,400-lawyer firm and giving each firm greater scale in global legal markets. In another transatlantic deal, Ashurst and Perkins Coie said last month that they plan to merge into a 3,000-lawyer firm in the third quarter of next year. Both deals are subject to partnership votes.

Law firm mergers increased through the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to legal consultancy Fairfax Associates, which tracked 47 completed deals in 2025 and 43 in 2024.

Spencer Fane has previously grown through combinations. The firm completed tie-ups in Utah, Nevada and New Mexico last year.

Spencer Fane has “long recognized the opportunity to serve clients in the New York market,” but waited to find the right partner, firm chair Patrick Whalen said in a statement.

The New York legal market has been a centerpiece of other law firm combinations in recent years as firms seek a strong presence in the financial hub. Earlier this year, Chicago-founded McDermott, Will & Emery merged with New York firm Schulte Roth & Zabel, and global firm Herbert Smith Freehills combined with New York-based Kramer Levin.

New York will “continue to be the most important market for law firm expansion” over the next two years, according to a report released last week by Citigroup and Hildebrandt Consulting.

There will also likely continue to be growth in Texas, Boston and Chicago, the report said, while large firms see less opportunity for expansion than they did in previous years in California and Washington, D.C.

(Reporting by Sara Merken in New York)