On 1 January this year, Clifford Chance and Lovells partners were not just celebrating the dawn of a new millennium.

Both UK firms had just pulled off mergers in the key European market of Germany.But a single German merger was not good enough for Freshfields, which will follow up its 1998 merger with Cologne-based Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund with a second marriage to Frankfurt-based Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Lober - a highly eligible but somewhat reluctant merger partner - on 1 August.The only top tier firm which remains formally independent is Slaughter and May's 'best friend' Hengeler Muell er Weitzel Wirtz.

Dusseldorf-based Hengeler partner Andreas Austmann says the so-called 'best friends' relationship has been deepening for years, and that there are plans for a Hengeler partner to practice at Slaughters' London office for the first time this autumn.

'It's more than best friends, it's a very sincere relationship,' he says.

Or as a rival puts it: 'Hengeler is in firm hands.'Many German lawyers regard the recent merger as a sad development, lamenting that Bruckhaus did not stick to its guns.

As one German partner put it: 'It's deplorable.

It gives the sign to the market that even the biggest German entity goes into the arms of an English competitor.'Martin Diller, managing partner of independent German firm Gleiss Lutz Hootz Hirsch, says: 'I am really disappointed that most other firms in Germany have given up.' He warns that if a recession follows the current boom some firms may find that they have 'committed suicide' by selling out to the Anglo-Saxons.Allen & Overy is the one magic circle firm that remains without a German bride.

But Frankfurt partner Mark Welling says it has been able to hire from other firms and even attract small teams such as the eight partners from Schilling Zutt & Anschutz that agreed to join last monthMr Welling says that by 'bite-size cherry picking', Allen & Overy has avoided the danger that some of the partners may not buy into the change, and means the Schilling partners are joining with open eyes.'They know exactly what they are joining,' he says.

'They are all choosing to join.

Whenever you have a major merger, there will always be some people who are less enthusiastic than others.

I think there is a concern about that.'Arndt Overlack, head of Schillings' Frankfurt office, envisages movement between firms continuing, adding: 'In the big mergers there will almost certainly be partners who will not be happy.

And they will find another firm.'This may still prove problematic for Freshfields.

In April, only 63% of Bruckhaus partners voted for the merger.

It is understood that there was resistance from the corporate group in Dusseldorf, as well as dissent from partners in Berlin.

One partner says: 'Berlin was worried that the focus would be too much on corporate and banking.'But Bruckhaus could afford to be picky.

With its impressive standing in the market, the firm was not short of offers.

Freshfields' advances were preceded by failed attempts by Herbert Smith, which had a secondment relationship with the firm up to the time of the merger announcement.

Even Allen & Overy tried to woo Bruckhaus at one point.In numerical terms, Freshfields dominates the partnership, with 300 partners to Bruckhaus's 141.

But to secure the deal, Freshfields agreed to change its profit-sharing arrangements to tally with Bruckhaus's pay structures.German lawyers take longer to qualify but they then catch up, by making partner early.

At Bruckhaus, 'plateau' partners, who have reached the top of equity, earn similar amounts to those at Freshfields.

But how they get there differs.

Under Freshfields' old lockstep system, partner pay doubled after ten years, with pay staggered according to seniority.

Under the new system their pay will increase by two and a half times after 12 years.Freshfields is not the only firm to have made changes to pave the way for merger.

When it merged with Clifford Chance this year, Punder Volhard Weber & Axster changed to full lockstep from a system under which only 10% of partners were paid according to seniority.

Clifford Chance Punder partner Peter Nagele, one of the me rger's architects, says: 'It was clear to all participants that their structure had to be changed.

We did create something new.

We didn't want to have new wine in old bottles; we wanted to create a new vintage.'Mr Nagele says the focus of the due diligence focused on cultural aspects of the merger, such as differences in style and philosophy.

As Mr Welling says: 'If there is a worry about invasion of the dominant cultures, it does relate to the UK firms.'One German managing partner reveals the angst that the English invasion has caused: 'There is a fear of cultural dominance of the 24-hour-a-day client attendance.

We like our weekends.

The French and the Dutch markets have already been raided, and Schilling, Feddersens [merged with US firm White & Case] and Boesebeck [merged with Lovells] have given up.

Most of the others are giving up.

I personally regret that many German firms don't have the confidence to fight.'Hengeler feels that it has managed to avoid culture clashes by setting up 'integrated teams' of lawyers from the best friend firms and achieving operational integration, while keeping the partnerships separate.There is no doubt that the German legal landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade of the millennium.

Historically, German firms were tied to their local bar, with restrictions on practising elsewhere in Germany.

After 1990, firms began to merge outside their locality on a small scale, but the panorama remained fragmented.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, German firms began to expand into eastern Europe, and then the UK and US firms began to take a real interest with a keenness which has intensified with the introduction of the Euro.Mr Welling says that a magic circle of firms has been created through merger, but there are also a number of very successful and profitable niche firms.

And like in the UK, there are a number of middle-ranking firms sitting somewhere in between.

'The dust is settling,' he says, 'There's a lot of change going on.

There's no doubt that the last two years have been a huge period of rapid change.

There has been a shake-out.

The position of the major international firms will become clearer and some firms will lose out.

But at the moment the economy is very strong, so there is a lot of work for lawyers.

In a strong economy there is a lot of legal work for everybody.'Lovells partner Oliver Felsentein says: 'The threat which has come up by the accountant firms had been successfully defended.

Now there is hardly any firm left which has not linked with an Anglo-Saxon firm.'Lawyering itself has become anglicised, suggests Mr Austmann: 'Eighty percent of the work that I do is in English and the client base has changed.

More than 60% of our clients are foreigners and all the major transactions are cross-border.'Germans are wary about the cultural changes they will have to make if they are to merge with an Anglo-Saxon firm, but to win big ticket, cross-border mergers and acquisitions work, German firms have to have links abroad.

Mr Nagele says: 'We decided to compete and get the real interesting work dominated by the Anglo-American legal system.'So in April last year, Punders partners were asked 'do we need to merge with a US or UK law firm?' Three-quarters voted in favour.

'Fifty-one percent were pro-Yanks and 49% were pro-Brits,' says Mr Nagele.'We also got a mandate of 92% to identify suitable candidates.

We always had a strong majority in favour of merger.

The principal was agreed very early on.

This helped, and the vote helped.

But agreeing and signing is one thi ng and making it work is different.'The jury is still out on whether Bruckhaus will have a happy marriage.

'It's too early to say.

It hasn't changed too much.

They have been very strong before, but they will have difficulties to show that it has been a marriage of love,' says Mr Felsenstein.And he is not the only German lawyer who will be watching very closely to see whether it will be a marriage made in legal heaven.