Mayer Brown, in response to recent published reports that it was discussing a possible merger in London, acknowledged Tuesday that it has had preliminary talks with English firm Simmons & Simmons. But the Chicago law firm said the discussions have ended without any agreement.

In a joint statement, the two firms said, “Mergers are complex and present a number of issues which need to be resolved before discussions can proceed.  We have concluded that a combination between our firms is not the right option.” Get the full story »