A leading legal market authority has predicted a rash of mergers at top 50 firms in the next five years.

Tony Williams (pictured), founder of consultancy firm Jomati and former managing partner of Clifford Chance, told a conference last week that further consolidation is inevitable as the market contracts.

He pointed to recent mergers between DAC and Beachcroft and between Clyde & Co and BLG as evidence that firms outside the top 10 are all considering their options.

‘There is a staggering array of firms in the legal market and you can’t find a credible differentiator between them,’ Williams told the annual Professional Services Marketing Group conference.

‘These firms [that have merged] are the first of many in that level of the market. We’re seeing the first signs of consolidation in the 10-30 range which is long overdue but painfully slow coming.

‘The opportunities in the legal sector are massive as no firm has more than a couple of per cent market share.’

He added that further acquisitions and mergers abroad should be expected, following a year when UK firms ventured into markets such as Canada, Australia and South Africa.

Williams’ outlook was supported by last week’s PricewaterhouseCoopers law survey, which found that 70% of firms in the 11-25 bracket expect to merge in the next two to three years.