As the dust begins to settle on the high drama of A&O Shearman’s proposed  merger announcement, initial surprise has turned to more considered reaction.

Views from both inside and outside the two industry giants have ranged from “very good” to “a risk”. But, when you strip away the opinions and take a cold look at the data, how do the two firms stack up? Is the merger really a case of A&O simply taking over Shearman, as some have suggested?