West Coast firm Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe has emerged the victor in the three-way race to merge with Venture Law Group (VLG). Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Morrison & Foerster were both courting VLG, but Heller Ehrman has walked away with a merger deal with the firm. Heller Ehrman is taking on 60 VLG lawyers, creating a 720-lawyer firm. The merger proposal is set to go before the partnerships of both firms on 9 September for final approval. First revealed on www.thelawyer.com/lawyernews 3 September