Andersen Legal's German legal arm Andersen Luther has voted in favour of a merger with Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young voted this weekend and Andersens is expected to announce an agreement in principle in the next few days.
The merger will create a link-up between Andersens and Ernst & Young's associated firm Menold & Aulinger Anwaltssozietät.
Menold was originally based in Stüttgart with offices in Berlin, Dresden, Düss-eldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. But in June 2000 it merged with Krameyer Falkenhausen Hanke & Partner and Aul-inger & Spieker and now has offices throughout Germany.
The talks with Ernst & Young follow Andersens' decision not to merge with KPMG, whose associated German legal firm merged with Beiten Bürkhardt at the beginning of the year.
Andersens had a massive recruitment drive in Germany last year when it took on nine partners from German firm Wessing, including ex-chairman Wolfgang von Meibom, high-profile M&A partner Alexander Schroder-Frerkes and competition partner Jan Byok.
So far there have been no defections from Andersens, but it is understood that a number of partners are considering other options.