After three years of gruellingly cautious optimism, lawyers still have not entirely gotten used to actually being optimistic, despite what has been, by any yardstick, one hell of an H1.

Early statistics suggest global M&A will hit an all-time high this year in value terms, though the prevalence of mega-deals can not quite conceal the fact that deal volume in Europe is still a way off 1999-2000 levels.