US-based law firm Thelen is rumoured to be on the brink of dissolving, amid reports that the firm has lost almost 20% of its lawyers to rival firms over the year.

So far, 2008 has seen the firm skating onto increasingly thinner ice. Citing recessionary pressures in March, the firm dismissed 26 associates and 85 staff members, and later saw the loss of its 20-lawyer China practice to Pillsbury. Since then, the San Francisco-based firm has been involved in various merger talks which, as yet, have been unfruitful.

Rumours that the firm will dissolve have been circulating in legal circles and comparisons to another troubled San Francisco-based firm, Heller Ehrman, which closed its own doors following hefty partner losses, have been drawn.