We summarized the past week in non-bonus news back in this post. Now, we provide a recap of last week in Biglaw and associate bonus news:

* In merger news, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Preston Gates & Ellis are combining to form "K&L Gates."

* Meanwhile, the Dewey-Orrick merger will be delayed in its consummation.

* As for law firm associate bonuses, it was actually a pretty unexciting week, despite the flurry of announcements. With the obvious exception of Wachtell Lipton, every firm that announced essentially matched the market bonuses (as set during the prior week by Milbank).

* For the archives of our complete bonus coverage, click here, then scroll down. For bonus information about a specific firm, go to our firm-by-firm linkwrap, after the jump.

As helpfully noted by a commenter, the news is now official. As previously rumored, the law firms of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham and Preston Gates & Ellis are getting hitched. The merger will be effective January 1, 2007.

According to the official press release, the new entity will be called "Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP," but the firm will be BRANDED as "K&L Gates." Because these days it's all about the branding, kids.

We'll have more to say later. For now, we provide you with the press release announcing the merger, kindly sent to us by a law firm publicist. It's rather lengthy, and it reads like a geography lesson mashed up with a management consultant's PowerPoint presentation.

(Now we feel like real journalists. We're getting blast emails from PR folk!)

Check it out, after the jump.