In 2010, a group of lawyers from New York and London took a bike trip through the rolling countryside of southern France, and helped set the wheels in motion on the hottest new trend in mergers and acquisitions.

Part holiday, part corporate offsite, the peloton brought together top tax and M&A lawyers from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Deal making was in the doldrums, but, in tandem, some of the lawyers figured out a plan that could persuade clients to take the brakes off M&A.