If you’re still skeptical about the potential power of collaboration, check out this article, Small Firms Align in Central and Eastern Europe. From the article:

Small law firms are trying to hold their ground in the fast-changing markets of central and eastern Europe — with a little help from their friends. A range of law firm alliances have sprung up across the region in recent years. Last summer, four small firms with offices in Prague, Brussels, Bucharest, Vienna and Budapest formed the newest network, bpv legal.
The Central European Law Offices, an alliance founded in 2004, includes eight firms in seven countries across the region. LAWIN, also founded that year, groups 100 lawyers in three firms based in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

As the article reports, many of these “small firm alliances” work together jointly on projects.