The year is a crucial one for the middle market, as many dealmakers predict 2014 will prove the best year for dealmaking since the recession. At Mergers & Acquisitions, we're keeping a close eye on the monthly ebbs and flows of transactions valued at $1 billion and less.

In August, dealmaking experienced a slight seasonal slowdown, as some M&A professionals took summer vacations. But despite the small dip in completed transactions in August, the first eight months of 2014 produced 1,492 middle-market deals valued at $194.9 billion, beating the same periods in 2012 and 2013, according to Thomson Reuters. (See related graphic.)

The early stages of deal flow continued to expand but at a slower clip in August, accord­ing to the Mid-Market M&A Conditions Index (MACI), a barometer creat­ed by Mergers & Acquisitions and sponsored by PwC. Leads dropped slightly in August, but Signed Letters of Intent and Signed Letters of Engagement rose, suggesting that many M&A practitioners continued to push deals closer to closing, despite the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

One encouraging sign that dealmakers believe M&A will continue to grow came in early September from law firms, such as Jones Day, which have begun hiring more deal attorneys.