Kirkland & Ellis has topped the legal adviser ranking in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by value and volume in North America for the first half (H1) of 2025, according to the legal advisers league table published by GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s deals database indicates that Kirkland & Ellis secured this leading position by advising on 197 deals, which collectively amounted to $161.7bn.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Not only was Kirkland & Ellis the only adviser with triple-digit deal volume in H1 2025 but was also significantly way ahead of its peers in terms of volume.

“Despite registering a year-on-year decline in the total value of deals advised by it during H1 2025, Kirkland & Ellis also outpaced its peers in terms of value by a notable margin due to the involvement in some big-ticket deals. During H1 2025, Kirkland & Ellis advised on 30 billion-dollar deals* that also included five mega deals valued more than $10bn.”

In terms of value, Latham & Watkins ranked second, advising on deals worth $147.5bn, followed by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz with $137.7bn, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison at $124.8bn, and Cravath Swaine & Moore with $120.9bn.

When considering deal volume, Latham & Watkins also held the second position with 99 deals, followed by Ropes & Gray with 69 deals, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 65 deals, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with 64 deals.

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.

To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.