Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the consumer sector during the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, which ranks legal advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised.

Based on its Deals Database, the leading data and analytics company has revealed that Davis Polk & Wardwell achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $7.3 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in terms of volume by advising on six deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser by volume in Q1 2024 and managed to retain its leadership position by this metric in Q1 2025 as well.

“Meanwhile, both the deals advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell during Q1 2025 were billion-dollar deals*, and involvement in these big-ticket deals helped it occupy the top position by value in Q1 2025. Apart from leading by value, Davis Polk & Wardwell also occupied the eighth position in terms of deal volume during the quarter.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Paul Hastings occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $5.3 billion worth of deals, followed by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with $2.2 billion, whereas Cooley and Cravath Swaine & Moore jointly occupied the fourth position with each of them advising on a deal worth $2 billion.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume with four deals, followed by Jones Day with three deals, Khaitan & Co with three deals, and A&O Shearman with three deals.

*Deal valued more than or equal to $1 billion