Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in Europe during the first half (H1) of 2026 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 Financial Deals Database, the leading intelligence and productivity platform revealed that Kirkland & Ellis achieved the top position in terms of value by advising on $83.9 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, White & Case led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 75 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “White & Case’s ranking by volume improved from the second position in H1 2025 to the top position in H1 2026. It also held the seventh position by value in H1 2026.

“Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis, despite advising on much lesser number of deals, managed to lead by value due to its involvement in big-ticket deals. During H1 2026, it advised on six billion-dollar deals* that also included two mega deals valued more than $10 billion.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $74 billion worth of deals, followed by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett with $66.5 billion, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with $63.3 billion, and Latham & Watkins with $49.8 billion.

Meanwhile, CMS occupied the second position in terms of volume with 68 deals, followed by DLA Piper with 64 deals, Cuatrecasas with 56 deals, and Latham & Watkins with 49 deals. *Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion