Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the retail sector during the first half (H1) 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 Kirkland & Ellis achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $33.5 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins led in terms of volume by advising on a total of seven deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Both Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins did not even feature among the top advisers by value and volume, respectively, in H1 2024. However, in H1 2025, they not only registered year-on-year improvement in the total value and volume of deals advised by them but also managed to top the charts by these metrics.

“Apart from leading by value, Kirkland & Ellis also occupied the third position by volume in H1 2025. Similarly, Latham & Watkins, which led by volume, also held the eighth position by value during the same period.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Ropes & Gray occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $29.2 billion worth of deals, followed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $26.2 billion, Davis Polk & Wardwell with $24.9 billion, and Hengeler Mueller with $23.7 billion.

Meanwhile, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison occupied the second position in terms of volume with seven deals, followed by Kirkland & Ellis with six deals, CMS with six deals, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with four deals.