Kirkland & Ellis was the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal adviser in the North American region during the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 by both value and volume, 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 having advised on 96 deals worth $90 billion during Q1 2025.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the clear winner, outpacing its peers by a significant margin in terms of deal volume as well as value during Q1 2025. It just fell shy of hitting the triple-digit deal volume during Q1 2025. It is also interesting to note that Kirkland & Ellis was also the top adviser by volume in Q1 2024.

“Kirkland & Ellis also stayed much ahead of its peers in terms of value as well. It went ahead from occupying the fourth position by value in Q1 2024 to top the chart by this metric in Q1 2025 as there was a significant growth in the total value of deals advised by it driven by some big-ticket deals. During Q1 2025, it advised on 18 billion-dollar deals* that also included two mega deals valued more than $10 billion. Its significance can be understood from the fact that these 18 deals collectively accounted for more than $83 billion.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Davis Polk & Wardwell occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $68.9 billion worth of deals, followed by Cravath Swaine & Moore with $57.6 billion, Ropes & Gray with $56.3 billion, and Debevoise & Plimpton with $44.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume with 56 deals, followed by Ropes & Gray with 42 deals, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett with 31 deals, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 31 deals.

*Valued more than or equal to $1 billion