Latham & Watkins was the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal adviser in the oil & gas sector during first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2026 by both value and volume, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.
An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Latham & Watkins achieved the leading position by advising on 28 deals of worth $41.6 billion.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Latham & Watkins was the top adviser by value during Q1-Q3 2025 and managed to lead the table by this metric during Q1-Q3 2026 as well despite a year-on-year drop in the total value of deals it advised on. During Q1-Q3 2026, Latham & Watkins advised on 10 billion-dollar deals* and the involvement in these big-ticket deals helped it to lead the table.
“Meanwhile, there was an increase in the total number of deals advised by Latham & Watkins and its ranking by volume improved from second to the top position during this period.”
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $38 billion worth of deals, followed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $32.6 billion, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson with $31.4 billion and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer with $22.9 billion.
Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of volume with 27 deals, followed by Vinson & Elkins with 26 deals, White & Case with 15 deals and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 14 deals.
*≥ $1 billion
