Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the North American region for H1 2023 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 data and analytics company has revealed that Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $147.8 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in volume terms by advising on a total of 257 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Most of the top 10 advisers by value registered a decline in the total value of deals they advised on as challenging market conditions dented deal-making sentiments. However, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison emerged as a notable exception to this trend, as its total deal value almost doubled compared to $76.6 billion in H1 2022.

“Resultantly, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison’s ranking by value also improved significantly and it went ahead from occupying the 12^th position in H1 2022 to top the chart in H1 2023. The firm advised on 24 billion-dollar deals*, which also included five mega deals valued more than $10 billion.

“Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis emerged as the clear winner by volume, as it was the only firm that managed to advise on more than 200 deals during H1 2023, thereby outpacing its peers by a significant margin. It also managed to advise on several big-ticket deals, which helped it occupy the second position by value as well. Kirkland & Ellis managed to advise on three mega deals valued more than $10 billion.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Latham & Watkins occupied the third position in terms of value, by advising on $128.5 billion worth of deals, followed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, with $125.5 billion, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, with $119.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati occupied the second position in terms of volume with 139 deals, followed by Latham & Watkins, with 112 deals, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, with 100 deals, and Jones Day, with 82 deals.

*Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion