Ropes & Gray and Latham & Watkins were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the retail sector during 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Ropes & Gray achieved the leading position in terms of value by advising on $34.2 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 21 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Apart from leading by volume, Latham & Watkins also held the 10^th position by value in 2025. Meanwhile, Ropes & Gray, which advised on one-third of the number of deals advised by Latham & Watkins, led the chart by value due to its involvement in high-value transactions. Five of the seven deals advised by Ropes & Gray in 2025 were billion-dollar deals* that also included a mega deal valued more than $10 billion.”

Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $33.5 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, CMS occupied the second position in terms of volume with 18 deals, followed by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with 14 deals, Jones Day with 13 deals and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin with 11 deals.

*Deals valued ≥ $1 billion