Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in North America for 2022 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 reveals that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $389.8 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in volume terms by advising on a total of 690 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the only firm to advise on more than 600 deals during 2022, thereby outpacing its peers by a significant margin in terms of deals volume. Interestingly, Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser by volume as well as value in 2021. Although it managed to retain its leadership by volume in 2022, it lost the top position by value to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

“Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was among the only two advisers with more than $300 billion in total deal value. While seven of the top 10 advisers by value registered a decline in 2022 compared to the previous year, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was also among these but experienced a very marginal decline.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $334.1 billion worth of deals; followed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $291.6 billion; Kirkland & Ellis with $252 billion; and Sullivan & Cromwell with $246.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati occupied the second position in terms of volume with 389 deals; followed by Latham & Watkins with 314 deals; Willkie Farr & Gallagher with 217 deals; and Jones Day with 210 deals.