Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Latham & Watkins were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the oil & gas sector during the first half (H1) of 2026 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 intelligence and productivity platform revealed that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom achieved the top position in terms of value by advising on $32.4 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 18 deals.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “There was an improvement in the total number of deals advised by Latham & Watkins in H1 2026 compared to H1 2025, and its ranking by volume also improved from second position to the top position. It also held the sixth position by value in H1 2026.
“Meanwhile, there was more than a six-fold jump in the total value of deals advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in H1 2026 compared to H1 2025 due to its involvement in some big-ticket deals. As a result, its ranking by value moved up from 20th position in H1 2025 to the top spot in H1 2026. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised on two billion-dollar deals* in H1 2026, which also included a mega deal valued more than $10 billion.”
An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $31.4 billion worth of deals, followed by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with $25.6 billion, Baker Botts with $17.3 billion, and Vinson & Elkins with $17.1 billion.
Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of volume with 18 deals, followed by Vinson & Elkins with 17 deals, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with eight deals, and Stikeman Elliott with seven deals. *Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion
