Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Kirkland & Ellis have emerged as the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers by value and volume globally for Q1 2024 in the latest Legal Advisers League Table by GlobalData, which ranks legal advisers by the value and volume of mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals on which they advised.

Based on its Financial Deals Database, the leading data and analytics company has revealed that Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom achieved its leading position in the deal value rankings by advising on $120.9 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 113 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser by volume in Q1 2023 and managed to retain its leadership position by this metric in Q1 2024 as well. It was the only firm with triple-digit deal volume during Q1 2024. Moreover, Kirkland & Ellis also managed to advise on some big-ticket deals, and resultantly, apart from leading by volume, it occupied the fifth position by value in Q1 2024 as well.  During the quarter, it advised on 15 billion-dollar deals*, which also included three mega deals valued more than $10 billion.

“Meanwhile, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which led by value in Q1 2024, advised on 16 billion-dollar deals that also included five mega deals valued more than $10 billion. Apart from leading by value, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom also occupied the ninth position by volume during Q1 2024.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $112 billion worth of deals followed by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with $104.2 billion, Cravath Swaine & Moore with $73.8 billion, and Kirkland & Ellis with $67.9 billion.

Meanwhile, CMS occupied the second position in terms of volume by advising on 55 deals followed by White & Case with 50 deals, Latham & Watkins with 43 deals, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 38 deals.

*Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion