Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Alston & Bird were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the financial services sector during the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz achieved the leading position in terms of value by advising on $70.2 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Alston & Bird led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 36 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was the top adviser by value during Q1-Q3 2024 as well. It not only led by value but was also significantly ahead of its peers. The involvement in three mega deals, of which two were valued more than $10 billion and one valued at more than $20 billion, played a pivotal role for it to secure the top spot by value during Q1-Q3 2025.

“Meanwhile, Alston & Bird registered improvement in the total number of deals advised by it during Q1-Q3 2025 compared to Q1-Q3 2024, Resultantly, its ranking by volume also improved from the second position to the top position during the review period.”

Cravath Swaine & Moore occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $44.7 billion worth of deals, followed by Latham & Watkins with $44.6 billion, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $38.1 billion and Kirkland & Ellis with $34.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of volume with 32 deals, followed by White & Case with 29 deals, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz with 23 deals and Latham & Watkins with 22 deals.