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 half (H1) of 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Ana analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database has revealed that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz achieved the leading position in terms of value by advising on $54.3 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Alston & Bird led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 24 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was the top adviser by value in H1 2024 and managed to retain its leadership position by this metric in H1 2025 as well. In fact, it was the only adviser to surpass the $50 billion mark in total deal value during H1 2025. Due to its involvement in big-ticket deals in H1 2025, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz registered more than 25% year-on-year growth in the total value of deals advised by it. During H1 2025, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised on three mega deals valued more than $10 billion.

“Meanwhile, Alston & Bird saw more than 30% growth in the total number of deals advised by it during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024. And its ranking by volume also improved from the second position in H1 2024 to the top position in H1 2025.”

Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $41 billion worth of deals, followed by Cravath Swaine & Moore with $37.8 billion, Kirkland & Ellis with $28 billion and Paul Hastings with $24.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of volume with 19 deals, followed by White & Case with 17 deals, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz with 15 deals and Debevoise & Plimpton with 15 deals.