Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in North America in 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database revealed that Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz achieved its leading position in terms of value by advising on $669.6 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 474 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis, which was the top adviser by both value and volume in 2024, managed to retain its leadership position by volume in 2025 but lost the top spot by value to Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Kirkland & Ellis held the third position in 2025 deal value rankings.

“Despite advising on relatively much lesser number of deals, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz managed to lead the chart by value due to its involvement in big-ticket deals. During 2025, the company advised on 45 billion-dollar deals* that also included 15 mega deals valued more than $10 billion.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $605.2 billion worth of deals, followed by Kirkland & Ellis with $585.1 billion, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $475.1 billion, and Sullivan & Cromwell with $438.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume with 337 deals, followed by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 170 deals, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with 169 deals, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with 140 deals.

*Deals valued more than or equal to $1 billion