Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in the North American region 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 its leading position in terms of value by advising on $369.4 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 337 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis not only led by volume but also outpaced its peers by a significant margin. In fact, it was the only firm to advise on more than 300 deals during the review period, including several high-value transactions. Resultantly, Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position by value as well during Q1-Q3 2025.

“Meanwhile, the total value of deals advised by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz more than doubled during Q1-Q3 2025 compared to Q1-Q3 2024 due to involvement in big-ticket deals. It advised on 31 billion-dollar deals* that also included nine mega deals valued more than $10 billion. Resultantly, it went ahead from occupying the sixth position by value during Q1-Q3 2024 to top the chart by this metric during Q1-Q3 2025.”

Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $320.3 billion worth of deals, followed by Latham & Watkins with $293.5 billion, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with $276.3 billion, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $248.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume with 164 deals, followed by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 113 deals, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with 111 deals and Ropes & Gray with 106 deals.

*Valued more than or equal to $1 billion