Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Kirkland & Ellis were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal advisers in North America for 2021 by value and volume, respectively. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised on 218 deals worth $470.1bn, which was the highest value among all the advisers. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis led in the volume terms by advising on 855 deals worth $469.7bn. A total of 16,494 M&A deals were announced in the region during 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and North America M&A Report Legal Adviser League Tables 2021’, deal value for the region increased by 62.6% from $1.2 trillion during 2020 to $2 trillion during 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Kirkland & Ellis was the only firm that managed to advise on more than 800 deals outstripping its peers by a significant margin in terms of deal volume. Not only that, it also gave stiff competition for the top spot by value and missed it by a whisker. Kirkland & Ellis occupied the second position by value.

“Meanwhile, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, though led in terms of value but did not find a place in the top 10 list by volume.”

Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz occupied the third position in terms of value with 99 deals worth $440bn, followed by Latham & Watkins with 391 deals worth $379.4bn, and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison with 225 deals worth $334.5bn.

Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume, followed by Willkie Farr & Gallagher with 325 deals worth $152.4bn, Jones Day with 294 deals worth $108bn and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with 238 deals worth $284.3bn.