The two law firms Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis topped the legal adviser charts for global M&A in 2025, data shows.
According to deals data compiled by GlobalData – Just Food‘s parent – Latham & Watkins worked on deals valued at $740.4bn last year.
In the food-and-beverage market, the transactions included Coca-Cola HBC’s move in October to buy a majority stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.
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Kirkland & Ellis, meanwhile, provided legal counsel on 537 deals in 2025, topping league table when measuring the volume of transactions.
The firm advised on deals including Ferrero’s agreement in July to acquire US-based breakfast cereals business WK Kellogg for $3.1bn.
“Of the 526 deals advised by Latham & Watkins during 2025, 108 were billion-dollar deals that also included 17 mega deals valued at or more than $10bn. The involvement in these big-ticket deals helped Latham & Watkins top the table by value in 2025,” GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said.
“Kirkland & Ellis was the top adviser in 2024 by volume and managed to retain its leadership position in 2025 as well but faced close competition from Latham & Watkins. Both the law firms were the only two advisers with more than 500 deals during 2025. While Kirkland & Ellis led with 537 deals, Latham & Watkins followed closely to occupy the second spot with 526 deals.”
The rankings show Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz ranked second when measuring the value of transactions, advisory on deals worth $711bn.
Kirkland & Ellis was third, offering advice on $633.5bn worth of deals.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Sullivan & Cromwell completed the top five by value, working on transactions worth $627.5bn and $490.3bn respectively.
In terms of deal volume, Latham & Watkins took the second spot with 526 deals, followed by CMS in the third place with involvement in 348 transactions.
DLA Piper and White & Case rounded out the top five by volume, advising on 316 and 290 deals respectively.
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of sources including company websites and advisory firm websites. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
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