Kirkland & Ellis led the global M&A legal advisor rankings by deal value in the first half of the year, following the strongest first six months for dealmaking since records began in 1980, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
The Chicago-founded firm worked on 350 deals worth just short of $474.5bn, roughly 18% higher than second-place Skadden, which worked on 105 deals worth $402.8bn.
Sullivan & Cromwell, which topped the rankings for the first quarter, was in third place, having worked on 102 deals worth $395bn. Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz came fourth with $367.7bn of deals, while Paul Weiss shot up from 12th place in H1 2025 to fifth with $328.5bn of deals.
Freshfields was the highest-ranked non-US firm, placing eighth after working on just over 113 deals worth $250.2bn. The next highest non-US firm was Clifford Chance, ranking 11th, followed by Linklaters (15th).
Notable entrants among the top 25 firms were Paul Hastings and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, which rose from 50th to 13th and 40th to 16th place respectively. The former, which worked on deals worth $188bn, has hired star dealmakers from rivals including Sidley Austin and Cravath Swaine & Moore in recent years as it honed in on high value M&A and private equity work. In H1 it advised UniFirst on its $5.5bn acquisition by Cintas and Tri Pointe Homes on its $4.5bn combination with Sumitomo Forestry, among other major deals.
Meanwhile Fried Frank, which earlier this year added Pillsbury’s M&A and private equity head Stephen Amdur in New York as part of an ongoing hiring drive into its transactions practice, advised on deals worth $165.8bn. Key work included counselling Evercore as financial advisor to Devon Energy on its $58bn merger with Coterra Energy, the second-largest energy deal in the past five years.
Other notable gainers were Goodwin Procter, which rose from 26th to 12th with $191.1bn in deals, Vinson & Elkins (53rd to 20th, $128.3bn) and McGuire Woods, which rocketed from 149th place to 22nd after working on deals worth $124.1bn, including NextEra Energy’s $119.7bn acquisition of Dominion Energy opposite Kirkland. DLA Piper also jumped from 62nd to 23rd ($118.2bn), while Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe rose from 82nd to 25th ($116bn).
Worldwide M&A activity clocked in at $2.85trn in the first half, 50% higher than a year ago and the best start to a year since records began in 1980. The second quarter of 2026 totaled $1.6trn, an increase of 31% compared to the first
quarter of this year, surpassing $1trn for the fourth consecutive quarter and marking the largest quarter for worldwide M&A on record. More than 24,500 deals were announced during the first half of 2026, a decrease of 9% compared to year ago levels and a six-year low.
It was also a record period for mega deals – those worth more than $10bn – with 48 such deals worth a total of $1.3trn recorded during the first half, more than double first-half 2025 levels.
M&A activity for US targets totalled $1.5trn during the first half of the year, an increase of 80% compared to H1 2025 and the strongest period for US dealmaking since records began. US-targeted M&A accounted for the bulk of global dealmaking at 54%, up from 45% a year ago and a seven-year high.
Meanwhile European dealmaking rebounded strongly, totalling $676bn, more than double 2025 levels and a 19-year high. In contrast Asia Pacific dealmaking totalled $360bn, a 2% decrease and the slowest period for M&A in the region in two years.
Technology, industrials and energy and power-related M&A accounted for the majority of deals, with tech deals totalling $668bn – an increase of 90% compared to H1 2025. Industrials accounted for 14% of first half activity, up 57% compared to 2025, while energy and power totalled $383.6bn, an increase of 41% compared to a year ago.
Private equity-backed transactions accounted for 21% of M&A activity, on par with H1 2025. Overall value reached $601.9bn, an increase of 54% compared to a year ago and the strongest opening half for private equity deals since records began in 1980.
Goodwin Procter again led the M&A rankings by deal volume, working on 385 deals worth $191bn. Latham followed with 371 deals, while Kirkland was third with 350 deals.
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