Kirkland & Ellis led the global M&A legal advisor rankings by deal value in the first nine months of the year, following the strongest opening period for dealmaking since 2021, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
The Chicago-founded firm worked on deals worth just over $601bn, roughly 27% higher than second-place Sullivan & Cromwell, which worked on deals worth $473bn.
Latham & Watkins, which topped the rankings for the first nine months of 2025, was third, at $457bn. Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz came fourth with $442bn of deals, while Skadden ($438bn) completed the top five.
Freshfields was the highest-ranked non-US firm, placing eighth after working on deals worth $328bn. The next highest non-US firm was Clifford Chance, ranking ninth, followed by Linklaters (20th).
Notable entrants among the top 25 firms were Paul Hastings and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, which rose from 45th to 14th and 41st to 18th place respectively. The former, which worked on deals worth $225bn, 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 the first nine months 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 just shy of $195bn. 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 Vinson & Elkins (60th to 22nd, $150bn) and DLA Piper, which jumped from 64th place to 24th after working on deals worth $144bn, including NextEra Energy’s $119.7bn acquisition of Dominion Energy opposite Kirkland.
Worldwide M&A activity clocked in at $3.9trn in the first nine months, 28% higher than a year ago and the best start to a year since 2021. However, the Q3 2026 totalled $993bn, a decrease of 41% compared to Q2 2026 and the slowest quarter for M&A, by value, since the second quarter of 2025. More than 37,000 deals were announced during the first nine months of 2026, a decrease of 8% compared to year ago levels and a six-year low.
Mega deals – those worth more than $10bn – also decreased in Q3, with 10 such deals announced in that time, down from 26 quring Q2. There were 57 mega deals announced in the first nine months, totalling $1.4trn, a 25% increase compared to 2025 levels.
M&A activity for US targets totalled $2trn during the first nine months of the year, an increase of 38% compared to the same period in 2025 and the strongest period for US dealmaking since records began. US-targeted M&A accounted for just over half of global dealmaking at 51%, up from 47% a year ago and a 27-year high.
Meanwhile European dealmaking rebounded strongly, totalling $882bn, an increase of 54% compared to 2025 levels and a five-year high. Asia Pacific deal making came in at $613bn during the first nine months of 2026, an 11% increase compared to a year ago.
Technology, industrials and energy and power-related M&A accounted for the majority of deals, with tech deals totalling $860bn – an increase of 45% compared to 2025. Industrials accounted for 14%, up 13% compared to 2025, while energy and power totalled $510bn, an increase of 19% compared to a year ago.
Private equity-backed transactions accounted for 23% of M&A activity, on par with 2025 levels. Overall value reached $892bn, an increase of 35% compared to a year ago and the strongest period for private equity deals since records began in 1980.
Latham & Watkins led the rankings by deal volume, at 613, meaning it displaced perennial leader Goodwin Procter, which advised on 587 deals worth just shy of $233bn. Kirkland was third with 565 deals.
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