Latest North American M&A legal advisors revealed. Credit: Shutterstock

Kirkland & Ellis was the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal adviser in the North American region in 2023 by both value and volume, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData, which ranked legal advisers by the value and volume of M&A deals on which they advised.

Based on its Deals Database, the leading data and analytics company revealed that Kirkland & Ellis achieved this leading position by advising on 434 deals worth $335.4 billion.

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Aurojyoti Bose, lead deals analyst at GlobalData said: “Kirkland & Ellis was the clear winner by volume as well as value during 2023, outpacing its peers by a significant margin. It was the only adviser that managed to advise on more than 400 deals and surpass $300 billion in total deal value during the year.

“Despite experiencing a decline in deal volume, it registered a massive 37.9% jump in value terms,” Bose added.

It was this boost that led to the firm’s jump up GlobalData’s standings.

“[Kirkland & Ellis] went ahead from occupying the fifth position by value in 2022 to lead the chart by this metric in 2023. The firm advised on 74 billion-dollar deals* that also included eight mega deals valued more than $10 billion.”

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An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $282 billion worth of deals.

The top pair was followed by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz with $256.3 billion, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $250.2 billion, and Latham & Watkins with $243.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Latham & Watkins occupied the second position in terms of volume with 161 deals, followed by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with 136 deals, Jones Day with 130 deals, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett with 128 deals.