Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and Kirkland & Ellis emerged as the top mergers and acquisitions legal advisers by value and volume, respectively, during the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest Legal Advisers League Table by GlobalData.
Using data from its Financial Deals Database, the table shows Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson at the top of the value ranking, having advised on deals worth $168.2bn during the quarter.
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Kirkland & Ellis led the table by deal count, with 139 transactions.
In the value ranking, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom was in second place with $157.2bn in advised deals.
Latham & Watkins followed with $140.4bn, and Sullivan & Cromwell was next with $136.7bn.
For deal volume, Latham & Watkins ranked second with 105 transactions. CMS was third with 58 deals, followed by White & Case with 55 and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with 52.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose commented: “Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins were among the only two advisers with triple-digit deal volume during Q1 2026. However, Kirkland & Ellis was well ahead, securing the top spot, while Latham & Watkins occupied second spot with 105 deals. Notably, the number of deals advised by Kirkland & Ellis increased by 14.9% in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025, and its ranking by volume also improved from second to first. Apart from leading by volume, Kirkland & Ellis also occupied the fifth position by value.
“Meanwhile, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson registered more than a three-fold jump in the total value of deals advised by it during Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. As a result, its ranking by value jumped from the 12th position to the top spot. Thirteen of the 20 deals advised by it during Q1 2026 were billion-dollar deals*, including three mega deals valued more than $10 billion. Its involvement in these big-ticket deals helped Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson register the massive jump in terms of value and secure the top spot as well.”
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. 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.
