Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case have topped the European mergers and acquisitions (M&A) legal adviser rankings for the first three quarters of 2026.
According to the latest GlobalData league table, Kirkland & Ellis topped by value with advisory on deals worth $98.3bn, while White & Case led by volume with 132 transactions.
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Latham & Watkins took the second place in terms of value, with mandates valued at $96.8bn. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison ranked third after advising on $84.4bn in deals.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer took fourth place by value, with $77.7bn, followed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom at $74.8bn.
DLA Piper ranked second by volume with 117 deals.
Cuatrecasas followed with 102 transactions, while CMS advised on 97.
Latham & Watkins completed the top five by deal volume, with 89 transactions.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “There was more than a three-fold jump YoY in the total value of deals advised by Kirkland & Ellis. Resultantly, its ranking by value jumped from sixth to the top spot. During Q1-Q3 2026, Kirkland & Ellis advised on $7bn deals that also included two mega deals valued more than $10bn. The involvement in these big-ticket deals helped Kirkland & Ellis register a massive jump in terms of value. Apart from leading by value, it also held the 10th position by volume during Q1-Q3 2026.
“Meanwhile, White & Case’s ranking by volume also improved from second to the top position, even though there was a YoY drop in the total number of deals advised by it. It also occupied the 10th position by value during Q1-Q3 2026.”
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.
