The New M&A Kings All Have Something in Common

It’s easy enough for law firms to hire partners and open offices. Hell, they can even merge if they want to. But none of these steps really matters if the client mandates don’t follow.

For all their talk of hires and strategy, firms are often coy about the share of deals they win. I suppose it’s uncouth to talk about making money out of clients, even though that is what the industry is all about. Don’t forget fees on a single big transaction can top £10 million.

So, let’s talk about it. Why not be honest with each other, like grown-ups? Which firms are increasing—and losing—their proportion of those top-end instructions?

I'm Paul Hodkinson, Editor-In-Chief of Law.com International, bringing you this week's edition of The Global Lawyer.

The 2024 league table of principal advisers ranked by global deal value shows that in addition to perennial leaders Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, there are Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Paul Weiss, and Freshfields making up the top five

That is particularly good news for Freshfields, which has long been and still is a leader in Europe and has steadily increased its U.S. business to a place where it now ranks 10th in the country, according to the data produced by London Stock Exchange Group.

It also bodes well for Paul Weiss, which back in 2022 was 16th in the global rankings and rose to fourth in 2024. This won’t all have been due to its London and Europe growth, but the fact it rose to ninth from 32nd in the U.K. rankings in just one year suggests it played a big part.

It is more disappointing for A&O Shearman. In 2023, the combined deal values of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling would have ranked eighth globally. In 2024, A&O Shearman ended up ranking 20th, with the biggest decline in market share of any top 25 firm. Obviously it’s a bit soon for the benefits of a major transatlantic merger to be evident in the league tables, but the firm will no doubt be hoping for a better showing in 2025.

These numbers tell only part of the story, of course. One year of league tables can be affected by how busy your clients happened to be and whether deals were agreed or fell through.

A better indication of the firms that are gaining market share or losing ground is by looking over a long period. Again, each year has its variables but the following 20-year table demonstrates some clear trends.

Skadden remains a constant powerhouse in global M&A. After that, it is all change at the top compared with 20 years ago.

But some firms that remain largely based in one country, such as New York’s Sullivan & Cromwell and London’s Slaughter and May, have struggled to keep up.

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