Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – never has that seemed truer.

In a world upended by technological advances that were recently the stuff of science fiction – with driverless cars doing the rounds, talk of inhabiting the moon considered afternoon fodder, and the prospect of an AI apocalypse looming large – the same names continue to dominate our 9M26 M&A financial advisory rankings and our 9M global investment banking revenue report.

Mergermarket’s 9M26 M&A legal advisory rankings are no different.

Every year since 2023, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins have taken – and repeatedly kept – the annual gold and silver spots by deal volume, respectively. As things stand at 9M26, we could be looking at a fourth year in a row.

With 2026 M&A volumes marked by megadeals, as global realignment incentivised a flight to scale, these two firms continued to secure top mandates and leverage longstanding relationships, earning accolades not only in the volume category, but also for deal count.

Unlike 9M25, when the difference between the top two firms was a mere USD 35m, Kirkland & Ellis upped its game, working on a mouthwatering 612 deals worth USD 747.8bn, up 22.5% year-on-year (YoY).

With 66% of its deals on the buyside, Kirkland & Ellis showed its mettle as the top buyer’s counsel. Although 31% of its buyside deals were on the tech side, its largest deal was its mandate with US energy operator NextEra energy in its USD 118bn pending purchase of Dominion Energy. Kirkland also racked up several billions dollars in volume representing funds, including Global Infrastructure Partners in its USD 38.4bn purchase of AES; and TowerBrook Capital Partners in its joint purchase of a 7.89% stake in Anthropic for USD 30bn.

Latham & Watkins had a busier quarter if judged purely by the number of deals; nevertheless, its volumes fell 3.6% YoY to USD 610.692m across 638 deals.

It had a more even 59%/41% split between the buyside/sellside, though deals on both sides of the table were majority tech. Notably, its largest deal was buyside counsel to Blackstone, which led a consortium acquiring a 6.74% stake in Claude’s creator Anthropic for USD 65bn. On the sellside, Latham & Watkins also represented many healthcare targets.

Meanwhile, Sullivan & Cromwell upped the ante, climbing to third from ninth in 9M25 to land at USD 540.7bn across 150 deals. With a 64% jump in YoY, it was the most impressive volume hike in percentage terms among the top ten.

Sullivan & Cromwell had an even closer almost 50:50 split between the buy and sellside, again with tech as the clear majority sector across both. Its largest deal was also the biggest this year – its side counsel to OpenAI, in its 14.32% stake sale to Amazon for USD 122bn.

There were only two new entrants among the elite top 10 – Davis Polk & Wardwell and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher – which replaced White & Case and Clearly Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton from 9M25.

On the deal count front, the same five firms dominated proceedings as they had in 9M25. With the exception of 9M25’s winner DLA Piper (743), which kept its gold, the other four winners played musical chairs. Latham & Watkins (638) took the silver, followed by Kirkland & Ellis (612), Goodwin Procter (583) and Cooley (479).

With just one quarter left to go, it’s perhaps too early to engrave names on the full-year trophies. But it would be brave to bet against the top two.

EMEA

• Clifford Chance climbed from fifth to lead volume ranking with USD 260.6bn from 134 deals, 85% up YoY from its 9M25 total.
• Latham & Watkins ceded the top spot to finish second with USD 257bn across 241 deals.
• Linklaters was the only new addition to the top five, replacing A&O Shearman.
• Across Europe, DLA Piper retained its deal count crown with 342 deals, despite a 44% drop from its 9M25 tally.
• BAHR jumped 21 places to reach the fourth position recording 240 deals.
• The UK volume table saw Slaughter and May surge from eighth to top spot with USD 130.5bn across 38 deals.
• In DACH, Freshfields continued to remain at the top with USD 120.6bn over 59 deals; while Latham & Watkins (USD 80.2bn) moved up seven places to grab the silver and Linklaters (USD 63.4bn) climbed eight spots to attain the bronze.
• In France, Latham & Watkins and Weil Gotshal & Manges switched places to earn the gold and silver, with USD 48.4bn and USD 41.6bn, respectively.
• Uría Menéndez maintained its Iberian volume lead with USD 38.0bn from 84 deals, while Deloitte Legal jumped 24 places to second with USD 24.1bn across 49 deals.
• White & Case climbed from sixth to top Italy’s volume ranking with USD 119.3bn from 27 deals, a 5.5x jump from 9M25’s volume total.
• In the Nordics, Roschier moved up four place to grab the crown with USD 66.3bn over 59 deals; while Linklaters with a 12x increase in its volume jumped 31 spots to earn the silver with USD 63.9bn over 20 deals.

Americas

• Kirkland & Ellis held onto the Americas volume crown while also topping the deal count rankings with USD 674.3bn over 572 deals.
• Sullivan & Cromwell surged from seventh to second by volume with USD 503.8bn from 129 deals, making its way into the top five after replacing Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
• Davis Polk & Wardwell, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Clifford Chance and Goodwin Procter secured their spots in the top ten, pushing out Freshfields, White & Case, Sidley Austin and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
• Kirkland & Ellis also kept its gold in the US with USD 671bn over 563 deals, as well as regionally in the Northeast, Mid-West and South. It was only in the West where it ceded ground to Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz.
• In Canada, Stikeman Elliott defended its crown with USD 52.2bn from 86 deals.

Asia Pacific

• Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer climbed from third to claim the Asia-Pacific (excl Japan) top spot with USD 85.6bn over 95 deals.
• Mallesons climbed 15 spots to the second place with USD 70.3bn from 70 transactions.
• Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas retained the Asia-Pacific deal count lead with 154 transactions. It was followed, just as last year by India’s Khaitan & Co and Trilegal.
• In Japan, Nishimura & Asahi retained the first place with USD 59.1bn across 163 deals. Mori Hamada & Matsumoto was close on its heels with USD 50.6bn and 147. Both firms reversed crowns on the deal count rankings.
• Mallesons climbed to first in Australasia, swapping places with Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, with USD 70.3bn and USD 62bn, respectively.
• In Greater China, three new names took the floor: Linklaters grabbed the lead by deal volume with USD 33.3bn across 12 deals. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton jumped 52 spots to come second with USD 24.3bn across six deals; while Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer jumped eight spots to land on bronze with USD 23.7bn.
• In India, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas maintained its volume and count lead with USD 61.1bn from 151 deals. Khaitan & Co jumped a spot to land on second with USD 43.6bn in deals while Anagram Partners jumped 24 places to earn the bronze with USD 35.1, a 19x rise from its 9M25 volume.
• In South Korea, three firms held sway across both rankings: Kim & Chang topped the rankings by both deal volume and count with USD 24.5bn across 106 deals. Shin & Kim and Lee & Ko, in second and third for deal volumes, switched places on deal count.

Private equity buyouts

• Kirkland & Ellis retained the top spot by both volume and count with USD 188.7bn across 198 deals.
• Freshfields jumped 14 places from 19th to fifth by buyout volume, advising on 32 deals worth USD 77.6bn, more than double its prior-period .

Private equity exits

• Kirkland & Ellis took the top spot for both volume and count with USD 133.7bn across 87 deals, while Latham & Watkins came second with USD 114.1bn over 52 deals.
• Ropes & Gray climbed 12 spots to grab the bronze with USD 73bn across 30 deals, a 3x increase from its 9M25 volume tally.