Legal advisors kept busy in North American equity capital markets during the first half of 2025.

Rising issuance volumes, shifting macro conditions, and packed execution windows are pushing experienced legal advisors to the forefront, as issuers seek guidance through complex market dynamics.

Latham & Watkins is leading the legal advisor rankings year-to-date with USD 28.6bn in deal volume across 34 mandates, capturing a 10.48% market share, up from USD 21.5bn in the same period last year.

“While the year began a little slower than we had hoped, we’ve seen equity capital markets open up and remain extraordinarily busy across the firm,” said Stelios Saffos, Latham’s global chair of the capital markets and public company representation practice.

In 2025, Latham has advised on some of the largest equity transactions in the market, including a USD 2.75bn convertible bond for DoorDash, follow-ons for MakeMyTrip (USD 1.66bn) and Primo Brands (USD 1.53bn and USD 1.41bn, respectively), and the listings of eToro, Hinge Health, Voyager Technologies, and Caris Life Sciences.

In addition to leading the overall ECM rankings, it placed second in the follow-on table with USD 14.88bn and first in convertibles with USD 11.22bn.

Source: Dealogic

In overall ECM rankings, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett placed second with USD 22.8bn, more than doubling its year-to-date volume from USD 10.1bn in 2024. The firm gained ground through repeat mandates on large sponsor monetizations and prized secondary offerings.

In this area, it led the market in follow-on advisory work, with USD 18.97bn in deal value year-to-date, topping the follow-on table ahead of Latham and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz.

Wachtell climbed to third with USD 14bn, up from USD 7.9bn a year earlier, while Skadden followed in fourth with USD 13.2bn, slightly ahead of 2024 levels.

Skadden also ranked second in the convertible bond league table, advising on USD 5.13bn worth of transactions so far in 2025.

Meanwhile, Davis Polk & Wardwell placed fifth with USD 12.1bn in ECM volumes, with its issuance rising from USD 8.8.bn year-to-date. While the firm maintained a steady flow of large-cap mandates, it lost share to firms with wider exposure across multiple product types, particularly convertibles and sponsor-led follow-ons.

Other notable players in the ECM table included Paul Weiss (USD 7.3bn), Maples Group, formerly known as Maples & Calder (USD 6.9bn), and Kirkland & Ellis (USD 6bn), all of which improved their standing year-over-year.

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole jumped several spots into the top 10 with USD 5.8bn across 32 deals, driven by ongoing SPAC and mid-cap activity. Offshore specialist Appleby (USD 6bn) remained active in cross-border listings and special situations.

Across the board, legal work shows no signs of a slowdown, as firms tweak prospectuses and clients grapple with changing risk profiles tied to ongoing tariffs discussions, generative AI disruption, and geopolitical volatility, all while keeping pace with one of the busiest ECM windows in recent memory.

“We expect to see continued momentum throughout the second half of the year,” Latham’s Saffos said.