M&A Lawyers See ‘Bulging Pipeline’ For 2026 After Deal-crazed Year

Law firms enjoyed a near-record year for mergers and acquisitions in 2025, including the highest number of transactions ever valued at $10 billion or more, according to data released this week by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

 

As 2026 gets under way, dealmakers at leading firms say they expect activity to remain at least as strong. “There’s no reason to be anything other than highly optimistic,” said Stuart Cable, vice-chair of Goodwin Procter and global head of its M&A practice.

 

The total value of globally announced M&A deals in 2025 reached $4.6 trillion, a 49 per cent increase on the previous year and the highest level since dealmaking hit a historic peak in 2021, LSEG said in its latest rankings of M&A legal advisers.

 

LSEG recorded 68 so-called “mega deals” worth $10 billion or more last year, the highest number since records began in 1980. Nearly all of the top-ranked principal legal advisers saw sharp increases in the value of transactions they handled.

 

Chicago-founded Kirkland & Ellis retained its position at the top of the rankings, acting as principal adviser on deals worth $829 billion, according to preliminary LSEG figures. That figure was slightly more than double the firm’s combined deal value in 2024.

 

Latham & Watkins ranked second among principal advisers and first among firms with any involvement in transactions. Its combined deal value as principal adviser reached $719 billion in 2025, up 125 per cent year on year.

 

An LSEG spokesperson said some details in the rankings could still be revised, citing the recording of competing bids for Warner Bros Discovery.

 

Four firms -- Kirkland, Latham, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and Skadden Arps -- each acted as principal adviser on deals worth $600 billion or more in 2025. They pulled clear of the rest of LSEG’s top 20 firms, whose average combined deal value was about $232 billion.

 

“There’s no doubt the legal market has bifurcated, with a clear flight to the top,” said Michael Weisser, a private equity partner at Kirkland.

 

Alex Kelly, co-chair of the M&A and private equity practice at Latham & Watkins, said she expected this stratification to continue. “As deals increase in volume, complexity and geographic reach, clients are turning to a smaller number of firms to source, structure and execute transactions,” she said.

 

Interest rate cuts helped spur dealmaking in 2025, and further reductions could support activity next year. “There’s a lot of room for rates to move downwards, which bodes well for 2026 and beyond,” said Michael Kendall, who also co-leads Goodwin’s M&A practice.

 

Boston-founded Goodwin Procter ranked first by number of deals, advising on 945 transactions worth $123 billion.

 

Adam Emmerich and Jacob Kling, senior dealmakers at Wachtell, said 2025 had been a banner year but 2026 could be even stronger. “We are neck-deep in ongoing deals, and the pipeline is bulging as well,” they said.

 

A Citizens Financial survey of around 400 companies found that M&A activity is expected to rise among mid-sized businesses as private equity firms become more willing to transact. Bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have also recently expressed confidence that the resurgence in M&A will continue into 2026.

 

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