Legal 500 editors Georgina Stanley and Ben Wheway break down the firms which fare best for corporate and M&A around the world
DLA Piper and Eversheds Sutherland have more top-tier corporate and M&A rankings in the UK Legal 500 than any other firms.
The pair each have six tier one corporate and M&A rankings across the UK guide as a whole, putting them ahead of Shoosmiths, Pinsent Masons and Birketts in joint second place with four apiece.
DLA’s practice also scores well globally, with the firm holding more corporate/ M&A rankings worldwide than any other firm, with 48 rankings across all Legal 500 guides. Twelve of these global M&A rankings are tier one, putting the firm in fourth place behind Baker McKenzie (14), Allen & Overy (A&O) (13) and CMS (13).
Eversheds is not far behind, with nine tier one corporate and M&A rankings. Magic Circle firms Clifford Chance (CC), Linklaters and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also appear in the top ten by number of tier one rankings globally, as well as international firm Dentons.
By region, 30 of DLA’s corporate rankings are in the EMEA guide, with the UK guide accounting for seven rankings, Latin America six, Asia-Pacific three, and the US and Canada one apiece. It is worth pointing out that while the UK rankings are split across multiple regions, the same is not true of the US, hence DLA’s US arm has only one ranking across the whole country.
Switching the focus to individual ranked lawyers rather than practices, DLA Piper and Eversheds Sutherland again come out on top. DLA has 22 corporate/M&A lawyers of all levels of seniority ranked across the UK, of which 16 are leading individuals. Eversheds Sutherland, meanwhile, has 17 ranked individuals, 11 of whom are leading individuals.
In London, the top spot goes to elite Magic Circle firm Slaughter and May which, with eight ranked M&A lawyers, six of whom fall within the leading individual partner grouping.
This tally puts the firm narrowly ahead of CC, Linklaters and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, with the latter firm’s six-partner strong leading individual haul reflecting a significant lateral hiring push in recent years, including recruits from A&O and Freshfields.
georgina.stanley@legalease.co.uk
ben.wheway@legalease.co.uk
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