Kirkland & Ellis and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have emerged as the top legal advisers in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) sector in the South & Central American region for the first half (H1) of 2025, according to the latest legal advisers league table by GlobalData. 

Kirkland & Ellis secured its position as the leading firm by value, advising on transactions worth a total of $9bn.

In contrast, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom topped the volume rankings, having advised on five deals during the same period.

GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose said: “Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom registered an improvement in the number of deals advised by it during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024. Resultantly, its ranking by volume also improved from the seventh position in H1 2024 to the top position in H1 2025.

“Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis registered about seven-fold jump in the total value of deals advised by it during H1 2025 compared to H1 2024. As a result, it went ahead from occupying the 10th position by value in H1 2024 to top the chart by this metric in H1 2025.”

Following Skadden in the value rankings, the second position was held by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with $6.4bn in deals.

Mayer Brown ranked third with $3.4bn, while Bruchou & Funes de Rioja and Clifford Chance both reported $1.5bn in advisory work.

In terms of deal volume, Mayer Brown was the second most active firm with four deals, followed by Tauil & Chequer Advogados with three, and both Bruchou & Funes de Rioja and Cassels Brock & Blackwell with two deals each.

GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain.

A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names. To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.