For the lawyers in the billion-dollar M&A club, dealmaking is as much about stewardship as it is about strategy. Problem-solver, negotiator and even consigliere, they are trusted advisors to boards, the C-suite and private equity leaders, guiding complex and often high profile transactions that can transform industries. In a deal market energized by renewed momentum and cautious optimism, this elite group of lawyers steers the nation’s biggest and most complex transactions.
“These are people who care about holding themselves to a standard of excellence in everything they do,” says Skadden partner and Forbes Top M&A Lawyer Brandon Van Dyke. “They are dedicated to perfection and being at their very best all the time—it’s the single most common factor.”
Counsel on Forbes inaugural Top M&A list stand out not just for their deal volume, but for the steady judgment and creative thinking that define the best in the business. Behind every headline-grabbing merger or multibillion-dollar acquisition is a lawyer who makes the deal possible.
Mergers and acquisitions is a high-stakes and high-pressure corner of the legal profession. Clients expect a command of the law but also a deep understanding of their business. The best lawyers are able to see around corners, divine market signals and anticipate how a deal will play out with regulators or shareholders.
“You have to work with people over a long period of time, know what motivates their business, know what concerns they might have, know what can go wrong, but also know what can go well and what the upside picture looks like,” says Forbes Top M&A Lawyer Melissa Sawyer, co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Global Mergers & Acquisitions Group and the Corporate Governance Practice.
Sawyer notes that M&A is a “relationship driven business,” where building long-term trust with clients is an essential part of counseling them through stressful decisions. And 2025 has proved an unusually stressful year, with the first couple of months the slowest in more than two decades, according to analysis by Dealogic. Geopolitical instability, global regulatory uncertainty and the administration’s whipsaw tariff policies left dealmaking in limbo and the financial markets unpredictable.
“This year started with a lot of expectations,” observes Forbes Top M&A Lawyer George Casey, Global Chairman of Corporate and Chairman of the Americas at Linklaters. “Spring and early summer weren’t quite as strong as many hoped, and the markets were a bit choppy. But the deal environment now is much better.”
The numbers bear that out. After a rocky start, global M&A deal value is now up 20% compared to the first five-months of 2024, according to the London Stock Exchange Group. There has been a pickup in Q4 as well, as firms seek to close deals before the end of the year. Estimates by Boston Consulting Group show year-to-date North American deal volume at $1.2 trillion.
Capital needed to finance deals is flowing and top attorneys say companies continue to lay the groundwork for mergers. The current landscape may require more upfront analysis and preparation than usual, but deals are still getting done.
Premier Practice
Listmaker Catherine Dargan, Covington’s corporate chair and M&A co-chair, relishes the creativity and resourcefulness required to execute for clients. She describes dealwork as complex puzzles that need to be solved.
“The more challenging, the more rewarding,” Dargan says. “But deals aren’t about the lawyers—they’re about making sure we’re advocating for the best outcome for the client. Not scoring points but really working to address what matters and helps them get the deal done well.”
Megadeals have been a hallmark of 2025, with Forbes Top M&A Lawyers leading numerous transactions, including Wachtell partner Karessa Cain’s representation of Hess Corporation in its $60 billion sale to Chevron Corp. and Simpson Thatcher’s Eric Swedenburg advising Paramount Global in its $28 billion merger with Skydance Media, LLC.
Sullivan’s Melissa Sawyer describes the current M&A climate as “on fire,” despite the government shutdown and inflation concerns. Sawyer has had a busy year, helping guide such large-scale deals as AT&T’s pending $23 billion acquisition of wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar, and long-term client Diageo’s joint venture with LeBron James’ Lobos 1707 tequila brand.
“I think it goes to show that M&A is this incredibly resilient field,” says Sawyer, “because even when crazy things are going on in the world, there is still really exciting and interesting work happening.”
The sheer scale and frequency of big-ticket corporate deals has kept M&A work at the financial and reputational epicenter of many firms, enhancing prestige and bolstering bottom lines. Long-term relationships with anchor clients bring in a pipeline of corporate work. And while some deals are years in the making, and others more straightforward, due diligence remains paramount, whether working on deal structuring or financing arrangements. It takes a village to complete a deal, and the best firms are able to marshal multi-disciplinary teams to provide expertise on everything from tax and antitrust to employment and real estate.
“We take pride in handling complex transactions,” Casey says of Linklater’s global M&A practice and its expansion in the US market. “What makes me most satisfied is seeing our teams and clients succeed together on something that truly makes an impact.”
Case in point: this year Casey and his team represented Rio Tinto in a $6.8 billion cross-border transaction involving lithium assets, which he calls “one of the most complex and exciting deals I’ve worked on recently.
“We also represented Volkswagen in its $5.7 billion joint venture with Rivian. It was a truly innovative deal that brought together our U.S. and international teams to make it happen.”
Future Of The Field
According to listmaker Krishna Veeraraghavan, Global Co-Head of M&A at Paul Weiss: “From an economic perspective, and in terms of opportunity for growth and innovation, the U.S. is still the place people want to be.”
Veeraraghavan leads a formidable portfolio spanning healthcare, tech, consumer, oil, gas and energy. He describes his firm’s M&A group as an “elite practice” representing blue chip clients.
“These are bespoke, complex and unique deals,” Veeraraghavan says of matters he has advised on, including Chevron Corp. in its $55 billion acquisition of Hess Corp. and Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. in its $18.4 billion acquisition of JDE Peet’s. But while his clients include household names like Amazon.com, IBM and GE, one of his most memorable deals involved a private oil and gas company in Texas, Endeavor Energy Partners–owned by a single individual–in its $30 billion acquisition by Diamondback Energy. Veeraraghavan describes it as complicated, requiring innovative tactics to protect the client’s estate and legacy.
“There’s a personal element,” Veeraraghavan says. “These are transactions that people often do once in a lifetime and are very important to them. A huge part of our role is spending time with clients, understanding what they want, and guiding them through the process.”
These are core qualities shared by Forbes Top M&A Lawyers: Transcendent practitioners pairing legal skill with strategic instinct; combining extraordinary work ethic with superlative client service. Like listmaker Elizabeth Cooper, Global Head of Private Equity at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. She recently advised Silver Lake on its take-private of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc.,with an enterprise value of $25 billion, and Blackstone’s acquisition of a majority stake in Jersey Mike’s Subs.
“You have to put in the time to understand the transactions, the market environment, the law, the deal mechanics, all of it,” Cooper says. “From there, it’s about having impeccable judgment—making decisions when the clock is ticking and you don’t have perfect information. And relationships are so important.”
Indeed, the value of relationships is a point emphasized by all the lawyers who’ve made it to the top of an exclusive field defined by access and personal connections. Long dominated by a small network of elite firms and dealmaking partners, the M&A bar remains one of the least diverse practices in the industry. And while progression has been slow for women and lawyers of color— on this point many, including Catherine Dargan, remain bullish.
“It’s a great area of law, and I wish it was more diverse than it is, and I hope that will be the case going forward,” Dargan says. “I try to create opportunity for other people, as people created opportunities for me. I’m hopeful more people will be interested in this area—and I’m seeing it.”
For the full list of America’s Top M&A Lawyers, click here.
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