Skadden Arps earned the top ranking among legal advisers for M&As announced worldwide for 2006 with activity totaling $767.3 billion, according to Thomson Financial. The New York-based firm ranked fourth last year. Sullivan & Cromwell took second place, advising clients on M&As worth a total of $762.9 billion, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett ranked third with $523.6 billion. Latham & Watkins showed the most improvement, moving from 16th place in 2005 to fourth place in 2006.

Thompson Financial also reported that announced worldwide M&A activity reached a record $3.8 trillion in 2006, an increase of 37.9 percent over last year's volume. Meanwhile, U.S. M&A activity in 2006 reached $1.6 trillion, a 35.7 percent increase over last year's volume of $1.2 trillion. Private equity firms were cited as one of the main drivers of the increased activity.

Top Ranked Law Firms
Worldwide Announced M&A Activity 2006
RankLaw FirmValue (US$M)
1. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom767,285.3
2. Sullivan & Cromwell762,861.1
3. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett523,631.7
4. Latham & Watkins470,103.0
5. Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz457,327.5
6. Linklaters452,355.3
7. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton448,776.0
8. Cravath, Swaine & Moore425,823.2
9. Davis Polk & Wardwell406,220.7
10.Clifford Chance401,818.6