Ashurst lawyers have dominated the first ever associate M&A league, with the top 10 London firm's Nick Bryans taking the top spot in the three-year rankings.

Mergermarket research, produced for Legal Week, shows nine Ashurst assistants and associates named in the top 20 rankings for volume. Bryans acted on 15 ranked UK deals worth a total of £15.9bn in the three years to December 2004.

Bryans, who qualified in 1996, has been involved in a string of major deals. These include Morrisons' £3bn acquisition of Safeway, Candover and Cinven's £1.2bn acquisition of Gala Bingo in 2003 and the on-going £1.35bn bid by Deutsche Boerse for the London Stock Exchange.

The data is the first of its kind and provides a snapshot of the next generation of UK deal lawyers.

Clifford Chance associate Lee Coney came second in the volume tables and topped the value rankings over the three-year period, advising on 11 UK deals worth a total value of £30.9bn.

Allen & Overy's Gavin Weir came third and Simmons & Simmons' Richard May, who was promoted to partner last year, came fourth, both advising on 11 deals.