A raft of US firms have topped the global M&A tables for the first quarter of 2007.

New York firms Sullivan & Cromwell and Davis Polk & Wardwell led the field of advisers by total value of transactions over the three-month period, while Latham & Watkins and Jones Day finished top of the volume rankings.

Sullivan acted on 33 deals worth a combined $162.9bn (£83bn), while Davis Polk acted on 28 deals worth $149.4bn (£76.2bn), according to preliminary figures from Mergermarket.

Other Manhattan firms to feature in the top 10 by value include Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (fourth), Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (fifth), Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (seventh) and Cravath Swaine & Moore (10th).

Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, DLA Piper, Clifford Chance (CC), CMS Cameron McKenna and Allen & Overy also featured in the top 10.

The figures come after a drop in global M&A activity compared with the same period last year. Total deal volume fell from 3,276 to 2,269 while total value fell from E746bn (£505bn) to E600bn (£407bn). The biggest fall came in Europe, where volume fell from 1,407 to 973 and value dropped from E344bn (£233bn) to E177bn (£120bn). However, although volume dropped, the overall value of transactions rose slightly in the US.

In the European deal rankings by value, Linklaters knocked magic circle rival Freshfields off the top spot, acting on 51 European deals worth E39.4bn (£26.7bn). Freshfields was ranked second, with 47 European deals worth E38.7bn (£26.4bn). CC was third with 43 deals worth E33.7bn (£23bn). However, the figures do not include Barclays' current merger bid for ABN Amro, the largest announced bid for the year.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton City partner Michael McDonald commented: "So far this year, the deal flow has been good and has come across a variety of sectors. If it continues at this rate, 2007 will outstrip 2006."