Linklaters has climbed to the top of the rankings for European M&A ahead of City rivals Clifford Chance (CC) and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer after winning roles on five of the 15 largest deals of last quarter.

The magic circle firm has secured the top place for European M&A by both value and volume in Mergermarket's Q1 2008 rankings, advising on 40 deals worth E172.8bn (£136.4bn).

The rankings, provided exclusively to Legal Week, show the firm jumped from third place by value and from second place by volume in the full 2007 rankings to take the top spot, thanks to roles on deals such as BHP Billiton's E144bn (£113.7bn) bid for Rio Tinto – the quarter's biggest deal.

The firm also advised Rio Tinto on Alcoa and the Aluminum Corporation of China's February bid for a 12% stake in the mining giant for E9.45bn (£7.46bn) and advised on the E13bn (£10.2bn) acquisition of brewer Scottish & Newcastle by Carlsberg and Heineken in January.

The firm's corporate head, David Barnes (pictured), told Legal Week: "We found that in challenging market conditions, there is still a decent amount of work in financial services, energy and utilities."

Linklaters' roles saw it knock CC from the top spot by volume and Freshfields by value, with the firms dropping to 16th and 18th place respectively by value and third and second place by volume.

CC's global head of corporate Peter Charlton defended the firm's position saying: "We believe a quarterly analysis by itself is not necessarily representative of the market. CC is working on several large transactions that have not yet closed or announced."

Mergermarket's European rankings also reveal City rival Lovells made significant progress – jumping from 44th place to fourth by value to advise on 24 deals with a value of E149.8bn (£118.2bn), taking the firm from 17th place to sixth by volume.

Other firms to score highly in the European rankings by value include US firms Sullivan & Cromwell and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, which both scored within the top 10. City firms Ashurst, Herbert Smith and Slaughter and May all put in solid performances.

The global rankings also show a strong performance from Linklaters and Lovells with the magic circle firm narrowly beating Sullivan to take the top spot by value, with 44 deals worth $255bn (£128bn), while Lovells took sixth place by value with roles on 24 deals with a value of $219bn (£110bn).

By volume, Jones Day jumped seven places from 2007 to lead the rankings with roles on 69 deals worth $15bn (£7.6bn), ahead of DLA Piper in second place and Freshfields in third.

However, with the downturn now in full swing, partners predict quieter times ahead for the next quarter.

Weil Gotshal & Manges London corporate partner Mark Soundy said: "I do think it is going to get tough. There is a general feeling that things will get worse, so buyers appear to be biding their time."

The incoming head of corporate at Slaughters, Frances Murphy, said: "We will see a [different] mix of work in the next quarter. There will not be leveraged deals – there will be smaller deals with strategic investment."