Who are the elite law firms who have most benefited from the megadeals and mergers?

Who are the firms that garner the massive fees from the biggest deals?

The top five law firms in dollar terms who had more than three-quarters of the
market in the first half of the year were assembled by Dealogic (and reported
in the WSJ, of course).

Here are the firms:

1. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, who had a dollar in every deal

2. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

3. Sullivan & Cromwell

4. Davis Polk & Wardwell

5. Cleary Gottlieb Stenn & Hamilton

The clients still seek out the brand name firms, even though many clients are
now more tight fisted in respect of the fees they pay.

The fees the firms receive are based on the hours billed rather than the deal size,
and the number of deals fell slightly in thefirst half. Some deals that may not
reach fruition will also affect the law firms’ pay days.

But with $1.8 trillion in global deals, there is plenty to go round to the big
firms that continue to pull ahead of the rest in terms of their sharing of the spoils.

And unlike investment bankers, lawyers will generally get paid regardless
of whether the deal gets done or not. Their fees range up to $1400 an hour.