When it comes to the top law firms advising the elite private equity shops, success is usually measured by two metrics: deal values and deal volumes.
But those are not the only metrics that matter. Behind the mega-deals and blockbuster years of activity lie the deep relationships that drive repeat business. And while PE was once synonymous with raised voices and uncompromising negotiators, more recently the emphasis has shifted toward lawyers who facilitate deals rather than fight them.
Data gathered during Legal 500 research sheds light on the firms doing the best job of building these relationships, drawing on a range of key metrics to identify those most highly rated for their client service. (The following data is based on referee responses from Legal 500’s high-value private equity research.)
Commercial knowledge of the sector
Kirkland & Ellis is a fixture in the upper echelons of the private equity market, and topped the London Stock Exchange Group’s deal value rankings for PE-backed M&A in 2025, advising on almost 300 deals worth a combined $274bn, more than $100bn ahead of any other firm.
Legal 500 data underlines that expertise, with clients rating it as the top firm for commercial knowledge of the sector.
The firm’s practice includes three Legal 500 Hall of Fame partners – David Higgins (pictured), Matthew Elliott and Adrian Maguire – as well as two other leading partners, Stuart Boyd and Alvaro Membrillera.
Key mandates for the firm during 2025 included advising KKR on its acquisition of European healthcare company Karo from EQT for a reported $2.6bn and leading for Advent on its £3.56bn acquisition of British multinational Reckitt’s essential homes business.
Billing: transparency and value
For billing, Ropes & Gray is the top scoring firm for value, while Linklaters ranks top for billing transparency. Notable deals for the UK firm so far this year have included advising a Blackstone-led consortium on the £1.4bn takeover of FTSE 250 manufacturer Senior, and leading for Permira and Warburg Pincus on the £2.7bn sale of wealth management group Evelyn Partners to NatWest Group.
The firm’s work on the Evelyn Partners sale came after it acted for Permira, Blackstone, and portfolio company Adevinta on the sale of its Spanish business to EQT in mid-2025.
The firm’s financial sponsors practice is co-led by partners Alex Woodward and Ben Rodham. Woodward, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer and Linklaters lifer, has broad experience advising sponsor clients on all manner of transactions from restructurings to IPOs, and has strong relationships with both Carlyle and Hg. Other key names in the team include Legal 500 leading partner Tracy Lochhead and next generation partner Ben Suen, who was made up two years ago.
Overall client service
When considering all ten of the client service metrics that Legal 500 researches, US firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher comes out top, with strong showings for resourcing, efficiency and associate quality.
The team in London is led by European private equity practice chair Gavin Gordon, working alongside other key partners such as Claire McDaid and David Arnold.
According to Gordon (pictured), the firm’s model is to work with clients across the entire spectrum, from late stage growth through to large-cap deals. ‘This means our entire team are more experienced at staffing deals appropriately because the reality is on a small deal you can’t end up with a big-cap bill,’ Gordon says. ‘It doesn’t surprise me we come out ranked well for efficiency; this is something we do day to day. We are not learning on the job.’
This spectrum of deal size and complexity gives associates ample opportunities to take on different roles and responsibilities. ‘The experience associates gain in advising on a variety of deal sizes gives them a unique skillset when it comes to working on larger deals with compressed time frames and multiple work streams across a large team,’ Gordon explains.
At the very end of 2025, the firm advised on a deal which was effectively done in seven days between Christmas and New Year – Levine Leichtman Capital Partners’ sale of its Global Loan Agency Services business to Oakley Capital – an achievement Gordon puts down to the commitment of his team. ‘Being able to bring a team that’s motivated to deliver that sort of product to a client is not easy,’ he says. ‘You have to have people invested in our business to do this.’
‘Whenever you’re doing a deal, there is a potential client on the other side of the table,’ Gordon says. ‘We never want to be seen as an impediment to any transaction and finding solutions to complex issues is an easy way to demonstrate your skillset.’
Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash
