Deals by practice · November 2026

Capital Markets: deal monitor

Dated deals that Capital Markets lawyers worked on over the last 12 months: volume, type, client industry and the advising firms.

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01 The numbers

The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026

12,684
Dated deals, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
+10.0%
Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
$563m
Median disclosed value
4,924
Distinct clients
02 Reading the data

What the data show

Sartori & Partners data count 12,684 dated deals worked by Capital Markets lawyers from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the deal count went from 11,838 to 13,024, up 10.0% year on year. The deal market as a whole moved +10.6% over the same windows.

Capital Markets deals by year

2026 runs to October.

By deal type, Capital markets is involved in 96.0% of these deals and Banking & lending in 1.4%. By client industry, Banks & Financial Institutions is involved in 13.8% of these deals and Pharma & Biotech in 13.7%.

Deal value was disclosed on 29.5% of them; where disclosed, the median was $563 million. 4,924 distinct clients appear across the window.

Deal types, share

Davis Polk & Wardwell ranks first among advising firms, in the 701-1200 band; the full top 10 follows as ranks and bands.

For a firm building in Capital Markets, deal flow is the demand signal: a practice that wins this work needs the partners to staff it.

03 Firms

Firms by rank and band

Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.

Advising firms ranked by deals, 12 months
RankFirmDeals (band)
1Davis Polk & Wardwell701-1200
2Latham & Watkins701-1200
3A&O Shearman401-700
4Simpson Thacher & Bartlett401-700
5Clifford Chance401-700
6Linklaters401-700
7White & Case251-400
8Ellenoff Grossman & Schole251-400
9Cooley251-400
10Sidley Austin251-400

Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].

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