Lawfirms are preparing for a fierce battle again in 2017 after the sprint to the top of last year's merger league tables came down to a two-horse race.
Rivals Allens and Herbert Smith Freehills finished 2016 ensconced at the top of the list, with the former pipping Freehills helped by deals including the 50-year lease on Port of Melbourne and the NSW government's sale of Ausgrid.
Allens, Freehills, along with Clayton Utz and Ashurst, advised on the $16.2 billion partial privatisation of the NSW electricity network.
It took Allens 58 announced M&A; deals worth a collective US$51.9 billion ($69.2 billion) last year to take out top spot, according to Thomson Reuters.
Freehills, slipped one place, to 93 deals announced in 2016 worth US$49.8 billion.
Minter Ellison showed improvement jumping from sixth to third place in the annual ranking of merger and acquisition legal advisors in Australia and New Zealand.
The firm worked on 60 deals worth US$23.3 billion They included advising on Baring Private Equity Asia's takeover of SAI Global and Hitachi Construction Machinery's bid for mining services group Bradken.
Baker & McKenzie was also climbing the ladder jumping five spots to seventh on US$7.3 worth of M&A; deals.
But the top five was rounded out by Gilbert + Tobin working on deals worth US$22.3 billion, and Ashurst with transactions totalling US$19.7 billion.
As well as competing against each other, law firms are increasingly fighting it out with revamped legal arms of accounting firms, which while relatively small, are growing fast by poaching lawyers.
PwC for example is chasing an expansion which will see it have 25 partners and 100 lawyers by the fiscal year end.
The league tables show King & Wood Mallesons fell three spots to sixth position while Clayton Utz fell from eighth to 12th. .
Gilbert + Tobin and KWM were both involved in the complicated $9 billion takeover deal that saw ports and rail operator Asciano split between two rival consortiums.
Overall, the value of the announced deals for the top 25 law firms climbed 1 per cent to US$129.2 billion.
A rival league table by Mergermarket for M&A; legal advisers in Australasia had Freehills in first place, followed by Allens and KWM. It was based on deal value.
