If law firms were pleased with CLO issuance volumes in 2024, then 2025 will have been music to their ears, with records broken in US BSL new issues, middle-market CLOs and European CLOs.
As the market lurches back to life and prepares for what may become the new normal in terms of elevated volumes, 9fin looks at the most prolific law firms in 2025, as well as all the people moves and promotions, and a look back (and forward) at regulatory updates, doc changes and market movements.
2025 rankings
Milbank closed out 2025 at the top of the manager counsel tables for US BSL CLOs, having worked on $111.4bn of US CLO mandates across the year, for a 24% market share. Dechert ran it close though after a remarkable Q4 when it worked on over a hundred mandates to put it second position and only $5.2bn behind the leaders.
Paul Hastings dominated the arranger counsel rankings, having worked on nearly four times as many deals as its closest competitor.
Dechert took top spot in private credit CLOs, having worked on nearly 40% of available deals in the sector. Latham & Watkins ended the year in second spot, while
