David Cheyne of Linklaters has come top of the Financial News league tables of leading European M&A lawyers for the second year running. The tables, which rank individual lawyers on the value of European M&A transactions in 1999 on which they played a senior advisory role, put Cheyne at the top followed by Sullivan & Cromwell partner Benjamin Stapleton.

Cheyne, a senior corporate partner at Linklaters, advised on more than £134bn (E214bn) of deals and Stapleton worked on £131bn worth. It is not surprising that these two partners came top, seeing as they split the legal advisory work on three of the biggest European M&A transactions in 1999 on the basis of their respective competence in UK and US law. These deals included Vodafone's Airtouch and Mannesmann's takeover bids where, in the latter case, Linklaters recommended that Sullivan & Cromwell be brought in to advise it on US law. While advising on large cross-border takeovers is not new to Cheyne, advising on deals into Europe is. "You have to work within the local rules but you will normally find that there are solutions,' he says of his role on Vodafone. While Cheyne's prominence in the league tables reflects his star status within Linklaters – one of the top law firms in European M&A – it also reflects the fact that the clients he is closest to, notably Vodafone and BP, have been particularly active. Lawyers at rival firms, such as Freshfields – which came top of FN's 1999 announced European M&A table – have not ranked as high, possibly reflecting a more widespread distribution of client relationships. However, Cheyne's position, as with most lawyers, could not have been attained without the backing of a large team. In addition to the assistants on the corporate side, Cheyne has had the benefit of the firm's leading tax practice, headed by Guy Brannan, as well as its competition practice. Among other things, Brannan's tax team helped BP devise the scheme which saved its shareholders up to £900m in stamp tax duty on the Amoco merger. Most UK law firms are quick to point to their full service multi-jurisdictional practices as their key competitive advantage over US law firms in Europe. But, as the strong relationship between Linklaters and Sullivan & Cromwell underlines, there is more co-operation between US and UK law firms in European M&A than outright competition. "We want to work on the big, important and challenging transactions and if these require skills beyond US law then we're happy to work with UK lawyers,' said Sullivan & Cromwell's Stapleton. This harmonious relationship is in stark contrast to that which exists between the leading UK law firms, particularly Linklaters and Freshfields. It raises the prospect of certain firms agreeing on a transatlantic alliance as a way of securing a greater competitive advantage.As far as a merger with a UK firm, such as Linklaters, is concerned Sullivan's Stapleton is doubtful. "None of the main UK law firms seem to have an appetite for it,' he says, adding that Sullivan's has to appoint a lateral partner. "Lateral hires are alien to our culture.' However, he did agree that another significant transatlantic merger, such as the rumoured tie-up between Davis Polk & Wardwell and Freshfields, for example, would force the firm to take another look. Cheyne, who had originally wanted to be an investment banker, has been advising on UK takeovers since 1975. But his adventures have not been limited to the world of hostile takeovers and stamp tax: he was once put in jail in Abu Dhabi as an illegal immigrant. Stapleton, by contrast, has had a more sedate life: he joined Sullivan & Cromwell from law school in 1969 and has had no other career plans since. "I didn't even know what an investment banker was,' he said. "Anyway, I have had a very interesting life. I get to work with some very interesting and smart people.'