The second-half surge in deal work that many attorneys were anticipating this year has yet to manifest, with third-quarter deal value seeing a more than 30% drop compared with the first two quarters of 2022, according to the latest M&A activity figures from Refinitiv.

Global M&A value is down about 34% year-over-year and deal volume is down 17.4%, according to the initial data from Refinitiv.