Ashurst lawyers have dominated the first ever associate M&A league, with the top 10 London firm’s Nick Bryans taking the top spot in the three-year rankings.

Mergermarket research, produced for Legal Week, shows nine Ashurst assistants and associates named in the top 20 rankings for volume. Bryans acted on 15 ranked UK deals worth a total of £15.9bn in the three years to December 2004.