The number and value of project finance deals reached record highs in 2011 with 945 projects totaling $405.5 billion, according to London’s Dealogic.

Among U.S. firms, White & Case ranked highest in deal value—with just less than $20 billion—coming behind Magic Circle firms Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance, which both topped $23 billion. W&C represented the sponsors in the $9.8 billion project to develop the Barzan gas field in Qatar—the world’s largest project deal in 2011.