Once the proud domain of rainmaker Joe Perella, Morgan Stanley’s M&A practice has dropped to SIXTH in the league tables. Though it’s been one of the toughest M&A markets in recent memory, the bank has its work cut out for it.

The first six months of the year have been hard on most investment banks. But the deal makers at Morgan Stanley seem to be having an especially rough time, judging from the firm’s big drop in the mergers-and-acquisitions league tables.

Morgan Stanley has consistently been one of Wall Street’s top three M&A advisers as measured by the volume of announced deals, often ranking behind only Goldman Sachs, which many Morgan Stanley bankers view as their only real competition. As of June 30, though, it finds itself ranked sixth, below rivals like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, UBS and Merrill Lynch, according to Dealogic.

Make no mistake: DealBook has previously pointed out the fading relevance of league tables on Wall Street, where banks often “buy” their way into getting credit for a deal by providing financing. What’s more, it is only halftime: With just a handful of big deals later in 2008, Morgan Stanley could quickly find itself back in contention for the top prize. Even with these caveats, though, Morgan Stanley’s year-over-year decline, even if only temporary, is surprising.

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