In Ukraine, one of the oldest and most respected legal ratings is “50 Leading Law Firms of Ukraine,” which celebrated its 20th anniversary in November. It’s researched and published by Yuridicheskaya Practika, a prominent industry publication founded in 1995.
Asters has come in first place six years in a row. Its senior partner, Armen Khachaturyan, said that the ratings “are important for keeping team spirit high, as it’s always inspiring to know that your workplace is the best.”
But there’s no such thing as a perfect ranking, especially when it comes to making subjective judgments.
The “50 Leading Law Firms of Ukraine” research methodology mixes quantitative and qualitative criteria. Some quantitative factors are: number of lawyers employed at the firm and financial revenues. Qualitative rankings try to assess the complexity of cases handled, and a company’s reputation among industry experts.
Funny numbers
Oleksiy Nasadyuk, the head of the ratings program for the past 10 years, told the Kyiv Post that one of the key challenges is that financial data provided is not always supported by documentation. In such cases, Nasadyuk says, analysts adjust the figures, which may leave the law firm with a lower-than-expected final rating.
In 2016, out of the top 50 law firms, only seven provided official revenues and felt comfortable with making them public. Thirty-six provided financial revenue data, but requested that it be kept confidential and undisclosed to the public.
The figures of seven more were adjusted and assessed, using Yuridicheskaya Practika’s methodology. Wn it comes to specific cases that law firms worked on, these can’t be disclosed sometimes either, due to confidentiality agreements with their clients.
These limitations don’t make it easy to rank law firms, Nasadyuk admits. “Getting good quality and complete information is one of the hardest things about creating the top 50 rating,” he said. He thinks more transparency is required from law firms.
Client awareness
Among those who benefit the most from increased transparency are clients, who would have more information to help choose a law firm.
Larysa Syvak-Anina, public relations manager at Baker McKenzie in Ukraine, told the Kyiv Post that the firm participates in the Top 50 rating because it builds client awareness.
“Within the legal community we know the situation, but for someone from the business side, it is important to know who the key players in the legal field are today, and how they compare,” Syvak-Anina said.
Many clients, however, still base their decision on the cost of legal services.
In an interview with Yuridicheskaya Practika, Ernest Gramatskiy, president of Gramatskiy & Partners, said that “service price will remain the key factor for choosing legal counsel for a while in our ever-changing reality, but little by little, reputation and acknowledgement by fellow market players will become a serious driving force of evolution, which will stimulate healthy competition.”
In the shadows
At the end of 2016, delo.ua, a Ukrainian business publication, presented a ranking based on reported revenues of law firms by 100 leading practitioners. The ranking is part of a special issue called “500 Leading Service Sector Companies.”
Delo.ua’s top firm – Alekseev, Boyarchukov & Partners – ranks only No. 24 on Yuridicheskaya Practika’s list, while Yuridicheskaya Practika’s No. 1, Asters, is No. 13 in delo.ua’s rating.
In the foreword, delo.ua’s team points out the limitations of the study.
Many legal firms often practice aggressive tax optimization, casting doubt on the reported income. Therefore, the publication views the ranking as identifying the “most honest” law firms in providing financial data. Delo.ua estimates that a third of Ukraine’s legal market operates in the shadows.
Oleksandr Onishchenko, managing partner at Pravochyn, told delo.ua that “even the leaders on the market have a portion of income in cash, while at smaller companies such a portion is even bigger. Regional legal services players and lawyers practicing alone work largely for cash, therefore, this segment is not included, yet it is substantial.”
Price versus quality
Based on the official financial data declared by law firms, the size of the legal market was $500 million to $700 million prior to the 2014 crisis, while 2015 results show a steep decline, reports delo.ua.
Delo.ua also surveyed clients and found they weren’t much interested in ratings, innovation or personal acquaintance with one of the legal firm’s lawyers as factors in choosing legal counsel.
The deciding criteria turned out to be: price-quality ratio, a legal firm’s experience with similar cases and professionalism. Additionally, communication quality, business-oriented approach, a project team’s professionalism and adherence to deadlines were named as important.
Continuing the relationship with a law firm depended on positive experience, price, billing transparency, and providing added value for business.
Yuridicheskaya Practika, a legal journal, attempts to rank the best law firms while business website delo.ua ranks by reported revenue.
Ukrainian Bar Association
Motto: “The Strong Voice of Legal Profession of Ukraine”
The organization unites 6,000 lawyers, notaries, attorneys, judges, scholars in law and lawmakers. A student branch has another 1,000 members.
Established in 2002.
President: Denys Bugay, attorney, partner of VB PARTNERS
Association’s values: independence, openness, political neutrality, democracy, equality of members.
What association does: lobbies, builds relationships with government, participates in the lawmaking process, improves existing legislation, cooperates with other bar associations and societies; protects rights of members; monitors public authorities.
Since 2006, the Ukrainian Bar Association has been a member of the International Bar Association.
Former presidents:
• Valentyn Zagariya, managing partner at Spenser & Kauffmann, former head of Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Ukraine
• Sergei Konnov, senior partner at Konnov & Sozanovsky
• Igor Shevchenko, founder, attorney and ex-ecology minister
