The Kyiv Post is pleased to publish its first independent ranking of the top 50 law firms in Ukraine. Our team has carried out extensive research to develop an objective, fair methodology to establish a reliable ranking — one that we hope the public and law firms will trust.
Part of our research included comparing our ranking to other major rankings in Ukraine and abroad, and finding out what readers feel is important with regard to the value of a law firm.
We also seek to measure the transparency and approachability of law firms based on the questions in this survey and additional research. Unlike some other legal rankings, law firms cannot “purchase” a position in our ranking.
We are primarily looking at the general quality of a law firm, be it a large or a boutique one.
We are looking at law firms from a Kyiv Post perspective — how transparent and beneficial to society the law firms are, and how good is the quality of the services they provide. We think our readers, especially those in business, will find these factors most useful when deciding which law firm to go with.
We have received a lot of helpful and generous feedback from a number of law firms. The Kyiv Post will continuously refine its ranking, and expand it to include various categories of law practices and even individual awards in the future.
The ranking is also published in our most recent Legal Quarterly.
Methodology
We currently have a general ranking that assesses firms according to five main categories: transparency and responsibility, approachability, internationality, social balance, and general strength. As the idea of the ranking is to keep it as objective as possible, the bulk of the ranking is based on mathematical formulas, to keep the results as objective as possible.
Some leading law firms did not make it into the top 20 of the ranking as they refused to provide certain information.
As we have not made a distinction between large and boutique firms, in some cases smaller firms rub shoulders in the ranking with big international firms — again, what is important to us and our readers is not size, but quality.
We have received very helpful feedback from a number of law firms. One of the main points was that our ranking does not review transactions and cases on an individual basis. We understand the concern, but we are looking at law firms from a newspaper perspective — what we consider to be important for the public and what gives them a general understanding of who are the most transparent and trustworthy players on the market. Also, as we are not lawyers, much of the evaluation could have been stained by subjectivity.
We also have a few niche law firms rank high. Our next ranking will give more weight to firms with universal practices. We will also give even more weight to companies that are transparent and that have a strong social presence such as corporate social responsibility and human rights in the work environment.
