2 July 2012
Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post publishes Serhii Sviriba's commentary about the top law firms ranking in Ukraine

Kyiv Post reviews Ukraine’s top law practices in 2012

One way to decide which law firm in Ukraine to hire is to consult the Kyiv Post analysis of the most recognized and unbiased international rankings.

The Kyiv Post took recent rankings from four respected international annual guides, meaning that no one can buy their way to the top. They are: Legal 500, Chambers Europe, Practical Law Company’s Which Lawyer and International Financial Law Review 1000.

The list includes results of two basic legal practices, such as corporate and mergers & acquisitions as well as banking and finance law. All four rankings provide readers with the most recent information on the industry available.

...A big name of Magisters, one of the oldest Ukrainian law firms with plenty of offices outside the country, disappeared from 2012 rankings since the company was raided by Ukrainian prosecutors in February 2011 and as a result in July last year merged with Russian company EPAM, subsequently creating the largest law firm in the former Soviet Union.

In the last Kyiv Post ranking, well-recognized Magisters was ranked number three. After the merger, the company with entirely new name in the local market appeared in fourth place, allowing one leading local law firm Asters to move up. 

“When a company with 500 people on staff, including 300 lawyers and 33 partners, appears on the legal market, this single fact cannot be left unnoticed,” said Serhii Sviriba, managing partner at the Kyiv office of EPAM, explaining the quick success of the company after the merger.

“Also, despite the change in title, the core staff in our offices remained the same. The synergy of two famous brands played its role as well.”

Apart from EPA&P brand, no new names appeared in top positions of 2012 international rankings of law firms. As many years in a row the top list is almost equally shared by both international and local law firms.

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The full text of the article is available at Kyiv Post's web site.