BARRISTERS, JSC, was ranked among the top 15 in the Media Rating of law firms.

We’d like to introduce you to a new project from YURLIGA, in which we track statistics on mentions of law firms in the Ukrainian media landscape.

Using the Semantrum media monitoring and content analysis system from LIGA:ZAKON, we analyzed the quantity and quality of mentions of law firms in the media during September.

According to the analysis, the most frequently mentioned law firms in the Ukrainian media are:

“Ilyashev & Partners” – 145 mentions

One of the most significant news stories (32 publications) for September’s leader was its victory (so far in the first instance) in the case regarding the recognition and enforcement in Ukraine of a decision by the ICAC at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

This decision ordered the state-owned enterprise “Ukrinterenergo” to pay to CJSC “Inter RAT EES” for electricity supplied to the uncontrolled parts of Donbas in 2014–2015. Lawyers from “Ilyashev & Partners” succeeded in having the decision’s recognition and enforcement on Ukrainian territory denied.

The firm’s lawyers also frequently provided commentary on real estate transactions (27 mentions) and news regarding their advisory work for a cryptocurrency exchange (12 publications).

Baker McKenzie – 132 mentions

A significant portion of the mentions (36 publications) consists of articles regarding a statement by members of the international network of consulting firms Grant Thornton International alleging gross violations during the second stages of 30 – July 31, 2018, for selecting advisors to prepare for the sale of PJSC “Indar,” PJSC “United Mining and Chemical Company,” PJSC “Odesa Port Plant,” and the state-owned enterprises “Elektrovazhmash Plant” and “Krasnolymanska Coal Company.” Baker McKenzie was one of the participants in this competition.

Overall, the topic of privatization became one of the key drivers of the firm’s media success. Publications on this topic earned Baker McKenzie 78 mentions.

Sayenko Kharenko – 132 mentions

Mentions of the firm were distributed fairly evenly, though several topics stood out as generating a noticeable surge in interest.

First and foremost, this was the “entry into government” of the firm’s representatives. The election of Tetiana Slipachuk to the Central Election Commission in September earned the firm 11 mentions (spoiler alert—there will be many more in October). Meanwhile, the previous activities of Serhiy Verlanov, who became Deputy Minister of Finance back in July, were mentioned 28 times, with the main focus of the publications being on various aspects of his current work.

There was also quite active discussion of the company’s collaboration with Volodymyr Groysman (15 mentions) and a number of projects in the energy sector supported by Sayenko Kharenko’s lawyers (11 mentions in total).

Asters – 131 mentions

As expected, the largest merger in Ukraine’s legal market became one of the main topics of coverage. Asters’ total media exposure from this deal in September can be estimated at 46 unique publications.

However, other aspects of the firm’s activities were also actively covered. For instance, the firm’s role as national counsel in the case regarding the recovery of funds in favor of Russia from Ukraine’s Eurobonds—which is being heard in London—was featured in 17 unique publications in September.

Ihor Kolomoyskyi’s disputes with the government over PrivatBank have also generated widespread attention. It is worth noting that Asters represents the bank’s interests, a fact that was mentioned 12 times throughout September.

Aver Lex – 131 mentions

Virtually all mentions of the firm are related to its most high-profile case—representing Viktor Yanukovych. It is also worth noting that Aver Lex tends to be mentioned in a more personalized manner than the previous firms. Partners Olga Prosyanyuk and Viktor Serdyuk are mentioned in every third publication in which the firm’s name appears.

Overall, the top 15 law firms most frequently mentioned in the media are as follows:

We’ll set aside the Big Four firms, which have pulled far ahead in terms of frequency of mentions by participating in competitions to select advisors for large-scale privatization. This success is due in part to the fact that “non-legal” departments also generated newsworthy events.

Therefore, we created a separate mini-ranking for them, in which EY took first place with 274 mentions.

Widespread coverage was driven by publications regarding allegations that the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) engaged in fraud during the selection process for the aforementioned competition to select privatization advisors.

Another 68 publications focused on the success of the consortium led by Concord Consulting—which included EY—in the selection of an investment advisor for the privatization of four thermal power plants.

KPMG-Ukraine took second place in this mini-ranking with 264 mentions.

Of these publications, 48 relate to the scandal surrounding Grant Thornton International’s statement, which has already been mentioned twice. The company is also mentioned in connection with news that the State Property Fund received three applications for a privatization advisor for thermal power plants—one each for the sale of “Oriana,” “Sumykhimprom,” and “Ukrgazleasing” (a total of 20 publications). Cooperation with the municipal enterprise “Kyivteploenergo” was also widely covered in the media (20 mentions).

For its part, PwC garnered 201 mentions.

PwC Legal made a significant contribution—the lawsuit filed by the firm’s lawyers with the Drohobych District Court to lift the moratorium on land sales (which could set a precedent for lifting the long-standing ban on the sale of agricultural land) was covered in 32 sources.

In total, 150 news websites were analyzed during the preparation of this report. We identified 3,005 unique publications that mentioned at least one of the 66 firms we selected based on data from various legal rankings and studies over the past three years.

Identical publications across different sources were counted as a single mention.

A “mention” is defined as the inclusion of a company’s name in the headline, text, or caption of a publication, including as part of an employee’s job title. If a company’s name appears multiple times in a single article, only the first mention is counted.

For more details on the data used in preparing this article, please follow the link.