Aequo is the only Ukrainian law firm listed among Top 8 national European law firms that “outpace larger rivals” by FT Innovative Lawyers 2021

We are pleased to announce that Aequo has been recommended by the Financial Times (FT) Innovative Lawyers 2021. According to the report, Aequo is the only Ukrainian law firm listed among Top 8 national European law firms that “outpace larger rivals”:

“The firm issued its first sustainability report in May, pre-empting any regulatory requirements to do so in Ukraine. It includes a record of how the firm operates its own business and contributes to the community through pro bono work, and how it advises clients on incorporating ESG standards into investment and operations.

The firm’s chief innovation officer, Kristina Dziadevych, is pushing practitioners to work in new ways. These include introducing legal design principles to make due diligence reports more user-friendly, and launching an alternative legal services team that has developed new solutions, such as a case management tool for litigation”.

Innovative Lawyers Europe 2021 is a rankings report and awards for lawyers based in Europe, highlighting outstanding leaders and individuals bringing innovation to the practice of law. The awards ceremony was held virtually on October 14, 2021.

Aequo is the only law firm in Ukraine that has been named by the Financial Times (FT) Innovative Lawyers for the seventh consecutive year. This demonstrates Aequo’s strong commitment to innovations in legal business.

Previously, in 2020 Aequo was the only Ukrainian firm that had been recognized in FT Top 30 law firms.

Anna Babych, Aequo’s partner, won the Legal Innovator of the year award at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2019, while Aequo had been named among the Top 20 most innovative law firms in Europe (outside the UK).

Before that in 2018 Aequo had been named among the 50 most innovative law firms in Europe and commended in two categories – Managing Complexity and Scale and Managing and Developing Talent. The research has particularly praised Aequo Friends online internship programme and internationalization of the Ukrainian non-performing loans market by drafting new regulations to allow foreign investors into the market.

In 2017 Aequo had been listed in the ranking of the most innovative firms in Europe and commended in Dispute Resolution for successfully representing US magazine publisher Forbes in arbitration against its Ukrainian licensee in relation to allegations that it had infringed the media group’s editorial independence.

Aequo was named an innovative law firm in Europe and commended in Business Development and Knowledge Sharing by FT Innovative Lawyers 2016. Researchers praise Aequo for commissioning a comprehensive survey of the legal market and sharing the results with the profession, as well as for being one of the first firms to provide legal services online in Ukraine and share knowledge in the cloud with clients.

Aequo had been named the second most innovative law firm in Europe in Finance and Yulia Kyrpa was among top 10 Legal Innovator of the Year finalists, according to the FT Innovative Lawyers 2015.