The Legal Market: War as a Trigger for Structural Change

Research 2026

The twenty-third edition of Ukrainian Law Firms. A Handbook for Foreign Clients covers the period of 2025, a time deeply shaped by russia’s continuing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This edition reflects yet another turbulent year of full-scale war in Ukraine, with research focused on legal responses to war-related challenges — including the defence sector, military law, public procurement, sanctions compliance, war crimes prosecution, as well as the legal aspects of mobilization, reconstruction, and international cooperation.

The research methodology continues to rely on a combination of detailed submissions, publicly-available information, and feedback from market participants. Such a combination of practical achievements and reputational criteria makes it possible to determine the position of each participant as accurately as possible.

Our Who is Who surveys include publishable deals across submissions and open sources, available updates on promotions, team movements, arrivals and departures, which were particularly dynamic in the current environment, while the Practice Areas and Industries Review Section provides an in-depth analysis of trends prepared by leading lawyers.

In response to the evolving legal landscape and the uneven impact of the war on firms and individuals, we continue to list firms and individuals alphabetically in the Market Landscape – Rankings section. This decision ensures analytical accuracy, especially given the absence of some strong players who could not participate due to various circumstances.

In addition to the Leading Firms group, we have identified the Advanced Practices category for a number of substantial practice areas. This category recognises firms that are actively involved in major projects and consistently demonstrate strong capabilities — even if they are not yet in a position to occupy undisputed market leadership positions. These firms are marked by growing visibility, sophisticated expertise, and diverse client mandates. The Other Established Practices category remains in place to reflect firms with a steady track record of performance and demonstrated team capabilities.

Personalities are ranked as Leading Individuals and Other Notable Practitioners. Furthermore, the Authorities category continues to spotlight top-level individuals whose influence and recognition are rooted in longstanding reputations and strategic roles within their firms — even if their project involvement is now more limited. The Celebrated Practitioners category responds to market feedback by recognising seasoned professionals with decades of consistent practice and market visibility.

Legal Sector Trends and Adjustments

Following the turmoil of the first few months of full-scale war and the subsequent waves of economic, security and regulatory challenges, the legal sector has consistently demonstrated resilience and a high degree of adaptability. Law firms have developed not merely ad hoc crisis-response solutions, but sustainable models for managing security, HR, logistical, regulatory and financial risks. Even a fundamental change in the security situation will no longer return the legal market to its pre-war model. Over the years of the war, it is not only client demand and the structure of legal practices that have changed, but also the very economics of the legal business, as well as the requirements for lawyers, technology, management and interaction with the state.

The Resilience Market

Resilience has ceased to be merely a crisis-response characteristic and is now regarded as a competitive advantage for the legal sector. It is no longer simply a matter of being able to operate during a power cut or a missile attack. A law firm’s resilience is, at the very least, the ability to simultaneously: retain its key team; maintain service quality; rapidly adapt its practice areas; and invest in new areas even in the face of high uncertainty.

The Military Economy Market

Military law is one of the fields for which demand remains steady at both national and regional levels. Some market participants describe military law as a specialisation that will remain relevant for a long time to come. It is no longer a narrow field of practice confined solely to mobilisation. It encompasses a much broader range of relationships between the state, businesses, military personnel, veterans and citizens.

Moreover, the military context has become a defining factor driving demand for a wide range of legal services. Among the dynamic and in-demand segments are dispute resolution, tax law, sanctions law, restructuring, asset management, corporate law and employment law. From an industrial perspective, we can highlight the defence-industrial complex and DefenceTech, the energy sector, infrastructure, reconstruction and compensation for war damages.

It is particularly important to note that part of this demand will be long-term in its nature. The rebuilding of Ukraine, the modernisation of the energy sector, the development of the defence-industrial complex and the integration of Ukrainian companies into European supply chains will not end with the cessation of hostilities.

A State-Driven Market

Another notable feature of our times is that a significant proportion of the demand for legal services is generated by the state. Tax disputes, criminal prosecutions, anti-corruption oversight, sanctions mechanisms, asset freezes and dealings with regulatory authorities — all these remain a major part of the agendas of clients. At the same time, the state is not only a source of risk for businesses but also a generator of new regulatory and advisory requirements.

Criminal law practice is particularly telling. White-collar crime, defence cases and high-profile anti-corruption investigations make up a substantial volume of work. For businesses, this means a growing need not only for procedural defence but also for preventive mechanisms — compliance, internal investigations, the assessment of criminal law risks and preparation for engagement with law-enforcement agencies.

In the tax sphere, a similar trend is evident in the search for a new balance between the state’s fiscal needs and the rights of businesses. The budget deficit, the digitalisation of tax control, changing approaches to taxation and the alignment of rules with European standards all mean that tax advisers are increasingly dealing not just with tax legislation, but with the risk of businesses losing legal certainty.

The Impact Market

One notable trend is the expanding role of law firms in business-state relations. The introduction of legislation on lobbying has merely formalised a process that has, in fact, long existed. It is no coincidence that representatives of the legal profession were among the first lobbyists to be registered in the Transparency Register.

GR is emerging as a distinct professional discipline at the intersection of legal consultancy, public policy and communications. It is not enough for clients simply to know what the rules are or will be. In many cases, they need to understand how these rules are formed, how the regulatory environment is changing, and how to influence it lawfully. This is particularly important for major investors and companies operating in regulated or strategic sectors.

The Client Market

Clients are continuing to strengthen their position in the legal market. Legal departments are increasingly positioning themselves as risk management centres and business partners to senior management. An in-house lawyer no longer simply approves contracts, responds to enquiries from business units or handles disputes. They are involved in strategic decision-making. At the same time, external advisers are increasingly less needed as ‘extra hands’. This does not mean that external advisers have less work. On the contrary. But the nature of this work is changing. An external law firm is engaged when there is a need for in-depth specialisation, an independent perspective, litigation expertise, experience with complex cases, or resources for a major project. Legal services are increasingly becoming a product with specific value for business, and clients are prepared to pay a premium price for narrow and comprehensive expertise.

The Talent and Technology Market

By 2025, it had become clear that the main constraint on a law firm’s growth might no longer be the number of clients, but rather the ability to find and retain the people capable of serving those clients. Competition for lawyers had become systemic. In 2025 firms were busy investing not only in salaries, but also in corporate culture, mentoring, training and career opportunities.

At the same time, another transformation is under way — the technological one. In previous years, legal tech was often seen as a sign of modernity. Now, its significance is different. Whilst financial resources and human capital remain limited, efficiency increasingly depends on how legal work is organised. Technology is, therefore, becoming an integral part of a law firm’s business model. At the same time, the market is still in the process of transitioning from experimentation to the systematic use of AI. It is telling that technological investments have so far had almost no impact on the cost of legal services.

The Reputation Market

The legal brand is shifting from advertising to reputation. Traditional visibility — publications, social media and advertising campaigns — is playing an increasingly minor role in the choice of legal adviser. Recommendations, a client’s previous experience, the personal reputation of partners, proven expertise and concrete results are coming to the fore. Law firms are increasingly competing not for the market’s attention, but for its trust. Rather than declarations of leadership, what counts are case studies, sector-specific expertise, a public professional stance and the ability to demonstrate real value for businesses.

Moreover, reputation is becoming the foundation of trust in the Ukrainian legal market and in Ukraine as a whole. For a foreign investor, a Ukrainian law firm is often the first point of contact in a complex regulatory and security environment. Therefore, its international reputation, transparency, compliance and ability to operate in accordance with international standards are key factors in building trust within the Ukrainian legal system.