Ex-Clifford Chance lawyer turns to AI to simplify directory submissions

A former Clifford Chance lawyer has founded a legal tech company that promises to slash the time law firms spend preparing submissions to the big legal directories.

London-based Ranking Copilot, launched by Dmytro Fedoruk last year, says its AI-powered software can reduce directory prep work by up to 90%. Tasks that used to take a week, it claims, can now be done in half an hour. The platform replaces "50-page Word files and endless emails" with a collaborative system built around the requirements of leading directories like Chambers and Legal 500.

The directory grind

Directory season has become a routine but resource-intensive exercise for law firms, with business development teams often spending months pulling together submissions and chasing late partner input.

One BD director reportedly put the hidden cost of submissions for a single office at around £750,000 a year - largely in lost billable hours. It’s also big business for the directories themselves: Chambers was sold to US private equity firm Abry Partners in 2023 for £400 million.

Fedoruk knows the pressures first-hand. He was head of Clifford Chance’s corporate practice in Ukraine before spinning it out into independent firm Redcliffe Partners, which he ran until the war in 2022 dried up foreign investment work almost overnight. Now, he says, he's taking on "one of the most inefficient processes in the legal industry."

Traction

Ranking Copilot has already piloted with the legal arms of two of the Big Four, as well as several top international firms. It says it converts 80% of trials into paying clients.

Initially aimed at smaller firms, it is now targeting major firms across the UK, Europe and the US. Fedoruk says the tool is simple enough for non-specialists to use, freeing BD staff to focus on strategy while improving the quality of submissions.

The company, which has a headcount of 15, was initially self-funded before taking angel investment from Big Law partners. It is now in talks with VC firms about its next round.

"Directory submissions are highly valuable but can consume huge resources for law firms of all sizes," Fedoruk told Non-Billable. "We’ve built a tool that finally lets firms get this done more effectively, more quickly, and without burning hundreds of partner hours in the process."