After years in private practice, including as Head of Corporate/M&A at Clifford Chance Ukraine and later as Founder of Redcliffe Partners, Dmytro Fedoruk became all too familiar with one of the profession’s most dreaded tasks: legal directory submissions. His platform, Ranking Copilot, is now helping firms worldwide streamline the process.
“Say ‘directory submissions’ in any law firm, and the response is instant: too messy, too last-minute, and a massive waste of time,” Fedoruk points out. “Nobody enjoys it – not lawyers, not staff, not anyone.”
Back at Clifford Chance Ukraine and later at Redcliffe Partners, Fedoruk spent 20 years being dragged into the yearly scramble: “reviewing rushed drafts, supplying missing details, and answering urgent questions like ‘who are your referees this year?’”
“When I finally had some breathing room after years in private practice,” Fedoruk explains, “I decided it was time to pivot. I thought about the one thing I hated most, and for me, it was submissions. That insight led to Ranking Copilot, an AI-powered platform that doesn’t just streamline legal directory submissions – it replaces the entire process.”
Built by Lawyers, for Lawyers
Unlike most legal tech tools, Fedoruk emphasizes that Ranking Copilot was built based on firsthand understanding from inside the profession. “This isn’t just a feature or a plug-in,” he points out. “It’s a full replacement for the old mess.”
The platform, according to Fedoruk, centralizes everything: matters, referees, deadlines, lawyer bios, and approvals. It uses AI to enhance content, fill gaps, track eligibility, and manage referee outreach – all in one place. “Firms report time savings of around 90%,” he notes.
When Fedoruk began working on the product, he asked the marketing manager at Redcliffe Partners – a 50-person firm – how many submissions they prepared per year. “I expected something like 20,” he recalls. “But the answer was a staggering 53. Then I asked how much of her time went into the process. The answer: at least 60%.”
“After that, we started speaking regularly with marketing managers across the region,” Fedoruk continues. “Some told us that submissions take up 100% of their time. It’s clear they’d much rather focus on real marketing: strategy, branding, outreach, but the submission burden is so overwhelming that there’s simply no room for anything else.”
Used Worldwide
One early adopter was Legate, a law firm in Slovakia. “Submissions used to take over our schedules,” says its Partner Norbert Havrila. “Ranking Copilot made it structured, manageable, and far less stressful.”
The tool is no longer limited to its original market. According to Fedoruk, firms across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Central Asia, Europe, and Latin America have now joined. Additionally, “the platform is backed by two former global managing partners of Clifford Chance – Matthew Layton and Tony Williams – as well as senior figures from Freshfields, Linklaters, Willkie Farr, and other top firms.”
Standardizing the Process
Fedoruk sees the tool not just as a time-saver but as a way to introduce consistency into a process. “Ranking Copilot isn’t an add-on – it’s a new operating system for one of the profession’s most painful workflows,” Fedoruk notes. “It transforms submissions from a chaotic annual sprint into a steady, well-managed part of business development. When your data is always current and connected, you don’t panic. You just submit.”
What’s Next
Looking ahead, “with over 50 firms already onboard, Ranking Copilot is fast becoming the new global standard,” Fedoruk points out. “And it all started with one honest question: ‘what part of this job did I hate the most?’”
