Challenge: Building a Modern Firm in Extraordinary Circumstances
Founded in 2024, Imagine Lawyers set out to create a values-driven, resilient legal business amid wartime Ukraine. The founders – Margarita Karpenko, Alla Kozachenko, Galyna Zagorodniuk, and Illya Sverdlov – envisioned a firm built on inclusion, agility, and digital innovation.
To achieve this, they needed a platform that could centralise knowledge, streamline client service, and ensure operational continuity, despite constant air raid alerts and infrastructure disruptions.
Solution: Crespect as the Digital Backbone
From day one, Imagine Lawyers adopted Crespect as its core practice management platform, integrating conflict checks, matter management, KYC, billing, business development, and financial control into a single, cloud-based solution.
Working closely with Crespect developers, the team customised the platform for Ukrainian legal realities, ensuring compliance and adapting workflows for local needs.
Crespect became the backbone of our firm, helping us institutionalise knowledge, streamline client engagement, and maintain business continuity even when air raid sirens interrupt daily work. It’s not just software – it’s part of our firm’s DNA.
— Illya Sverdlov, Partner, Imagine Lawyers
Crespect’s cloud infrastructure enables the team to work securely from anywhere – whether in the office, from home, on business trips, or even in temporary shelters.
Innovation in Local Integration
As part of the implementation, Crespect integrated with the National Bank of Ukraine, enabling an advanced tracking of currency exchange rates (covering both official date of rate application and the date of the rate calculation) and smooth invoicing in Ukrainian hryvnias, despite the unpredictable fluctuation of the rates.
Our connection to the National Bank of Ukraine ensures accurate financial operations and efficient invoicing, helping Imagine Lawyers stay financially agile in an unpredictable environment.
— Katri-Helen Wojtkowiak, Chief Product Officer, Crespect
Results: A Firm Redefining Resilience
In just one year, Imagine Lawyers has established itself among Ukraine’s most innovative legal businesses, recognized by the Financial Times in its 2025 FT Innovative Lawyers: Europe report.
All four partners remain on the ground in Ukraine, continuing to provide clients with full-scope legal assistance. Their success shows how technology and strong values can power resilience, inclusion, and excellence, even in the most challenging conditions.
