Roschier

partner

Partner Ami Paanajärvi is Head of Roschier’s EU & Competition and Public Procurement practices in Finland. She has extensive experience in antitrust proceedings before the European Commission and the Finnish competition authority, and regularly advises clients in all types of competition law issues, particularly related to behavioral antitrust, merger control and dominance issues. Ami is a core member of Roschier’s crossborder FDI & Protective Security practice area and she also has experience in State Aid procedures before the European Commission. She is recognized as one of the leading experts in her field in Finland.

Principal Associate Andreas Bussman is a tax specialist with broad experience in high-end tax planning and structuring of complex domestic and cross-border M&A and private equity transactions, including management incentive programs, financing and other reorganizations for both public and private clients. In addition to his expertise in tax law, Andreas also has a broad understanding and practical experience of general corporate law, financing and general M&A. He is also regularly involved in tax litigation, tax audit, advance ruling and pre-discussion proceedings and regularly advises clients on tax aspects related to financial instruments. Andreas joined Roschier in 2014.

Partner Antti Ihamuotila is Head of the firm’s Equity Capital Markets and Public M&A practices. He has more than 20 years’ experience of international capital markets transactions, including in-depth expertise in public M&A, equity and debt capital markets, leveraged finance,  and corporate advisory. Antti has advised clients on numerous public and private offerings of equity and high yield and investment grade debt securities and public and private mergers and acquisitions. He has also acted for clients in venture capital investments.  

Partner Antti-Jussi Partanen is Head of Roschier’s Real Estate practice in Finland. He is specialized in real estate, energy and private M&A matters. Antti-Jussi is regularly involved in complex transactional work, including large-scale real estate transactions as well as infrastructure and energy related acquisitions and divestments. He has also in-depth experience in assignments related to real estate financing as well as company and contract law.

Partner Anu Waaralinna is Head of Roschier's Employment practice and Corporate Investigations & Compliance practice. She is a highly recognized expert in employment law. Anu has extensive experience in demanding employment-related assignments, and she regularly advises domestic and international companies and employers on a broad range of employment issues of strategic importance. Her practice covers, in particular, boardroom advice, company restructurings and co-operation procedures as well as service and executive employment contract issues. A significant portion of her work is dedicated to the resolution of employment disputes.

Partner Arto Linnervuo is Head of Roschier's Digitalization & TMT and Outsourcing practices. He has extensive experience in advising clients on various technology-related matters in both private and public sectors. Arto has been involved in the most significant projects in the Finnish market in the past few years representing large international corporations in cross-border digital transformation and business process development projects as well as IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing (BPO) and industrial outsourcing arrangements. Arto also provides legal advice on cloud computing, software licensing and audits, data protection & privacy, Internet of Things (IoT), E-Commerce & Internet as well as telecommunications regulation. In addition to non-contentious matters, he frequently handles IT disputes in courts of arbitration and public courts. Arto acts as an advisor to many promising tech start-ups and growth companies. He has a good understanding of their businesses and challenges having been chairman and member of the Board in a number of software and biotechnology companies.

Senior Advisor Helena Viita is specialized in banking & finance and insolvency & restructuring. Helena has extensive experience in a wide variety of finance and debt capital markets work, including real estate and acquisition finance, securitization transactions and financial restructurings. Helena also advises on financial regulatory, netting and derivatives.

Senior Associate Jaakko Laitinen is a member of Roschier’s Corporate Advisory, Public M&A and Equity Capital Markets practices. He has experience in advising clients in various capital markets transactions, including IPOs, public tender offers and listed company mergers, and also advises on issues related to Finnish corporate and securities law as well as corporate governance matters. In addition, he has experience in advising clients in financial regulatory matters concerning investment services and investment funds. He joined the firm in 2018.

Senior Advisor Jan-Anders Wik is specialized in corporate advisory and private and public M&A. Jan-Anders works mainly for listed companies and financial institutions. He also has extensive experience in commercial contracts and technology transfers.

Counsel Janne Nurminen is focused on transactional employment law, reorganization of workforce, as well as collective and individual termination of employment. His previous experience includes training at the bench at the District Court of Tampere. Janne was awarded the Attorney of the Year award by the Helsinki Bar Association in 2012 for his work related to the coordination of a pro bono legal advice service offered by members of the Bar.

Partner Johanna Lilja is Head of Roschier's Data Protection practice. She regularly advises clients on all aspects of data protection and privacy from operational matters to implementation of EU General Data Protection Compliance programs. Johanna is also specialized in intellectual property with a particular focus on patent litigation. Johanna has first and second chair trial experience of IP litigation before the Market Court, Helsinki District Court, Helsinki Court of Appeals and the Finnish Supreme Court. The matters have involved questions on infringement through equivalence, burden of proof, infringing acts, availability of preliminary injunctions and calculation of damages and reasonable compensation for use.  She also has extensive experience of acting in anti-counterfeiting enforcement cases. Johanna also regularly advises clients on various employment law related issues, such as employee invention, trade secret and privacy matters. In addition, Johanna specializes in various industry-specific regulatory and marketing issues, with a focus on the pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare sectors, and she has advised clients in a number of administrative appeal proceedings. She also has experience from various compliance cases, internal investigations and audits relating to data protection, anti-bribery, FCPA compliance and marketing.

Partner Johanna Flythström is specialized in both contentious and non-contentious IP and technology work with an emphasis on commercial and transactional IP and technology work as well as IP and technology disputes. She has extensive experience in advising clients on a broad range of strategic and commercial IP and technology issues, such as advisory work on all stages of IP and technology lifecycle including IP and technology acquisition (whether stand-alone, in employee contexts, or in collaborations), IP and technology commercialization, and enforcement. Her broad experience includes, among others, advising in complex licensing, development, and collaboration arrangements, as well as IP and technology transfers. In addition to IP and technology advisory work, Johanna also regularly advises IP and technology driven businesses in various contractual, regulatory, and marketing law matters in particular in the fields of life sciences, TMT, ClimateTech, and digitalization. Johanna has also considerable experience from acting as a counsel in IP and technology disputes, including in multi-jurisdictional IP litigations, in various fields of industry such as telecommunications, life sciences, process technology and chemistry, paper&pulp, engineering, and various high technologies.

Partner Johannes Ahti has extensive experience in finance and debt capital markets transactions from acquisitions and other event-driven financing to refinancing and financial restructuring, with a focus on leveraged finance (including leveraged loans, direct lending, private debt and high-yield bonds), real assets debt (including real estate finance and infrastructure finance), corporate financing, and venture debt.

Jonne Järvi is a Partner and head of Roschier’s Finance & Restructuring practice in Helsinki. Jonne advises financial institutions, sponsors, and borrowers in a wide range of financing transactions, including project finance and real estate finance as well as corporate lending and financial restructuring. He has extensive experience from energy and infrastructure related financing and other large scale investment transactions.

Partner Jouni Salmi is Head of Roschier’s Private M&A practice and co-Head of the Public M&A practice in Finland. He has extensive experience in complex multi-jurisdictional transactions, including industrial carve-outs and divestments, involving both industrial clients and private equity sponsors. Jouni has acted for numerous listed companies, private equity sponsors and multi-national corporations, and he has in-depth knowledge in a wide variety of industry sectors such as forest, telecommunications and payment industries. His previous work experience includes working as in-house counsel for a major telecommunications operator in Sweden and Finland. Jouni has extensive knowledge of both the Finnish and Swedish M&A market, and he has completed numerous deals in Finland and Sweden as well as in other jurisdictions.

Counsel Jukka Paloheimo has extensive experience from assignments relating to employment and labor law with special emphasis on employment related disputes and criminal matters, including matters related to labor offences as well as occupational health and safety matters. He is a trusted advisor to major companies in these type of complex matters, with previous experience in assisting client companies in matters relating to reorganization and redundancy. Jukka is an accredited mediator of the Finnish Bar Association. He frequently lectures on topics relating to employment law, employment disputes and occupational health and safety. He has also held webinars for international companies regarding Finnish employment law. Prior to joining Roschier, Jukka worked as a Counsel for another major Finnish law firm.

Associate

Partner Kiira Tuohimaa-Leisio is specialized in private M&A and private equity. She has extensive experience in advising both international and domestic private equity sponsors and corporate clients in complex cross-border M&A, joint ventures, investments and refinancing transactions. She has particular experience and knowledge from transactions in the healthcare sector.

Partner Laila Sivonen is specialized in commercial dispute resolution as well as corporate compliance and ethics. Laila’s practice covers arbitration, civil and administrative litigation as well as alternative dispute resolution. Laila has experience of international and domestic arbitration under various arbitration rules, including the ICC, FAI, SCC, and AAA as well as ad hoc arbitration. She has been involved in disputes relating to joint ventures and shareholders’ agreements, energy-related matters, service agreements, IT services, construction, litigation funding, employment law, insolvency, and competition law. She also regularly assists clients in enforcing arbitral awards and foreign judgments. Laila has had a key role in several complex, multi-jurisdictional investigations relating to suspicions of white-collar crime. She regularly advises clients on anti-corruption, whistleblowing, and sanctions-related matters. Laila has also conducted several compliance risk assessments in connection with transactions.  

Senior Advisor Manne Airaksinen is specialized in public M&A and equity capital markets. Manne has extensive experience in a broad range of corporate issues and has been a key person in the development of the Finnish Companies Act. He regularly acts for listed companies in a high-end boardroom advisory role.

Partner Markku Tuominen is Head of Roschier’s Brand Protection practice. He has worked in the IP field since 1999, and has extensive experience in developing strategies to protect and defend clients’ intellectual property. He also has extensive experience in matters relating to trademarks, trade and domain names, design rights, copyrights and marketing law from IP prosecution to IP enforcement. Markku’s practice also focuses on IP litigation, disputes, valuation and portfolio management. He is an authorized trademark attorney in Finland. Markku has acted both for domestic and foreign globally operating clients representing a wide range of brand intensive industries in the fields of entertainment, fashion, design and IT. He regularly assists clients in managing their IP portfolios and advises on the use of different schemes to protect IP.

Partner Matias Wallgren is Head of Roschier’s Environment and Natural Resources practice. He specializes in environmental and energy law, and he has almost 30 years of experience in numerous landmark industry and infrastructure projects within several industry sectors, including the energy, infrastructure, mining, forestry, waste, and chemicals sectors. A substantial part of his work is related to advocacy both in Finland and in Brussels. He joined Roschier as a Partner in 2024.

Senior Advisor Merja Raunio is one of the leading transfer pricing specialists in Finland. She has more than 30 years’ of experience in tax law, with a strong background in both domestic and international corporate taxation. During her career, she has worked with a wide variety of tax and transfer pricing planning projects, as well as with dispute avoidance and resolution covering both domestic processes and mutual agreement procedures. Merja has co-authored several books and publications on tax-related topics, including transfer pricing, and she regularly contributes articles to legal journals.

Partner Miikka Konttinen is Head of Roschier’s Industrial Investments practice. Miikka has approximately fifteen years of experience in the energy sector and specializes in large-scale industrial projects (green and brownfield, joint ventures, over the fence delivery models, process licensing, feedstock and product sales, etc.) and in sourcing contracts. Miikka has hands-on experience of projects throughout their life cycle, as well as contract management and sourcing processes. In addition to his focus on energy & infrastructure and industrial investments, Miikka has extensive experience from advising on various technology-related matters such as ICT outsourcing, business transformation projects, cloud services, software licensing and all things digital.

Partner Mika Ohtonen is Head of Roschier’s Tax & Structuring practice. He is widely acknowledged for his in-depth expertise and broad experience in M&A, private equity and real estate tax structuring and planning. He has extensive experience in working with matters related to cross-border transactions (both in- and outbound) and international taxation. Mika is constantly involved in high-end tax planning, including preliminary tax ruling procedures, related to acquisition structures, investment funds, financing and financial instruments, restructurings of distressed assets and management and employment incentive plans. Over the last few years Mika has been increasingly engaged by a number of clients to assist them in their tax audit procedures and to represent them in tax litigations involving e.g. complex transfer pricing issues and anti-avoidance claims – such work occasionally taking most of his time.

Partner Mikael Segercrantz is Head of Roschier’s Marketing & Consumer practice. His practice focuses on intellectual property, regulatory matters and marketing & consumer law, including litigation. He has extensive experience in IP litigation in Finland and before the Court of Justice of the European Union, both as first and second chair. The proceedings have related to patent, trademark, copyright, design as well as other IP rights and involved questions such as preliminary injunctions, infringing acts and invalidity claims. Mikael has represented national and foreign companies in unfair competition lawsuits before the Market Court and self-regulatory boards of the industry as well as in administrative proceedings. Mikael regularly advises clients, including international large brand owners, in various types of regulatory and marketing law questions, such as marketing campaigns, product classification, pricing and labeling issues, with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical, medical device, food and cosmetic industries. He has also handled and coordinated a number of product recall campaigns in Finland and the Baltic States.

Mikko Manner is the Managing Partner of Roschier. He has extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious IP and ICT work, with an emphasis on patent, copyright and trade secrets licensing both on a standalone basis and in connection with products and services. He also has considerable experience in IP disputes. Mikko has acted for clients representing a wide range of IP-intensive industries, such as software and services, media and entertainment and telecommunications. He also regularly advises clients on IP and technology issues in transactional and strategic contexts. In addition, Mikko has first and second chair trial experience of arbitration, mediation and litigation before the Helsinki District Court and the Helsinki Court of Appeals.

Partner Ossi Haapaniemi is specialized in tax law. He is a highly regarded advisor in tax disputes, ruling processes and high-end corporate tax matters, including complex cross-border transactions, and he has in-depth knowledge of corporate taxation, especially relating to financial instruments, corporate finance and capital market transactions and incentive schemes. Ossi has successfully represented clients in court proceedings concerning, for example, several landmark cases before the Supreme Administrative Court. He is a frequent speaker at seminars, and he has authored numerous articles and books on taxation.

Partner Petri Avikainen is specialized in Equity Capital Markets and Public M&A. He has more than 20 years of experience of capital markets transactions, including equity, equity-linked and debt capital markets as well as public tender offers and listed company mergers. Petri also regularly advises Finnish listed companies and other corporate and investment banking clients on issues related to Finnish corporate and securities laws. During his career, he has advised on numerous market-leading and complex first-of-a-kind Finnish capital markets and corporate transactions.

Partner Rainer Hilli is Head of Roschier’s award-winning Intellectual Property practice, which is one of the largest in the Nordic region. The practice has been recognized as the IP Law firm of the Year for Finland by Managing Intellectual Property Global Awards several times. Rainer has more than 20 years of experience in intellectual property disputes, including civil and administrative court proceedings as well as arbitration. He has also represented clients in various fields of industry including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, media, paper & pulp, engineering and brand intensive industries. He is frequently involved in multi-jurisdictional IP litigation. Rainer has experience from working in cross-border litigations both as lead coordinator and as lead of the national team. He has also been advising on product liability and product safety, as well as regulatory compliance. Rainer’s practice also includes IP & technology driven transactions, licensing, franchising and technology transfers.

Partner Seppo Kymäläinen is Head of Roschier's Corporate Advisory practice in Finland. He is also working with the firm's Public M&A and Equity Capital Markets practices in Helsinki. Seppo has extensive experience in public M&A and corporate and securities advisory work acting for issuers as well as for both industrial and private equity sponsored buyers. He regularly chairs general meetings and advises clients on governance matters, with further experience e.g. in corporate restructurings, squeeze-outs and joint ventures.

Partner Tero Jormanainen is specialized in M&A, venture capital and private equity with a strong focus on technology related cross-border transactions. He has extensive experience in advising clients in M&A, venture capital and private equity transactions with depth of industry expertise within the healthcare, ICT and life science industries. Tero also heads Roschier’s Private Funds practice in Finland.

Partner Toni Siimes is Head of the firm’s Energy & Infrastructure practice. He has extensive experience from advising clients in industrial and infrastructure projects with a focus on the energy sector, green transition projects as well as retail and forestry industries. Toni is also specialized in M&A and corporate advisory, with a strong emphasis on cross-border transactions and private equity transactions. He has acted for various private equity clients in acquisitions and disposals, working also with the target companies during the holding period. Toni has extensive experience in complex shareholders’ agreements and joint venture structures, as well as project finance transactions with challenging project company structures.