Riisa & Co Advokatfirmaet ANS

Partner Amund Steinsvik has comprehensive experience in insurance and tort law. After six years of working at the district court and many years as a specialized litigation lawyer, Steinsvik has considerable knowledge in court proceedings. In 2022, Steinsvik argued his first case before the Supreme Court. The case concerned a tree fall over a power line casing a voltage surge in the distribution grid and extensive damage to almost 200 power subscribers. On behalf of four insurance companies, Steinsvik claimed recourse from the power grid company on the basis of control liability for defects. The insurance companies won the case. During the last years Steinsvik has participated in the litigation of a number of large indemnity cases, such as the Flatanger-case (recourse after 65 buildings burned down in a fire caused by an electrical power company), the HKM Helge Ingstad-case (recourse) and the Strawberry-case (insurance claim of approx. NOK 1,1bn related to Covid-19). Within tort law, Steinsvik has especially experience with liability cases, especially liability insurances, professional liability and product liability.

Chriss Bjorøy

Partner Chriss Bjorøy has extensive experience in real estate law, where he works particularly with property management and the purchase and sale of commercial property. Bjorøy assists several of Bergen's largest property owners, property managers and banks on a daily basis, and undertakes large and small assignments in real estate legal matters. As an authorized broker with permission from the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority, Bjorøy also assists businesses and private individuals with transactions and property settlements, including as responsible broker for settlements. Bjorøy has considerable experience in general commercial law, where he assists in connection with negotiations, transactions and due diligence. He also has good expertise in association law. Throughout his career, Bjorøy has built up extensive expertise in tort law, where he works particularly with liability insurance, and especially with professional liability such as real estate agent liability and lawyer liability. In addition to this, Bjorøy also has good expertise in personal injury compensation. Bjorøy works a lot with negotiations and dispute resolution, and has extensive procedural experience from both the District Court and the Court of Appeal.

Jarl Henstein

Partner. Henstein works primarily with proceedings/hearings and settlement of disputes under real estate law, liability insurance and personal injury damages. He litigates regularly before Norwegian courts and is admitted to the Supreme Court. He has very extensive experience of proceedings with a large number of cases for the District Courts, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Until now he has litigated seven cases for the Supreme Court and approximately 55 cases for the Court of Appeal. The majority of cases are resolved outside the courts, and Henstein has long experience in assisting his clients with negotiation and arbitration. Over more than 20 years Henstein has built up a very extensive and broad expertise within tort law and insurance law. In particular he has experience with cases in real estate law, liability and recourse, with a special expertise in change of ownership insurance and professional liability. Throughout his career Henstein has also worked with personal injury damages, and has special expertise in complex occupational disease cases. He also has experience from a full spectrum of cases from motor liability, workers compensation insurance and general tort law to coverages under master collective agreements and private personal insurances. Henstein is a popular speaker and amongst others lectures for the Centre for Continuing Legal Education (JUS), where he is also a member of the expert committee for personal injury damages. He is also responsible for arranging Advokatfirmaet RIISA’s annual seminar on change of ownership insurance.

Joachim Mikkelborg Skjelsbæk

Partner/Lawyer – admitted to the Supreme Court. Over more than fifteen years Joachim Mikkelborg Skjelsbæk has established an extensive and broad experience within tort law and insurance law. Skjelsbæk works mainly with liability cases, both in connection with liability insurance and general private and commercial liability. He also has experience with specialist areas of liability such as professional liability and product liability. Skjelsbæk also has very extensive experience with cases connected with real estate law, where he has pleaded a large number of cases before the courts with a range of questions connected to change of ownership insurance. Additionally, Skjelsbæk assists clients with conciliation and dispute resolution across a broad spectrum of other specialities, and has extensive litigation experience from the District Courts, the Courts of Appeal, as well at the Supreme Court. He received his right to appear for the Supreme Court in 2020, and has litigated a total of six cases before the Supreme Court. The last four all successful on behalf of his clients. At the time of writing the result of the last case is pending. He will have another case before the Supreme Court in November 2023. Throughout his career Skjelsbæk has worked with personal injury damages and personal insurance, and has long experience with motor liability, loss of licence insurance and others personal injury products. As contact person for Advokatfirmaet RIISAs international insurance law network Global Insurance Law Connect, Skjelsbæk assists both Norwegian clients with compensation cases overseas and foreign clients with cases in Norway.

Jørgen Svartebekk

Partner. Jørgen Svartebekk has built an extensive experience of pleadings for the District Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court with more than 250 cases. Jørgen has also long experience of achieving good out of court settlements for his clients, and he assists with expert advice, negotiations and dispute settlement. With nearly 20 years’ experience Jørgen has compiled a broad experience within tort law and insurance law. In recent years he has worked especially with liability cases, both in connection with liability insurance and contractual and non-contractual liability. Jørgen also works with private insurance coverages, and has specific expertise in the interpretation of terms and conditions and the Insurance Contracts Law regulations. He has specialist expertise in cases with problems related to underwriting and claim settlement. Throughout his career Jørgen has also worked with personal injury damages law and has experience with most questions arising within the field. Jørgen is a frequent lecturer in insurance law at Oslo University. Additionally he delivers lectures each year under the auspices of the Centre for Continuing Legal Education (JUS) and BI Norwegian Business School amongst others. He is also responsible for arranging Advokatfirmaet RIISAs annual liability seminar.

Oda Kristine Jepsen

Partner Oda Kristine Jepsen has broad experience in compensation and insurance law, and works with both personal injury compensation, various types of liability insurance and general compensation law. Specializing in construction law, Jepsen has particular expertise in compensation and insurance matters arising from construction matters. In addition to this, Jepsen works a lot with board responsibilities and various forms of professional responsibilities such as architect responsibilities, legal responsibilities, auditor responsibilities etc. Jepsen also has experience from other non-life insurance products such as property damage insurance, building insurance and change of ownership insurance. Within personal injury compensation, Jepsen has experience with most types of coverage, from liability coverage such as car liability, statutory coverage such as occupational injury compensation to private and collective insurances under the Insurance Contracts Act. Jepsen works a lot with dispute resolution. She has experience with negotiations and strategy and out-of-court dispute resolution. In addition, she has extensive experience with court procedure.

Rune Tveit

Partner Rune Tveit has worked with tort law since 1999, and in the course of more than 20 years has built up extensive experience and expertise in the area. Throughout his career, Tveit has litigated around 200 cases before the District Court and the Court of Appeal. He has also prosecuted a case before the Supreme Court on the extent of the insurance companies' liability for compensation. Tveit has extensive experience in personal injury compensation law, where he has very good expertise in most types of cases, from car liability to professional injury compensation liability and private and collective coverage under the Insurance Contracts Act. Tveit has particular expertise in foreign cases involving foreign injured parties, tortfeasors or injuries to Norwegian citizens that occurred abroad. In addition to personal injury compensation, Tveit also works extensively with various types of liability insurance. He has particular experience with various types of professional responsibility for, among others, valuers, brokers and lawyers. Several of Tveit’s cases have been so-called large damage cases with compensation claims in the double-digit millions. Tveit also has particular expertise in social security law and immigration law, where he has prosecuted a large number of cases for the Government Attorney.

Svein Bergset

Partner. Bergset has 30 years’ experience in insurance and tort law and has throughout his career established a comprehensive competence with most areas of this field, hereunder general insurance, property, liability, personal injurie and life insurance. With more than two hundred proceedings before the courts, Bergset has extensive trial experience also from the Supreme Court and with arbitration. Bergset has long experience as counsel for the state, municipalities, most of Norway’s insurance companies, banks, malpractice from professionals such as lawyers, architects, engineers, brokers, board members and contractors and also practice as counsel for international insurance and reinsurance companies. He has handled many significant and comprehensive disputes. Bergset has written insurance terms and conditions for insurance companies and revised the textbook on liability insurance. Bergset has been a partner in RIISA since 2001 and has been admitted to the Supreme Court since 2007. Svein Bergset has extensive procedural assignments for the courts in insurance, tort law, contract law and social security law. During 2022 and 2023 Svein Bergset has been involved in 5 civil cases for the Supreme Court, he has litigated three court cases and has twice assisted a lawyer from National Office for Health Service Appeals who had a test case before the Supreme Court.

Toralf Wågheim

Partner / lawyer Wågheim has over 15 years gained considerable expertise and experience in insurance, tort law and litigation. Wågheim works particularly with professional liability and corporate liability insurance. He has considerable experience in legal responsibility and real estate agency responsibility. Wågheim has considerable expertise regarding malpractice from professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, auditors, board members, engineers, real estate brokers and architects. Wågheim assists several insurance companies in disputes within these disciplines, and assists with claims handling, dispute resolution and litigation. He also has considerable experience in change of ownership insurance, and disputes with a background in real estate and construction. Wågheim has litigated about 100 cases in recent years before both district courts and appellate courts. In addition to assistance in cases, Wågheim has also contributed to highlighting Riisa's expertise in professional responsibility in the market. Wågheim has written a book about lawyers' liability for damages. Furthermore, he writes a regular column about lawyers legal responsibility in Advokatbladet, which is the Norwegian Bar Association's member magazine. Wågheim has held a number of lectures on legal liability, both for the Norwegian Bar Association and for the insurance industry at Riisa Law Firm's annual liability seminar. Over the past year, Wågheim also has held several lectures on lawyers` liability together with lawyers in Gjensidige Forsikring, regarding the Norwegian Bar Association's collective liability insurance for lawyers. Wågheim gave such a lecture in March and August 2023 at the latest, with a total of over 150 lawyers as listeners. Wågheim was also engaged by the Norwegian Bar Association for 1.5 years to work on a new Law on Lawyers (Act no. 28 of 12 May 2022 relating to lawyers and others who provide legal assistance (The Lawyers Act). Wågheim has also spoken out in the media several times about legal liability. Wågheim has also been a member of the Norwegian Bar Association's law committee for insurance law. Furthermore, on the recommendation of the Norwegian Bar Association, Wågheim has been selected by the Ministry of Justice to sit as a member of the Supervisory Committee for Judges. Wågheim participates in the processing of complaints against judges where it is stated that judges have broken good judicial practice.

Yngve Skogrand

Partner and chairman of Advokatfirmaet RIISA Skogrand has extensive experience in tort law with particular specialisation in dispute settlement and claims litigation within personal lines insurance. With more than a hundred tort law and insurance law cases litigated before the courts Skogrand has established extensive litigation experience within his area of expertise. In addition to dispute settlement Skogrand supports insurance companies with claims handling and specialist advice across the whole sphere of personal injury damages from motor liability, workers compensation, occupational disease to matters relating to master collective agreements. Skogrand also works with complex legal and medical considerations of causation and valuation of damages. Skogrand also has a broad experience with liability cases, and has successfully argued a case before the Supreme Court of Norway on the question of liability for a fitness centre after a personal injury occurred there. As one of the contacts for Advokatfirmaet RIISAs international insurance law network Global Insurance Law Connect, Skogrand assists both Norwegian clients with compensation cases overseas and foreign clients with cases in Norway. Skogrand is a popular speaker and is acclaimed by insurer clients for his attention to detail and his tactful perceptiveness of their demands.

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