[Editor’s note: Anu Tuomola joined SOK on January 1st 2025, and their answers here reflect their work with their prior company]

Team size: 12

What are the projects that you are most proud of working on over the past 12 months?

The projects that I am most proud of working on over the past 12 months are complex cross-border, multi-party M&A transactions leading to strategically important, full operational and ownership exit from Russia to the company I represented.

The complexity of the exit transactions was unprecedented in the company’s history. The transactions were prepared and executed considering, among others, Russian Government approval requirements and incredibly complex and constantly evolving sanctions regime imposed on Russia by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and other countries. In terms of legal structuring, the changing legislative framework caused repeated recalibrations during the preparation phase.

Taking the transactions to execution phase required not only navigating foreign regulations and authority processes but also extreme perseverance and exercise of one’s coordination skills. The projects were also great learning experience in terms of cultural differences in deal- and decision-making.

I am particularly proud of having supported these deals, hands-on from strategic exit decisions to negotiations and from drafting documentation to following up execution measures as well as playing a key role in explaining complex and changing regulatory environment and its implications on the transactions to various stakeholders.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Preparedness and agility are my key strategies in navigating resiliently in turbulent times and crisis.

Preparedness is built through continuous monitoring of the operating and regulatory environment and working alongside the core business, enabling proactive identification of potential pressure points that could disrupt the business and preparing implications and remedies scenarios for various disruption and crisis situations. Closeness to business ensures that legal aspects of management during periods of instability or crisis integrate with business timely, and legally sound reactions are found fast.

Preparedness is similarly built as part of the company’s established risk management framework which provides a systematic and continuous approach for identifying, assessing and managing business’ risks. Clear risk management guidelines and crisis protocols that have been trained, tried and tested in practice strengthen the company’s ability to take swift and controlled reaction when turmoil hits.

As a legal leader I believe the best approach to managing legal risk in crisis or change situation is aligning legal aspects management with the broader crisis response model or risk management framework.

Also, lessons learned sessions are hugely important in staying agile for the next event of change.

What do you derive the most satisfaction from in your work?

Collaborative success and helping people to grow professionally and personally.

What are the key things you prioritise to get the most out of your team?

I use time to create relationships and inspire people, I aim to set clear targets and empower people to achieve them. I support efforts for professional and personal growth.