Team size: Approximately 30

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

I am most proud of the way that we have as a team reorganised ourselves around business partnering with our internal stakeholders. We have aligned our internal structure with the business structure and allocated legal business partners accordingly. We are now closely integrated into our business teams and other functions with increased visibility to their needs. We share in the success or challenges of the business always looking as a whole how to best add value to the business in a pragmatic efficient manner with a tangible understanding of the business, and the related people, partners, products and sites behind it. During this transformation we have also reviewed and updated our internal processes and as one example our compliance team has launched five new global e-learning modules related to our Code of Conduct and related topics in 2024. At Outokumpu we take ethics and compliance very seriously, if you don’t complete your training in time, you lose your license to do business quite literally as your access rights are in such situations automatically suspended.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?Who is someone that has had a great impact on your career success?

My first boss was a lawyer initially and then moved into full time international business roles. He was a great inspiration in showing how versatile careers lawyers can have and in how many ways one can add value to the business.

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

Helping the business and the people behind it, and having the privilege of working in an international company with a great diverse set of people.

What do you think sets you apart from other in-house counsel?

I’ve been in-house for 33 years now, and leading international legal teams in four different industries. This has taken me on business to over 60 countries across six continents. I’ve experienced and learned a lot. It’s been a great ride which keeps on giving.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

“Two ears and one mouth – to be used in the same proportion.”
“Positivity – it’s too easy to only see the problems”
“Curiosity – there’s always a better way to do things out there”

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

Knowing the business to be able to add real value by finding the right balance of risk and reward.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?

There is a regulatory tsunami on its way from Brussels and beyond. Companies and their legal teams need to navigate that with their colleagues from other functions. No one can do it alone nor will it take care of itself.