Head of legal | Peab Projektutveckling AB
Åke Theblin spent almost 13 years at Kungsleden, a listed property company, before moving to Peab Projektutveckling AB as head of legal in February 2014. An experienced and knowledgeable property...
Head of legal | Bankernes EDB Central (BEC)
Alice Grünfeld is head of legal at BEC, one of three independent IT services providers in the Danish financial sector. She joined BEC in 2007 and established the legal department...
Head of legal | Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB)
Anders Bryde Rasmussen, head of legal at SEB, is described as ‘a bright lawyer and an excellent and ambitious head of his team’. He has a wealth of legal experience...
General counsel & group vice president | Grundfos Holding A/S
Having started his career at Bech-Bruun, the Danish firm, Andreas Brandt decided to move in-house in 2009, first to Dong Energy and thereafter to Grundfos where he is using his,...
Chief legal counsel | Electromagnetic GeoServices ASA (EMGS)
Anette Mellbye has worked at Electromagnetic GeoServices since 2007, where she heads a small legal team of three people. ‘We are a small company of 350 employees working worldwide so...
General counsel | Novamedia Sverige AB
Anna Bülow Zetterberg joined Novamedia Sverige AB in September 2012 having worked as an associate at law firms, Cederquist and Lindahl. Whilst at Lindalh, Bülow Zetterberg got a taste of...
Legal director | Skånemejerier and Lactalis Group
Anna Jonsson joined the Swedish dairy farmer, Skånemejerier, in 2010 as an external legal consultant. After closing a large business transaction, she was hired as general counsel in January 2011....
General counsel and director legal and sustainability | Apoteket AB
Since joining Apoteket in 2005, Anna Rogmark has demonstrated her diverse skill-set during a period where the deregulation of the Swedish pharmaceutical sector led to a downsizing of the company’s...
General counsel | DEIF A/S
With an impressive career spanning multiple sectors Anne Diness, attorney general counsel at DEIF, brings a multidimensional and global understanding for strategy and legal requirements. Diness began her career at...
"Senior vice president, corporate counsel & compliance officer " | Marsh A/S
As senior vice president, corporate counsel and compliance officer at the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor company, Marsh, Anne Worm-Peterson is praised for her ‘unique ability for making...
General counsel, law & administration | Energinet.dk
Annette Ikast is the general counsel for energinet.dk, a non-profit enterprise owned by the Danish Climate and Energy Ministry, where she heads a team of 24 including two heads of...
General counsel, head of legal affairs and member of the corporate management committee | Citycon Oyj
Anu Tuomola joined Citycon, a leading Nordic and Baltic region shopping centre owner and manager, in 2011. Tuomola joined Citycon after gaining private practice experience for six years as a...
Vice president legal and compliance | Sony Mobile Communications AB
A ‘trusted’ advisor to senior management, Åsa Ericson Hedström joined Sony in 2000 as legal counsel, after four years as a reporting official at the Swedish Competition Authority. At Sony...
Executive vice president and general counsel | Sandvik AB Holding
Having practised for almost 20 years, Åsa Thunman is a lawyer experienced in a diverse range of sectors. She spent three years at Lagerlöf & Leman law firm (1996–1999), before...
General counsel | ICE Services AB
Established in 2010, ICE has developed quickly into a world-class service centre for the global management of musical rights. The company offers a professional and efficient service, which enables music...
General counsel | Statnett
Astrid Skjønborg Brunt has over 25 years’ experience in the electricity industry, 15 years of which have been in leading a law department at Statnett. Since starting at Statnett, she...
Chief attorney | Statskog
Bjørn Terje Smistad has worked at Statskog, a state-owned enterprise responsible for the management of state-owned forest and mountain real estate, for the past 10 years. Terje Smistad is an...
General counsel and head of market surveillance | Nord Pool Spot A/S
Camilla Berg has been general counsel at Nord Pool Spot A/S since 2009, being responsible for all legal matters, regulatory compliance and overseeing the market surveillance department, which focuses on...
Senior vice president (legal and compliance) and general counsel | Höegh LNG AS
Camilla Nyhus-Møller has been at Höegh for almost 10 years. ‘When I started working in the Höegh Group in 2006, Höegh LNG was not established as a separate company. As...
General counsel | AB Traction
Under Carl Östring’s leadership, the legal department has developed the support it provides to AB Traction, a publicly traded investment company, and its subsidiaries. Acting for the company’s subsidiary boards,...
Group general counsel | Tele2
Caroline Fellenius-Omndell is recognised for her ability to successfully build and develop legal teams globally and is now driving change in Tele2’s legal and regulatory department across nine jurisdictions. Fellenius-Omndell...
Chief legal counsel | Danish Agriculture & Food Council
The third largest trade association in Denmark is the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, which has an estimated annual export of products amounting to DKK 151 billion. The approximately 350...
Head of legal Denmark, China & Hong Kong - Marine & Diesel Division | Alfa Laval Aalborg A/S
Christian Fleischer Christiansen started his career as an associate at one of Denmark’s leading law firms, moving in-house in 2010 by joining Aalborg Industries A/S as general counsel. In 2011...
Legal counsel | SAS Norge A/S
From being the sole in-house counsel to battling with potential bankruptcy, Christian Wang Schumacher has faced a range of challenges since he joined SAS Norge A/S in 2010. Scandinavian Airlines...
Head of legal & external affairs | British American Tobacco
‘What I enjoy most about my role at BAT is that because of the environment in which the company operates, and the way it is structured, it allows the lawyers...
Head of legal services Nordics- legal, risk & compliance | DT Group A/S
Regardless of her relatively new appointment, initially as legal, risk and compliance officer at DT Group, Christine Bruhn Tuxen has hit the ground running. She has made pivotal changes to...
Head of Legal, Sweden | Modern Times Group MTG AB
Recognised for her expertise in strategy and delivering first class work, Christine Strindberg is a ‘deal closer’ and plays a key role in the outcome of important negotiations for Modern...
General counsel | NCC Construction Sverige AB
A legal counsel for over seven years at NCC Housing AB and then head of department for four years, Danne Stattin had already built significant experience in contract negotiation and...
Head of legal and intellectual property rights | Suunto Oy
After six years of working for Roschier Attorneys, Eki Korpiola moved in-house. In June 2002, he joined Nokia Corporation, the global communications and IT giant based in Finland, spending six...
Legal Counsel | Peab A/S
Eli Krogstad has been an in-house lawyer for almost nine years, prior to which she was an associate at DLA Piper. Her role at Peab, a leading construction and civil...
General counsel | Orc Group
Emelie Helling was appointed as general counsel of Orc, a global market leader in trading technology for listed derivatives, in 2012. By working closely with the entire business from sales,...
Group general counsel | Danske Bank
Previously, Flemming Pristed played a central role at KMD A/S, an IT service provider for the municipalities and government of Denmark. A few of his many achievements during a decade...
General counsel | JM Norge AS
JM Norge AS is experienced in supplying houses and apartments across the Nordics. JM Norge’s total turnover in the region is approximately SEK 13 billion and approximately 100,000 homes have...
General counsel | NCC AB
Håkan Broman was promoted to general counsel in January 2009 at NCC, a leading property development company in the Nordic Region with annual sales of SEK 57 billion. Heading a...
General counsel | Onvest Group
The Onvest Group, together with its subsidiaries, cover technical trade, building services contracting, investment, and property businesses. Hanna Ekdahl joined the Group in 2012 having previously worked at the Finnish...
Director of legal affairs | Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company
Harri Christensen heads a team of six at Elo, a major employment pension insurance company in Finland. Working on a wide variety of legal issues, one of Christensen’s biggest achievements...
General counsel | Carnegie Investment Bank AB
Helena Nelson joined Carnegie Investment Bank in April 2013 and now heads a team of three lawyers and one paralegal. Before this, she was chief compliance officer and the head...
General legal counsel | One Nordic AB
After seven and a half successful years as senior associate at law firm, Advokatfirman Lindahl, Helena Strömbeck joined One Nordic AB in September 2010 as general legal counsel. One Nordic...
General counsel | Bankgirot
Recognised as a ‘high performer’ within Bankgirot, Henrik Fromme is highly proficient in catering for the legal needs of the company which is the only clearing house for mass payments...
Corporate legal counsel | Kommunal Landspensjonskasse
Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) is Norway’s largest life insurance company, with capital under management exceeding NOK 500 billion. Henrik Hilseth-Hartwig successfully worked on implementing, monitoring and advising on new international legislation...
General counsel & head of corporate affairs | VKR Holding A/S
Established in 1941, VKR Holding, parent to an international group of companies, specialise in the development, manufacturing and sales of windows, natural ventilation and solar systems. They are located in...
General counsel | ASSA ABLOY AB
Since being appointed as the first in-house counsel of the ASSA ABLOY Group, a market leading electromechanical security provider in 2004, Jacob Wahlberg now heads a team of eight lawyers...
Chief legal officer | Evry
Jan Sandtrø manages a 13-strong team located in Norway, Sweden, Ukraine and India, covering the legal matters of Evry, one of the largest IT companies in the Nordics. Sandtrø headed...
Country counsel (Norway and Denmark) | Hewlett-Packard Norge A/S
Jarle Roar Sæbø is the country counsel and sole in-house counsel for Hewlett-Packard in Norway and Denmark. ‘Overseeing all legal aspects of the business, both contractual and regulatory’ is a...
Director and general counsel | Nordic Capital
Prior to joining Nordic Capital, a market leading private equity investor in the region, in April 2012 Jenny Keisu worked as a lawyer at Mannheimer Swartling in Stockholm, specialising in...
Project director- Area & Rights | Odense Letbane P/S│Odense Tramway
The Odense Tramway is a construction company with the sole purpose of building the tramway in Odense, therefore the company did not initially invest in a legal department, until about...
Head of legal & public affairs | Modern Times Group (MTG)
The Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment company dealing in the production, sale and broadcasting of entertainment. Karen Rønde the head of legal and public affairs at MTG...
General counsel | Gdf Suez E&P Norge A/S
Kjersti Bergsåker-Aspøy has been general counsel at GDF Suez E&P Norge A/S for four years. In that time she has focused on increasing the formal visibility of the legal department...
Jurist/ legal adviser & compliance officer | Konica Minolta Business Solutions Denmark A/S
Konica Minolta, specialising in the provision of managed print and document management solutions has over the last decade branched out into the IT sector, putting it face to face with...
General counsel (region Europe North and East) | Schenker AB
Fluent in four languages and recognised as a top performer, Kristin Hedlund was appointed general counsel by Schenker North AB in 2005, after six years as legal counsel. During her...
General counsel | EQT Holdings
Lena Almefelt joined EQT, a private equity and venture capital firm, after 12 years as a partner at Vinge. Establishing the legal department at EQT, Almefelt also created a panel...
Head of intellectual property – legal | Nilfisk A/S
Nilfisk, dealing in innovative commercial cleaning products, has sales entities in 45 countries, dealers in over 70 countries and manufacturing facilities in seven countries, so the need for in-house counsel...
Senior manager, head of legal and compliance (EMEA) | Sony Mobile Communications AB
With expertise in copyright law, contact negotiations and a strong collaborative work ethic, Louise Ernmark was promoted in June 2013 to head a nine-strong team that she was previously part...
Senior legal counsel | If P&C Insurance Company
Maija Vartiainen joined IF P&C Insurance Company in August 2010 after gaining over 11 and half years of experience as attorney at law at Dittmar & Indredius. Drawing on her...
Director legal affairs | Välinge
‘Highly skilled and knowledgeable’, Marcus Palm heads a team of three and routinely overcomes the technological issues within Välinge, a world leading research, development and intellectual property company in the...
Senior vice president, administration and legal affairs | Municipality Finance
Mari Tyster has worked at Municipality Finance for the past six years, now heading a seven-strong team made up of legal counsel, paralegals and human resource assistants. Since the financial...
Senior vice president and general counsel | Volvo Car Corporation
Maria Hemberg began her legal career in 1988 as a trainee associate at law firm, Mannheimer Swartling. After a brief period as a law clerk at the District Court of...
Chief legal counsel & group legal, head of M&A section | A.P Møller - Mærsk A/S
‘Being able to play a key part in the execution of the Maersk Group’s M&A strategy has been, and still is, a fantastic journey’, voices Martin Allan Christensen, chief legal...
General Counsel, head of compliance and company secretary | Nobina AB
Since joining Nobina AB as general counsel, Martin Pagrotsky has played a central role in moving the company away from a costly dependency on law firms. The changes Pagrotsky has...
Senior vice president and general counsel | Volvo Group Trucks Operations
Martina Klaus joined The Volvo Group, Sweden’s multinational manufacturer, in 2005 as part of the Volvo Aero division. In 2010 she moved to Shanghai for a 12 month Asian truck...
Senior legal counsel, manager (legal affairs) | VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) is the largest multidisciplinary research organisation in Northern Europe, providing high-end technology solutions and innovation services. Known as ‘business-orientated’ and a ‘leader’, Matias...
General counsel (Norway & Denmark) | Siemens
As general counsel for Norway, Matthias Geiger is responsible for eight legal professionals and one compliance professional in Norway. In addition to this role, he assumed the responsibilities of GC...
General counsel (Investments) | Första AP-fonden, First Swedish National Pension Fund (AP1)
After a successful career as a corporate lawyer on Wall Street, at firms including Davis Polk and Goldman Sachs, Indian-American Meenakshi Ambardar (Meena) moved to Stockholm in 2004. Ambardar spent...
Vice president, corporate people & organisation and people relations & compliance | Novo Nordisk A/S
Mette Kondrup Jensen is the vice president of Novo Nordisk, a company in the pharmaceutical sector, with 16 employees reporting into her. Her role extends to the legal department where...
Director HR & legal | Danske Statsbaner (DSB)
Danske Statsbaner (DSB) is an independent public corporation which is run under the Danish Ministry of Transport that manages over 195 million passengers annually and employs an estimated 8,000 members...
General counsel | Novozymes A/S
Novozymes, a company that is pioneering on industrial biotechnology, with a strong focus on enzyme production, has legal departments located across the globe. Mikkel Viltoft is the general counsel with...
Senior legal counsel | Nordea Bank Finland
Described as ‘practical’ and a ‘problem solver’, Mikko Aulas has worked at Nordea Bank since October 2000. During his employment at Nordea, Aulas assumed the role of legal counsel on...
General counsel | Oy Teboil Ab
Mikko Laaksonen spent over five years at Merilampi Attorneys before moving in-house as legal counsel in January 2011 to Oy Teboil Ab, the second largest oil company in Finland. Within...
General counsel | Infranord AB
Miriam Lewinschal joined Infranord AB, the Swedish government enterprise and railway contractor in 2012 after seven successful years at Mannheimer Swartling. Moving to the public sector, Lewinschal has introduced new...
Chief legal officer | Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA
During his time at the company Morten Aaserud has demonstrated true value to Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA, a global maritime industry group focusing on shipping and logistics for cars and...
General counsel | TDC Sverige AB
At telecommunication provider, TDC Sverige AB, Niclas Almgren has ‘a special skill in applying legal matters into a business context and making legal issues more understandable for non-lawyers’. He has been...
Vice president & general counsel | CONTI Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG
Conti Group, one of the world’s leading owners of container vessels, bulk carriers and tankers, has served the logistics industry for over 45 years, building long lasting relations with business...
General counsel | Pharmaq AS
Nils Arne Grønlie is the first and only in-house counsel to be employed at Pharmaq AS, the world’s leading pharmaceutical company specialising in aquaculture. Previously, all legal work was outsourced,...
General counsel | Outotec
Nina Kiviranta moved in-house in 1996 after four years of working in law firms. For her first corporate role, Kiviranta joined Metsä Board (previously M-real Corporation), a leading European folding...
Senior vice president, chief legal officer, head of group function legal affairs and secretary to the board of directors | Ericsson
Described as ‘highly competent’ with ‘excellent leadership skills’ Nina Macpherson has led Ericsson’s global legal affairs division as chief legal officer since January 2011. Macpherson joined Ericsson in 1996 as...
Senior vice president and corporate & institutions - legal | Danske Bank A/S
Ole Jørgensen, as senior vice president and lawyer, was tasked with establishing a legal department that is better suited to Danske Bank’s cross-border nature. Jørgensen collated the legal activities of...
General counsel | Husqvarna AB
With over 30 years of experience, Olle Wallén is a seasoned general counsel with an impressive range of expertise in all major areas of business law including company law, M&A,...
General counsel | iZettle
Oskar Arndt is a ‘creative’ lawyer that ‘maintains a high level of integrity and quality’ in his work for iZettle, an emerging payment services provider. After five years at Bird...
General counsel | NSB A/S
Otto Roheim is in charge of the legal operations of the NSB A/S, a group dedicated to managing passenger traffic on trains and buses and freight traffic on railways in...
Group general counsel | Royal Unibrew A/S
With 15 years of experience under his belt, ranging from working at a leading Danish law firm to an excellent track record as a trusted legal advisor dealing with consumer...
Vice president director (tax and legal) | Marine Harvest ASA
Pedro Leite heads a team of 20 people at Marine Harvest ASA, a Norwegian seafood company. He was the first lawyer to be recruited in-house, where his role primarily involved...
Chief legal officer and general counsel | SPP Group
Since moving from law firm Vinge in 2010, Per Brandt has accommodated the business element of being a general counsel into his skillset and enjoys being a part of the...
Head of legal - consumer international, global legal services | Arla Foods amba
Heading a small legal division within the legal department of Arla Foods, namely global legal services – Consumer International (CIN), Peter Istrup is in charge of all dealings at a...
Vice president, general counsel and global head of legal & intellectual property rights | ECCO Holding A/S
Peter Schøtt Knudsen has been working in-house for over 14 years, and is currently the vice president, general counsel and global head of legal and IPR for ECCO Holding in...
Finance & control legal affairs and senior intellectual property counsel | Schneider Electric
‘Rasmus Kirkeby Salling is one-of-a-kind. Extremely legally gifted, while at the same time displaying a unique ability to apply the law in a highly business-oriented context’, describes a member of...
Vice President, Corporate Legal, Secretary to Board of Directors & Nokia Group Leadership Team | Nokia Corporation
Riikka Tieaho joined Nokia, the multinational communications and information technology company, in 1999. She held a number of legal counsel and legal director positions in the company, including a role...
Chief legal counsel | Mekonomen Group
Robert Hård moved in-house after spending two years at Helsingborg District Court as a court clerk and then eight years at Vinge as an attorney at law. He joined MECA,...
General counsel | Statkraft
In the 10 years Rolf Busch has been general counsel, he has seen the legal department grow from a small Norway-based team to a well-established international department in Statkraft’s offices...
Deputy legal director | GIEK
Rolf Tjugum has worked at GIEK for his entire career. Since he started seven years ago, he has been promoted to deputy director and now deputy legal director. Although he...
General counsel | Resurs Bank AB
General counsel, Ronny Persson heads a team of 15 at Resurs Bank. The company consists of Resurs Bank, a market leader in Swedish retail financing, and Solid Försäkringar, a company...
Senior vice president (communications and marketing) and general counsel | Petroleum Geo-Services
Rune Olav Pedersen leads a 50-strong team, covering a wide range of legal work. When he first joined Petroleum Geo-Services, the legal department was fairly small, with lawyers in various...
Senior vice president (corporate affairs and legal) and group general counsel | Huhtamäki Oyj
With a ‘holistic approach’ and ‘extensive experience in regulatory matters relative to listed companies’, Sami Pauni sits not only as group general counsel but also senior vice president, corporate affairs...
Vice president - legal and group sourcing | Paulig Group
Sarah Tähkälä previously worked as a partner at top Nordic law firm Hannes Snellman, where she was head of employment and also specialised in mergers and acquisitions. In January 2010,...
Vice president (legal affairs) | Raisio Group
The Raisio Group is an international company with expertise in plant-based nutrition, which produces cereal products and animal feeds. Sari Koivulehto-Mäkitalo joined Raisio in 2006, and has since been transforming...
Lawyer | Metroselskabet og Hovedstadens Letbane
Joining Metroselskabet, operator and constructor of the Copenhagen metro, only a year ago as the first associate, Signe Hastrup Holst has the mammoth responsibility of creating and aligning a legal...
General counsel | SYBO Games
Signe Toft recently joined SYBO Games in June 2015 as their general counsel. Sybo is a company which produces mobile games and is still at a young stage of development...
Executive vice president and general counsel | Scatec Solar
Snorre Valdimarsson created the legal department at Scatec Solar from scratch, however he was the only in-house lawyer for the first few years. Since then ‘the idea has been to...
Legal director | Carlsberg Group
Sophie Lewis started her legal career as an associate at Baker & McKenzie, after which she was appointed as legal counsel at Carlsberg in 2012 and was promoted to legal...
Head of legal and regulatory | Tele2
In an extremely fast moving market, Stefan Backman thrives on the challenges associated with providing legal services to one of Europe´s fastest growing Telecom operators, Tele2. He says ‘as an...
General counsel | Höegh Autoliners AS
Steinar Nyrud has built up the legal department of Höegh from one lawyer in 2005 to a team of six today. ‘The business has expanded and we have had to...
General counsel | Göteborg Energi AB
By setting up the legal department, Susanne Berens Olsson has moved Göteborg Energi AB away from handling legal matters through a decentralised method of using external law firms, at high...
Head of legal (infrastructure projects and paving) | Lemminkäinen Infra
An experienced lawyer, Suvi Sasi-Gouatarbès worked in a number of legal roles prior to joining Lemminkäinen, a Finnish construction and infrastructure company with approximately 1,500 employees. These experiences range from...
General counsel | Handelsbanken
Shifting the legal department from ‘reactive to pro-active in the years following a financial crisis in the banking industry in Denmark, has been a great challenge’, explains Svend Ulrik Riis,...
Chief officer legal and corporate functions | Cermaq Group AS
Synne Homble joined Cermaq in 2006 as the company’s first in-house lawyer. Prior to her hiring, all legal affairs were handled through external law firms, even though legal work had...
General counsel | VR Group Oy
Teemu Sipilä was appointed as general counsel in 2010 for VR Group Oy, an environmentally conscious travel and logistics operator wholly owned by the Finnish state. Since joining the Group,...
Chief consultant | Danske Erhvervsskoler
Danske Erhvervsskoler is a member organisation offering political, economic, administrative and legal advice to the daily management and the board of directors of varying Danish vocational and technical schools. As...
General counsel | Altia
During his time at Altia, a leading Nordic wine and spirits company, Thomas Heinonen has overseen the successful transformation of the legal function, adapting to the modern requirements of an...
General counsel | Floatel International Ltd
Before moving in-house in 2012, Lindström accumulated almost five years of experience as an associate at law firms Setterwalls and Mannheimer Swartling. Thereby developing his skills in corporate law, international...
General counsel | Marimekko
Marimekko Corporation is a Finnish textile company that produces clothing, bags, accessories and home décor based on their own unique prints. Tiina Lencioni is general counsel with two legal team...
Area counsel (Middle East & Asia) | Wärtsilä Corporation
Wärtsilä is a global manufacturer and service provider of power sources in the marine and energy markets. Tim Williams was promoted to area counsel for the Middle East and Asia...
Legal & business affairs manager | Sony Music Entertainment Denmark A/S
Working for over seven years as legal and business affairs manager for Sony Music Entertainment Denmark, makes Tine Skytte Holm the longest serving senior officer for the Group’s Danish entity....
Chief legal officer regulatory approvals and environment | Femern A/S
Femern are planning one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects and the largest in Northern Europe, a fixed link across the Fehmarn Belt from Denmark to Germany. Having previously worked...
CEO and lawyer | Neptune Properties
Neptune Properties was established as a real estate company with a main focus on the development and sales of flats and houses in 2007, with annual sales of approximately NOK...
Senior legal counsel | Nordea Bank Finland
Tuomas Toivonen joined Nordea Bank Finland in 2008 after working as an attorney at Finnish law firm Borenius & Kemppinen. He has wide experience and is able to drive processes...
General Counsel | Vaasan Group
Tuula Rainto has extensive knowledge and experience with an in-house career that spans over 20 years. After working for companies in a variety of sectors, as well as a six...
General counsel and head of the legal department | TV4 Group
During her years as general counsel at TV4 Group, Ulrika Jensen has overseen the legal department’s journey from being a marginal element in the company to becoming a highly valued...
Senior legal counsel | Danske Commodities A/S
Danske Commodities specialises in trading power, gas and certificates while delivering services to the energy market. When Wendi Ring, now senior legal counsel at Danske Commodities, first joined the company...
Assistant general counsel | FMC Technologies
Yngve Rygh Larsen joined FMC Technologies in 1998 as a legal manager. Since then he has worked through various positions to reach assistant general counsel for Subsea Technologies. He has...
Head of legal (Nordic & Baltic) | Schneider Electric
Before joining leading energy company Schneider Electric, Yvonne Ivarsson held a number of position at various institutions, including the Faculty of Law at Lund University, where she was a lecturer...
For 28 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world. The GC Powerlist is the latest publication from The Legal 500, turning its attention to the in-house function, and recognising those corporate counsel who are driving the legal business forward. The latest edition is the GC Powerlist: Nordics, which identifies an array of the most influential and innovative in-house teams working in the Nordics region….read more
We have canvassed opinions from law firm partners and in-house counsel across the Nordics region, to identify corporate counsel that have been instrumental in changing or forming opinions within their company or industry; developing brilliant technical solutions to complex issues; creating innovative structures to ensure that the in-house function is driving the business forward; or providing a business working model that other corporate counsel should follow. Our team of experienced researchers assessed the nominations, speaking both to general counsel and nominating lawyers to finalise each jurisdictional list. GC Powerlist: Nordics features not just information on why that individual has made the list, but also comment from the law firms about how they feel individual corporate counsel have helped shape innovation in the legal industry.
If you have feedback on the GC Powerlist: Nordics, or wish to nominate other in-house individuals (either in the Nordics region or global), please do get in touch at [email protected].
We hope that this listing will stimulate debate around the role of the in-house lawyer and help corporate counsel with possible improvements and efficiencies in running their departments.
We are pleased to congratulate the General Counsels who have been admitted to The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist: Nordics. General Counsels are to an increasing extent faced with new and additional demands. It is a role requiring constant development and adaptability.
At Bech-Bruun, we are happy to help facilitate the framework for the very first GC Powerlist: Nordics and we wish to congratulate both the nominated general counsels and of course in particular the counsels who made it on the list.
It requires a varied and diverse set of skills to act as General Counsel. First and foremost you must have a broad legal skill base and the ability to clearly communicate legal insight in order for the company’s management and business units to be able to understand and utilise it. But the role as General Counsel is changing. This became very clear in an analysis conducted by Bech-Bruun in the fall of 2015.
The provision of legal advice is still the primary function of the general counsel, but the role also demands insight into a number of new areas. General Counsels are to an increasing degree involved in the companies’ strategic discussions and in new business initiatives where they function as the legal sparring partner to the management and help identify potential problems.
At Bech-Bruun, we have strong and good working relationships with many of the best General Counsels in Denmark. Working relationships which we value highly and find very important as General Counsels have contributed to professionalising companies’ approach to both law and compliance. This has resulted in a more proactive approach to the handling of legal issues, meaning that potential challenges to a higher degree are handled earlier and before becoming actual problems. There is no doubt that General Counsels are a crucial asset to companies.
However, we also know that many General Counsels want to become better at showing how they create value for the company or the organisation. And that many counsels enquire supplementary skills in line with the changes occurring to the role of General Counsel. Consequently, we have developed a training programme tailored for General Counsels, which has been created on the basis of our analysis of the specific demands of the future. This programme has been developed in order to help General Counsels prepare for the new challenges and to lay the foundation for success for the counsels, their employees and the company as a whole.
We are looking forward to continuing our good working relationships with the many General Counsels we work with on a daily basis and of course also to meet the ones we have not had the pleasure of working with.
And once again; a big congratulations for everyone on this year’s GC Powerlist: Nordics.
When the The Legal 500 called and asked whether we would like to be involved in the publication of Finland’s first GC Powerlist, it wasn’t hard to answer yes. Throughout my long career, I have served as the right hand to many general counsel, and I have a great respect for the work they do. It feels wonderful that now, through GC Powerlist, we will be able to shed light on the great contribution general counsel make to the success of the companies they serve.
The world is changing rapidly. The companies that were on top at the start of my career looked very different to the ones on top today. New companies are being started every day, and they are growing and going global at an increasingly rapid pace. The tough challenges—and hot opportunities—in companies today include compliance, governance, privacy and data security.
It has been a long time since general counsel could be satisfied with just looking after their own back yard. Being a general counsel today calls for an wide understanding of the business of one’s own company as well as of the megatrends that will unavoidably alter the landscape companies operate in—whether they like it or not. Curiosity and enthusiasm for new things are more important traits for lawyers than ever, regardless of whether you are an attorney or an in-house counsel.
My experience is that the best ideas are created by innovating together, by joining forces to create a vision. Co-innovation has brought an entirely new twist to my own work. It is a great feeling to see the spark of enthusiasm in you client’s eye and to have helped feed their curiosity towards the future.
The opportunities of digitalisation—a megatrend that is affecting businesses across the board—is an area for development that is shared by both law firms and in-house teams. According to Radiant Law’s recent study, more than three-quarters (78%) of general counsel lack separate budgets for process and technology services, despite exactly the same percentage identifying a ‘compelling need’ for them. Nonetheless, two-thirds of GCs had invested in process or technology with an external supplier in the last two years.
The same trend can be seen in law firms. We are digitising our operations and have turned a keen ear to the thoughts general counsel have about how we can find entirely new ways of doing things in the future.
Finally, let me congratulate all of you who made it onto the GC Powerlist. You are rock-solid trailblazers in your field!
There is an emerging shift towards international trends concerning the role of the General Counsel and law firms. The new General Counsel is expected to combine legal aspects with commercial viable solutions. In turn, the demand and necessity for innovation, commercial thinking and knowledge sharing between the law firms and General Counsels is growing. In addition, procurement of legal services is becoming increasingly more diverse and complex. We anticipate these challenges will accelerate in the coming years, putting pressure on law firms to apply fresh thinking to old habits.
Daily, Selmer’s lawyers engage with extremely capable and knowledgeable General Counsels and corporate legal departments. We experience, first-hand, the great number of Norwegian General Counsels who possess an exceptionally high level of expertise on an international scale. It is in this matter a great pleasure to now have the opportunity to acknowledge their achievements and expertise, in partnership with the renowned brand Legal 500.
Throughout Selmer’s short history we have striven to work in innovative ways, constantly among the first to adopt new ideas. We are committed to finding solutions to new market trends in order to meet the requirements and needs of our current and future clients, many of which we hope to celebrate at the GC Powerlist event.
We are truly proud to be selected as The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist partner in Norway and look forward to welcoming you to the event.
For the third consecutive year, Legal 500 partnered with Red Legal Iberoamericana to celebrate the very best in-house counsel from across Europe who dedicate their efforts to the vibrant region of Latin America. In fact, these lawyers possess a unique set of skills that enables them to navigate the challenges and diversity of Latin America in an agile and well-versed manner.
The event took place at the Hotel Wellington in the elegant city of Madrid, Spain, on 7th November 2024. Attendees were welcomed by Sara Maggi, senior editor — research and content at Legal 500, who congratulated all the powerlisters for their contributions to business across Latin America and emphasised the importance of recognising such exceptional lawyers.
Julio Veloso, partner at Broseta Abogados, then took the stage. After offering his congratulations, he invited Alejandro Sainz, senior partner at Sainz Abogados, to join him on stage. They reiterated their pride in sponsoring this research and publication, which recognises unmatched talent.
Santiago González Pérez, vice president and senior employment counsel for EMEA at American Express, shared an in-house perspective on the challenges of working in-house and managing client expectations while operating in a business environment. He also highlighted the importance of being recognised by such prestigious publications.
The evening continued with a cocktail reception featuring drinks and canapés, alongside networking opportunities between talented peers. The event was a great success, and we look forward to next year, as we continue to recognise the efforts of Latin American specialists based across Europe.
