About

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 Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Roheim runs the department differently to other companies, instead of having a large legal department with a number of lawyers located together, the Group has chosen a model where the lawyers are employed by the division of the organisation that they are assisting. During his time as general counsel, Roheim has ensured that the legal team is involved in earlier stages of projects to make sure that the appropriate advice can be given at the best possible time. ‘Previously, NSB lawyers were only involved in the final stages of cases, for example in connection with finalising the entering into of contracts. Now, we are involved at an earlier stage, giving us the opportunity to influence the content of contracts with suppliers or joint venture partners. Having this influence allows the legal team to protect and develop the company in a much more proactive manner’. The change of business operations from a public enterprise to a commercial group has resulted in a different need for legal services. This has meant an increasingly important role for Roheim and his team. Roheim has driven the establishment of licences for NSB A/S, CargoNet A/S and NSB Gjøvikbanen A/S to run railway services within the EU/EØS zone. Furthermore, he has contributed to negotiations and legal quality assurance of the agreement between NSB A/S and the Norwegian State for the delivery of railway passenger transport for the period 2012 – 2017, amounting to over EUR 2 billion; a fundamentally important contract for the company.