About

What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

The biggest project at Sporveien for the time being is the contract for the delivery of 87 new trams to Oslo from the Spanish supplier CAF. We are also and building a lot of new infrastructure for the new trams in the capital Oslo and renovating and building two bases for the new trams. All of these constructions need legal support during the procurement process and in making the contracts in the projects. Another big project is a new signaling system for the metro. Sporveien will change railway signalling to communications-based train control (CBTC) a big step for a metro company and the project need legal support. To make good contracts that reflects the risks of the project is important for the procurement process of the CBTC system. The contract for the maintenance will last for decades and must also reflect the future for the metro system in Oslo. The CBTC projects need a lot of advice from me as a legal director.

In what ways o you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

The in-house role have changed the last five years and I think it will change the next few years also. To be an in-house counsel you have to understand the business of the company. Your legal advice is much more strategic than before. When we are hiring we need highly qualified and dedicated in-house counsel to cover a wide spectre of legal issues, but with specialist competence in the areas most needed in Sporveien. These special areas is procurement, constructions and IT. But it is not enough to be a good contract lawyer, you have to understand the business well to succeed with giving good legal advice as an in-house counsel. The contracts and advice I give the company has to reflect the need of the company not only today, but also in the future. As a legal director you have to give the business your best strategic and legal advice. I also see that IT is becoming more and more important in all the contracts we sign for the big constructions projects. To be a good in-house counsel you have to have good legal skills, understand the business and also see the risks in the specific project you are working on.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

I have built a legal department since I started to work in Sporveien five years ago. I have recruited senior lawyers from the law companies in Norway and worked to get the legal department well known in the organisation. It is important that the organisation see the in-house counsel is a good help in their project, so the in-house lawyer is used in the right way to give good legal advice.  We need in-house counsel that are specialists in contract law, construction law, procurement law and negotiations. But as important as good legal skills; an in-house lawyer need to understand the business of the company and which risks you have in your projects to give good legal advice to the company. Only if you succeed in all these areas the organisation will come to ask for your advice again. 

Do you have any effective techniques for getting the most out of external counsel, in terms of how to instruct them?

We have had competitions to win contract for external legal advice for the Sporveien group. In the competition the external law firms have to compete both on prices for their services and competence.  I have chosen to have a few law firms to help us with our legal advice. I think it is important that the external lawyers know the business of Sporveien, to have the possibility to give good advice on our complex business. I also always have an in-house counsel to follow the project and the external lawyer to be sure that Sporveien is buying the help that we need form our external law firms. The in-house counsel will many times be the intermediary between the business and the external lawyer. It is often difficult for the business to understand all advices given from the external lawyer. To have the in-house counsel who knows the business, will help the company to understand the external advises that are given and to be able to use them.

How has Norwegian law on public procurement impacted your business? What changes would you like to see made to it?

The public procurement act has had great impact on our business. The changes that has been made in the law has not made it easier to make a good procurement for the customer. We also had to go through a big process to get one of our companies to get an exception from the public procurement act. I think companies will need more help from their in-house counsel in the future as the laws get more and more complex. If I could wish for changes in the public procurement act I would like to make it a bit easier for the customer to make good procurement.
 
Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

I think that in-house lawyers need to understand IT law. IT is becoming more and more relevant for all contracts in constructions. We also have to become even better to understand what the future will bring in this area. On the compliance area we also have to dedicated more resources as these areas are becoming more and more important. Questions of compliance (anti-corruption, human rights) will have a greater impact than before. We need our suppliers to be of ethical good behaviour and we have to be sure that they really take these compliance issues serious.