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

The most important transaction I have been involved in lately was assisting Hydro’s Corporate Finance department in the successful placement by Norsk Hydro ASA of bonds in an aggregate amount of €800min the Eurobond market (2019).

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

I am certain that successful in-house teams will utilise digital tools and AI in an effective manner to improve own services, to reduce internal and external costs and to create value for its business. The best will also boost value creation by taking a holistic view to the business it is advising, not limiting its advice to legal matters.

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

The main unique quality for a successful in-house counsel is in my view the ability to identify how you can create actual value for the business. The obvious value created by an in-house counsel is to reduce down-side potential in the dealings of the company. In addition, there is often also an upside potential for value creation when the in-house counsel, through knowing the business inside out and being forward leaning in playing its role, is able to advise on and negotiate both legal and commercial terms which translate into added value for the company.

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

In any transaction, keeping everyone, including the external counsel, in the loop also on the commercial considerations of the company is crucial to receive useful and valuable advice and assistance from external counsel. Require regular and frequent status updates from the external counsel is also important to enable the in-house counsel to adjust the direction, if necessary, continuously and at an early stage.

Have any new laws, regulations or judicial decisions greatly impacted your company’s business or your legal practice?

Yes. US sanctions towards Rusal which were introduced in April 2018 negatively affected the aluminium supply situation for Hydro’s downstream operations in Extrusion Europe. Although not aluminium industry specific, EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has of course also required Hydro, as most companies in Europe, to re-assess its data privacy policies and practices.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most?

Artificial intelligence, in the sense of software systems able to perform advanced legal review and document production tasks, will for sure be important tools use to ensure quality of legal services and to reduce time spent on document review.

What can law firms do to improve their services to the legal department?

The best external counsel are those who are able to see a matter from the company’s perspective and always question how an advice should be given to be most valuable and useful for the client. Also, being able to “look around the corner” and ensure that the client is positioned strategically as good as possible for the next development in a matter is also very valuable. Many law firms can still improve in these regards. It is furthermore my view that an external advisor can never over-communicate with its client. Client’s value greatly updates on progress, preliminary conclusions, next steps and accrued hours.