Nordics - Norway
1

Employment

Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS

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Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS has expertise in all areas of employment law encompassing pensions matters, restructurings, data protection work and collective employment law; the ‘highly competent’ team is also skilled in litigation and dispute resolution. Practice head Gaute Krokann is an experienced lead on investigations, whistleblowing cases and restructurings, while Lars Kokkvold specialises in business-critical matters, and is often involved in cross-border employment issues such as transfers of undertakings, investigations and reorganisations. Other notable practitioners are Pål Kvernaas, who is renowned for both his strategic advisory work and dispute resolution expertise; and Sten Foyn, who specialises in redundancies, whistleblowing claims and restructurings. Kari Sigurdsen is also recommended for her litigation and investigations skills, specifically in determination of employment, resignation, temporary employment and whistleblowing issues.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The employment law team in Haavind continues to be a very strong legal team. We have had close collaboration with them for many years, and have been and continue to be very happy with their assistance. Haavind have always given strong, well funded and effective support, and are very service minded and available.’

  • ‘The employees understand our business and give advice accordingly. They are available whenever we need to discuss an issue at hand.’

  • ‘This team has a very high professional level and is very easy to work with.’

  • ‘We use Haavind as our key partner for personnel security. They have provided support and advice in a number of actual cases, but also in guiding our company in developing our internal governance and policy structure on the subject. They are the leading legal team on this subject in Norway.’

  • ‘Our point of contact is Gaute Krokann, and he has been our preferred partner for many years. He is always available, has an analytical mindset and has the ability to always maintain a strategic and holistic approach in both actual cases and in developing governance structure. Additionally, Gaute has a winning personality and is very easy to cooperate with.’

  • ‘Sten Foyn is up to date on all legal issues concerning our challenges and what we need help with.’

  • ‘Pål Kvernaas is our main contact person in Haavind. His responses to our questions are always relevant, to the point and timely. The response is always according to our request of "need to know" and not "nice to know".’

  • ‘We have been working with partner Lars Kokkvold. I have used Lars as a legal adviser in employment matters for over 20 years and he is always capable of finding good solutions. He has excellent communication skills, displays a deep knowledge of relevant legal topics and always delivers.’

Key clients

  • Lyreco Norge AS
  • The Norwegian Armed Forces
  • The Norwegian Police/The National Police Directorate
  • NCR Group ASA
  • Handelsbanken
  • The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority
  • Randstad
  • Equinor
  • Hurtigruten Group
  • Telenor Group
  • Norwegian Air Shuttle
  • Posten Norge
  • ISS Facility Service
  • Ryanair
  • Helse Sør-Øst
  • DN Media Group
  • The Norwegian Consumer Council
  • Utdanningsdirektoratet/The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training
  • Warner Music Norway
  • Avarn Security Group

Work highlights

  • Lodged two complaints with the ESA on behalf of two large staffing companies against the new hiring regulations in the Norwegian Working Environment Act, due to possible breach of EU Directive 2008/104 and Norway's EU/EEA service freedom obligations. Following the complaint, ESA has opened a case towards Norway for possible breach on the EEA agreement.
  • Investigated and assessed the internal handling of a whistleblowing incident within the Norwegian Police.
  • Assisted Hurtigruten with significant restructuring measures.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Lars Kokkvold
Partner Lars Kokkvold is among the most well-known and respected employment and pension lawyers in Norway, and counts numerous high-profile domestic and international businesses among his clients. His exceptional expertise allows him to handle a wide range of employment matters, including both contentious and advisory mandates. His areas of expertise include, for example, restructuring, relocating and downsizing, transfer of undertaking, outsourcing, individual employment protection matters and pension and protection of privacy. A particular specialty of his is handling the labour law aspects of reorganisations and restructurings. Partner Kokkvold has extensive experience and often works closely with company management through complex transformation processes. Lars has been the responsible attorney for legal and strategic assistance in several major corporate reorganisations and downsizings. Clients have praised his hands-on approach and business acumen, citing him as a trusted advisor who gets involved and provides solid support in business-critical matters. He has also frequently been ranked among the Top 10 Employment lawyers in Finansavisen (Norwegian financial daily newspaper), based on votes from peers in Norway.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Gaute Krokann
Partner Gaute Krokann is head of Haavind’s labour, employment and corporate governance practice team. With more than 20 years of experience,  Krokann is widely recognised as one of the most capable employment law practitioners in Norway. His previous work includes being  Head of the section for legal proceedings at the large employer organisation Virke, and a deputy judge at the district court level. Advisor to many of the market’s most significant clients, Krokann has extensive experience in restructuring and downsizing processes, collective labour, supervision of employees and individual employment protection matters, transfer of undertaking and dispute resolution. In recent years, he has established himself as one of the leading counsels for labour and employment law in the public sector and state-owned companies, handling several of the most important and complex disputes of recent years and having litigated several cases in the Labour Court. Krokann is a well-respected thought leader and frequently holds lectures and seminars in management and various employment law issues. He also has an international presence through being Co-Chair of Top Ranked Elite Law Network Interlaw’s Special Business Team for Employment and Labour law.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Gaute Krokann

Other key lawyers

Lars Kokkvold, Pål Kvernaas, Sten Foyn, Kari Sigurdsen

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