The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance (including shipping finance), Arntzen de Besche is a second tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche’s Paul Sveinsson heads an eight-fee-earner finance group represented in Oslo and Trondheim. The firm offers a broad practice with an established niche in aircraft finance. Erlend Bakken is an excellent business lawyer with finance expertise; he assisted Norwegian Energy Company in the structuring, documentation and listing of bond loans with an aggregate loan amount of NOK2 bn. Brynjulf Moe in Trondheim is also recommended.

Within Corporate and M&A, Arntzen de Besche is a second tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche has built ‘a group of young, talented lawyers – so the bigger law firms shouldn’t get too comfortable’. Geir Evenshaug is ‘a very good corporate lawyer with the ability to see the big picture’; Per Dagslet ‘a very good project leader through legal processes involving multi-national legal advisers’; and Erlend Bakken is ‘extremely practical, goal oriented and concise’. Terje Granvang and Trond Vernegg contribute vast experience to the group and are also highly recommended. The firm assisted Oslo Børs-listed Opera in its acquisition of the Australian company FastMail.

Within Dispute resolution, Arntzen de Besche is a second tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche has eight partners committing in excess of 50% of their time to the practice, and generally offers ‘good levels of service’, although clients think that ‘business and industry knowledge could sometimes be better’. Employment and seaman’s law expert Tron Dalheim is ‘the perfect lawyer, always on time, and excellent in court’, and Stig Gunleiksrud, who handles oil and gas and TMT instructions, is ‘very analytical and thinks creatively about alternative approaches’. Kåre Moljord and Fred Gade acted successfully for a lawyer accused of undue influence in the drafting of a will by relatives of the deceased. Terje Granvang and Thomas Nordby are highly recommended. The firm’s clients include Gjensidige Forsikring and Petroleum Geo-Services.

Within EU and competition, Arntzen de Besche is a second tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche offers a broad-based practice group which is ‘highly professional, always timely and provides complete answers’. Practice leader Stein Ove Solberg acted for Baker Hughes to secure approval from the Norwegian Competition Authority for the $5.5bn merger with BJ Services. Thomas Nordby ‘has an in-depth knowledge of EU matters’. Erlend Bakken is recommended and senior lawyer Thea Skaug has returned to the team after a period as Legal Director of the Norwegian Competition Authority. Clients include Enova SF, Tine, Mesta and Nortura.

Within Electricity, nuclear and renewable, Arntzen de Besche is a third tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche’s Dag Erlend Henriksen continues to lead the legal advice to the Statoil ASA/Gassnova carbon capture project in Mongstad. Senior lawyers Espen Bakken and Henrik Bjørnebye are developing a strong niche in regulation and completion in the energy sector. Clients include Naturkraft and Kraftverkene i Orkla.

Within Employment, Arntzen de Besche is a first tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche ‘makes you feel like you are the only client it has’. Group head Tron Dalheim ‘excels in all labour law issues that matter to corporate clients’, and Knut-Marius Sture is ‘looking for solutions rather than extending conflict through litigation’. Ingeborg Moen Borgerud is also recommended. The firm is representing SAS in a complex dispute regarding age discrimination against pilots. Other clients include the University of Oslo and Dagbladet.

Within Intellectual property and TMT, Arntzen de Besche is a third tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche’s IP/TMT team is strongest in the wider sector. Tommy Dahlen assisted Blaaster Wind Technology with IP licensing and manufacturing agreements, including patent due diligence. Clients include QFree and Google.

Within Legal market overview,

Firms offering comparable standards to the leaders in several practice areas include Arntzen de Besche, Simonsen Advokatfirma DA, Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS, and Advokatfirmaet Steenstrup Stordrange DA. The latter merged Ålesund-based Tømmerdal & Co into the national network in February 2010.

Within Oil and gas, Arntzen de Besche is a first tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche’s oil and gas group has a very broad practice which includes work for government departments in Norway and as adviser to sovereign governments in Asia, Africa and South-America, as well as for leading oil companies. The loss of Jan B Jansen to BA-HR is significant. Christian Michelet ‘combines deep legal knowledge with a wide understanding of petroleum policy and industrial and commercial issues’. Erlend Bakken is ‘one of our best strategic advisers’, and Dag Erlend Henriksen is ‘a very skilled lawyer’. Clients include BP, Shell, Total and Petroleum Geo Services.

Within Real estate and construction, Arntzen de Besche is a second tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche is ‘a very good firm offering excellent service’. The four-partner practice divides equally between Oslo and Trondheim, where Kjell Sagen Berg ‘is a number one lawyer in building and construction law’. Hans Henrik Kværne, who heads the group, is recommended for transactions, and Jon R Gresseth for construction projects. Arntzen de Besche acts for Veidekke and Reinertsen.

Within Tax, Arntzen de Besche is a third tier firm,

Arntzen de Besche’s tax team is now led by Rune Tjomsås Andersen. The firm’s tax offering was thinned by the departure of Jan Jansen but early recruitment at partner level is anticipated. Kåre I Moljord is noted as a tax litigator. The firm’s clients include Norske Shell and Seadrill Management.