Mr Christian Hauge > Wiersholm > Oslo, Norway > Lawyer Profile

The insurance and regulatory practice at Wiersholm is praised by clients as ‘very knowledgeable, with great expertise, and is very available, service-minded and hands-on‘; the team assists insurance companies and intermediaries with a diverse range of insurance matters, as well as acting in litigation and arbitration proceedings. Practice head Hans Kenneth Viga-Gerhardsen is an expert in insurance and marine insurance law, and the team also includes Kjersti Trøbråten, who is ‘one of the best advisers on regulatory matters in the industry’; Olav Perland, who is highly experienced in dispute resolution and corporate law litigation; and shipping and insurance specialist Christian Hauge. Other notable practitioners include ‘highly skilled‘ regulatory specialist Stian Endre, Magnus Nordøy Snellingen, who primarily assists with shareholder M&A and D&O liability disputes; and Fredrik Dahm, who is an expert in liability matters concerning accounts, auditing and other economic issues.

Counting leading domestic and international banks, energy companies, and telecoms and media players among its impressive roster of clients, Wiersholm’s dispute resolution offering runs the gamut of contentious mandates. Thomas Naalsund and Christian Hauge now jointly lead the team; Naalsund has a broad practice that covers post-transaction disputes as well as competition and public procurement-related matters, while Hauge has an emphasis on shipping and insurance litigation. Contentious tax matters are handled by Bettina Banoun, while Olav Perland handles financial and corporate litigation; the ‘outstanding’ Magnus Nordøy Snellingen is another core individual here. The team also includes Morten Goller, who is experienced in international arbitrations, and Magnus Hellesylt, who is a key contact for complex IT contract disputes.

Under the joint leadership of Karl Even Rygh and Kristine Hasle, the interdisciplinary offshore construction and shipbuilding practice at Wiersholm draws on experts from various practice areas across the firm to provide a full-service offering with notable strength in dispute resolution, including acting in international arbitration proceedings; Christian Hauge is a key name here. Field development and project execution feature heavily in the group’s workload, with the team regularly acting for both international and domestic oil services contractors operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Sondre Dyrland takes point on offshore construction matters, while associate Mattias Grieg ably assists with transactional work in this space.

Karl Even Rygh and Kristine Hasle jointly lead Wiersholm’s ‘excellent’ maritime team, which is routinely instructed by domestic and international ship and rig owners, service companies, and financial advisers on the full range of contentious and non-contentious mandates. On the transactional side, Rygh handles newbuilding and conversion projects and sale and leaseback work, while Hasle takes point on shipping and offshore-related restructuring work. Marine insurance is a notable area of expertise for the group, with ‘strategically sound’ litigator Christian Hauge acts for shipowners, insurers, and classification societies in major litigation and arbitration proceedings.