Mr Herman Steen > Wikborg Rein > Oslo, Norway > Lawyer Profile

Mr Herman Steen

+47 93 03 46 93 hst@wr.no View profile

Work Department

Litigation and Arbitration, Shipping Offshore

Position

Herman is head of the firm’s Shipping and Offshore Dispute Practice in Oslo and global head of the Maritime and Offshore Emergency Response Team. He is admitted to the Norwegian Supreme Court and is member of the Norwegian Bar Association’s Legal Committee on Maritime, Air and other Transport Law, including Marine Insurance. Herman is ranked by Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and the Norwegian Financial Daily. Legal 500 has described him as “the go-to person for international maritime disputes, specifically casualty claims and marine insurance issues”, “always has a practical solution to solve a tricky issue” and that he is “calm, knowledgeable and a steady pair of hands”. He is one of the leading lawyers in international maritime and marine insurance law. Herman has particular experience with maritime casualties, where he assists Norwegian and international clients, including P&I clubs, hull insurers, shipowners and others in connection with investigation and handling of incidents in Norway and around the world such as salvage, wreck removal, pollution, collisions, groundings, fires and cargo damage. He also assists in the handling of claims and legal proceedings arising out of such incidents. He has extensive experience with cover disputes under P&I, hull, war and cargo insurances, as well as reinsurance, direct actions, jurisdiction and choice of law issues and charterparty disputes. He is one of a few experts on autonomous ships. Herman has extensive litigation experience as a lawyer and previously as a judge. He has argued several cases for the Norwegian Supreme Court and has acted as a mediator on numerous occasions and is an experienced negotiator. He has been working out of the firm’s offices in Oslo, London and Kobe, Japan. Herman has previously been a judge in Oslo District Court and Drammen District Court, and also research assistant at the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, where he wrote a thesis on charterparties which has been published in the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law’s law journal. He has a law degree from the University of Oslo and a master’s degree in maritime law from King’s College London. He has attended Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers (Negotiation). Herman is frequently speaker at Norwegian and international conferences. He is lecturing at the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers’ (Cefor) Claims Forum and has for many years been lecturing at the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law. He is regularly publishing maritime and marine insurance law articles in Norwegian and international periodicals. Herman is one of the editors of the firm’s Shipping Offshore Update.

Career

2018- Partner, Wikborg Rein, Oslo
2017 Specialist Counsel, Wikborg Rein, Oslo
2011-2017 Senioradvokat, Wikborg Rein, Oslo
2010 Senior Associate, Wikborg Rein, Oslo
2010 Deputy Judge, Oslo District Court
2009-2010 Deputy Judge, Drammen District Court
2008-2009 Senior Associate, Wikborg Rein, Oslo
2008 Visiting Lawyer, Ince & Co., London
2008 Senior Associate, Wikborg Rein, London
2006-2007 Associate, Wikborg Rein, London/Kobe
2004-2006 Associate, Wikborg Rein, Oslo
2003- Lecturer and Examiner at The Faculty of Law, University of Oslo (including Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law)
2003-2004 Junior Researcher, Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo
2000-2002 Trainee at various law firms etc.

Education

2006 Practising Certificate
2004 Cand. jur., University of Oslo
2004 Program of Instruction for Lawyers (Negotiation), Harvard Law School, Harvard University
2003 Master of Maritime Law (LLM), King’s College London, University of London