Sorainen

Corporate Advisory, Employment law, Environmental law, Social & Governance (ESG), Insolvency & Restructuring, M&A and Private Equity, Ukraine

Partner, co-heads the Corporate and M&A team in Estonia.

Having worked with Sorainen since 1996, Karin Madisson has made it from intern to partner and followed the development of the Estonian legal state right from the start. Today, she co-heads the Corporate and M&A team of the Estonian office with two partners, and has also served as the regional leader of the firm's Corporate practice and Employment practice. Karin enjoys facilitating agreements and helping clients achieve their goals. She takes great interest in shareholder relations and manager liability issues as well as legal questions stemming from collective employment relations.

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬. Karin has advised some of the largest transactions in the Baltics and occasionally feels content about representing clients in court on questions of principle when she sees that it improves the overall business climate. Above all, Karin enjoys it when an agreement is reached after tough discussions. She likes to serve as a mediator for clients so that they can focus on core business.

𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. Due to the generational switch in business and increased wealth at individual levels, Karin has been extensively involved in family and succession law matters.

𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬. Karin specialises in cross-border legal issues and has advised some of the largest cross-border mergers and restructurings in the Baltics. She has also had the privilege to advise several negotiations for collective agreements and strikes. Karin works most closely with the start-up, forestry and industrial sectors. In addition, she contributes to cross-border research projects, eg Maastricht University project on cross-border corporate mobility in the EU.

𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬. In 2015, Karin was appointed by the minister of justice to serve on a steering committee that seeks to propose how to make Estonia’s business environment more competitive. In 2017, she was on a team of experts analysing and making proposals with regard to improving insolvency proceedings. Since 2017, she has also been serving on the ministry’s company law review committee, which guides and facilitates the work of the company law review working group in drafting amendments to legislation.

𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. For eight years Karin chaired the commercial law committee of the Estonian Bar Association, which solicits opinions on the legislative process. In 2015, she was honoured with the Lawyer of the Year title by the Estonian Bar Association.

𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. Karin has served as business advisor and on supervisory boards for several companies and enjoys giving lectures to business people, who always teach her something in return and enlighten her by sharing valuable real-life examples. Karin often speaks up on business issues when she feels that lawmakers need to hear clients’ concerns or that proposed legislation may hurt entrepreneurship. Her personal life as an entrepreneur is not limited to being a partner with Sorainen: together with her family, she runs the boutique hotel Ööbikuoru Villa (Villa Nightingale) and restaurant Andreas in picturesque Rõuge in Southern Estonia.

Estonian, English, Finnish

Estonian Bar Association

International Bar Association

European Employment Lawyers Association

Enefit Green’s Supervisory Board

Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), AI tools to optimize the work processes of companies during the digital revolution (micro-degree)

Riga Graduate School of Law, Latvia (LLM in International and European Law, with merit)

University of Tartu, EuroCollege, Estonia (MA in European Studies)

Institute of Law, Estonia (BA in Law)

In 2022, Karin joined the Estonian Defence League and has been awarded the rank of corporal.