Sustainable Law > Copenhagen, Denmark > Firm Profile
Sustainable Law Offices
Store Kongensgade 128
1264 Copenhagen
Denmark
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Sustainable Law > The Legal 500 Rankings
Denmark > Real estate and construction
The ‘very experienced’ Merete Larsen spearheads boutique firm Sustainable Law and has over 20 years experience dispensing specialist advice on all aspects of major project developments and large real estate transactions. The practice acts on behalf of major developers, international corporates universities and investment funds. Julia Lisa Feuerhake is another important point of contact, with her practice emphasising complex property development work, including the buying and selling of development properties and projects, lease law and construction issues.Practice head(s):
Merete Larsen
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘Managing Partner, Merete Larsen, is unique within her core areas of expertise: real estate and construction law. Her vast knowledge within construction law incl. turnkey contracts, main and trade contracts as well as technical advice agreements is beyond significant. Merete Larsen is always available, and her always approachable nature is appreciated by everyone including her counterparts. Constant care, due diligence and thoroughness are among her characteristics, as is her insight into the challenges of the construction business.’
‘I have been working with partner and founder Merete Larsen for many years. Her extensive experience, network and industry knowledge are very valuable. Julia Feuerhake is a future star, and her great work effort shows how Merete Larsen achieves her strategy with professional support for her clients combined with collaboration in an informal environment.’
‘The partners Merete Larsen and Julia Feuerhake have all-round knowledge and they demonstrate a highly commercial understanding related to the development of real estate.’
‘Merete Larsen and her team are very knowledgeable about everything in the real estate industry, and we feel extremely safe in their care. They do not complicate things unnecessarily, but are fairly direct without too many disclaimers.’
‘Merete Larsen is very experienced and has worked for our company for the last 20 years. She is very cooperative, trustworthy, solution orientated, quick, bright and up to date.’
‘All companies should have a strong green profile at this day and age. Sustainable law has made it their legacy and business to be able to offer legal services which promotes and accelerates the green agenda.’
‘The team at Sustainable Law demonstrate professional skills on many aspects related to property development and they are very knowledgeable.’
Key clients
A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S
Udviklingsselskabet Carlsberg Byen P/S
Technical University of Denmark – DTU
MT Højgaard Projektudvikling A/S
Balder Danmark A/S
JM AB
Bovieran Danmark A/S
Aarhus Universitet
The Danish Road Directorate
Work highlights
- Advised A.P. Møller – Mæersk A/S on developing a united headquarter and campus on the newly purchased property. The new campus is planned to – among others – compromise a hotel, educational/cultural institutions as well as labs/spaces.
- Advised Carlsberg Byen P/S on the ongoing development of the new city area ‘Carlsberg Byen’.
- Handling all transactions and acquisitions for MT Højgaard.
Sustainable Law > Firm Profile
Sustainable Law was founded with a goal to integrate the principles of People, Profit, Planet into the practice dealing with large project developments and real estate. Thus, Sustainable Law is setting goals for a more sustainable way of handling legal advice focusing on creating value for the clients while complying with goals of diversity, flexibility and sustainability.
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
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Ms Julia Lisa Feuerhake | Julia specializes in Project Development and has for the past 6 years… | View Profile |
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Mrs Merete Larsen | Merete specializes in Project Development and has more than 30 years of… | View Profile |
Interviews
Merete Larsen, Partner, Founder
Founder and Partner Merete Larsen on the importance of sustainable legal practices – the ESG agenda being equally important to clients and trusted advisors What do you see as the main points that differentiate Sustainable Law from your competitors?
I founded Sustainable Law 2021 on the principles of the Triple Bottom Line (People, Profit, Planet). The surrounding society and the clients have made major progress on the ESG agenda, but the legal sector has not focused on these issues at all. In Sustainable Law we show that all aspects of sustainability can be implemented within the legal practices as well – still focusing on highest level of legal advice within the field of large Real Estate deals and project development, advising the large stock exchange listed companies that themselves are driven by the same agendas. Since formation in early 2021 we have shown that we can provide even more value than before for the clients with the implementation of total digitalization (no paper), flexibility, diversity and more.
Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?
We expect that the strong focus on sustainable behavior will make even more of the client’s focused on sustainability in all parts of their own supply chain, including their legal advice. We expect many of our clients to be even more focused on creating certified buildings in order to add value not only economically but also climate wise. The EU regulations and expected coming restrictions in all parts of society asks for legal advice not only focusing on the regulations of today but also those foreseen for tomorrow.
What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?
Being a core principle of Sustainable Law, our flat organizational structure adds value to clients. Our entire team is a part of client management and servicing, so all aspects of our legal and strategic advice is a result of teamwork and collaboration. Implementing this structure was amongst my highest priorities when creating Sustainable Law, not only to add value to clients, but also to create a work environment where diversity, equality and exposure to all aspects of our legal services is fundamental and contributes to the overall growth in capabilities within our team and at our clients’ teams thus truly understanding the needs of our clients.
Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?
Absolutely, yes – being a digital and 100% paperless legal office, we work with optimized digital case files which results in time efficiency in our work processes. As legal advisors in many million and billion DKK transactions, we provide data rooms and data management solutions, which adds to the overall value that we can provide to our clients. The Real Estate sector is being subjected to renewed and more restrictive regulations on CO2 emissions in construction, and technology providing data on emissions will have a major part to play in reporting. Therefore, we pride ourselves to be first movers within the relevant technologies in order to provide full-service advice to our clients.
Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?
Our approach to the planning process and the structuring thereof have avoided a stop in permits and thus preventing the prolongation of the building process with more than a year (saving millions of DDK). Another example is through analysis giving advices that resulted in adding 5,000 sqm to another building resulting a current raise to the value of many millions DKK. Final example is the structuring of the development of a city district in Copenhagen in a way where the leases and legal structure is so strong that even in these years of recession, several transactions are taking place for more than billions of DKK in a market that otherwise is on pause.
Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?
Our clients rely on us not only for product-oriented legal services, but also for strategic direction and advice. We are often onboarded early into project developments to devise strategy, both legal and otherwise, at top-level. Being a part of conceptualization, development, sale and delivery of multiple thousands of residential units over the last years while also counselling our clients on many real estate transactions, we aim to continually provide the highest level full-service legal advice and strategic development for our clients. While a decrease in the amount of residential units transacting over the coming years is to be expected, we expect to be a part of an increased amount of larger real estate transactions and overall project development.
- Real estate and construction