What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

Working in a tech start up, scaling the business is the one, perpetual key project. Scaling through commercial growth and funding, as well as team and shareholders, product and market development, requires integrated and highly specialised legal know-how to ensure success in these processes.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

The ability to understand how the business works and how the business needs to answer to the market is crucial for a modern in-house counsel. Even though there are an enormous – and growing – set of regulations to consider during day-to-day operations, the most basic aspect of any business is to fulfill the demands of the business’ clients. This means that in-house legal departments have to understand which problems the business solves for its clients. Furthermore, important attributes are industry knowledge and understanding where the business is in the market value chain. Understanding the role of your company’s business and the product helps recognize the mechanics and dynamics to be covered in the contractual framework between the different parties.

We need to understand that the law is not the core of business and that the law has to answer the needs of the business. Even though the law is not the focus in itself, it always regulates the operations of the business. As in-house legal counselors we need to deliver answers which both the product and commercial departments understand, otherwise they will skip the legal part of things and add more risk to operations.

What do you think sets you apart from other in-house counsel?

Building upon my previous answer, I think my understanding of how to present the law as relevant and applicable to the team, so that they know when to ask and keep asking for help.

I strongly believe that business – in relation to the market, its competitors and its suppliers – always comes first. This means that the in-house legal work must answer to what the business needs, keeping professional pride at a minimum and not elevating law to my core concern, but regarding it as a (very) useful tool. Thus, the legal advice is very concrete and applicable for my non-lawyer colleagues.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I am very passionate about what businesses in essence are, that product and market is at their core. Because of my passionate attitude towards businesses as such and the place of the law within a business framework, I frequently contribute to debates related to these issues in the Norwegian financial newspapers.