Finland 2025
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
General counsel and secretary to the board of directors | F-Secure
Executive vice president legal affairs and member of corporate management team | SOK
Executive vice president legal and compliance, and group general counsel | Assemblin Caverion Group
Executive vice president legal and general counsel | Stora Enso
Executive vice president corporate affairs and legal, group general counsel, member of the global executive team | Huhtamaki
Group general counsel and senior vice president enterprise risk management and ESG | Goodpack
Senior vice president legal and sustainability and general counsel | Aspo
Senior vice president general counsel and chief compliance officer | Luvata
Senior vice president and group general counsel | Valmet Automotive
Executive vice president, corporate relations and legal affairs | Wärtsilä
Chief legal officer, legal affairs and corporate responsibility | Raisio
Execuive vice president legal and compliance | Karl Fazer
General counsel and senior vice president human resources | Hiab
Executive vice president, general counsel, secretary of the board and head of sustainability | Rapala VMC
Congratulations to everyone featured on our first ever standalone GC Powerlist Finland, which is long overdue. Previously, our coverage of this major European economy was limited to an edition covering legal teams in the Nordic region all the way back in 2016, when the world was very different, so we are close to a decade without our highlighting the Finnish GC community – happily, we are rectifying that with this publication!
Thank you to everyone who interviewed with us for this project, as these interactions allow us to showcase insights from the world’s top GCs to a wide audience, and hopefully contribute to the knowledge base of the profession as a whole. I have picked some highlights to share from our research below.
Through our GC Powerlist initiative, we hope to build bridges between general counsel so that they can learn from each other and help in their career development, which we know can be indispensable to individuals’ professional growth. Elina Kaura, executive vice president for legal and compliance and group general counsel of Assemblin Caverion Group, gives a great example of this:
“Jutta Karlsson, currently the Group General Counsel for Amer Corporation, was my boss at Pöyry PLC from 2016 to 2019. Her trust and belief in me allowed me to shine and gave me the confidence to trust myself. I learned a great deal from her professionally, but even more importantly, I discovered that authenticity and joy in work and life in general are the key ingredients to reaching the next level when in the right environment to thrive. This principle guides me today in how I conduct myself and how I treat others.”
Chief legal officer of Nokia Esa Niinimäki spoke about some of the unique insights and career that becoming a GC can provide
‘One of the best parts of being a general counsel is the “general”: being exposed to so many areas of law with the different talented individuals in one’s own organisation. For me the most frequent activities include legal work relating to strategic growth areas of our business, M&A, commercial deals, IPR, litigation, regulatory tsunami, board work, ESG/sustainability, AI, people and culture. Another aspect where I derive a huge amount of satisfaction is how Chief Legal Officer is positioned in our company as a key contributor to strategic discussions: a big part of my work as a Group Leadership Team member does not relate to legal and compliance at all but is rather about acting as a strategic partner to the business, CEO and Board relating to their key considerations.’
Taru Uotila, Senior vice president, legal and sustainability, and general counsel of Aspo, spoke eloquently of the importance of a general counsel in managing risk during less-than-ideal business conditions:
‘We have witnessed an unprecedented number of significant crises during the past years – pandemic, Russian war in Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, climate crisis, and huge challenges in the global food chain. As the general counsel and member of our global executive team, I have been navigating through these crises and the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) environment together with my team by partnering with the businesses to manage the impacts of uncertainty and disruption, participating in the executive management’s decision-making in the process. It is important that a general counsel represents stability, analytical support and active participation in alignment of the most strategically important topics. Creating a safe environment for the senior leadership, enabling them to focus on the right things, is the most important value-add a general counsel can provide.’
And, summing up, Andreas Elving, chief legal officer and general counsel of Ahlstrom gave a succinct appraisal of the benefits of an experienced GC for a company:
‘In-house lawyers have one of the best vantage points in a company to be silo-breakers. In our day-to-day jobs, we are exposed to a number of different internal and external topics across the spectrum of commercial, regulatory, financial and other angles, and we are therefore uniquely positioned to connect dots. Using that position to provide outside-in perspectives to our business colleagues can foster interesting discussions and creative solutions in partnership with our stakeholders.’
But most importantly, congratulations to all featured in our first-ever standalone Finland GC Powerlist edition. We hope this is the start of a series of publications celebrating the best and brightest in the Finnish in-house legal community, as we know that the hard work of GCs is often not celebrated as much as it should be.
It has been an absolute pleasure for Legal 500 to host the launch of the GC Powerlist Switzerland 2025 at the iconic Baur au Lac in Zürich, honouring Switzerland’s most accomplished general counsel and senior in-house legal professionals across industries.
Taking place in one of Europe’s leading financial and innovation hubs, the reception convened the nation’s foremost corporate legal minds for an evening of reflection and celebration. It spotlighted the growing influence of in-house counsel as strategic partners who balance innovation with integrity, and who drive sustainable transformation within Swiss and international organisations alike.
Opening the event, Carmen Godoy, lead editor of the Legal 500 GC Powerlist Switzerland 2025, welcomed the guests and reflected on the strength and forward-thinking nature of the Swiss in-house community. She highlighted that the research behind this year’s edition revealed a profession characterised by integrity, innovation, and a strong sense of responsibility: one that continues to evolve with agility, foresight, and humanity.
According to Godoy, three core themes stood out during this year’s research. Firstly, resilience and governance, as Swiss legal teams continue to act as stabilising forces within their organisations. Secondly, digital transformation, with legal departments embracing technology, data analytics, and AI to become more proactive and future-ready. And, finally, sustainability and inclusion, as in-house counsel increasingly embed ESG principles and
diversity into corporate culture, leading with both purpose and empathy.
The evening also featured insightful remarks from Daniel Hayter, vice president Europe at Axiom Law, and Alexander Wyss, managing partner at Baker McKenzie Switzerland. Both shared their views on the evolving role of general counsel as strategic partners and innovators within their organisations. They highlighted the critical importance of in-house
legal teams learning to integrate and work alongside AI, an ally that enhances, rather than replaces, the strategic and human leadership of general counsel. Their reflections reinforced the essential role of collaboration between firms and in-house teams in fostering a resilient and forward-looking legal ecosystem.
This year’s GC Powerlist Switzerland 2025 honourees had the opportunity to share their experiences and perspectives with the Legal 500 team and their peers, engaging in energizing conversations that highlighted the strength, ethics, and forward-looking approach of the Swiss legal community.
On behalf of the entire team at Legal 500, we extend our warmest congratulations to all those included in the 2025 edition of the GC Powerlist: Switzerland. Your leadership, innovation, and commitment to excellence continue to set the benchmark for the profession both within the country and internationally.
We also wish to express our deepest gratitude to our sponsors, Axiom Law and Baker McKenzie Switzerland, for their continuous support in helping us celebrate the remarkable in-house legal talent driving progress across Switzerland.
