About

Stora Enso, a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wood and paper headquartered in Finland, is supported by a legal team of 40 employees, including 25 in-house corporate lawyers, nine patent engineers/attorneys, trademark experts and support staff. After a restructure in 2015, legal support is now divided into four key sub-functions: intellectual property, ethics and compliance, governance and legal services. Led by Per Lyrvall, general counsel, the new structure of the team allows each function to establish its own specialisms, annual actions, metrics and strategy all of which closely align with Stora Enso’s corporate targets. Christian Swartling, lead counsel for the legal services division, explains that ‘the legal team is an integrated part of the innovation processes of Stora Enso’; legal has been integral in various key strategic decisions for the organisation including divestitures and production plant closures in Northern Europe. The legal department provided a substantial contribution in the acquisition of US-based company Virdia, advised on investments in new productions facilities regarding renewable technology and additionally participated in the commercialisation of nano-applications of cellulose fibre. Swartling indicates that ‘as a department, the legal function seeks to continuously improve and innovate its processes and way of working’. The legal team will continue to be essential to Stora Enso’s expansion plans, such as the recent investment into a saw mill in Poland.