Norway 2019
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Legal Director Legal Operations UK, Norway and Russia & Equinor Legal KAM | TechnipFMC
In the words of a nominator… ‘He is the leader of the global legal key account contract expert network in TechnipFMC consisting of 16 lawyers situated throughout the world. In...
General counsel | Nord Pool
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? With effect from October 2018, Nord Pool completed an extensive group-internal...
Senior Vice President Legal & Compliance | Höegh LNG
Do you have any effective techniques for getting the most out of external counsel, in terms of how to instruct them? Höegh LNG is committed to continuously improve the way...
Head of legal and compliance | Santander Consumer Bank
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? The in-house legal role is becoming more and more important in...
Senior legal counsel / advokat M.N.A (lawyer) | SAS
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have worked on the following: negotiated, mitigated and finally settled...
Group general counsel | Sporveien Oslo
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The biggest project at Sporveien for the time being is the...
General Counsel | Solør Bioenergi Holding AB
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Solør Bioenergy Group is a northern European energy company. In 2003...
Vice president and general counsel | Norsk Hydro
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important transaction I have been involved in lately was...
Vice president and deputy general counsel | Aker Solutions
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? Within AKSO we are consistently working to ensure one integrated and...
Chief competition counsel | Equinor ASA
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have not been involved in litigations the last two years,...
Group Legal Counsel/ Corporate Secretary | Avinor
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? In my opinion the in-house legal role will have to be...
General Counsel | Powel
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? Trondheim hosts Norway’s university of technology and natural science (NTNU) and...
Head of legal and managing counsel | Norske Shell
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? Norske Shell is present in four locations; Kristiansund, Aukra, Oslo and...
Group Legal Counsel | B2Holding
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? I believe the role of in-house lawyers will become more important...
General counsel | Handelsbanken
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? I see a trend where in-house-legal functions will involve themselves even...
Group general counsel | Ulstein Group
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Over the last two years, I have been involved in and...
General counsel | Norske Tog
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I started working at Norske tog (NT) in January 2018. From...
General counsel | Forsvarsmateriell (Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency)
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? The size and role of an in-house team can vary widely....
Legal director | Coop Norge
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? The in-house lawyer must constantly demonstrate value for the company and...
Head of Legal & Compliance and Board Secretary | Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? The in-house legal role has undergone a huge change over the...
SVP - Head of group tax | Statkraft - Group Tax
What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry? In my experience the key qualities required to be successful are...
General counsel | Aker BioMarine
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? I see the in-house legal role evolving in a number of...
General counsel | Petroleum Geo-Services
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? During the recent years, we have been involved in several cross-jurisdictional...
Counsel | Avinor
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? Both leaders and different non-legal specialists are increasingly aware of the...
General counsel and chief compliance officer | Höegh Autoliners
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? Over the past years, there have been numerous cases in our...
Legal Director | Nordic Semiconductor
What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry? Regardless of what you are selling or buying, the scope of...
Head of Legal | Boligbyggelaget Usbl
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? I expect an increase in the number of in-house lawyers in...
Vice President Legal | Freebit
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? I think that the development from being purely compliance-risk and legal...
General counsel | TINE
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? We assist the top management regularly and are thus involved in...
General counsel | Elkem ASA
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? It seems that more and more companies have learned to appreciate...
General counsel | NSB Gjøvikbanen
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important transactions I have been involved in during the...
Chief Legal Counsel | Electromagnetic Geoservices
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important transaction I have been involved with during this...
General counsel | CGI Norge
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In the last three years, I have been through two successful...
General counsel Scandenavia | Sopra Steria
What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry? There are many qualities that are required to be a better...
Executive vice president and general counsel | Scatec
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving over the next few years? Firstly, in-house teams are expanding, and this is not merely an effort to reduce...
Head of Legal Department | Swedbank Norge
What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry? The key element to be a successful in house lawyer is...
Head of Legal | Axactor Norway
Note: Rørvik moved from BASF to Axactor Norway in August 2019. What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?...
Head of legal | Arbeidsgiverforeningen Spekter
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? One important transaction that I have been involved with as group...
Managing counsel | ConocoPhillips Norge
How would you advise in-house legal departments in the oil and gas sector to cope with the industry’s changes in the last five years? Over the last five years, the...
General counsel | Siemens Mobility AS
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years? As the digital evolution will release the legal departments from a...
Since first being published as The Corporate Counsel 100, The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist series has grown exponentially since its beginnings in 2013. It started by covering four of the world’s most established legal markets, and whilst the core objective of the publication – highlighting the most capable, outstanding and innovative in-house counsel in a jurisdiction – has remained the same, the reach and scope of the GC Powerlist has since become almost unrecognisable. Now present in a vast array of jurisdictions and with a portfolio of 70 unique editions, the GC Powerlist series has gone from strength to strength and has firmly been established as the “go-to” title that assesses and features leading corporate counsel across the globe.
Not content to rest on our laurels, we at The Legal 500 are evolving the GC Powerlist series even further, deepening our commitment to ensuring not only the widest geographical coverage, but to highlight and explore issues and challenges at the forefront of the minds of leading in-house lawyers. Therefore, this and future editions of the GC Powerlist will have a very different look to their predecessors. Instead of profiling individual counsel or in-house legal teams, more incisive insights from in-house thought leaders on the topics of the day will be featured extensively throughout our new look GC Powerlist publications.
This new look entails the publication of Q&A transcripts regarding legal and business challenges, comment pieces on specific industry or regulatory affairs, more detailed analysis as to where the market is heading and content related to soft-skills, work ethic and business relationships that general counsel utilise. This new format will not only provide more thought leadership and insight, but provide more clarity on what is driving legal business forward in each market that we cover.
In the GC Powerlist: Norway 2019, we showcase the considerable strength of the in-house legal market in Norway. Having previously covered Norway as part of the wider region, we have, for the last two years, covered the jurisdiction individually due to its abundance of in-house legal talent.
This edition showcases a broad scope of experience and insight covering themes such as the lasting impact of the 2015 oil and gas market crash, legal technology, and increasing financial regulations. It identifies the growing importance of in-house legal management within the context of savings and efficiency, legislative changes including public procurement act, NIS Directive and Security Law, as well as, higher expectations of external counsel in all areas including the type and quality of advice, the end of the billable hour, diversity and inclusion and cost effectivity measurements. I would like to extend my congratulations to all of this year’s inclusions and give a thank you to all of the in-house counsel that contributed.
Peter Tweedley
Senior Research Analyst
The In-house Legal Research Team
Legal 500 was proud to host the second edition of the GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025 in Nairobi, honouring the top General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Legal Directors, and senior in-house legal professionals across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. This year’s reception brought together over 100 of the most influential and innovative corporate counsel from the region, and was an unrivalled success, cementing Legal 500’s role as the leading voice in recognising in-house legal excellence across Africa.
The evening was opened by Joe Boswell, lead editor of the GC Powerlist publication at Legal 500, who highlighted the growing prestige of the East Africa edition and the increasing challenge of selecting honourees from such a deep (and rapidly growing) pool of talent.
Guests were then treated to some particularly relevant insights from distinguished speakers. Rachel Musoke, Head of ENS Uganda, delivered a thoughtful welcome that reflected on the importance of collaboration between private practice and in-house teams. This was followed by a powerful keynote from Habil Waswani, Company Secretary & Director Legal Services and Regulatory Compliance at Kenya Airways, who shared reflections on leadership, regulatory stewardship, and the evolving role of corporate counsel in East Africa.
The highlight of the evening was the certificate ceremony, where this year’s honourees were formally recognised. Certificates were presented by senior representatives of ENS, including Désiré Kamanzi (Head of Rwanda), Rachel Musoke, Nigel Shaw (Head of Kenya), Donald Nyakairu (Executive, Uganda), Dieudonne Nzafashwanayo (Executive, Rwanda), Rahema Nakirya Ssemyalo (Executive, Uganda) and Binti Shah (Executive, Kenya) whose participation underlined the depth of the firm’s support for the GC Powerlist initiative.
The GC Powerlist: East Africa 2025 reaffirmed The Legal 500’s commitment to shining a spotlight on the region’s most talented in-house lawyers. With an even stronger field of candidates, this year’s edition stands as a powerful testament to the influence and expertise of East Africa’s legal leaders. Habil Waswani’s excellent speech, which got a raucous reception from those in the room, is reproduced below with his permission:
‘My name is Habil Waswani, and I have been an inhouse legal practitioner for the past 21 years in different sectors (having done law-firm practice for 2 years before that). Tt is indeed a true privilege and honour for me to be here tonight, surrounded by the sharpest legal minds and calmest crisis-handlers the East African corporate world has to offer.
First, let me thank the Legal 500 and ENSAfrica teams, for organising such a fantastic event and for bringing us together in such style. Congratulations to each of tonight’s honourees. You represent the very best of general counsel in this very dynamic corporate space the businesses we support operate in. Strategic, ethical, resilient, and, let’s be honest, often underappreciated leaders of industry.
I am so happy that this evening is not about contracts, or compliance checklists, or board packs. Tonight is about celebrating you, the people behind all of that. The steady hands guiding companies through complexities, uncertainties, and ensuring that the opportunities that lie within those difficult circumstances are lawfully realized.
We all know the role of GCs has evolved. We are no longer tucked away at the end of a corridor marked “Legal” or labelled the proverbial “cost centres”. These days, the GCs sit at the big table – helping drive corporate strategy, shaping desired culture, providing leadership and safeguarding business reputations. We have become indispensable partners to businesses, interpreters, navigators, protectors… and on some (many) days, therapists with law degrees. And yet, we mostly do it all so quietly. No victory laps, no press releases. Often, success for us means the expected disaster didn’t happen.
But tonight, we break that rule. Tonight, we raise a glass to the GCs who’ve blazed the trail courageously, with clarity, conviction, and tremendous resilience that only matches the expectations of the Leadership Guru John Maxwell when he said, “resilient leaders don’t wait for the storm to past — they learn to dance in the rain”. You have managed to balance growth and governance, risk and reward regularly. And, of course, always managed to deal with those 10pm messages: “Hey, just a quick question…Are you able to talk right now…?”
Let this evening serve as a reminder that you are not just experienced legal advisors. You are leaders — spear heads and enablers of execution — and without a doubt critical pillars of business strategy.
To all the honourees, congratulations once again for the well-deserved recognition. This is for the heavy lifting that you do, the standards you uphold, and the impact you make – quietly, consistently, and brilliantly so. You’ve earned this spotlight.
