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
The 2025 edition of the GC Powerlist Colombia, held at the elegant Casa Medina in Bogotá, brought together some of the most influential general counsel and in-house legal leaders from across the country and region. The event highlighted how Colombian legal departments are evolving to meet the demands of an increasingly complex, tech-driven, and sustainability-conscious business environment. Key themes throughout the day included the strategic adoption of AI and legal tech, lean but agile team structures, shifting approaches to external counsel, and a strong commitment to ESG and inclusive leadership.
One of the most prominent discussion points was the integration of legal technology, particularly AI and large language models, into in-house legal work. Across companies like Uber, Unilever, Takeda, and GFT, there is strong momentum around the use of AI tools for contract lifecycle management—ranging from clause extraction and risk flagging to version control and automated drafting. However, rather than viewing AI as a replacement for legal professionals, most GCs described these technologies as strategic enablers that allow their teams to focus on higher-impact work. Laura Jaramillo Franco of Bayer provided one of the most detailed insights into how her team has deliberately structured their AI use. She emphasised that the value lies not in using AI for its own sake, but in tailoring each tool to specific use cases that align with legal risk standards and data protection policies. Tools such as Harvey, myGenAssist, Claude, Notebook, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Gamma are all part of Bayer’s ecosystem—each selected and implemented with clear purpose and governance.
Legal design was another emerging theme, with institutions like Scotiabank and Unilever investing in simplifying legal documents to make them more accessible to non-legal stakeholders. This is especially relevant in consumer-facing sectors where clear communication builds trust and mitigates risk. There is also growing interest in predictive analytics for litigation and compliance risk mapping, as legal departments seek more proactive ways to support business decisions.
Despite the growing influence of technology, staffing models remain lean. Most legal departments consist of teams ranging from three to nine professionals. However, size is no longer the defining factor of effectiveness. Instead, agility, business-embeddedness, and cross-functional collaboration are key. General counsel from companies such as Scotiabank, Cargill highlighted the increasing involvement of legal leaders in crisis management and business strategy, often working side by side with finance and communications teams. Upskilling, especially in technology and leadership, is an area of active investment, with Uber, for instance, noting formal programs aimed at equipping in-house lawyers for this evolving role.
The event also revealed a shift in the use of external counsel. In-house teams are now more confident in handling complex matters internally, including regulatory strategy, litigation, and M&A. Companies such as SierraCol and Bancolombia highlighted that while law firms remain essential, engagements are becoming more selective and strategic. The focus has moved from transactional work to long-term partnerships that add specialized value or support cross-border challenges.
Sustainability and ESG responsibilities continue to expand within legal departments. Legal leaders are increasingly central to ensuring compliance with ESG frameworks, advising on disclosures, and shaping product strategies aligned with social impact. Viviana Prada Rey of Grupo Cibest shared how her legal team plays a key role in advancing the company’s mission to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. From advising on sustainable finance initiatives to monitoring ESG-related regulatory developments in both Colombia and the United States, the legal function has become instrumental in driving long-term impact.
Another area of strong focus was crisis resilience. Legal teams are leading scenario planning and designing compliance playbooks, ensuring they are prepared for unexpected events. Leadership and inclusion also featured prominently. Companies are integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their legal team strategies. Juliana Hoyos Flórez, General Counsel of SierraCol, discussed the company’s ALMA program (Academia de Liderazgo para Mujeres de Alto Impacto), which has empowered over 180 women across the company and community with leadership skills and is expected to reach 300 by 2026.
In conclusion, the GC Powerlist Colombia 2025 was a testament to the transformation of the legal profession in the region. Far from being reactive support functions, today’s legal departments are strategic, tech-savvy, socially conscious, and embedded at the heart of business decision-making. As demonstrated once again, Colombia’s in-house legal leaders are not just keeping pace with global trends—they are helping define them.
