This year our following experts are listed as the elite Leading Individuals:

• Jussi Ikonen (Dispute Resolution)
• Heidi Merikalla-Teir (Dispute Resolution)
• Erkko Ruohoniemi (Competition and EU)

In addition the publication recommends the following Merilampi lawyers:

• Tommi Elo (Banking and Finance)
• Ari Keinänen (Banking and Finance)
• Antti Kahri (Commercial, Corporate and M&A)
• Heidi Hiltunen (Employment)
• Jussi Koivu (Employment)
• Henrik af Ursin (Intellectual Property)
• Mika Pakarinen (Intellectual Property)

Here are some of the testimonials from our clients and comments from the research team:

Dispute resolution

"A very strong team of professionals works here. The employees of the company quickly understand the essence of the problem and give all options for the development of events."

"We have received well argued advice in our disputes with different stakeholders from Merilampi’s Dispute resolution team. There are many experts in the team with a business oriented approach to legal proceedings and capability to give ad hoc tips for ongoing processes in different phases."

"Jussi Ikonen has long history and experience in dispute resolution. Very good insight into different strategies in the process. Good engagement with customer and timely execution of the process. Very professional argumentation of the customer viewpoints in the dispute resolution."

"Jussi Ikonen is absolutely an excellent litigator. I have been his client now for four years. He has won all the processes we have gone through. He is supportive and a very intelligent litigator. I think all the opponents are afraid of him. I would not like to sit on the other side of the table. He has high moral."

"Jussi Ikonen always thinks the best of the client. Even as a litigator he wants to solve the cases peacefully and tactically. I think he is one of the best litigators in Finland."

Employment

"Excellent legal knowledge and customer-orientated approach."

"Heidi Hiltunen is a very knowledgeable, service-oriented employment partner who is a pleasure to work with."

"Heidi Hiltunen is the best employment lawyer in Helsinki. She has excellent legal intuition for solving complex legal employment issues."

EU and Competition

"All the team members in EU and competition practice are very service minded, hardworking and absolutely top professionals. The team works seamlessly together and the responsible partner is always on top of the things. One of the biggest strengths of te team is the fast response time and ability to get acquainted with things quickly."

"The team has been extremely easy to work with. The lawyers are diligent in their work, the team takes the initiative in handling the competition processes and we can rely on the fact that all the necessary steps are taken in due time and correctly. They know how to present the case in the right way and what things the authorities look into in the competition processes. It is easy to rely on such an experienced and diligent team."

Real Estate and Construction

"The team is particularly strong in construction law, advising on complex industrial projects, and is experienced in construction litigation and arbitration. Department head Emma Niemistö is a key resource for construction litigation and arbitration, especially concerning construction liability matters, while Jani Ylä-Autio advises on complex domestic and international real estate deals. Tommi Elo focuses on real estate transactions and finance mandates."

Banking and Finance

"Merilampi Attorneys Ltd is especially strong in real estate finance work, often acting on the borrower side, as well as handling other financing work for Finnish companies active in the fintech space. The team is also experienced in regulatory matters involving corporate lending transactions and the financing of PPPs. Practice head Tommi Elo deals with licensing and regulatory proceedings, as well as cross-border securities transactions, while Ari Keinänen specialises in corporate and real estate transactions."

Intellectual Property

"The team is a gem to be found for those who know the Finnish IP market. It is fairly new and fairly small, but still very experienced with a high level of specialization. Although not comparable to size, its advice given has the highest quality and stands strong in the competition with other Finnish firms."

"Henrik af Ursin who leads the firm IP practice is an outstanding IP lawyer. Excellent client communicator and IP legal strategist. Great knowledge of the material law and has always delivered strong outcome in our cases. I had no reason to test any other alternatives in Finland since starting with him."

"The practice has a very structured, client-friendly approach which is probably the firm’s recipe for attracting more and more new clients. The firm has established sizeable trade mark and patent licensing programs and is very well managed by head of trade mark practice Henrik af Ursin."

"Henrik af Ursin, who is heading the trade mark practice of Merilampi, is a trade mark expert with a veritable cornucopia of case and even court experience. This is something particularly hard to find in Finland where trade mark court cases are counted. Henrik is highly professional, always super-prompt in responding, extremely diligent and always nice to work with."

"Henrik af Ursin is head of practice and he leads the way. For trade mark law his is today No. 1 in Finland. He has an impressive global reach acting for foreign clients in Finland and he keeps up with the demands set by the most demanding in-house teams."

Commercial, Corporate and M&A

"Merilampi Attorneys Ltd is active in public and private M&A transactions, often involving IP, IT or environmental aspects. Practice co-head Jani Ylä-Autio is noted for his advice regarding corporate and real state transactions, while co-head Antti Kahri focuses on both domestic and international M&A, as well as private equity transactions."

See the complete Legal 500 EMEA ranking here.