I go out to the nature, let it be a walk in the woods nearby my house, a swim in the ocean or a nap in a hammock under the blue sky. Crazy dancing also does it for me.
Sailing, hiking, dancing, and triathlon.
I like to wear freaky hats. Also, I was a reigning world champion in Academic Mölkky for three consecutive years (thanks Corona).
It was love at first (or second?) sight, when a team from Avance was coaching my Vis Moot -team for the 27th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition. I then applied for a trainee position and ended up working closely with the competition and dispute resolution teams. I was convinced by the variety of assignments and the holistic approach of the teams, and I was welcomed for a new trainee period. After the second trainee period I directly continued as an associate after my graduation.
Career-wise I cherish the moments when more experienced lawyers have patiently and thoroughly explained me matters, I have not been familiar with, without assuming I should already possess some kind of expertise in the field. There are also several different gatherings and events I would like to name, however, the most memorable moment might be when I realized I am actually working with friends.
Each day is different, and the pace of work suits me well. With too much routine in my life I get bored, and with too much variety I get stressed. In here I have routines, however, the working hours are flexible, and I can very much independently design my working hours within certain framework. I am pleased that I have been able to affect which projects I have been assigned to, as it gives me freedom to actively search for my passion and work with it once I find one. I also feel the tasks that have been given to me have been challenging enough, but not too challenging in relation to my skills. I also feel my voice is heard and that all new ideas are warmly welcomed and seriously taken into account – this is a matter I might value the most.
Competition and state aid matters are wide of their nature and understanding them requires an extensive skillset and an ability to think also on a macrolevel. The matters are significantly interconnected to the functioning of society, and therefore also understanding of national and international politics are of much relevance. I am deeply interested in policies related to economic affairs, which is why working with competition and state aid matters feels natural to me. Further, the team at Avance has fantastic and wide experience, and each of my co-workers seem to be duly interested in the same matters as I am – we are a team of lawyers dealing with economics, and we all seem to be passionate about it. In addition to the motivation boosts my team gives to me, I also have so much to learn from my co-workers who are all talented in their own individual ways, and of that I am happy about.
There is no definition for a typical day, as each day deems to be completely different from one another. I might be drafting a merger notification, a feasibility study, an FDI-analysis or a memorandum, or designing inhouse trainings and doing legal research. The topics might vary from describing the Finnish energy sector regulation to analysing some specific markets, and anything in-between. Some of my days also include project managing. I am also somewhat active in e.g., our sustainability working group and other matters relating to developing our culture, so I do also make time for the related tasks.
In the field of competition and state aid law we are sometimes involved in dispute resolution, which occasionally leads to for example market court proceedings. In such cases I have been involved in the drafting process of court documents, and on rare occasions I might be attending the proceedings.
By having an open-minded attitude towards each practise area and by having guts to ask when you don’t know or understand. At Avance, the importance of gaining a holistic view of our functioning is the main goal during the first years, after which you will have strong basis for gaining experience in one field. I also think that for each and every starting lawyer (and also for more experienced ones) the most important skill is the skill of questioning. Never take the answer for granted, always ask if in doubt. This is something that at least I must remind myself of almost every day.
Exciting.