Dispute Resolution and Litigation

We deliver litigation services to all client groups, including commercial parties, public sector bodies and private individuals. Civil disputes continue to grow in complexity and scope. Our aim is not to make cases unnecessarily complicated, but rather to present them in a clear and convincing way.

We regularly advise many of Norway’s largest businesses on their legal disputes, and have litigated a number of precedent-setting cases in various fields.

Legal proceedings are becoming ever more complex and extensive, and often involve protracted main hearings before the courts. Substantial assets may be at stake, the volume of documents can be massive, and the dispute may give rise to fundamental issues of law. Such cases often attract significant media attention.

Such major litigation demands particular organisational, management and execution skill, not only to ensure progress and efficiency, but also to facilitate an efficient collaboration with the client. It may also be necessary to adopt an inter-disciplinary approach and engage expert witnesses.

We have been involved in many major cases in recent years, and have significant experience in handling engagements of this kind. Under the management of one of our leading partners, a team of lawyers will work to achieve the best possible outcome for the client, drawing upon specialists in relevant fields of law as needed.

We are one of the few larger law firms in Norway which represent private individuals in disputes and court cases. This applies particularly in the area of family law (probate, divorce, child custody and inheritance), and to cases concerning personal assets, family businesses, employment, tax and real estate.

Our specialists in these fields also handle such cases in court. As a client, you can be confident that the lawyer representing you has sufficient knowledge and experience relating to your particular case, as well as experience with litigating such cases before the courts. When needed, we draw on the expertise of our various specialist departments.

Arbitration allows parties in commercial relationships to settle legal disputes outside the ordinary courts, with the opportunities this entails for the parties to appoint the arbitrator or arbitration tribunal, and ensure that the proceedings and outcome are kept confidential.

Parties involved in arbitration may agree that the proceedings should be held behind closed doors and that the public should not have insight into the subject matter and any decisions which are made. The proceedings are otherwise largely similar to proceedings before the ordinary courts. However, an arbitration decision cannot be appealed, and in practice the opportunities for overturning such decisions are very limited. Arbitration therefore makes for a quicker resolution of the dispute than ordinary court proceedings.

Several of our lawyers have extensive arbitration experience. We regularly assist with arbitration proceedings, and several of our lawyers are regularly appointed to act as arbitrators.

A person suspected of, charged with or indicted for a criminal offence is entitled to representation by a lawyer, both in relation to the police investigating the matter and before the courts. Our lawyers have been appearing as defence counsel before different instances of the courts for more than 100 years, and we are regarded as one of Norway’s leading criminal law firms.

Persons under investigation should consult defence counsel early on, preferably before giving a statement to the police. It can sometimes be difficult to understand the reason for an investigation and what it specifically entails. It can therefore be sensible to consult a lawyer in this phase, not least to ensure that one’s rights as a suspect are respected.

In many cases, suspects are entitled to a publicly appointed defence counsel. This entails that the public authorities pay for the lawyer’s efforts in the matter.