6.3.2022

Career Stories: Ilona Karppinen

The Most Important Characteristics for a Lawyer are Curiosity and the Desire to Learn New Things

Ilona Karppinen has had a long and eventful career path at Castrén & Snellman, from her start as a junior trainee to her current position as Partner Elect.

Ilona’s path at C&S began as a junior trainee in the autumn of 2003 during her second year of studies. She continued at C&S as a supervising trainee before moving on to our newly launched knowledge management trainee programme. After a student exchange in France, Ilona returned to the firm as a senior trainee and then as a project trainee. In 2007, Ilona graduated from the legal faculty and started work as an associate.

Ilona’s key expertise is dispute resolution and company law. Among other things, she handles domestic and international commercial disputes. Challenging and long litigation and arbitration proceedings require that the lawyer handling the case gets to know both the business and the device, data system or other issue subject to the dispute in great detail. There is something new to learn every day.

“Every assignment is an opportunity to learn. As a lawyer, you have to get to know the client’s industry, product and entire business’, Ilona says.

‘That is why it is important for a lawyer to be curious and have a desire to understand and learn new things. In this job, you have no choice but to keep developing yourself.’

Court training and secondments developed legal skills

Though Ilona has built her career in the same firm, she has succeeded in bringing variety into it. In 2009, she did her court training at the Helsinki District Court and got a view of litigation from the other side of the bench—fully realising what the anatomy of independent decision-making.

In 2013, Ilona was on secondment at Rautaruukki (now part of SSAB following a corporate transaction),and learned extensively about contract law and what the services of a law firm look like from the client’s perspective. Four years later, she spent nine months working at one of Sweden’s largest law firms, Mannheimer Swartling.

‘I am very grateful to my firm and supervisor for the support they have always given me in realising my career dreams. That support made it possible for me to work at Mannheimer Swartling and develop my international experience.’

International organisations have also played a large role in Ilona’s career. She is active in the world’s largest organisation of attorneys, the International Bar Association, holding various positions of trust on the association’s Litigation Committee. Ilona considers it important for every lawyer to network extensively and be active in professional organisations. Being active in international organisations provides the opportunity to meet the best lawyers from around the world.

Learning takes enthusiasm

Continual learning is a must for an attorney. The Finnish Bar Association obligates its members to attend at least 18 hours of training a year. Ilona is grateful for the extensive internal training Castrén & Snellman organises for its personnel, including the Cassu College training series, which covers current topics in the legal services industry and beyond.

Ilona certainly agrees with the notion that working as a lawyer is career of life-long learning.

‘My dream is to keep developing and learning at Castrén & Snellman. Continually developing your expertise is a big part of what makes working as a lawyer meaningful and interesting.’

Latest references

We successfully represented Trety AB in a dispute and settlement negotiations concerning an agreement for development and production of communication devices for the healthcare sector. Eventually, the parties reached an amicable settlement to the full satisfaction of our client and thus the parties avoided an extensive arbitral proceeding. Trety AB is a global company that provides its customers with solutions for development, industrialization and production of electronics. Trety AB has over 30 years’ experience from IT, electronics and telecommunication industries.
Case published 11.2.2025
We advised a financier consortium including OP Corporate Bank plc, Nordea Bank Abp, and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB in a leveraged financing arrangement for Vexve, a company owned by DevCo Partners Oy. The financing included EUR 143 million acquisition, refinancing and other facilities for, among other things, the financing of Vexve’s acquisition of Denmark-based Frese A/S, a leading manufacturer of dynamic balancing valves for hydronic networks. Vexve’s combined turnover after the completion of the transaction will be ca. EUR 200 million. Vexve is the leading European provider of valve solutions for the energy sector and selected energy-intensive industries.
Case published 7.2.2025
Castrén & Snellman is acting as the legal advisor to the City of Pori and Pori Energia Oy in the finance arrangement whereby debt facilities in the total amount of EUR 292 million are secured for the purpose of refinancing the existing liabilities and fuelling the future growth of Pori Energia. Pori Energia and its financiers signed a Finnish law governed facilities agreement for this purpose on 13 January 2025. Pori Energia, a multi-utility company, operates in various sectors including district heating, electricity distribution, and electricity generation through CHP and renewable sources. The company also provides wind power services and industrial energy solutions in the Satakunta region where it has c. 60,000 customers.
Case published 6.2.2025
We advised Sanok Rubber Company S.A. in connection with a transaction where the Polish International Development Fund 2 FIZ AN acquired 30% of the shares in Teknikum Group Ltd from Sanok Rubber Company S.A. Teknikum Group is a European polymer technology company serving industrial customers in need of reliable rubber, plastic, silicone, polyurethane, and foam solutions. The group has approximately 600 employees and operates four production plants in Finland and one in Hungary, and a sales office in Germany. Sanok Rubber Company S.A. is the European leader in the field of rubber products, rubber-to-metal articles and combination of rubber with other materials for the automotive, construction, agriculture, pharmacy and household appliances. Sanok Rubber Company S.A. is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and employs more than 3,000 people in Europe and North America. Polish International Development Fund 2 FIZ AN is one of two specialised foreign expansion funds managed by PFR TFI. The fund’s aim is to co-finance foreign investments of Polish companies. We advised Sanok Rubber Company S.A. together with the Polish law firm Rymarz Zdort Maruta.
Case published 3.2.2025