12.6.2025

Anna Kuusniemi-Laine, Marius af Schultén and Lia Heasman recognised as Europe Green Ambassadors by Legal 500

Castrén & Snellman’s Partner Anna Kuusniemi-Laine, Partner Marius af Schultén and Counsel Lia Heasman have been recognised as Europe Green Ambassadors 2025 by Legal 500.

The Green Ambassadors series, published by Legal Business, highlights private practice lawyers who champion sustainability and the green transition in their client work and beyond.

Europe Green Ambassadors places the spotlight on lawyers in major markets who demonstrate a particular green focus in their work and stand out for their wider sustainability engagement. Leading lawyers are ranked across Benelux, DACH, France, Iberia, Ireland, and the Nordics. In Finland, a total of 11 experts were recognised.

Castrén & Snellman has a long track record of groundbreaking work in supporting change in the environmental and energy sectors, and we have solid legal expertise in green transition matters, corporate sustainability and ESG.

Coordinating the ESG and corporate sustainability services at Castrén & Snellman, Anna Kuusniemi-Laine is a highly sought-after advisor among major domestic clients on the integration of ESG objectives and obligations into corporate operations, policies, and agreements.

Heading the environment, energy, and green transition team at Castrén & Snellman, Marius af Schultén is a specialist on the planning and permitting of large-scale infrastructure projects. A recognised thought leader in the energy transition, af Schultén helps advance the dialogue on how energy and environmental law can help pursue sustainability objectives.

Alongside a key focus on ESG risk identification and management, Lia Heasman brings particular knowledge on how to leverage pressing and business-critical ESG trends to create value for stakeholders, particularly within M&A processes. In this space, Heasman counts major corporates, funds, and private equity players among her clients.

For more information, please visit the Legal Business Green Ambassadors page.

Latest news

20.2.2026 C&S authors the Chambers Mining 2026 Global Practice Guide’s Finland Chapter 12.2.2026 Chambers Global 2026 – Castrén & Snellman highly ranked 9.2.2026 The application period for C&S Trainees is open!

Latest references

Fortum – AI workshop

We delivered two AI workshops for Fortum Corporation’s Mergers and Acquisitions team, with both legal and business professionals participating. The sessions combined fundamental AI principles with custom use cases for commercially available AI tools tailored to Fortum’s needs. We also presented a bespoke solution merging AI with a script-based tool developed by our Legal Tech team, enabling a more automated way of working. Our experts conducted the training drawing on their legal background and leading experience in this emerging field of legal technology. Participants particularly appreciated the clarity and relevance of the implementations demonstrated. ‘C&S delivered an excellent, well-structured series of workshops, with directly applicable takeaways,’ says Sabina Hautaviita, Legal Counsel for M&A at Fortum.

VR – Supreme Court decision clarifies working time practices

We successfully represented VR Group before the Supreme Court in a case concerning the meal break practice of commuter train drivers. On 6 February 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in VR’s favour (decision KKO:2026:12), confirming that VR had the right to amend the commuter train drivers’ meal break practice in 2021 by rendering the break unpaid in accordance with the applicable collective agreement. This decision clarifies the interpretation of collective agreements and employment legislation as well as the limits of the employer’s right to direct work. Over 250 commuter train drivers challenged the unpaid meal break practice which VR introduced in April 2021. Before the change, meal breaks had a long history of being paid. The change was based on the train drivers’ collective agreement, which allows for meal breaks to be organised either as paid or unpaid time. The Supreme Court ruled that the scheduling and managing of breaks falls within the core area of the employer’s right to direct work. This increases the threshold for an established practice becoming a binding condition for the parties. Merely following a practice consistently and over a long period of time does not make the practice binding; instead, the employer’s intent to commit to the practice must be clearly evident from the employer’s conduct or other circumstances. As both alternatives – paid and unpaid – for organising meal breaks had been retained in the collective agreement despite other amendments over the years, it could not be considered that VR had intended to commit to the paid break practice and waive its right to direct work as regards break scheduling. It was also significant that the employment contracts explicitly referred only to the collective agreement as regards working time. The Supreme Court deemed that the employees’ paid meal break was not an established term of employment and that VR was entitled to change the practice based on the collective agreement. The employer had the right, by virtue of its right to direct work, to unilaterally change the meal break practice by choosing to apply the other arrangement permitted by the collective agreement.

CapMan Growth – Investment in Kuntokeskus Liikku

We are assisting CapMan Growth in its significant investment in Kuntokeskus Liikku, a Finnish gym chain known for its high-quality self-service facilities and excellent value for money. The investment will further strengthen Liikku’s position as a market leader and support the continued execution of its growth strategy. Liikku is one of Finland’s leading fitness chains, with more than 70 locations across the country serving nearly 90,000 members. The company’s concept is to offer high-quality self-service gyms at an exceptionally competitive price point which, combined with strong operational efficiency, provides a solid foundation for profitable growth. The company’s main shareholder is COR Group, a long-time partner of CapMan Growth, and a Finnish health and wellness conglomerate known for active ownership and long-term value creation. CapMan Growth is a leading Finnish growth investor that makes significant investments in entrepreneur-led growth companies with a turnover of €10–200 million. CapMan Growth is part of CapMan, which is a leading Nordic private equity investor engaged in active value creation work. CapMan has been listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 2001.

Terrafame – Environmental and water management permit processes concerning the company’s entire operations and the KL1 side rock area

Castrén & Snellman successfully assisted Terrafame Ltd in environmental and water management permit processes concerning the company’s entire operations and the KL1 side rock area, on which the Supreme Administrative Court issued its decision on 12 February 2026 (KHO 366/2026 and 367/2026). The changes made to the decisions of the Vaasa Administrative Court as a result of Terrafame’s appeals, enable the company to implement its new strategy and develop its operations as planned. The decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court brought the nearly ten-year-long permit process to a close.

Search from the site.