Chambers Europe has ranked Castrén & Snellman’s services among the best in Finland in its 2025 publication, highlighting our strategic role and comprehensive approach in client work.
20.3.2025
Castrén & Snellman highly ranked in Chambers Europe 2025, shortlisted for Finland Firm of the Year
Our services achieved top rankings in 12 different categories, and 28 of our experts were acknowledged as leaders in their fields. The rankings place special emphasis on client feedback, supplemented by background information provided by law firms.
These results showcase our role as the forerunners of demanding legal services in the full scope of business law. We are also happy to share that Castrén & Snellman was shortlisted again for Finland Law Firm of the Year in the Chambers Europe Awards 2025.
Highlights of the feedback we received
Dispute Resolution – Band 1:
‘The attorneys are experienced and solution-oriented litigators who understand complex cases, and help build a strategy that allows the court to understand the case’s essential factors.’
Banking & Finance – Band 1:
‘Castrén & Snellman has the ability to grasp complex matters quickly and efficiently and take into account the big picture and future consequences.’
Corporate/M&A – Band 2:
‘Castrén & Snellman offers a high-level of business expertise combined with perfect communication skills and had excellent consistency in handling the project.’
TMT – Band 2
‘Castrén & Snellman has exceptional knowledge and experience. Its team is well known and has a good reputation.’
Energy & Natural Resources – Band 2:
‘The team has very strong expertise in environmental law matters. The team members are genuinely interested in their field of work, which is reflected in the quality of their work.’
Employment – Band 2:
‘The firm provides excellent responsiveness and practical to-the-point advice, as well as a commercial approach and business focus. Its approach is practical and solution-oriented.’
Real Estate – Band 2:
‘Obstacles are tackled by Castrén & Snellman with class and innovative solutions always aiming to find a suitable compromise between the client and the opposite party.
Capital Markets – Band 2:
‘Castren & Snellman provided really business-oriented advice regarding capital markets compliance in a truly unique situation.’
Restructuring/Insolvency – Band 2:
‘Castrén & Snellman provides clear and concise information about the process and keeps us regularly updated throughout. Its explanations are thorough.’
Intellectual Property – Band 2:
‘Castrén & Snellman has a very solid IP practice. It has quite a senior team with lots of experience.’
Competition/European Law – Band 2:
‘We appreciate the team’s ability to give strategic and actionable advice that balances legal and commercial risks with a practical approach.’
For a more detailed look at the rankings, please visit the Chambers and Partners website.
Latest news
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.
Case published 9.3.2026
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.
Case published 3.3.2026
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.
Case published 27.2.2026
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.
Case published 20.2.2026