18.5.2020

Castrén & Snellman Most Popular Law Firm among Students and Third Most Popular Employer in the Legal Sector Overall

Castrén & Snellman broke into the top three most desirable legal sector employers behind only the courts and the Ministry of Justice in the 2020 Universum student survey. The survey is conducted every year to evaluate the image of various employers among students.

For the past few years, the three most popular employers have been in the public sector, but this year, C&S took third place, passing last year’s third, the European Union. Our firm is the most popular private sector employer in the legal sector for the twelfth year running.

‘We have been systematically developing our work with students and universities for a long time. Our goal is to help students lay the groundwork for a career as a legal expert while they are still studying. Our role as a responsible employer is also becoming increasingly important, and we feel it is our task to support aspiring legal experts and give them a positive picture of the field from the very start of their careers’, said HR Director Outi Ruohola.

‘We put a great deal of effort into the trainee experience and in the continual development of the applicant experience, and it is wonderful to see this work bear fruit. The students in our trainee programmes not only get to develop their skills, but also meet new people and build their professional networks. In addition to the Universum survey, we collect feedback from students for each trainee period, and trainees also take part in our annual personnel survey. According to our feedback, our trainees are happy to recommend us as an employer’, Ruohola said.

Generation Entering the Workforce Appreciates both Hard and Soft Values

In addition to ranking the most popular employers, the Universum survey also charted student attitudes to working life. Among most groups of students, pay, esteem and development opportunities—in addition to diverse work duties—were important features of an ideal employer. However, students also value respect and a friendly work environment. According to the survey, the values of the generation that is now entering the workforce is a hybrid: alongside traditional working life values, employers are expected to take of people and the workplace culture.

The results of the survey were published on 14 May. A total of 14,109 students and 512 law students participated in the survey this year. In addition to law students, Universum surveys students in the engineering, health/medicine, business and IT sectors.

We’d like to thank the students for this recognition!

Latest references

We advised Nordea Bank Abp in the EUR 150 million new green financing for Lahti Energia Oy to support investments promoting a clean transition and to refinance existing loans. Lahti Energia Oy’s green loan investments focus on solutions that reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions and support sustainable development. Planned projects include electric boilers, district heating storage facilities, and investments in the development of energy networks.
Case published 1.7.2025
We advised Netel Group, a Nasdaq Stockholm-listed contracting company, on the sale of its Finnish operations, Netel Oy, to a group of private investors. The divestment forms part of Netel Group’s strategic realignment. In January 2025, Netel Group announced its decision to exit the Finnish market in order to concentrate on its core markets in Sweden and Norway and growth markets in Germany and the UK. Netel Group is a leading provider of services in the development and maintenance of critical infrastructure within Infraservices, Power and Telecom across Northern Europe. The company has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm since 2021.
Case published 1.7.2025
We advised Glaston Corporation on its reverse share split, i.e. in the reduction of its total outstanding shares so that each two shares of the company were merged into one share. The shares of Glaston have been listed into the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Glaston is the glass processing industry’s innovative technology leader supplying equipment, services and solutions to the architectural, mobility, display and solar industries. The company also supports the development of new technologies integrating intelligence to glass.
Case published 27.6.2025
We advised OP-Public Services Real Estate Fund in the sale of a portfolio of six care properties to Aedifica group, a Belgian real estate company specialised in European healthcare real estate, particularly in elderly care. The care properties in this portfolio are located across Finland in Helsinki, Tampere, Kuopio, Tuusula and Kirkkonummi. The portfolio has a total capacity for 233 residents. Aedifica group acquired 100% of the shares of the six real estate companies that own the properties. The total value of the transaction is approximately EUR 37.5 million.
Case published 26.6.2025