4.12.2024

Spotlight on Finnish arbitration expertise: Castrén & Snellman is proud to support Vis Moot

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition brings together thousands of law students, arbitrators, and alumni from all around the world during the spring of 2025. This year, the Vis Moot will apply the Arbitration Rules of the Finland Chamber of Commerce.

Castrén & Snellman and its leading dispute resolution team are proud to support the 32nd Vis Moot and the 22nd Vis East Moot as a Gold Partner of the Finland Arbitration Institute.

Vis Moot offers a great opportunity to gain expertise in international dispute resolution and arbitration. We are excited to support students in developing their skills in this field. It’s also an honour to showcase high-quality Nordic arbitration expertise. Strong networks are vital for lawyers working in international dispute resolution and arbitration, and the friendships made during the competition often last decades,

say partners Anders Forss and Ilona Karppinen.

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is a competition for law students to foster the study and practice of international commercial sales law and arbitration and provide practical training for resolving international business disputes.

The Moot involves a dispute arising out of a contract of sale between two countries that are parties to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The applied arbitral rules rotate yearly among the arbitration rules of co-sponsoring institutions of the Moot.

The participants will have to possibility to practise for the competition at the FAI Helsinki Pre-Moot from 27th February to 1st March, which Castrén & Snellman is hosting together with other contributing law firms. The 22nd Vis East Moot will take place from 30th March to 6th April in Hong Kong, and the 32nd Vis Moot is in Vienna from 11th to 17th April.

Latest references

We advised the shareholders of Suomen Autohuolto Oy in connection with the sale of the company’s entire share capital, to SAKA Finland Group Oy. Suomen Autohuolto Group is one of Finland’s largest companies specializing in brand-specific automotive maintenance and has locations in Oulu, Tampere, and from July, also in Järvenpää. The transaction is subject to final approval by the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV).
Case published 26.6.2026
AI training
We delivered two tailor-made AI workshops for the lawyers at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). We discussed the AI revolution and its impact on lawyers’ ways of thinking and working, and left the participants with practical solutions for enhancing and streamlining their work with Legora. Our AI-specialist lawyers prepared use cases tailored to Luke and the needs of public administration, which Luke received for its own use following the workshops. These use cases covered topics such as: utilising legal sources and the organisation’s own data to maximise AI results building and leveraging AI workflows AI-enhanced contract drafting based on a large volume of documents. The workshops sparked wide-ranging discussion on the role and benefits of AI in legal work. Participants appreciated how clearly and comprehensively our experts were able to present the nature and benefits of AI specifically within a legal context. ‘The workshops provided excellent support for Luke’s goal of leveraging AI responsibly and gave us concrete and ready-to-use practical takeaways,’ says Hannu Laitinen, Luke’s Senior Vice President, Administrative Affairs.
Case published 26.6.2026
We successfully represented a Finnish construction management consultancy and a safety coordinator employed by the company in criminal proceedings concerning an alleged occupational safety and health offence. The prosecutor sought a penalty for an alleged breach of occupational safety regulations. The charge arose from a fall accident at a construction site where our client acted as the safety coordinator appointed by the developer. We assessed the scope of the safety coordinator’s duties in relation to the responsibilities of the main contractor, as well as how our client had fulfilled their obligations in practice. We demonstrated that our client had acted with due care and in full compliance with their duties throughout the planning, preparation and execution of the construction project. The District Court of Eastern Uusimaa dismissed the charge against our client. The Court held that our client, in their capacity as safety coordinator, had duly fulfilled the occupational safety obligations incumbent on the developer during the planning and preparation phases of the construction project and had not been aware of the fall protection deficiency identified at the site. The judgment is final insofar as our client is concerned.
Case published 22.6.2026
We advised Efima Oyj on the sale of its financial management services business to Rantalainen as part of its strategic focus on fully concentrating on the delivery of business applications as well as data and AI solutions. As a result of the transaction, customer contracts related to financial management services and 65 experts working in these services will transfer to Rantalainen. The transaction will be carried out as a transfer of business, and the experts will move to the new owner as existing employees. Efima is a Finnish digital company that supports the sustainable growth of large and mid-sized companies by streamlining their business processes and by creating competitive advantage through the innovative use of artificial intelligence and data. The company has nearly 200 experts based in Helsinki and Tampere.
Case published 12.6.2026