Norwegian law firm Sands has promoted shipping boss Oddbjorn Slinning to run the whole company.
The experienced lawyer is replacing Ernst Ravnaas as managing partner.
Ravnaas has been in the top job since 2015. Slinning has been managing partner of energy, shipping and offshore, joining in 2017 from rival Wikborg Rein, where he was a partner and also led the Japanese office.
Management experience
Sands has six shipping partners, plus two senior associates and two associates.
The core team of Norwegian and English lawyers has extensive international experience, as well as industrial experience from management positions in energy, oil services and shipping companies.
The work is supported by a team of experienced partners in related practice areas such as transactions, banking and finance, and employment law.
"Under Ernst's leadership, the company has undergone a transformation and we have had a very positive development in recent years," Slinning said.
Renowned legal player
"This foundation is important for the further development that I want to achieve."
He wants Sands to be the preferred business law firm in Norway and the preferred employer of talented staff.
"I have clear ambitions for the firm’s future and look forward to putting my own footprint on the journey ahead," Slinning said.
The firm described Slinning as "one of Norway's most renowned lawyers in his field".
"He has for several years been highly ranked in multiple legal ratings, and in 2020 he was named Norway's foremost lawyer within shipping in the financial daily newspaper Finansavisen's annual legal ranking," it added.
Ravnaas said that since 2016, the firm has refocused and delivered on a strategy of becoming a full service and pure business law firm.
"This has been crucial for the turnaround operation and the growth that followed. Now it is time to leave the helm to younger forces, and Oddbjorn possesses exactly the qualities the firm needs when we now continue to invest with full force," he added.
