By unanimous decision of all Sorainen partners, Ieva Andersone, head of the firm’s Commercial & Regulatory Practice Group in Latvia, is invited to join the firm’s partnership from 1 January 2019. Please see below a brief overview of why this was an easy decision.
Helping clients succeed
Although “commercial & regulatory” may sound quite abstract, the reality is that Ieva daily assists clients with practical solutions in diverse contractual issues, trade regulations, intellectual property infringements and cases of misuse of creative work, as well as related disputes and competition law cases. The ongoing topicality of data protection must be noted as Ieva has stood out as one of the market leaders in Latvia in relation to implementing the GDPR. In line with our firm’s strategic focus on understanding client business, Ieva has been actively contributing to developing two of our sector groups: Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences Sector Group and Technology, Media & Telecommunications Sector Group.
Strong manager and organiser
As of early 2018, Ieva gradually took over management of the firm’s Commercial & Regulatory Practice Group by following daily work-flow, managing client projects and planning team activities. Work volumes of the team managed by Ieva have grown steadily, three new specialists have joined the team, and several members have been promoted.
Cross-team and international cooperation
Ieva’s legal practice consists of several specialisations and close collaboration with other teams in our firm, especially the dispute resolution team. Many projects handled by Ieva’s team cover several countries, which often means a broader geography than just the Baltics and Belarus. To work in this environment, Ieva has the right character – ability to cooperate, build and manage cross-border teams, ensure information distribution, meet deadlines and take into account even the tiniest piece of the puzzle in the overall picture.
Development
Ieva started her career with Sorainen in 2005 as a legal assistant and in 2009 became a senior associate. During those 13 years with Sorainen, Ieva stood out as an ambitious and developing person, graduated (first class) from the University of Cambridge and became an attorney-at-law and patent attorney in trade mark cases. Ieva contributes to development of younger colleagues by participating in Sorainen mentoring and ThinkTank programmes, as well as the Sorainen student academy and moot court projects.
Inspiring ideas
In addition to work and family responsibilities, Ieva also finds time for public activities. She supports equal opportunities for everyone ‒ here it is significant to note that after Ieva’s promotion the gender balance between the partners at the Sorainen Latvian office is now 50:50 (three female and three male partners). Ieva also devotes her time, experience and expertise to socially significant projects. For instance, she recently provided legal assistance to promoting a pre-election civic participation project and projects related to rights of journalists and the mass media. Ieva gladly shares her opinion and gives interviews to various media channels, explaining legal issues in plain and simple language.