His name probably rings the bell to most of you, his friendly face has been seen in all our International Congresses for the past 10 years. This very busy lawyer has been working on all fronts, not only in his home country Denmark but also in wide Europe. What you might still ignore is that Niels is a keen sportsman. He proudly states he’s never missed a single Eurojuris football match since 2008, and likes to think of it as a moment of true and shared joy with his peers that he simply wouldn’t miss for the world. Becoming a lawyer was to him a way to contribute the legal aspects of business issues he’s always had a passion with. Here are the few questions we asked him :
How long has your firm been you been a member of Eurojuris & how many client referrals did this membership generate ?
IDEAL Law Firm LLP’s history with Eurojuris goes back to 2006. Being a member of Eurojuris has, over the years, resulted in cooperation with many members concerning cross-border transactions, counselling and debt collecting. The cooperation has gone both ways, it is always a great opportunity to collaborate with experts of great quality and it clearly always adds value to your work and your team.
Can you give us an example of collaboration on a case with other EJ members ?
One example was a transaction that took place in Germany. A Danish company was purchasing a big-size shopping mall in Germany. We collaborated with a German EJ member during the due diligence and with contracts involved in the transaction. It was important for the client to have access to a law firm who were on their “home turf”.
How would you describe Danish Law specifics ?
Danish Law differs in many aspects from Common Law. The most significant is perhaps the fact that Danish Courts in general use interpretation of the parties will and their actions to fill out contracts that are not clearly written. An unclear written contract may be interpreted in the light of the circumstances surrounding the signing of the contract and the parties’ actions up to and after the signing of the contract.
Another aspect of Danish Law is the high attention to consumer’s rights and their general protection. Finally, the Danish legal system has over the last years undertaken a high form of digitalisation, and will continue to do so. As an example the entire Land Registry is now digitalised, which has not been problem-free. Danish Courts are currently working on the implementation of fully digitalised court proceedings.
Could you describe an interesting case you recently handled ?
The latest case with international perspective was regarding Ttrademark Law. Our firm had undertaken the registration of a trademark in countries all over the world for a major Danish company. The registration of the trademark was creating high value to our client, as the development of the products had been costly. The trademark registration is one of the ways to ensure that the products can be sold worldwide under the same brand, easing the marketing on different markets.
More recently, we also helped a Eurojuris member from Luxemburg with a summary regarding Danish Labour Law to the attention of his Dutch client, ensuring the client’s smooth entry into the Danish market. A perfect example of what Eurojuris can do for its members and clients, and what Eurojuris is all about.
Have you been attending our International Congresses often before you became President of Eurojuris International ?
I have participated to every single Eurojuris Congress since 2008, and I am a strong believer in Eurojuris as a way to ensure valuable advice to clients in cross-border transactions.
Being a board member in several Danish companies with cross-border activities, I enjoy the added value that a lawyer can bring as a Board Cchairman, give the yes or the no to ideas that are discussed during the various organised Practice Group sessions as well as the plenary ones. As President and also Chair of the Real Estate Practice Group, I will of course be in Prague mid-October. Some of my business partners will also be present. I am looking forward to meeting you all and spend quality time with all members, old and new.