History
Schjødt is one of Norway’s leading commercial law firms. We score highly in both national and international rankings of lawyers in which the country’s leading law companies are assessed against each other.
Schjødt can look back at a long and eventful company history, characterised by interesting individuals, many ground-breaking legal cases, and cases for important international and national clients within different fields of activity. These events, people and client relations have all served to shape Schjødt’s company culture: a platform with a professionally and ethically strong foundation which, in combination with a practical and client-oriented approach, means we have a firm footing from which to look to the future.
Annæus Schjødt
The firm bears the name of Annæus Schjødt (1888-1972), who, before the war, left the firm of Fougner, Schjødt, Grette and Smith to start a new firm. Annæus Schjødt was a prominent lawyer in the post-war era, and pleaded a number of major and fundamental cases before the courts, among others those relating to the judicial trials after the occupation in 1945. Subsequently, Annæus Schjødt jr. (1920) joined the firm, which, through the 1950s and 60s, emerged as one of the leading law firms in the country, specialising in particular in civil litigation.
Schjødt’s growth continued with the merger in 1968 with the more business-oriented law company of Erling Christiansen (1920 – 1982). Through the 1970s and 80s, this commercial law aspect of the company’s activities became more prominent, even though the firm also continued to emphasise civil litigation as an important focus area, with a considerable volume of assignments within the area of libel law.
In 1989, a partnership was formed with the Martens law company in Bergen. This was a company with long traditions within its own geographical area. The firm was later extended with separate offices in Stavanger and Ålesund in 1999 and 2000, respectively. While Stavanger is the hub of Norwegian oil activities, Ålesund is an important centre for Norwegian aquaculture and fisheries. Today, Schjødt is a nationwide company with access to first-rate legal expertise within most commercial law disciplines – at once, both full-service and specialised.
Modern knowledge-based company
Over the last 20 years, Schjødt has experienced strong growth, to become a modern knowledge-based company with approx. 125 lawyers, who serve, primarily, Norwegian and international business within most sectors of industry. The preponderance of the firm’s work is within commercial law in a broad sense, and includes transaction law, civil litigation, stock exchange and securities, company law, media law, banking/finance, tax law, employment law, contracts and real estate, IT and telecomms, energy law, EEA law and public acquisitions.
The firm has close international links, including with law firms in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and elsewhere in Europe and the world. Through participation in bilateral networks, Schjødt cooperates globally in various specialist and sectoral areas. Such links make it possible to offer our clients first-rate legal assistance in all major countries at short notice.