Hannes Snellman Summer School feedback 2017

The very first Hannes Snellman Summer School took place in August 2017. 30 law students from all over Finland and Sweden got together in our Helsinki office for two days to learn about corporate responsibility and compliance. We asked some of the participants why they thought it was a good decision to take part in the Summer School. 

My name, University, and year?

My name is Sanna Johansson and I am a law student at Stockholm University. I have recently started my fifth semester and I am now working as a law student trainee at Hannes Snellman in Stockholm.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I heard about the event from a friend and I thought Hannes Snellman Summer School seemed like a great opportunity to learn more about what it is like to work for a law firm. I also liked the idea of going away for the weekend and meeting students from other universities in Sweden and Finland and also improving my knowledge about CSR and compliance, which was last year’s theme.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I think the best part was the case work. We were assigned a case to work with in groups for two days, and on the final day we presented and shared our results with the other groups. This assignment gave us the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange knowledge and thoughts while discussing the case. There were also several interesting lectures held by competent people, both external and internal lawyers. In addition to the law oriented parts, we went for dinner on the evenings and had a great time. Overall, it was a very educative and enjoyable weekend, and I would definitely recommend other students to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School.

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My name, University, and year?

Alexandra Pensar, University of Helsinki, 5th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I applied to Hannes Snellman Summer School since the theme of the year, corporate responsibility and compliance, is a subject that I am very interested in, and this practice area is also retrieving more and more attention within law firms.

As corporate responsibility and compliance are generally not addressed in our studies as such, Hannes Snellman Summer School provided a great opportunity to learn more and to get a better understanding of what it really means in practice.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

In my opinion, the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School was the practical experience of how issues related to corporate responsibility and compliance may take shape and how to address them in reality. The opportunity to both listen and discuss with experts, both from Hannes Snellman and the business world, was also something I really appreciated.

The Summer School brought forward many different aspects of issues related to corporate responsibility and compliance, which provided a much broader understanding of the subject than what any ordinary lecture or book would have been able to do.

I warmly recommend everyone to apply for the next Hannes Snellman Summer School!

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My name, University, and year?

Emelie Jansson, Stockholm University, 4th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I applied to Hannes Snellman Summer School mainly because the theme this year was corporate responsibility and compliance. I was looking forward to learning more about the subject from professionals working with these issues while also getting to know the firm better.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

The case. It was obvious that the Hannes Snellman team had worked very hard to prepare a well-thought-out scenario for us to work with. I enjoyed working together in groups and I especially appreciated the different components of the case, i.e. the DD work, the management interview, and the presentations. I learned a lot in a very short period of time.

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My name, University, and year?

Bea Rahkonen, University of Helsinki, 4th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

This year, the Summer School’s theme was corporate responsibility and compliance. In order to broaden my knowledge of business law in practice, I thought it was important to gain a basic understanding of the aforementioned topics. The two-day Summer School provided a practical and intensive approach to the theme, and inspiring practitioners shared their knowledge.

What was the best thing about the Hannes Snellman Summer School?

From my point of view, the best thing was practising the different stages of a DD process, eg. management interviews, receiving feedback, participating in workshops and seminars held by practitioners from different fields of law, and getting to know the other Summer School participants in an encouraging atmosphere!

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My name, University, and year?

Laura Salokangas, University of Helsinki, 6th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I decided to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School especially because I was eager to hear more about this year’s theme, corporate responsibility and compliance. The two-day summer school was also easy to fit into my schedule.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I think one of the best things about Hannes Snellman Summer School was all the discussions we had, both with our team during the teamwork as well as later during the presentation part with all the participants and speakers. By digging into a fictional case with the team I got to know new people, learn a lot and have fun – all at once. I would definitely recommend applying to Hannes Snellman Summer School if you have the chance!

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My name, University, and year?

Netta Pitkämäki, University of Turku, 5th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

Firstly, I felt that Hannes Snellman Summer School would be a great way to gain insight about a premier law firm’s assignments. Because the event lasted for two days, it was a massive learning experience but at the same time it was easy to attend.

Secondly, the topic of the year suited me well because, at the time, I was working as an in-house and dealt with a lot of compliance-related topics. With a professional vantage point, I was eager to get an snapshot of the issues which were considered remarkable by top-tier attorneys in the field of business law. In addition, this kind of educational event seemed to offer nice variation to customary university studies.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

Personally, what I enjoyed the most was the atmosphere. Even though the assignments were complex, it was nice to notice that we ourselves were able to pick up relevant things and speak up. The probable reason for this was that we worked together in groups and, thus, no one had to tackle the issues alone. It was great to spend time with other participants and, furthermore, get to know the hosts of Hannes Snellman who were really encouraging and responsive. Altogether, Hannes Snellman Summer School was a genuinely rewarding and pleasant event.

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My name, University, and year?

Annastina Kolehmainen, University of Helsinki, 4th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I decided to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School because the theme, corporate responsibility and compliance, was something I had not encountered in my studies. I thought it would be important to get familiar with the theme, as the significance of compliance issues and the attention these issues attract are constantly increasing. I also found the Summer School a good way to get to know to Hannes Snellman.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

From my point of view, the best thing about the Summer School was the group exercises and the discussions around them. During the discussions, I both learned a lot and got to know other Summer School participants and some of the lawyers working at Hannes Snellman. I would definitely recommend applying to the next Summer School!

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My name, University, and year?

Isabella Kartila, University of Helsinki, 4th year student.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

There were several reasons why I decided to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School. First, I was extremely eager to deepen my knowledge within the field of corporate responsibility and compliance. The theme was quite unfamiliar to me, but I was very interested to learn more about it. I also appreciated the duration of the intensive two-day Summer School and the fact that the course was conducted in English and had an international dimension, as there were participants and speakers from both Finland and Sweden.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

The best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School was definitely the fictional case where we focused on a corporate responsibility and compliance related legal due diligence process. I really enjoyed working together with a mixed group of Finnish and Swedish students as we dug into the due diligence material, prepared questions for the management interview, and presented our findings to the fictional client company.

The Summer School was a great opportunity to learn what kinds of legal issues multinational companies encounter when implementing global compliance programmes. In addition to the academic side, I had a blast getting to know the other participants as well as the legal professionals in a laid-back atmosphere.

I would highly recommend Hannes Snellman Summer School to everyone interested in gaining invaluable hands-on experience and networking with like-minded people!

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My name, University, and year?

Hanna Tolonen, University of Helsinki, 4th year.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I am very interested in business law, and the theme of Hannes Snellman Summer School, corporate responsibility and compliance, was the main reason I applied to the course. It was something different compared to what is taught at my university’s courses. Furthermore, the theme is a very current subject.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

In my opinion, the best thing was the due diligence case, which was carried out in teams. The course also included lectures from different practitioners, which were very helpful in dealing with the case. The combination of these was a great way to learn, and I really liked the practical approach to the theme. It was also nice to meet new people from different universities and the two-day course felt really well planned and organised.

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My name, University, and year?

Marika Mäkinen, University of Helsinki, 5th year.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I decided to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School, as I found the topic very fascinating—CSR has gained increasing interest, and it is becoming extremely important for businesses to be aware of the opportunities and challenges related to it.  I wanted to find out what kind of issues relate to CSR in a legal perspective and how these issues are managed in law firms. In addition to the topic of the summer school, I liked the practically oriented workshop approach which offered us a chance to learn by doing and meet other students at the same time.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

We learned a lot about the legal challenges that multinational companies face regarding corporate social responsibility issues. The best thing was that we learned it all in practice by examining different cases: how to integrate CSR into the M&A process or what to do when a company is facing a crisis regarding CSR. All groups were guided by an associate who also helped out if we had problems with the cases. We also got to hear very interesting presentations from different perspectives and were able to meet a lot of people with the same areas of interest.

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My name, University, and year?

Santeri Järvelä, University of Lapland, 4th year.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I applied to Hannes Snellman Summer School because the event seemed to provide a much more hands-on approach to business law than law school. I had a faint idea of what corporate responsibility and compliance means but I wanted to see what it actually looks like in real life. I was also looking forward to hearing the experts from different areas of law and business.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

As much as I enjoyed the expert lectures, the best thing about the Summer School was definitely the team work. I expected great lectures and some easy networking from the event. Instead, we got an intensive two-day workshop which actually pushed us to work as a team and solve the problems given to us. It was also very beneficial to have people from different universities and countries working together since it provided an opportunity to learn different approaches to problem solving. Although the DD case was definitely a little over the top, it still provided a very realistic view of the DD process.

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My name, University, and year?

Eveliina Kinnunen, University of Lapland, 7th year.

Why did you decide to apply to Hannes Snellman Summer School?

I applied to the Summer School mainly because of the topic, which was corporate responsibility and compliance. Even though my bachelor’s thesis included some aspects of corporate responsibility and compliance, these topics are unfortunately not included in our regular law studies. Therefore, I wanted to deepen my knowledge and learn what these issues mean in practice.

What was the best thing about Hannes Snellman Summer School?

From my point of view, the best thing was definitely both the visiting professionals and the experts from Hannes Snellman who work with these issues. I feel privileged that I got the chance to listen to, and most importantly, learn from them. Secondly, I  really liked the case work, which was done in teams. It was really well prepared, putting us through various responsibility and compliance issues that can also be faced in real life situations. Altogether, I could not have chosen a better place to learn about the topic, and I would definitely recommend the next Hannes Snellman Summer School to other students as well.