Summer School 2022

Greetings from Summer School 2022: Game of Contracts

Hannes Snellman’s Summer School 2022 took place between 18 and 19 August. After a few years of virtual events, this year we had the privilege to organise the event face to face at our Helsinki office. A total of 23 students from Sweden and Finland took part in the lectures, different workshops, and fun activities in the evenings. We had around 20 hosts from Hannes Snellman and two external speakers at the event.

Partner Anna-Maria Tamminen welcomed the participants to our Helsinki office.

The theme of this year’s Summer School was “Game of Contracts”. The event revolved around the life cycle of commercial contracts, and the students learned how to draft contracts and negotiate around the content of contracts with their opponent, and they also learned what kind of damage control measures might be needed. We also had an interesting panel discussion with external legal counsels and a discussion on what the future of contracts looks like.

We kicked off the event with Jenny Lundberg’s lecture “Introduction to Contracts”. After the lecture, it was time for the students to get their hands dirty. With the help of Agda Vähä-Piikkiö and Tanja Schnitt’s lecture, the students drafted contracts concerning a fictional case. The students worked in groups, and since contracts always consist of several parties, the student groups were divided into opponent groups.

Jenny Lundberg's "Introduction to Contracts".           

Tanja Schnitt and Agda Vähä-Piikkiö.

After a good drafting session, we had a chance to eat lunch, mingle, and get to know each other. Since Summer School is a cross-border event, there always needs to be a bit of “fika” as well!

Lunch at the roof terrace.                                         

Some delicious “fika”.

On Thursday afternoon, we had an inspiring session with external speakers Heini Moilanen from Anora Group and Minna Frände from Microsoft. Our Managing Associate Annika Schauman interviewed them, and we got to hear interesting stories and thoughts about working as an in-house lawyer.

From the left: Annika Schauman, Minna Frände, and Heini Moilanen.

We ended the first day of Summer School by having a pizza night and enjoying the warm summer evening in Helsinki.

After a well slept night, the students were prepared and ready for day two of Summer School. Partner Mikko Heinonen kicked off the morning with his lecture on the topic of “Negotiation Skills”. After the lecture, the students put Mikko’s tips into practice as they practised negotiating with their contract opponents.

Mikko Heinonen’s lecture “Negotiation Skills”.

In Friday’s second lecture, titled “Disputes and Damage Control”, Partner Pontus Ewerlöf shared his expertise and the students actively asked questions on the topic. In the final workshop, which was on the topic of “Damage Control”, the students again worked in groups and our hosts helped them along the way.

Students workshopping.                                           

Gustav Lewin and Julia Nordgren on the topic of “Damage Control”.

We ended the official programme with a panel discussion on the topic of “Future of Contracts”, where Sarita Schröder acted as moderator and Jenny Lundberg, Klaus Ilmonen, and Pontus Ewerlöf discussed what the future of contracts holds.

Panel discussion on the “Future of Contracts”. From the left: Sarita Schröder, Pontus Ewerlöf, Jenny Lundberg, and Klaus Ilmonen.

We concluded Summer School 2022 with dinner and drinks at our roof terrace, followed by some karaoke in the late-summer night.