Mikko Heinonen Receives the Prestigious Finnish Honorary Title of Laamanni

We are pleased to announce that Partner Mikko Heinonen has been awarded the distinguished honorary title of laamanni by the President of the Republic of Finland on 22 November 2024.

Mikko’s significant contribution and groundbreaking work, especially in the realms of Finnish corporate transactions and board advisory, have firmly established him as a prominent leader in the field. Mikko has been entrusted with advisory work for complex corporate transactions and developing legal frameworks for companies ranging from technology start-ups to large multinational companies. He is the go-to legal advisor for many companies and their boards. He has participated in introducing international practices to Finnish transactions and developed Finnish market practice for corporate transactions. Mikko has also been active in teaching various university courses and seminars on corporate, transactional and securities regulation matters during the past two decades at the Universities of Turku and Helsinki.

Mikko's continuous drive and curiosity, as well as courageous leadership over the years in various positions of trust have been invaluable to Hannes Snellman’s achievements. His dedication to providing unparalleled legal expertise has contributed to Hannes Snellman’s progress and solidified our esteemed position within the industry.

Mikko commenced his career at Hannes Snellman in 1996. Upon graduation in 1997 from the University of Turku, he was employed as an associate lawyer in the firm. During 2001–2002 he studied and obtained his LL.M. from Harvard Law School (2002) and passed the New York Bar Exam in the same year. Mikko was promoted to the firm’s partnership in 2003, acted as the head and co-head of the firm’s M&A Practice from 2005 until 2011, when he was appointed as the managing partner, in which position he served until 2019. Mikko was the firm’s senior partner from 2020 to 2023. Mikko holds board memberships in various companies and is currently also the Chair of the Turku University Foundation.

During his nearly three decades at Hannes Snellman, he has advised on numerous transactions that have been significant milestones in the Finnish economy. Mikko has advised clients in various fields of law, including corporate, securities, tax, employment, corporate finance, and competition law, and in matters involving various kinds of corporate transactions. He has also been actively involved in venture capital, litigation, public procurement, licensing, and insolvency matters, and he has recently taken initiatives to promote AI and data regulatory expertise to various legal areas.

“We are extremely proud of Mikko’s decades-long contribution to the firm’s success. We are grateful that Mikko’s active and energetic presence, as well as his ability to bring a wealth of experience, broader horizon and longer-term perspective in the firm continues”, says Hannes Snellman’s Managing Partner Riikka Rannikko.