Katja Perätalo

Katja advises clients on contractual aspects of industrial construction and investment projects in all phases of execution and both on non-contentious and contentious aspects. Her area of expertise especially covers contractual issues and disputes relating to power plants and industrial projects, including drafting and negotiating various kinds of construction and supply contracts, advising on claim/delay management and other strategic issues with contentious interfaces during project execution, handling and mitigating both potential and realised disputes relating to, for instance, delays, performance, and variations in said projects, and advising in M&A and project finance deals in relation to the contractual scope of this industry sector. Katja has particular expertise in EPC & EPCM projects, procurement contracts & supply agreements, and Contracts & Claims Management leadership both on a global organisational level and within a particular contract.

Katja holds a Doctor of Laws / LL.D. degree from the University of Helsinki and a M.Sc. (tech) degree from Aalto University. Her doctoral dissertation covers the interface between tort and contract law in the context of liabilities between parties of a large-scale construction project.

Before joining Hannes Snellman, Katja was in charge of Contracts & Claims Management and a member of the management team of the procurement organisation at one of the largest industrial companies in Finland. Katja also has several years of experience from working in another leading Finnish law firm, during which time she also went on secondment to a leading international law firm in London. Before her legal career, Katja worked as an analyst in the real estate & construction industry.

Katja is also a former international-level athlete and a European Championship finalist and World Championship semi-finalist. She also held Finnish national records in swimming for over a decade.