"My experience abroad taught me calmness, self-confidence and perspective, while being a fun adventure I will never forget."

Senior Associate Iiris from our Technology, Data & IP practice shares her career journey – from discovering law after an early interest in political science to gaining experience across the public sector, private practice and the General Court of the EU. She reflects on how her time in Luxembourg deepened her legal reasoning skills and broadened her perspective, and how international experience, adaptability, and a genuine curiosity for technology and EU law continue to shape her career today.

How has your career been so far, and how did you end up at Krogerus?

I wasn't one of those kids who knew they wanted to become a lawyer at an early age. Law wasn’t even my first field of study after school. However, after studying political science for a few years (a field I still have huge appreciation for) and browsing at different job openings, I started realizing that a law degree might open more doors to the type of work that I dreamed of: problem solving, argumentation and variety. In 2014, I decided to apply to law school.

During my studies in law, I worked part-time in another law firm and did an internship at the ministry of finance. That previous work experience helped enormously while working as an associate trainee at Krogerus in 2018. I quickly felt at home among the fast-moving and challenging tasks, but relaxed and collegial atmosphere at Krogerus, and was lucky enough to reach an associate position at the Technology, Data and IP ('TDIP') team after graduation.

I had enjoyed many fields of law at university, but found myself leaning particularly towards intellectual property, technology and EU law. At Krogerus I gained valuable insights on e.g. brand protection matters, mergers and acquisitions and data protection (GDPR having just become applicable).

However, after having worked at Krogerus for a bit over a year, I heard of an opportunity to apply to work at the General Court of the EU - a chance that seemed simply too interesting and rare to pass on. I had studied EU law and participated in the European Law Moot Court Competition (ELMC) as a participant and a coach of the University of Helsinki team. As I had also done an Erasmus exchange in France and studied French for about ten years, the prospect almost felt like fate. Hence, in early 2020 I packed my bags and moved to Luxembourg.

What was it like to work abroad, and what did you take away from the experience?

At the General Court, I worked in a judge's cabinet for almost four years. I assisted the judge in the drafting of internal reports, proposals and final judgments in cases before the General Court. This involved all such contentious matters where a party was a European Union agency or institution - varying from e.g. chemical regulation or state aid to EU employment law.

The working language at the court was French, which I did not know perfectly before starting work. I thought of the language - and of life in Luxembourg in general - as an adventure: a possibility to stretch my language and legal argumentation skills by learning from Europe's top legal minds. Work was highly challenging but rewarding. A good judgment is a result of months of exchange of ideas between judges and their teams as well as precise drafting work, aiming towards a clear, concise and well-reasoned judgment.

Adapting to life as a young professional was easy. The city is filled with expats from various countries. The quality of life feels familiar for a Finn (the city is surrounded by nature) but with a flare of fun mid-European flamboyance. Luxembourg also has quality wineries, amazing hiking trails and good connections for weekend trips. I often recommend it to anyone considering internships or other job opportunities abroad. The working language in most EU institutions and private companies in Luxembourg is English, so you do not need French to get by.

How has your international experience influenced your career and how do you apply what you learned in your current role?

After a few years in Luxembourg, analysing attorneys' written and oral pleadings before the court made me miss practicing advocacy. At the same time, the European Union was releasing new regulation on e.g. AI, data and digital services, and I saw a chance to combine my experience at the Court with my interest and prior experience in technology, data and intellectual property in a meaningful way. I decided to reapply to Krogerus.

At Krogerus I have worked extensively on the EU Data Act and AI Act, as well as on commercial contracts and related matters. It has been highly motivating to discuss the interpretation of these new regulations together with the businesses affected by them. In addition to compliance matters, I assist clients in administrative proceedings and in dispute resolution between private entities.

I have found my experience at the General Court to be of assistance not only in the knowledge of certain fields of law but also in general skills like adaptability and planning. Gaining international experience also helped me sharpen my argumentation skills in a clash of different cultures and communication styles. Each communication at the court needed to be precise and factual, but also well-reasoned and clear. Practicing summarized drafting and a sensitivity to different communication styles has been highly valuable in e.g. project management after returning to Krogerus.

Overall, I found the experience abroad to be hugely rewarding both professionally and personally. In addition to the professional skills, it taught me calmness, self-confidence and perspective, while being a fun adventure I will never forget.

Piece of advice you would give an aspiring lawyer

• Choose topics and goals that interest you and work hard toward them - but don't be afraid of changing direction if your old goals no longer serve you.
• Express your interests to your community - people are happy to help a young lawyer in achieving their dreams, but to be able to do so, they need to know your dreams.
• Look beyond borders: a career in Finland can be combined with internships or other job opportunities abroad, and moving back and forth (especially within the EU) is easy.

Iiris' career in numbers

• 7 years of working as a lawyer (post-graduation)
• 3 at Krogerus
• 4 abroad