Wikborg Rein

The firm was founded in Oslo in 1923 by Erling Wikborg, who was joined by shipping lawyer Alex Rein as a partner in 1945. The firm is large by Norwegian standards, with a total of 190 lawyers, in Oslo, Bergen, London, Singapore, Kobe and Shanghai. The practice is diversified, but specializes in shipping, energy, financing, tax, trade and industry, M&A, securities and banking regulations and IT and telecommunications. The firm is active in recruiting new law graduates, and has an exclusive sponsorship agreement with the Oslo law students' association.

Wikborg Rein has a long history of international practice, reflecting Norway's international tradition as a shipping and trading nation. A considerable portion of the client base is non-Norwegian, coming mostly from Scandinavia, Western Europe, North and South America, Japan, Korea and Australia. More than any other Norwegian firm, Wikborg Rein has chosen to develop an international network of offices; in addition to its present ones it has in the past had offices in New York (1956-1984) and Rotterdam (1971-1987). Most of the firm's partners have practiced abroad for several years. In 2003, Wikborg Rein continued its international expansion and appointed the highly regarded English solicitor Stephen W. Fordham, as partner in its Singapore office. International work includes shipping (maritime casualties, ship purchase and sales, shipping finance, shipbuilding contracts), cross-border M&A, banking and finance (syndicated loans, asset finance and project finance) and energy (especially offshore drilling contracts and cross-border electricity transmission contracts).

The firm's international clients include companies involved in trade and industry, banking and finance, energy, natural resources, technology, media and telecommunication, transport, shipping and aviation.