'shouldn't Mediation be Spreading in Finland and the Nordics?'

Anna Hietala, Associate Legal Counsel, Power Plants Legal Affairs, Wärtsilä Finland Oy, Power Plants
Tim Williams, Senior Legal Counsel, Wärtsilä Finland Oy, Power Plants

Mediation is not just an English issue or an American issue. The Mediation Directive (EU Directive 2008/52/EC) came into force in back May 2011, and member states are still putting the rules into place to facilitate mediation in their own countries and across the EU. Contrary to the expectations of many – and especially the contentious law firms – the mediation market has grown quickly. But perhaps not fast enough. ADR should become one of the standard ways to resolve commercial disputes. However, there is still a significant lack of knowledge about mediation, and the differences between litigation, arbitration and mediation in Finland and the civil law countries. In this general context, multinational companies will soon have to make key policy decisions in relation to their supply and customer contracts on a range of issues, how to prepare and train their resources on ADR and mediation, and how best to extract value from a less confrontational and more commercial approach.

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Finland Arbitration General March 2013 Vol. 6, No. 22, Winter 2013

Anna Hietala

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Anna Hietala is a Finnish lawyer with a Masters in Law from the University of Lapland and a Masters in Administrative Sciences from the University of Vaasa. Anna has worked in the Advocacy Unit of the Finnish Competition Authority in Helsinki, and current works with Wärtsilä Power Plants Legal Affairs in Vaasa where she is engaged in supporting the business unit in cross border contracting and commercial disputes (and in particular ICC Rules of Arbitration and alternative dispute resolution).

Tim Williams

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Tim Williams is an English qualified lawyer living and working in Helsinki, Finland. His law degree is from the University of Southampton; he went on to study at the College of Law at York and qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1993. In addition Tim holds an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics in 1998. Tim has worked for both London and Helsinki law firms. He has also worked in house, first at Nokia and now at Wärtsilä, where he enjoys the proximity to the business. Tim has extensive experience of international commercial and financing transactions and has negotiated commercial matters in many parts of the world including, for example, England, the Nordic countries, Brazil, Iran, Pakistan and Hong Kong. Tim’s experience of international commerce and finance has brought him into contact with dispute resolution both in and across a number of jurisdictions and subject to different forms of dispute resolution including ICC Stockholm as well as ad hoc arbitrations. Recent years have seen the growth of mediation as a means of resolving both private disputes as well as larger commercial disputes. As a result Tim has developed a special interest in mediation and is now an accredited CEDR Mediator.

Wärtsilä Finland Oy, Power Plants

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Wärtsilä is a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising technological innovation and total efficiency, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of its customers vessels and power plants. In 2011, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 4.2 billion with approximately 18,000 employees. The company has operations in nearly 170 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland.

Finland Arbitration General March 2013 Vol. 6, No. 22, Winter 2013
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