Current leadership
The BJF is a private, non-profit making organisation, managed by a five-member board. The current chairman is Eva Holm, head of legal at Phadia, a Swedish-based company that manufactures and markets blood tests in the field of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases.
Status
The BJF is the main association of in-house lawyers in Sweden, although there are also specialist organisations for corporate counsel belonging to Swedish banking and insurance companies.
In order to be eligible to join the BJF, applicants must have a law degree, and work as in-house counsel for a commercial company that has its main business within industry, trade, communication, real estate or information technology. Private practice or public sector counsels are not eligible to join the BJF.
Swedish lawyers working in-house are not entitled to retain membership of the Swedish Bar Association. As a result, Swedish corporate counsels are not entitled to legal professional privilege, or to use the reserved professional title of "advokat".
International links
The BJF is a member of ECLA, the European Company Lawyers' Association. In addition, the organisation enjoys cordial relations with its Finnish equivalent. "They recently held one of their meeting at the Finnish embassy in Stockholm, which I attended," says BJF chairman, Eva Holm.
Benefits of membership
In close collaboration with different sponsoring law firms between 5-6 evening seminars per year are organised on topics of interest to the association's members. The sponsoring law firms may not engage in marketing of the firm, but should concentrate on the legal topic for the evening and a short limited presentation of their firm. In addition, the BJF organises two seminars per year, which law firms do not sponsor.
The first of these seminars is a half-day educational event held in Stockholm each Spring. Typically a spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice gives a speech about current legislative issues and impending new laws which may be relevant to BJF's members. This is followed by 2-3 high-level keynote speakers on varying current topics of interest to in-house counsels. The seminar always ends with a social event in the evening. At the second meeting in the Autumn (fall), the BJF organises a Thursday evening to Saturday morning event at the offices or factory of a BJF member.
"We try to hold our all meetings out of Stockholm, as this encourages our members to stay for the whole event," says Ms Holm. "This meeting is very much a networking opportunity, especially for the members who are working alone as in-house counsel in their company." This event will typically involve a tour at the hosting company on Friday, including a training session, and a social event on Friday evening. "We often arrange for the CEO of the company to give us a presentation at the Friday event. They inform us about their business position, and what they want from their in-house lawyers," Ms Holm continues. "It's always very interesting to hear what they have to say on this subject."
In addition to its educational and social events, the BJF also runs a 12-month mentoring programme for its members. "This scheme is much appreciated, both by those receive and also those who offer the mentoring," says Ms Holm.
Current hot topics
In Sweden, unlike their private practice counterparts, in-house counsels cannot claim legal privilege. "We believe it is important that all lawyers - both in-house and private practice - have the same professional status, and the same rights to legal privilege," Ms Holm concludes.
Recent sponsors of our C2C programme
