Areas of Law
Public International Law
EU & Comparative European Law
EU Regulatory Law
International Arbitration
Commercial Litigation
Intellectual Property
Environmental Law & Policy
Energy Law & Policy
Waste Management Law
Climate Law & Litigation
Human Rights Law & Policy
Corporate Social Responsibility
Legal Work
EU-based Legal Consultant. Independent Contractor. Interim Counsel. Pro bono Legal Advisor.
Since August 2020, Christine Nikander has been working as an independent legal contractor and interim legal counsel in the EU. Christine studied law in the Netherlands, the UK, Finland, and the USA. She is a graduate of Leiden University, Edinburgh University Law School, and Columbia Law School. After graduating with her first LL.M., she worked at a large law firm in Amsterdam for three years.
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Her legal focus lays in environmental law, human rights, public international law, EU regulatory law, international arbitration, intellectual property, commercial litigation and corporate social responsibility. Christine also has a fair amount of experience with the drafting and negotiation of IP licensing agreements.
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As an expert in waste and circularity laws, Christine is currently a member of the consortium that has been selected by the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) of the European Commission for the “Framework Contract on the Circular Economy and Waste to Resources”.
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Throughout her career, Christine has regularly provided pro bono legal advice to social enterprises and young start-ups.
T-shaped
Christine Nikander brings a wide variety of unique soft and hard skills to the table.
Apart from just studying and working in law, Christine also:
- studied natural and environmental sciences at university
- took courses in journalism and has experience in communications
- has lived in 5 countries and has experience leading diverse intercultural teams
- can work in English, German and Finnish (with a full passive understanding of Dutch)
- holds degrees in international law and environmental law
- has experience working as an associate at a large law firm, as a legal counsel, and as a freelance jurist
- has worked extensively with young social enterprises and start-ups
- has founded a company of her own and knows what it means to be a young entrepreneur
- studied sculpture for a year and currently also works as a freelance illustrator
- is a strong team player and an empathetic manager
LEGAL SEVICES​
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Interim or part-time legal counsel
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Legal contractor for due diligence and document review work
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Legal research and drafting
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Project management and team leading
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Acting as an arbitral secretary or tribunal secretary
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Work as an interim legal counsel:
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Drafting of IP licensing agreements
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Drafting of company-internal policies and third-party clauses to manage and protect IP rights
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Drafting company policies on corporate social responsibility and ethical guidelines
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Legal contractor for:
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Document review and eDiscovery, for large-scale litigation and arbitration matters
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Due diligence, particularly for environmental and human rights law and policy
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Document review of IP licensing agreements, contracts and other legal documents
Legal research and drafting services, such as:
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Conducting studies on the implementation of EU directives in Member States' national legislation
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Drafting of proposals to enact new laws or policies
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Legal memorandums outlining the case law or the present legal situation
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Policy analysis for proposals on new legislation
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Drafting of research reports for NGOs and think tanks
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Content creation for legal publications and textbooks
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Fact-checking for legal news and legal publications
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Proofreading and editing of legal texts
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Translating legal documents (from German or Finnish into English)
Recent Work
Within the EU, Christine Nikander acts as interim legal counsel, works as an independent legal contractor, offers services as a legal consultant, and gives pro bono legal advice to social enterprises and young start-ups. Amongst others, she does freelance work in contact drafting, IP protection, legal research, due diligence, document review, and corporate social responsibility.
Her past work includes the following:
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Christine has acted as legal counsel to a young company without a legal department.
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She has negotiated agreements and spoken to long-term investors as the lead legal representative.
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She has drafted and negotiated IP licensing agreements for a social enterprise.
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She has drafted company-internal policies and third-party clauses to manage and protect IP rights.
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She has drafted the corporate social responsibility clauses and ethical guidelines for a young company.
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She has advised a number of young social enterprises and start-ups on how to protect their IP and has helped them with the licensing of their IP.
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She has led a large team of jurists in an eDiscovery project.
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She has worked as a freelancer on large-scale legal document review assignments.
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Christine also regularly participates in conducting legal research into the national transposition and implementation of EU directives related to energy and the environment for Europe-wide research studies:
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As of the spring of 2024, she is participating in research for the European Commission (DG MOVE) on the national adoption and implementation the of Eurovignette Directive.
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As of the spring of 2024, she is participating in research for the European Commission (DG EMPL) on the national transposition of the European Accessibility Act.
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From 2022 to 2023, she participated in research for the European Commission (DG ENER) on the national implementation of Directive (EU) 2018/2002 on Energy Efficiency (EED) and the Directive (EU) 2018/844 on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD).
Past Experience
Christine Nikander completed a junior training contract at a large law firm in Amsterdam from 2017 to 2020. Her rotations were completed in the departments for competition law (for 6 months), international arbitration (for 1.5 years), and intellectual property law (for 1 year).
She gained experience inter alia in the following:
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State aid and cartel follow-on damage claims litigation
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Arbitrations under various rules, incl. ICC and UNCITRAL rules
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Commercial litigation on long-term manufacturing and supplies agreements
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Insurance claims litigation
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Patent and trade secret litigation
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Transactional IP for M&A deals
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Drafting contracts and clauses to protect IP rights
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Pro bono legal assistance for start-ups
She also held a role as a member of the firm's sustainability committee for one year. In this role, she found new pro bono clients for the firm and started a set of new firm-internal sustainability initiatives.