Geir Sviggum

Geir Sviggum is a Managing Partner at Wikborg Rein's Shanghai office and is part of the firm's Trade, Industry and Public Sector group.

Geir Sviggum specializes in litigation and dispute resolution, and has handled international arbitrations and other disputes in Asia and several European countries. He further specializes in construction- and fabrication contracts on- and offshore, and has been lead counsel for construction projects in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Clients of the Shanghai office include national governments, state owned companies and the majority of Norwegian enterprises in China. Sviggum has years of experience acting for Chinese state-owned companies both within China and on cross-border assignments. He is a frequent keynote speaker on legal topics concerning FPSO- and other complex offshore projects at industry conferences in Asia. 

Sviggum is ranked by Asia Law Business (ALB) among the 100 most influential lawyers in Asia. This is an independently collated list of top lawyers and firms in Asia, and he was ranked as being a Leader in the legal community and for managing “the firm’s China operations with great success”. Sviggum is the first Scandinavian lawyer to make it to ALB’s Hot 100 list. He is also recommended by Legal 500, Asia Pacific.

Sviggum was partner in charge for Wikborg Rein’s assignment as Official Legal Advisor to the Norwegian government during the World EXPO 2010 in Shanghai. He is further Chairman of the Norwegian Business Association in Shanghai; Asia’s largest Norwegian business association in terms of member activity.

Curriculum Vitae

Work experience:

• 2010 - Partner, Wikborg Rein, Shanghai
• 2008 Resident Lawyer, Wikborg Rein, Shanghai
• 2007-2008 Senior Associate, Wikborg Rein, Bergen
• 2003-2006 Associate, Wikborg Rein, Bergen
• 1997-1998 Officer and Second in Command, infantry platoon/platoon leader, HM Royal Guards
• 1996-1997 Reserve Officer and second in command, infantry platoon, HM Royal Guards

Publications:

• ”Access to justice”, published in the memorial volume ”Legal aid from coast to plain”, Gyldendal Academic, 2009 (in cooperation with lawyer PHD Line Ravlo Losvik) 
• ”Will the occurrence of health injuring radon constitute a defect in a real estate transaction?” Tidsskrift for forretningsjus (Norwegian Business Law Review), no. 2, 2007
• Model examination paper on income taxation, Injuria no. 7, 2000
• Contributions to miscellaneous articles in magazines and papers 

Directorships:

• Chairman at Norwegian Business Association, Shanghai

Education:

• 2005  Practising Certificate
• 2003 Cand. Jur., University of Bergen
• 2002 Optional subject, International civil law, Bond University, Australia
• 1996 Officer's training school for the infantry regiment of Trøndelag county