Martin Lavesen
Martin Lavesen has been Country Managing Partner of DLA Piper Denmark since 2017 and thus has overall responsibility for organisational and strategic development.
Martin has a right of audience before the Danish Supreme Court and has conducted a number of major cases before courts, boards and tribunals. He is also a certified arbitrator and mediator. He sits on the boards of directors of several companies, particularly tech start-ups. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of companies such as Holse & Wibroe, Insife, Medical Scandinavia, Scansupply Batteries and Steynsburg Denmark.
Martin is in demand to chair general meetings, in listed companies as well as large organisations. For a number of years, he has chaired general meetings of Danish companies such as the Alm. Brand insurance group, the Brøndby IF football club and Denmark's third largest brewery Harboes Bryggeri.
For almost 30 years, Martin has acted for Danish and international clients within all sectors, but especially within technology-intensive industries. These clients include BASF, Hottinger Brüel & Kjær and Spectralink. He advises on IP law, focusing on commercialisation, partnerships, licence agreements, corporate structures and private placements. He has assisted many Danish biotech and medtech companies over the years.
He has, for more than 20 years, assisted public institutions in connection with technology transfers and rights issues. For a number of years, he has had a cooperation arrangement with the University of Copenhagen on the provision of legal services.
Moreover, Martin deals with press and media law, including particularly the ethics of journalism. He is a long-time member of the Danish Press Council, which hears complaints about Danish media.
Since 2021, Martin has been President of the Council of the Danish Bar and Law Society, which supervises all attorneys and also promotes the rule of law and a well-functioning society based on the rule of law.
He sits on the Board of Representatives of the University of Copenhagen and has strong ties to university circles, having been an external examiner for several years at university law programmes in Denmark. Martin is in demand as a lecturer and has, for more than 20 years, lectured at the assistant-attorney programme and previously also at the University of Copenhagen. He has authored several textbooks on legal ethics, mediation and IP law.
In 2019, Martin was included as a new entry in Kraks Blå Bog, the Danish Who’s Who.
Program on Negotiating Global, Harvard University, 2019
Diploma in Law Firm Management, University of Cambridge, 2018
Diploma in Law Firm Management, IE Business School, Madrid, 2016
Diploma in Law Firm Management, Harvard University, 2013
Certified board member, the education programme for board members operated by the Association of Danish Law Firms, 2011
Certified arbitrator, the education programme for arbitrators operated by the Association of Danish Law Firms, 2009
HD Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (Organisation and Management), the Copenhagen Business School, 2006
Certified mediator, the Danish Bar and Law Society, 2004
Admitted to the Danish Bar, 1997
Master of Law, University of Copenhagen, 1994
Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada, 1993
Studies at the University of Cambridge, 1992
The International Bar Association
Licensing Executive Society
Danish Life Science Law Association
Højesteretsskranken (a Danish association of experienced supreme court litigators)
The Copenhagen Bar Association
Harboe's Brewery A/S - assisting in completing an ownership transition among the owners of the listed brewery, where the company’s existing principal shareholders transferred A shares to the next generation (2019).
SiccaDania A/S – assisting in several acquisitions, including of Dutch NivobaHovex and Danish ACO, creating a prominent global player within process technology (2018).
Topsil Semiconductors – assisting in the sale of the listed Topsil, which is a high-technology supplier of ultra pure silicon, throughout a structured sales process, ending with GlobalWafers (Taiwan) as the buyer (2017).
Country Managing Partner, DLA Piper Denmark, since 2017
Partner, LETT (DLA Piper Denmark), 2012-2017
Partner, Lind Cadovius, 2006-2012
Partner, Johan Schlüter, 2004-2005
CEO of Danish biotech company Exiqon, 2002-2003
Lawyer, Locke Lord (formerly Edwards & Angell), Boston, 2001
Attorney, Lavesen Advokater, 2001-2003
Attorney, Lind Cadovius, 1997-2001
Assistant Attorney, Lind Cadovius, 1994-1997
President of the Council of the Danish Bar and Law Society, since 2021
Member of the Council of the Danish Bar and Law Society, since 2015
Member of the ESG panel set up by DJØF (a Danish professional organisation representing lawyers, economists, etc.), since 2023
Member of the diversity committee set up by the Confederation of Danish Industry, since 2020
Member of the Board of Representatives, the University of Copenhagen, since 2018
External examiner in the national corps of external examiners within law, since 2014
Member of the chairmanship of the Danish Press Council, since 2012
Member of the panel of recruiters at the Faculty of Law, the University of Copenhagen, since 2008
Lecturer at the assistant-attorney programme operated by the Danish Bar and Law Society, since 2001
Lecturer at the patent-agent programme operated by the Danish Institute for IPR Training, 2014-2020
Lecturer at the law programme, the University of Copenhagen, 1997-1999
Martin was included as a new entry in Kraks Blå Bog, the Danish Who's Who, in 2019
“Code of Conduct – Annotated Code of Conduct for Attorneys” (published in Danish only), the Danish Bar and Law Society, latest edition 2022
“Legal ethics – the law and its framework” (published in Danish only), the Danish Bar and Law Society, latest edition 2022
“Mediation – the law and its framework” (published in Danish only), Thomson, latest edition 2022
“Intellectual property contracts” (published in Danish only)”, volumes I-IV, Gads Forlag, 2013-2019
“An employee representative’s manual” (published in Danish only), Erhvervsskolernes Forlag, latest edition 2016