Smaller is better for ex-2Birds associate

Fredrik Norburg opened one-man firm Norburg Advokatbyrå on 2 November after spending a year in Bird & Bird’s Stockholm office. “I’ve been in quite large law firms for more than 10 years,” said Norburg, “first Mannheimer Swartling and then Bird & Bird… and I feel that it’s better to work in a smaller environment because of all the conflicts of interest. “Having seen the skyrocketing [of the costs] of arbitration over the past decade, I think it’s possible to offer a more cost-efficient alternative.

It’s not always necessary to involve a large organisation.” Norburg added that the plan is to keep the firm as a small, specialist boutique. “My expansion plans are not more than, in a couple of years, maybe having a couple of lawyers,” he said. Norburg began his career in 1999 as an associate at Mannheimer Swartling, moving between the firm’s Gothenburg and Stockholm offices. In 2003 he took a year’s secondment as corporate counsel at the Volvo Group headquarters in Gothenburg, before moving to Bird & Bird in 2008.