Our History
We are a modern law firm and one of Norway’s largest, with leading expertise in all areas of business law. We have achieved this by assisting major players in society, pursuing professional development and recruiting the greatest talents and foremost experts.
A leading law firm with historical roots
Wiersholm traces its roots back to 1875, when Supreme Court Lawyer Carl Unger established his own law firm in what was then Christiania. There is a long and unbroken line from today’s Wiersholm back to Carl Unger, Henrich Steffens, Kristen Nygaard, Gunnar Mellbye and the other partners in the original firms that later became Wiersholm. All the partners were prominent figures in the Norwegian legal profession at the time, some of them indisputably among the best.
The establishment of today’s Wiersholm
Today’s Wiersholm was founded on 16 August 1990 by all the former partners of the three law firms (i) Wiersholm, Bachke & Helliesen, (ii) Mellbye, Schjoldager, Sejersted, Tenden and (iii) Bech, Hirsch & co. The firm then took the name Wiersholm, Mellbye and Bech.
The merger took place in connection with significant changes in the ownership structure of Norwegian business and industry. Mergers and acquisitions led to larger entities that gradually became more professional users of legal services. The Norwegian economy became more internationalised through increasing foreign investments in Norway and Norwegian investments abroad. Norway’s approximation to the EU led to changes in Norwegian legislation. All of these changes meant that Norwegian law firms had to increase significantly in size and possess cutting-edge expertise in several industry sectors in order to compete with law firms in other parts of Europe and in the US.
In 2012, we shortened our name to Wiersholm, and in 2015 the firm moved into our current headquarters at Dokkveien 1 at Aker Brygge in Oslo. In 2022, we expanded by opening an office at Brattørkaia in Trondheim.
