Kaisa Susi is another entrant on this year’s list to have made a relatively recent shift from private practice to an in-house role.

Susi works in a small team that provides day-to-day legal support to the innovation function at the Finnish unit of Neste, a producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel.

The company also aims to be a global leader in renewable and circular solutions.

Susi joined in 2022 from the intellectual property and technology practice at Borenius Attorneys in Helsinki.

She has been praised for her strength in working on R&D agreements, her tech savviness and for supporting new and improved ways for the business to work as a legal function.

“I'm very impressed by her ability to handle complex, IP-intensive matters in a way that provides pragmatic, real-world solutions to business stakeholders in groundbreaking fields such as renewable hydrogen,” says Susi's nominator.

Susi tells Managing IP that working with the bright and talented people of Neste's innovation function has created a wonderful but challenging playground for her as an IP lawyer.

“I believe that IP matters are one of the key elements of our field of business and allow us to grow and provide new, innovative solutions for a more sustainable future.”