Catching up with Maija Vartiainen of If

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D&I Quarterly Q4/2015

Posted on

3 Nov

2015

Dittmar & Indrenius > Insight > Catching up with Maija Vartiainen of If

Maija Vartiainen started her legal career at Dittmar & Indrenius in 1998. She joined If P&C Insurance Company Ltd. as their Senior Legal Counsel in 2010.

Q: What is the best thing about working at If?

If is full of experts in different fields—from doctors to police officers and from mathematicians to construction engineers. This introduces a lawyer to a dizzying range of new perspectives. In addition, the heavily Nordic operational model of the company brings its own Swedish, Danish or other flavour to each project.

Q: What is your favourite part of your day at the office?

The first hour of the morning! As I always start my day at 7 a.m., the only sounds at the office are the clicks of my heels and the hum of the air conditioner, which I find very calming. Before others arrive I have already accomplished many tasks and I am ready for whatever the day has to offer.

Q: What legal issues or challenges have you got coming up over the next few months?

The insurance business, which has been seen as strongly conservative, is undergoing considerable change and, to the surprise of some people, is one of the pioneers of digital development. This is why the desk of a corporate lawyer is, and will be, increasingly full of legal questions related to digital service models and, for instance, the utilisation of big data. We are not short of challenges.

Q: In your free time, what are you reading at the moment?

As reading is by far my favourite activity, there are always several books on the corners of my tables and in my bag, waiting to be read. My latest, perhaps somewhat surprising choice, was Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water, which has won many awards in the spheres of science fiction and fantasy literature and was recommended to me by my mother. I am happy I took her advice. I am pretty sure I will be contemplating the book’s threatening but believable visions of the future for a long time. I am also about to finish Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which is a favourite of my sons. It is an evening ritual at our house. Lucky me, I get to experience it both as a reader and a listener.

“The insurance business is undergoing considerable change and, to the surprise of some people, is one of the pioneers of digital development.”

 

“The first hour of the morning is my favourite part of the day.”

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