OUR ATTORNEYS
MORTEN RONDE (MANAGING PARTNER)
Morten Ronde is a founding partner of Nordic Gambling. He has more than 20 years of experience working in the industry in various roles.
During his career, he has worked as a regulator for the Danish Gambling Authority, as a legal counsel to gambling operators and game software suppliers in the Nordics, and with Public Affairs as the head of the trade group for the Danish online gambling operators “Spillebranchen” (en: “Danish Online Gambling Association”).
While working as a regulator, he drafted the Danish online gambling reform that allowed for open licensing of betting and online casino operators in Denmark. The Danish gambling model is still considered one of the best gambling regimes globally and has inspired many countries to adopt similar regulations.
While working with gambling operators and suppliers in the Nordic region, Morten frequently consults with European Governments about good practices for gambling regulation.
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Morten is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
HENRIK NORSK HOFFMANN (PARTNER)
Henrik Norsk Hoffmann is a founding partner of Nordic Gambling, and he has 14 years of experience working in the industry. He is a Danish attorney at law, and he specialises in gaming law, corporate and commercial law and international commercial and arbitration law. He offers legal advice regarding gaming law issues in Denmark. Hoffmann has worked with gaming law since 2002 and has handled some of the most important court cases regarding gambling and, in particular, poker.
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Henrik has been appointed to be a member of a committee under the Danish Ministry of Justice, which was appointed with the task of reviewing Danish Gambling law on poker. Hoffman was the first Young Gaming Attorney to be inducted into the International Masters of Gaming Law.
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Henrik is also the co-author of the ICLG Danish chapter on Anti-Money Laundering 2021-2022.
Henrik is based in Frankfurt, Germany.
MARIA McDONALD (PARTNER)
Maria McDonald is a Swedish lawyer and a founding partner of Nordic Gambling. With extensive experience as in-house counsel with international operators. Maria is specialized in all legal matters related to gambling, media and sponsorships but also has extensive experience of working with dispute resolution, IT and data protection.
Maria has during the majority of her career worked as in-house legal counsel and as the Head of Legal in Unibet and in Lagardère Sports. Maria has also previously acted as Chairman of the Danish Online Gambling Association (DOGA) and treasurer of the Swedish Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS).
Maria is also the author of the chapter about Sweden in the publication "Gambling laws and Regulations Sweden 2022" You can read that chapter here.
Maria is based in Stockholm, Sweden.
PEKKA ILMIVALTA (HEAD OF FINNISH OFFICE)
Pekka lmivalta has a long history and an exhaustive experience in the Finnish gaming/gambling legislation having worked as the General Counsel and executive board member of the Finnish national gaming company, Veikkaus, for 17 years. During those years, besides legal issues his responsibilities included e.g. HR matters, CSR, and communication.
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Beyond his legal expertise, Pekka has been deeply involved in Finnish sports, especially ice hockey and floorball, and has worked on ethical issues in sports. Most recently he served as Executive Director of the Finnish Floorball Association. Additionally, he is a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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Pekka is based in Helsinki, Finland.
ELVIN FOLKEBRANT SABABI (JUNIOR PARTNER)
Elvin is a Junior Partner of Nordic Gambling. Elvin Joined Nordic Gambling in 2020
He holds a LLM from Uppsala University and has also studied at the University of Sydney. Elvin has previously worked with corporate transactions (mergers and acquisitions) at one of Sweden’s top law firms.
Before joining Nordic Gambling he worked at the Swedish Tax Authority with corporate taxation.
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Elvin is based i Stockholm, Sweden.
KARL-OSKAR HOKKANEN (LAWYER)
Karl-Oskar Hokkanen is a lawyer at Nordic Gambling. Karl-Oskar joined Nordic Gambling in 2023.
He holds a LLM from Uppsala University and has also studied at the University of Leeds.
Before joining Nordic Gambling he completed an internship at Uppsala District Court.
Karl-Oskar is based in Stockholm, Sweden.