Law firms in Iceland (Islande)

David Franklin, advocate

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The article that appeared in the Journal de Barreau on February 15, 1999 entitled Le marché scandinave dealt with all of the Nordic countries except Iceland, a country of interest to the undersigned. In order to complete this excellent study, the following should be noted.

The members of the Icelandic Bar Association are at present 510 and have increased from 327 in the last 10 years. Membership in the Bar Association is mandatory and, therefore, includes all practicing lawyers and associates and in-house counsel.

There are two different types of law firms in Iceland. One is what might be called a nominal partnership where a few partners cooperate as regards facilities but keep separate types of clientele. Some of these firms operate under one letterhead, making it difficult to determine what type of law firm you are dealing with. The other type is a regular partnership with partners and associates.

Presently, the largest law firm in number of partners and associates is Adalsteinsson & Partners in Reykjavik with 6 partners and 4 associates admitted to the Bar.

Most practicing lawyers in Iceland are generalists in the sense that they deal with all kinds of clients and most fields of law. However, during the last few years, lawyers have started to emphasize certain areas of practice even though they publicly cannot call themselves specialists, with fields such as intellectual property. European Economic Area Law, Competition Law, Air Law, Foreign Investment and Telecommunications.

Although the trend has been that law offices are getting larger, one must keep in mind that the entire population of the island country is 270,000.

 

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