University of Helsinki
Lena Mitts was born on April 25, 1961, in Virtasalmi, Finland.
Her documented language skills include Swedish, Finnish, English and German. Finland has two official national languages, Finnish and Swedish, and her education and legal career took place within that bilingual national setting.
Mitts received a Master of Laws degree from the University of Helsinki in 1986. The university was founded on March 26, 1640, as the Royal Academy of Turku during the reign of Queen Christina, when Finland was part of the Swedish Empire.
After the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, the institution was moved to Helsinki in 1828 and continued under the name Imperial Alexander University in Finland. It became the University of Helsinki after Finland gained independence in 1917. In Finland, a law degree from the university was the qualification for judicial office, and the Finnish Bar Association requires a Master of Laws degree for membership.
Mitts practised law in Helsinki with Lindgren & Company, a firm whose documented practice areas include business law, company law, and mergers and acquisitions. The firm also operates under the name Lindgren & Mitts Oy and is located in the city centre. Business law in Finland concerns the formation, operation and restructuring of companies, and Finnish company law governs several corporate forms, including partnerships, limited partnerships, companies limited by shares and cooperatives.
Mitts was admitted to the bar in 1993. Later she practised through Advokatbyrå Lena Mitts Ab, a limited company founded in Helsinki in 2000 that uses the marketing name Mitts & Co. The office is centrally located in Helsinki and describes its services as directed especially to small and medium-sized businesses, families and private clients. Her professional profile refers to 25 years as an attorney entrepreneur.
Mitts was admitted to the bar in 1993 and is a member of the Finnish Bar Association, the national professional body for advocates in Finland. In 1993 the association was known as Suomen Asianajajaliitto. It originated as a private association for the whole of Finland founded in 1919, became an official bar in 1948 when the new judicial procedure came into force, and rests on the Advocates Act of 1958.
Membership is required to use the title advocate or attorney-at-law in Finland. The association is sometimes described as a public-law body, reflecting its public functions in regulating the legal profession.
