Member Profile

Marianne H. Dragsten is head of Synch’s department of public procurement. Marianne is one of Norway’s leading experts on public procurement and has worked in this field since 2000. She is a board member of the Norwegian Complaints Board for Public Procurement (KOFA) and has work experience from the Attorney General. Through her literary works consisting of several publications, she has acquired a unique knowledge of the government procurement regulations. Marianne is known to have a practical approach to these regulations and her focus is to find effective and suitable solutions. She assists both public and private clients in all phases of the procurement process.

In addition to legal advice in this field, Marianne also has extensive experience with operational assistance in procurement. She has conducted dozens of procurements for a number of municipalities and other public entities. This includes everything from service procurement such as consulting services, trade services, etc., to product procurement and construction procurement.

Marianne is a renowned lecturer in public procurement and holds courses run by Nohr-Con and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities.

Marianne assists both suppliers and public authorities within a variety of industries. She has solid practical experience in negotiations, implementation of bidding processes, appeals and legal proceedings.

On the supplier’s side: Mastering the procurement regulations takes time. There is a high risk of being rejected if you have not encompassed all the requirements requested. Furthermore,it is very important to question the ambiguities in the tender documents - this is an opportunity that many suppliers overlook.

Marianne assists her clients in connection with offer development, rejections and competition cancellation, the appeal process, access requests, dispute settlement, as well as risk assessment of contracts and other consulting.

On the provider's side: A strategic approach is essential to ensure that work is carried out according to regulations. Errors in the bidding process can be costly for providers. Marianne has assisted a number of government agencies and municipalities in procurement processes. By helping public bodies to conduct orderly and proper procurement processes by providing advice on the selection of appropriate forms of competition and competition planning. In addition, Marianne contributes with suggestions to procurement strategy and quality assurance of tender documents.

Dragsten has assisted several suppliers who has participated in competitions in Norway. Her work has consisted with assistance with preparation of offers and quality assurance on the offers to ensure that they are drafted according to Norwegian law about public procurement. In addition she has assisted numerous international suppliers with complaints procedures and procedural work.

Dragsten has completed numerous interim court orders and cases for different Norwegian divisional courts. She has assisted in many cases for the appeals board for public procurements where she also sits as committee member.

Examples of some of the clients Dragsten has assisted:

Torpol S.A

Europark AS

Sivilombudsmannen

Parliamentary Ombudsman

Departementenes service- og sikkerhetssenter

Departmental services and security center

2018 - Synch Advokatfirma AS - Owner/Lawyer

2017 - Advokatfirmaet Berngaard/Sandbek AS - Partner/lawyer

2012 – 2017 Advokatfirmaet Anskaffelsexperten AS- Partner/lawyer

2015 - Klagenemnda for offentlige anskaffelser - Board member

2014 – 2015 Advokatfirmaet DLA Piper DA - Partner/lawyer

2000 – 2012 Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS – Associated partner/lawyer

2006 Office of the Attorney General

2005 Appeals Board for public procurement – Adviser

2003 – 2004 Drammen tingrett – Deputy Judge

Books:

Public procurement – solutions, practice, and regulations «Offentlige anskaffelser – løsninger, praksis og regelverk» (Universitetsforlaget 2013)

Public procurement - Commentary «Offentlige anskaffelser – kommentarutgave» (Universitetsforlaget 2005)

Handbook for Public Procurement «Håndbok i offentlige anskaffelser» (Universitetsforlaget 2006)

Contributor to «På rett grunn» (2010)

Marianne has wide experience as a lecturer. She holds numerous lectures a year for a range of public clients and employers. She has a permanent place as lecturer for the Nohr Con seminars where courses include tender documentation and valuation models. She has lectured at the yearly “Law Seminar” (JUS-kurset) on the subject of public procurement in Sandefjord. In addition, she holds introductory courses in public procurement for Standard Norge.