Interview with Lina Šikšniutė-Vaitiekūnienė & Santa Janickienė
As part of our new section "Inside the Network", in this edition we had the pleasure of speaking with Lina Šikšniutė-Vaitiekūnienė, Partner and Santa Janickienė, Managing Associate of WIDEN Law firm.
WIDEN was established by merging three law firms from the Baltics: Lithuanian Law Firm ILAW, Latvian Law Firm RER, and Estonian Law Firm LEXTAL and it is a full-service law firm offering its services in a wide range of industry sectors such as Consumer and Retail Law, Energy and Infrastructure, Media and Telecommunication, Startups and Scaleups, Technology, Transport, Logistics, Freight forwarding and Maritime.
We are pleased to welcome this unique firm in a special double interview featuring two of its leading figures in Lithuania, Lina Šikšniutė-Vaitiekūnienė, Partner and Head of International Relations and Santa Janickienė, Managing Associate and expert in aviation. In this conversation, they share their perspectives on the merger, the firm’s identity and the opportunities arising from bringing together three distinct local traditions and experiences.
OSS: WIDEN describes itself as the "Legal Jazz Company", where law meets creativity and every challenge becomes an opportunity for collaborative success. It's a distinctive and inspiring motto. What does being part of the "Legal Jazz Company" mean in practice, and how does this philosophy shape the way your teams work together and with clients?
Lina & Santa: For us, being part of the Legal Jazz Company means combining individual expertise with the ability to listen and create something together. In jazz, a musician needs both mastery of their instrument and sensitivity to everyone else. The same applies to our work at WIDEN Legal: strong legal knowledge gives us the confidence to explore different approaches, while collaboration keeps us focused on the client’s objective.
In practice, that starts with understanding the business behind the legal question. We want to know what the client is trying to achieve, what matters most to them and where they need room to move. We then bring together colleagues from the relevant practices and jurisdictions, allowing different perspectives to shape the solution.
Clients are part of that conversation. Their commercial knowledge and priorities help us develop advice they can use. This philosophy encourages us to be rigorous in our thinking, open in our discussions and resourceful in finding a workable way forward.
OSS: WIDEN was created by bringing together three leading law firms from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. From your experience, how similar are the legal systems and approaches to litigation across the three Baltic jurisdictions? What is the greatest advantage of working so closely as one firm, and what has been the biggest challenge in making this integration successful?
Lina & Santa: The three Baltic jurisdictions share the framework of EU law, which creates common ground in many areas of business regulation. At the same time, each has its own legislation, procedural rules and court practice. In litigation, those differences can be decisive: the same commercial problem may require a different approach to evidence, procedural steps or enforcement in each country.
The greatest advantage of working as a firm is that we can bring those local perspectives together from the beginning. Clients can approach us with a regional business objective, and we can develop a coordinated strategy that reflects the requirements of each jurisdiction. Our colleagues can also exchange insights and identify implications beyond the country where an issue first arises. That is particularly valuable for businesses that manage their Baltic operations.
We would describe the central integration challenge as making this shared approach part of everyday working habits. Bringing together established firms means bringing together different professional traditions and ways of working. It takes trust, clear communication and a common understanding of client service to build a cohesive team while preserving the local knowledge that makes each office valuable. For us, successful integration means that colleagues naturally involve one another and share responsibility for the client’s overall experience.
OSS: As published on your website, your firm represents international companies such as Decathlon and Ryanair, both of which operate across Europe and face a high volume of consumer litigation. While each client has its own specific needs, we imagine there are also many common challenges. Based on your experience, what are the key lessons you've learned from supporting multinational clients in managing large-scale consumer disputes across different jurisdictions?
Lina: I would highlight three lessons: combine consistency with local judgment, assess each dispute in its wider business context, and use what disputes reveal to prevent similar problems.
A multinational company needs a coherent approach across markets, while every claim must still be assessed under the applicable law and local procedure. That requires close coordination between local counsel, the in-house legal team and the people handling customer relationships. Understanding how the business operates, and how transactions and complaints are documented, is essential to giving useful advice.
The second lesson is that an individual claim can have implications well beyond its monetary value. It may concern an issue that appears repeatedly across the business. Decisions about settlement or litigation therefore need to take account of the merits, costs, potential consequences for similar claims and customer relationships. As volumes grow, clear reporting and agreed criteria for escalating cases become increasingly important.
Finally, disputes provide valuable feedback. Recurring complaints may point to terms that need clarification, customer communications that could be improved or internal processes that need attention. At WIDEN, our emphasis on understanding the client’s operations and seeking practical resolutions supports that broader perspective. The objective is to resolve the immediate problem and help the client reduce the likelihood of it recurring.
OSS: Lina, as Head of International Relations at WIDEN Lithuania, you are actively involved in several global networks of legal professionals, including One Sky Solutions (OSS). From your perspective, what is the real value of being part of an international legal network? How does it benefit both your firm and your clients?
Lina: For us, the real value of an international legal network is the trust built between people. When a client faces an unfamiliar jurisdiction, knowing whom to call, understanding their expertise and having confidence in how they work can make a significant difference.
For clients, this means access to relevant local expertise and better coordination across borders. It also helps preserve continuity: the lawyers who understand the client’s business can work alongside foreign counsel, helping keep the wider commercial objectives in view. This is reflected in WIDEN’s international practice, where we support clients both in cross-border matters and in their cooperation with lawyers abroad.
For the firm, networks such as OSS create opportunities to exchange knowledge, build lasting professional relationships and develop international work. Learning goes both ways: we gain insight into other markets, while our international colleagues develop a better understanding of the Baltics.
We see our role as turning those relationships of practical value: connecting the right people, helping them understand the client’s priorities and making cooperation effective when the client needs it.
OSS: Santa, working in WIDEN's Aviation Practice, your work combines complex legal issues with a fast-moving international industry. What does a typical day look like for you, and what do you enjoy most about working in aviation law?
Santa: My work mainly involves representing airlines in civil disputes under EU Regulation 261/2004. What makes these cases interesting is that legal analysis is closely tied to the operational side of aviation – weather, ATC restrictions, airport curfews, diversions and other disruptions often become central to the dispute.
What I enjoy most is that aviation law is very practical. To argue a case properly, you need to understand not only the legal framework, but also how the flight actually operated. No two cases are quite the same, and that combination of legal strategy, technical detail and an international industry is what makes the work interesting.
OSS: Technology is rapidly transforming the legal profession, particularly in high-volume litigation such as aviation passenger claims. How has technology changed the way your team works, and which innovations do you believe will have the greatest impact on aviation litigation over the next few years?
Santa: Technology has not fundamentally changed the nature of our work, but it has made certain parts of it much more efficient. In high-volume passenger claims, tools that help organise case data, review recurring fact patterns, monitor case law and structure evidence can save a significant amount of time and improve consistency across cases.
I think the biggest impact over the next few years will come from better use of AI and data analysis in areas such as document review, identifying patterns across large case portfolios and assessing operational evidence. At the same time, aviation litigation is highly fact-specific, so technology will remain a tool rather than a substitute for legal judgment. The real value will be in freeing lawyers from repetitive work and allowing more time for strategy, causation analysis and the more complex legal questions.
Thank you for the interview!
