Poul Schmith/Kammeradvokaten was founded in 1936 in Copenhagen by Supreme Court Attorney Arne Kemp. He was concurrently appointed as the first attorney to hold the office of legal advisor to the Danish government (kammeradvokat). The office of legal advisor to the Danish government goes back a long way, intertwining with the history of Denmark. The office was set up in 1684 by King Christian V of Denmark with the aim of having an attorney to maintain oversight of the King’s treasury.
From the 1850s, the office was filled by appointment of Supreme Court attorneys. On 1 January 1936, however, the public office was discontinued, and the holder of the office ceased to be a public servant. Poul Schmith/Kammeradvokaten took over the role, as it was believed that an attorney in private practice would be better qualified to litigate the government’s cases before the courts of law and to provide advisory services in that context.
On 1 January 2015, a new agreement on the provision of legal advisory services to the Danish government was concluded between Poul Schmith/Kammeradvokaten and the Danish Ministry of Finance. Under the agreement, the office of legal advisor to the Danish government was not, as previously, to be assigned to an individual. The last individual to personally hold the office of legal advisor to the Danish government was Attorney Karsten Hagel-Sørensen, who held the office from 2004 until and including 2014.