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Overview
The long economic bull run that came to an end in 2008 has been a boon to Turkey’s main commercial law firms, and had a considerable impact on the shape and form of the legal market. Traditional family run firms with tightly held equity partnerships that have existed since the 1960s and 1970s, or even earlier, have started to fracture, as more ambitious partners and senior associates set up their own practices. These new firms are now slowly coming to the fore. Prominent recent examples include Paksoy, YukselKarkinKucuk, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law and EsinIsmen. That isn’t to say the old guard is suffering, and the more established names, with their almost dynastic legal clans, such as Birsel Law Offices, Hergüner Bilgen Özeke, Pekin & Pekin, Cerrahoglu Law Firm, Pekin & Bayar Law Firm, and Cosar Attorneys at Law, still very much dominate the rankings. They too are adapting to the legal market and are bringing through senior equity partners that don’t share one of the names on the letterhead.
It is too early to say what the impact of the global downturn will be on these law firms, old and new, but since most are still small by Western standards they should be able to adapt more efficiently to the changing economic climate. Strict local bar rules that forbid opening branch offices have also put a dampener on any expansionist ambitions. These restrictive regulations are unique to Turkey, and ensure that officially firms can only have one office. Most have their headquarters either in Istanbul or Ankara, but get around the rules by having a small office in other cities that are only used by ‘visiting’ lawyers. These strict rules are also extended to foreign law firms operating in Turkey, of which there is a more detailed explanation in the ‘Foreign Firms’ section.