The Legal 500

Within Banking, finance and capital markets, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a third tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law acts for banks and borrowers. Highlights included advising the joint lead managers, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered Bank, on Yuksel Insaat’s $250m high yield senior note offering. Other clients include Credit Suisse and the National Bank of Greece. The firm will miss recently departed group head Serkan Ictem.

Within Competition, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a first tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law’s comprehensive competition and antitrust practice remains the one to beat on all fronts. Merger notifications to the Competition Board have become a staple of the firm, and few can match it in terms of volume. The firm has also been involved on more complicated investigations and recently advised 13 Peugeot dealers on a cartel investigation before the Turkish Competition Authority. Other clients have included Warner Bros, Lafarge Beton and Red Bull. Gonenc Gurkaynak has an excellent reputation.

Within Corporate and M&A, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a second tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is an excellent choice for corporate and commercial work and advises a vast array of clients on their day-to-day legal issues (such as employment law), including ExxonMobil, Levi’s and L’Oréal. The firm is also recommended on the transactional front and benefits from its market-leading competition practice. Recently, it advised Oracle in the Turkish aspects of its merger with Sun Microsystems. Joint group heads Tunc Lokmanhekim and Gonenc Gurkaynak are recommended.

Within Dispute resolution, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a third tier firm,

Gonenc Gurkaynak is the main disputes contact at ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law, which is recommended for administrative disputes. Aside from competition law, where it leads the market, the firm is also recommended in employment law, where it has four specialists. A recent highlight was advising Digicom Elektronik Pazarlama in a dispute with LG Electronics regarding the termination of a distribution agreement.

Within IT and telecoms, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a first tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law’s clientbase, which includes Slide, Google, YouTube and AT&T, is reflective of its high standing within the sector. Gonenc Gurkaynak is highly recommended.

Within Intellectual property, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a second tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law has plenty of expertise in trade mark registrations and enforcements, representing clients such as Warner Bros., L’Oréal, 3M, Aldi and YouTube. Gonenc Gurkaynak is the key contact for IP advice.

Within Media and entertainment, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a first tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law’s impressive clientbase includes Warner Bros, YouTube and Google, which it represents on all their Turkish media and entertainment issues. Gonenc Gurkaynak is recommended.

Within Project finance/projects, ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is a third tier firm,

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law impresses on the back of some impressive instructions, such as its representation of Eren Enerji, as borrower, on the $895m financing of two 600MW coal-fired thermal power plants.

Within Shipping, aviation and transport, tier 4

ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law mainly advises airport-related clients such as the leading airport operator TAV Airports Holding and the ground handling company HAVAS, on regulatory issues. Gonenc Gurkaynak is the main contact.