Inal Law Office

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Inal Law Office from your competitors? We, at Inal Law Office, aim to develop and maintain trustworthy relations with our existing long-standing clients, as well as our new clients. Based on this trust, our clients know that they can rely on us to promptly provide specific solutions tailored to their needs. As a full-service law firm, Inal Law Office provides legal services to its local and foreign clients by keeping in mind all aspects of the subject matter; whether legal, industrial, financial, commercial or corporate. While providing services to our international and multinational clients, we also consider the jurisdictional differences and provide in-depth comparison of the legal systems. Based in Istanbul, Inal Law Office has correspondent offices in Ankara and Geneva, with a network of partners and experts all over the world, which enables to provide our clients a better access to our legal services while drawing a comprehensive set of solutions addressing their concerns. We respond to our clients’ needs both in Turkey and abroad with the assistance of our wide international network and market knowledge. Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that? We expect a large number of M&A deals within the next 12 months, as foreign investments to Turkey have gained momentum recently. As a full-service law firm, we also expect to assist our clients with the Turkish Competition Board approvals as part of M&A transactions, which have been aligned with the EU competition law through the recent amendments. Indeed, we are expecting to witness mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures from diverse sectors, especially in shipping, FMCG, finance, logistics and the defence industries. As a leading firm in shipping and yachting, we also expect a growth in this sector based on new projects and further investments. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of shipping sector and the number of super yacht purchase transactions has increased, which we expect to continue steadily. We also expect growth in the following fields: Data protection law: Data protection has been gaining importance for all businesses around the world and is expected to continue growing. Turkey also aims to align its data protection law with the EU legislation. Environmental law: As the environmental issues are becoming a priority globally, especially in view of the aggravating effects of the climate change, we believe that the green compliant methods, as well as the accompanying legal tools will be adopted progressively. Turkey has already adopted the Green Deal Action Plan in 2021, based upon European Green Deal, which has already started producing impact on business and will further pave the way for the enactment of the legislation aimed at protecting the environment and supporting the combat against climate change. Fin-tech law: The financial services are evolving with various methods, such as the block chain technology and its multiple use-cases in the legal industry including smart contracts. Competition law: Competition authorities worldwide are keen on keeping up with the dynamic structure of digital markets. As a reflection of this trend, the Turkish Competition Authority has just conducted wide spread sector inquires in digital marketplaces and financial technologies in payment services. Moreover, especially in the last 5 years, the TCA have been fiercely investigating the activities of the players in the digital markets. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG): As one of the recent trends all around the world, ESG reporting and investing keeps increasing its impact on Turkish markets. Triggered by the legislative developments led by certain EU Member States, ESG related matters become priorities not only for multinational companies, but also for investors and financial institutions. Other popular topics like sustainability and combat against climate change also strengthen the importance of ESG reporting and investing. Accordingly, the business atmosphere and legal practice in Turkey will continue to evolve around these improvements. Finally, the complex and intertwined structure of commercial and global relations of today create economies dependent on one another which in turn bears the risk of a domino effect pursuant to which an action imposed on a global market figure may cause a separate reaction on another figure in a completely different market. In this respect, sanctions are one of the hot topics that will gain prominence and we believe every international player will need to have a certain level of insight regarding sanctions, regardless of whether they are directly dealing with a person and/or jurisdiction that is actively targeted by sanctions. In the recent years, there have been several sanction target jurisdictions, such as Iran, alongside a list of persons targeted by sanctions imposed by the USA, the UN, EU, etc. Nowadays, Russia has become the target of a variety of sanctions as a result of the war and deadly attacks it has initiated against Ukraine. However, the sanctions do not only affect the targeted entities and/or persons but also affect the third persons which may be party to certain transactions with the targeted entities. In light of the foregoing, every international entity shall act with prudence in their transactions with respect to sanctions since any breach or violation of the same (regardless of whether such breach or violation has been conducted wilfully or as a result of negligence) may yield unrepairable damages to such entity. Therefore, we believe, international clients will seek more advice regarding sanctions in the coming days and years. What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients? As the remote work has become part of the businesses following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have easily adapted our technological systems to be able to assist our clients whenever and wherever they need. This enables our team to provide legal solutions to our clients more efficiently and effectively. The team also conducts meetings and coordinate the submission of the necessary documents to the authorities electronically, rather than physically, if and when needed. In order to keep our knowledge up-to-date, each member of the team reviews recent developments in their respective fields daily, and provides our clients with information as regards the amendments to the legislation, developments, recent decisions, etc. We also organise seminars, trainings and informative meetings for our clients and publish articles in this respect. Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them? Most definitely, the technological developments have significantly changed the nature of the legal practice. We continue to invest in the digital transformation, such as video-conferencing and data accessibility systems, which have become a vital part of all businesses. Thanks to such technology, we maintain our services uninterrupted so that our clients are always able to reach us whether we work from the office or not. Again, the technology also enables us to ensure that our clients are informed of all legal developments swiftly and accurately, through informative notes, seminars, trainings and published articles. Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business? The private and confidential nature of our works unfortunately does not allow us to provide precise examples, yet we have been assisting our clients through a strong global network, accessibility, efficiency, experience, sector knowledge, collaborators, and strong sense of confidentiality. In particular; We are able to provide assistance to our clients globally through our correspondent offices. We are always accessible to our clients and revert at the earliest convenience. We provide a dedicated and hands-on approach to our clients through tailor-made solutions by taking into account their needs and the specifics of the relevant matter. With a founding partner and a managing counsel who have vast experience in the legal industry, we provide services to our clients with a 40-year worth of know-how. We have significant sector knowledge and a well-established network, especially in the construction, terminal, shipping, logistics and yachting industries, which enables us to provide the most accurate information to our clients. We also collaborate with experts to meet the clients’ needs, such as accounting, financial and tax issues, and supervise the whole process to ensure its smooth operation. Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time? It is unquestionable that the clients look for stability and strategic directions, just like all businesses and individuals. Our long-standing relations with the majority of our clients demonstrate the stability of our office, as well as our clients’ trust in the quality of our services. We, as Inal Law Office, are pleased to be recognised as a leading firm in terms of the quality of our services, and we hope to continue our growth by ensuring that our law firm plays a leading role in the upcoming years, and further expand our network, while providing the highest-quality services to our clients.