ASC Law Office > Istanbul, Turkey > Firm Profile

ASC Law Office > Firm Profile

AKSU ÇALIŞKAN BEYGO ATTORNEY PARTNERSHIP (“ASC Law”) is a leading full-service Turkish law firm uniquely organized into Consultancy, Dispute Resolution and Debt Collection & Enforcement Departments. Bringing together nearly 90 highly-qualified lawyers, with approximately 200 total employees, ASC Law has been serving domestic and international clients since its founding in 2001.

ASC Law has extensive experience in the structuring of complex, high-value transactions, as well as handling some of Türkiye’s most highly-contested disputes. As such, ASC Law represents a variety of major corporations, banks and financial institutions located in Türkiye and abroad from such diverse sectors as, among others, banking, finance, energy (including renewables such as hydro, wind, biomass and solar), telecommunications, real estate, construction, transportation and retail.

Many of the matters ASC Law handles, whether transactional or litigation, involve cross-practice efforts – e.g., where lawyers from the firm’s three departments work together – so as to take full advantage of the firm’s deeply-experienced, multi-disciplinary, professionals.

CONSULTANCY DEPARTMENT

The following practice areas fall under the umbrella of ASC Law’s 25-lawyer-strong, including apprentices, Consultancy Department.

Banking, Finance and Capital Markets:

Part of ASC Law’s Consultancy Department, our Banking, Finance and Capital Markets practices are among Türkiye’s strongest. Our clients include, on the lending side, international and domestic banks and other financial institutions, including among others Ziraat Bank, Türkiye’s largest public bank, İs Bank, Türkiye’s largest private bank, Standard Chartered Bank, a prominent U.K.-based international bank and Unicredit Bank AG, one of Germany’s largest banks. On the borrower side, ASC Law clients include several of Türkiye’s most important conglomerates and their related companies, including Anadolu Holding.

ASC Law is particularly proud of its involvement in the Turkcell Shareholder Restructuring, which was recognized, and rightfully so, by CEE Legal Matters as Türkiye’s 2020 “Deal of the Year”. In the engagement, which brought together in a single transaction several of ASC Law’s core banking and finance expertises, ASC Law took the lead role as both: (i) counsel for Ziraat Bank, the “Lead Arranger”, which involved more than US$2 billion in restructured and original financing; and (ii) counsel for the most important Party to the restructuring itself, the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Türkiye.

Project Finance and Development – Infrastructure and Energy:

ASC Law’s Consulting Department provides advice on all aspects related to the financing of infrastructure projects, often representing the lead lender in consortiums made up of Turkish and/or foreign financial institutions. ASC Law is also expert in the negotiation and documentation of large infrastructure projects, having particular expertise in FIDIC-based transactional documents. ASC Law’s engagements with regard to the above encompasses, among others, projects related to both transportation and energy infrastructure, including more recently important energy projects involving renewables, whether biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar or wind power.

Notable ASC Law engagements include the negotiation and finalization, in 2015, of the Host Government Agreement between the Russian Project Company and the Republic of Türkiye for Türkiye’s $16.3 billion Sinop Nuclear Power Plant Project. More recently, our lawyers prepared the project documentation for the construction of a wind-power plant and biomass-power plant on behalf of a German client, for a solar-power plant for a Turkish client and for a high-value underground natural gas storage facility on behalf of Turkish clients.

Corporate, Commercial and M&A:

ASC Law’s Consultancy Department provides a wide range of corporate and commercial law, as well as M&A and related consultancy services. With regard to corporate law, ASC Law provides advice about, and assists in establishing, the appropriate legal entities from which both Turkish and foreign clients are to conduct their Turkish operations. These services include establishment of branches and liaison offices and the preparation of the required corporate foundational documentation, such as articles of incorporation, bylaws and the necessary resolutions. ASC Law is also busy working with its clients with regard to the maintenance of all required corporate formalities, including arranging and documenting shareholder, general assembly and board of director meetings.

Perhaps more importantly, ASC Law is deeply involved in providing legal advice regarding the day-to-day operation of its clients’ businesses. This commercial work includes, to name a few, the negotiation and preparation of construction, distributorship, employment, franchising, licensing, marketing, purchase and sale, service, supply and transportation agreements and other related documentation.

Last, but certainly not least, ASC Law has a robust M&A practice, with extensive experience in conducting detailed legal due diligence, and preparing, examining and negotiating share/asset purchase-sale agreements and shareholders agreements, along with additional required commercial, financial and operational documents.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION DEPARTMENT

ASC Law’s approximately 60 dispute resolution lawyers, including apprentices, handle several thousand active dispute resolution matters, and make more than 100 court appearances/week. At the same time, the total amount of damages at issue in matters the Dispute Resolution Department handles has increased severalfold over the course of the past few years. These excellent numbers correspond, not coincidentally, with Managing Partner Mr. Doğan Coşgun – then Chief Legal Officer of Türk Telecom, Türkiye’s most important telecommunications companies – joining us in 2017 to head the Department.

Arbitration and Local Litigation:

ASC Law’s Dispute Resolution Department represents clients, whether as plaintiff or defendant, in all manner of disputes, including: (i) before Turkish regulatory agencies, including in administrative investigations and hearings, as well as before Türkiye’s administrative courts; (ii) before Türkiye’s local commercial, civil, criminal and probate courts; (iii) in commercial and investment arbitration matters before such forums as the ICC and ISTAC (Türkiye’s international arbitration centre); (iv) in efforts to settle emerging disputes before resort to more formal dispute resolution is necessary, including use of mediation (with several of our lawyers licensed as Mediators); and (v) in efforts to avoid exposure to liability through, for example, the careful preparation of agreements and other documentation, as well as the design of proper internal controls.

Other sophisticated disputes handled by the firm include, among others, ones related to intellectual property, telecommunications, expropriation/eminent domain, and electricity trading and energy-sector-related derivatives.

Debt Collection & Enforcement:

ASC Law’s Debt Collection & Enforcement Department is involved in all aspects of debt collection and enforcement, starting with pre-litigation collection efforts, using our 100-plus employee Call Centre and then – if no satisfactory resolution is reached – involving Türkiye’s debt collection offices and courts.

The Department represents a large portfolio of Turkish and international clients, made up of both creditors and debtors, and includes, among others, banks, telecom operators, internet service providers, utility service providers, and lease and factoring entities. In 2020 alone, the department handled total outstanding debt in excess of TL400 million (US$30 million).

Meet The Team(s)

ASC Law Upper Management

Istanbul, Turkey

+90 212 284 98 82

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ASC Law Dispute Resolution Team

Istanbul, Turkey

+90 212 284 98 82

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ASC Law Consultancy Team

Istanbul, Turkey

+902122849882

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Interviews

Okan Beygo, Partner

Okan BEYGO, name partner of Aksu Caliskan Beygo Attorney Partnership, evaluates the future direction of the firm and the legal profession.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Aksu Caliskan Beygo Attorney Partnership from your competitors?

Aksu Caliskan Beygo Attorney Partnership, or ASC Law Office, is one of the preeminent law firms in Turkey. The firm was registered as the sixth member of the Istanbul Bar Association and it has been serving its clients for almost two decades. Our strength comes from our past, our dedication and most importantly our impeccable reputation as lawyers that we have earned throughout the years.

We are proud to be one of the largest full-service law firms that uniquely offers Consultancy, Litigation and Enforcement/Debt Collection services under one roof. With more than 50 lawyers, we are regularly recognized as one of the most successful in the country. Our HR approach is also associated with our experience. Most of our team members were hired as trainees and then gained long tenures with our firm which enables us to have long, steady and trustworthy relationship with our clients.

ASC Law employs one of the best consultancy departments in the country, with impressive teams in banking and finance, capital markets, M&A and restructuring. The litigation practice includes top-notch litigators whom have been handling some of the most complex litigations in Turkey and complemented by the extremely successful Enforcement/Debt Collection department which serves to major banks and conglomerates of the country.

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

As everyone would agree, the agenda of the next 12 months will be shaped by the coronavirus outbreak. Once the turmoil hopefully comes to an end, we will have two things in our hands: A deep financial crisis and the abundance of liquidity circulated against it. Based on our past experience, we know the areas to come forward in this environment: Banking, project financing, debt restructuring, M&A, IPO, bond issues and litigation. We have witnessed this twice with Turkey’s crises in 2001 and the global crisis of 2008 which have actually brought us as Aksu Caliskan Beygo Attorney Partnership to today’s valuable assets.

We can also expect that the state intervention will reach its heights, mercantilist and Keynesian approaches will be popular once again, probably for a not-so-short period. This can bring in new opportunities for legal professionals who have expertise in working with public institutions.

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

We have recently appointed a non-lawyer CEO with technology and management background in order to handle the digital transformation process effectively. Throughout the last two decades we have managed to transform our office into a dynamic and competitive structure. Now the recent challenge is the utilization of technology in every possible aspect. We want to make sure that we and our clients do not lag behind in following and adapting the changes. We aim to achieve digital transformation in a professional manner and make sure that we combine our legal experience with the must haves of the new world.

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Yes, definitely. We of course welcome the now-conventional tools like social media which speeds up our communication. However, there is much more than that, one specific example: It provides automated systems between us and our clients which essentially removes the physical barrier between in-house legal departments and our office. We can carry out the file transfer, observe the progress and review the performance indicators, sharing the same interface which is extremely helpful especially with the big companies.

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

In a recent case, we have helped our client from Republic of Korea to construct a global tech business with a significant success potential. Our client is an innovator with a promising and unique technology. Along with the extensive legal work, we helped the client in reaching conglomerates from diverse industries for potential cooperation and we have also facilitated our trusted network for him to reach the venture capital funds. Again thanks to our long-term partnership, we helped the client to create a presence in the US for global outreach. We have always tried to understand the business perspective and not to limit our problem solving process with just legal domain. In this way we aim to help our clients create sustainable long-term business plan.

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

I think the answer to the first question simply depends on the clients. There are some clients looking for stability given the fact that our world is a lot more complicated now than ever and stability might be the right approach for some businesses. However, there are also some clients who believe that stability means slow change and a dynamic environment brings more opportunities. For example, one might envisage the time, which is not that far, when the contracts will be all about transactions on blockchain and cryptocurrencies are circulated by some “central banks”. I personally believe that no one should ignore the fact that business world is very dynamic and clients must be able to react quickly to changes and adopt to new technologies. In my opinion, most clients will in fact look for more strategic direction from their law firms in an unstable post virus environment that awaits us.

For the second part of the question, I have been practicing law in a part of the world that business and legal environment changes rapidly. I know that the legal profession requires knowledge and experience but I also understand that we must react and adopt quickly to new technologies and I am extremely confident that our firm shall overcome any challenge that we may face as human race. Therefore, I sincerely see that in three years ASC Law continues to be one of the most successful law firms in Turkey and achieve great success in legal arena