Bener Law Office > Istanbul, Turkey > Firm Profile
Bener Law Office Offices

Büyükdere Cad. No: 193/4
34394 Levent, Istanbul
Turkey
Bener Law Office > The Legal 500 Rankings
Turkey > Employment Tier 3
Bener Law Office is, according to one client, ‘a valuable partner for employment matters’, assisting several international companies such as Visa, Warner Bros or Bosch with a wide range of matters, including employment agreements, terminations, remote working structures, restructurings, collective dismissals, and union relations. Batuhan Şahmay heads the practice, with a particular focus on employment consultancy-related mandates.Practice head(s):
Batuhan Şahmay
Testimonials
‘Bener is always a valuable partner for employment matters with their vast experience and knowledge along with their client-centric approach.’
‘Batuhan Samay: Very quick response times, concise and clear advice, flexible and considerate in discussions, easy to work with.’
‘I work with many law firms across the world, Batuhan for sure is one, if not, the best partner I have worked with so far.’
‘They are the most proactive and responsive firm I have ever seen.’
‘The team is very organized and responsive.’
‘As soon as the client reaches out, the team sets a deadline for the task (which is always reasonable), informs the client and always meets that deadline.’
‘Batuhan Şahmay is a leading expert in employment law. His advice is comprehensive and communicated in a clear manner.’
‘They are really good at evaluating the real market and law necessities.’
Key clients
Visa
Azelis
British Council
Mastercard
Air France
Regus
Lego
Unilever
Bosch
Intersport
Banvit
Philips
Michael Page
Franke
Ricoh
Bridgepoint
Warner Bros
Western Union
McAfee
Mitsubishi
Work highlights
- Advised an international food production company on employment related matters (including but not limited to employment documentation drafting, audits, termination related matters and disciplinary actions implementation).
- Advised Visa on an employment contract review and drafting employment documentation, and a review of company policies.
- Advised a client on temporary employment relationship-related matters/secondments and government inspections regarding such matters.
Turkey > Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 4
Energy and infrastructure expert Onur Kordel, and Gözde Esen Sakar, who is well known for her expertise in the mining field in Turkey, head the corporate and M&A practice at Bener Law Office, which has a particular focus on the energy, real estate, and e-commerce sectors. Recent work highlights saw the team advising Alfa Kimya Group on the sale of 100% of the shares to Vinmar Group.Practice head(s):
Gözde Esen Sakar; Onur Kordel
Key clients
Shareholders of Alfa Kimya Group
AirFrance – KLM
Regus
Alliance Healthcare
Arpaş Pilotaj
Hager Electro
Randstad
Ricoh
Rollic Games
Wavin
Tarkett
Bener Law Office > Firm Profile
The firm: Bener Law Office was founded by Erim Bener in 2001 and has grown to its current size through careful selection of partners, associates and support based on strong ethics, technical excellence and a business-minded approach. The firm’s growth has been driven by the needs of its clients, which include many leading international and local companies, as well as the opportunities in the market.
Around 70% of the firm’s clients are multinationals, and its core activities range from Turkish market entry all the way through to IPOs, high-profile M&A, privatisation projects and significant dispute resolution work.
Bener Law Office believes that in order to be successful in the long term, it must continue to differentiate itself both through consistent quality and increasing its offerings to clients in emerging fields. With this in mind, it is active in the PPP arena, having been involved in a high proportion of recent local IPOs and significant bond issues, as well a majority of the highest profile internet-based transactions to date.
Areas of practice: Bener Law Office is a full-service Turkish law firm with a strong international practice. Its results-oriented team provides superior quality counsel to local and multinational businesses and individuals across diverse practice areas and sectors.
Thorough understanding of complex, cross-cultural business environments has enabled Bener Law Office to develop a client base that includes many of the world’s leading corporations. Expertise is offered in local and regional business and financial markets, with the firm’s multilingual, multi-jurisdictional team specialising in the Turkish, Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian arenas.
Clients value the quality of the firm’s people, its successful track record and its in-depth market knowledge; the firm is proud to deliver the results that its clients want with the highest quality technical expertise and commercial pragmatism.
While it handles a wide variety of work for a diverse client base, Bener Law Office has particular strength in corporate and M&A, banking and finance, capital markets, dispute resolution, ecommerce, energy and mining, construction and real estate, as well as enjoying a market-leading position in corporate retainer, employment and immigration instructions.
Bener Law Office is the exclusive country member in several specialist global networks, including Interlex-Globalaw and Ius Laboris, the leading labour and employment law global alliance, with 2,500 lawyers specialising in all areas of law relating to human resources.
The firm also benefits from exclusive of counsels who are highly respected in their fields.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Banking and finance | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
Banking and finance | Bahar Ülgen | bahar.ulgen@bener.com | |
Capital markets | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
Mergers and acquisitions | Onur Kordel | onur.kordel@bener.com | |
Mergers and acquisitions | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
Real estate and construction | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
Real estate and construction | Onur Kordel | onur.kordel@bener.com | |
Corporate | Bahar Ülgen | bahar.ulgen@bener.com | |
Corporate | Eren Üçok | eren.ucok@bener.com | |
Corporate retainer | Pelin Tirtil | pelin.tirtil@bener.com | |
Corporate retainer | Batuhan Sahmay | batuhan.sahmay@bener.com | |
Administrative | Güzide Özbilen | guzide.ozbilen@bener.com | |
Employment | Maria Lianides Çelebi | maria.celebi@bener.com | |
Employment | Pelin Tirtil | pelin.tirtil@bener.com | |
Employment | Batuhan Sahmay | batuhan.sahmay@bener.com | |
Corporate immigration | Maria Lianides Çelebi | maria.celebi@bener.com | |
Corporate immigration | Tugçe Isikara | tugce.isikara@bener.com | |
Privatisations, PPP and government contracts | Onur Kordel | onur.kordel@bener.com | |
Privatisations, PPP and government contracts | Bahar Ülgen | bahar.ulgen@bener.com | |
Energy and infrastructure | Onur Kordel | onur.kordel@bener.com | |
Energy and infrastructure | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
Mining and natural resources | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
IT and telecoms | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
IT and telecoms | Bahar Ülgen | bahar.ulgen@bener.com | |
Internet and ecommerce | Gözde Esen Sakar | gozde.esen@bener.com | |
Internet and ecommerce | Bahar Ülgen | bahar.ulgen@bener.com | |
Dispute Resolution | Ramazan Yılmaz | ramazan.yilmaz@bener.com | |
Dispute Resolution | Serkan Kolay | serkan.kolay@bener.com | |
Arbitration and enforcement | Ramazan Yilmaz | ramazan.yilmaz@bener.com | |
Arbitration and enforcement | Güzide Özbilen | guzide.ozbilen@bener.com |
Lawyer Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Mrs Maria Lianides Çelebi | Senior Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Gözde Esen Sakar | Senior Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Serkan Kolay | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Onur Kordel | Senior Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Burcu Okyay Göktan | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Oya Özarslan | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Güzide Özbilen Şahin | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Ayşegül Özgen Levi | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Pelin Tırtıl Esin | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Ms Eren Üçok | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mrs Bahar Ülgen Hasşerbetçi | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Ramazan Yılmaz | Partner | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Batuhan Şahmay | Partner | View Profile |
Languages
English French German Spanish TurkishMemberships
Ius Laboris ABIL Globalaw Interlex Transparency International TurkeyInternational Capabilities
Bener law office is a full service Turkish law firm with international focus. Bener established an office in Amsterdam in 2018. This multi jurisdiction established presence gives us an advantage over local Turkish law firms and along with their membership of renowned global networks of independent law firms allows us to successfully compete with the international law firms on the ground in Turkey. Bener Law Office is the exclusive country member in several specialist global networks, including Interlex, Globalaw and Ius Laboris, the leading labour and employment law global alliance, with 2,500 lawyers specialising in all areas of law relating to human resources. We have one partner permanently based in our Amsterdam office. Our primary focus is to assist Turkish clients in the various stages of internationalisation and expanding their international activities in the Netherlands.
Diversity
BENER WELCOMES
Bener Law Office takes equal employment opportunity and diversity in the workplace very seriously. We have a long-standing commitment towards equity, inclusion and equal employment opportunity with no regard to age, gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, and social background. Notably, %65 of our Senior Partners / Partners and %50 of other staff are female. In addition, our staff is inclusive of individuals with disabilities and individuals from ethnic minorities.
Our diversity and inclusion efforts will continue to focus on maintaining a just workplace for all our current and future employees. Our mission is to not only continue to keep a diverse environment, but to also set an example to others in Turkey to show that diversity in the workplace is a necessity for a healthy work environment and success.
- Employment