Mr Zihni Bilgehan > Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants > Istanbul, Turkey > Lawyer Profile

Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants is distinguished by its deep expertise in the transport sector and its leading position within this space. The team is well-regarded for skilfully handling marine insurance and reinsurance disputes, regularly addressing cargo claims, collisions, vessel damage, pollution, and third-party claims. P&I clubs, ship owners, charterers, yards, and ship financiers are frequent clients of Zihni Bilgehan and M. Raci Alper.Ergün Ersoy holds a prominent reputation in shipping law circles. Emre Ersoy supports clients throughout the entire lifecycle of disputed insurance claims.

Lauded as a ‘powerhouse across maritime law matters’, Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants is a trusted advisor to shipowners, P&I Clubs, H&M insurers, and cargo owners, handling complex disputes in the shipping and transportation sectors.  The team is also a key player in ship finance, regularly advising international lenders on major loan facilities. Its contentious expertise spans civil and criminal cases, including pollution incidents, injuries, and narcotics investigations. Zihni Bilgehan plays a pivotal role in the firm’s transactional success. With over 35 years of experience, Ergun Ersoy offers unmatched expertise in wet shipping matters. Mehmet Raci Alper handles a diverse range of disputes, including collisions, groundings, salvages, crew injuries, and cargo damage. Emre Ersoy is praised for his ‘exceptional expertise’ and excels in both contentious and non-contentious shipping law.

Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants excels not only in handling day-to-day labour law issues, such as recruitments and dismissals, but also in high-profile disputes within the shipping industry. The firm’s extensive corporate and commercial expertise enables it to address employment matters linked to M&A transactions, restructurings, and other corporate activities. Clients benefit from Zihni Bilgehan’s expertise in P&I insurance, particularly in claims involving injury or death on board vessels. Ergün Ersoy is a leading authority on cases related to temporary disability, injury, or death resulting from maritime accidents.

The ‘professional and efficient’ team at Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants provides ‘commercial and solutions-oriented advice’ to a lender/lessor-focused client base, as well as in a co-counsel setting with international referring law firms on the Turkish law aspects of some major cross-border transactions. Asset finance remains a core strength, particularly within the maritime sector, although the team, which is co-headed by the ‘highly experienced’ Zihni Bilgehan and Emre Ersoy (‘stands out for his sharp legal insight’), has also diversified the scope of its workflow to include an increasing volume of project finance and general corporate lending work.

The compliance team at Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants has developed strong expertise across a wide range of disciplines, sectors, and regulations. The team provides up-to-date advice on shifting regulatory landscapes and restructures clients’ systems as needed to ensure compliance. Zihni Bilgehan is highly experienced in commercial matters and regularly advises on investment strategies. Emre Ersoy has earned the trust of financial institutions, global shipping organisations, and blue-chip clients with his strong cross-border compliance expertise. Yeşim Odabaş combines extensive project experience with a deep understanding of corporate and commercial law, along with key regulatory issues.

Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants is best known for its work on shipping matters, but the firm, which is ‘distinguished by its strategic approach and deep legal expertise’, also handles a broad range of contentious matters in the transport and energy sectors. Clients praise senior partners Ergün Ersoy and Zihni Bilgehan, experienced litigator Emre Ersoy, who shows ‘unwavering dedication to clients’, and the ‘professional, patient, logical, and conscientious’ M. Raci Alper, who specialises in shipping and insurance matters.

Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants is ‘distinguished by its extensive sector knowledge and client-focused approach’. The firm is adept in structuring real estate investment, as well as the conveyance of property assets. Practice head Emre Ersoy, who has significant experience in the hotel and leisure sector, ‘stands out for his exceptional expertise, strategic mindset, and unwavering dedication to clients’. He is supported by corporate and finance partner Zihni Bilgehan and maritime specialist Ergün Ersoy.

Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants provides assistance with debt restructuring, international liquidation procedures, and bankruptcy matters. Known for its work in the shipping sector, it frequently acts for banks, commodity traders, and logistics companies. The key contacts are Zihni Bilgehan, who is praised for his ‘exceptional work ethic’, shipping and insurance specialists Ergün Ersoy and M. Raci Alper, and Emre Ersoy, who ‘stands out for his exceptional expertise, strategic mindset, and unwavering dedication to clients’.