Ömer Yiğit Aykan, Founding Partner
Ömer Yiğit Aykan, founding partner of AYKAN & CO, shares his perspective on how the firm is evolving to meet the changing needs of its clients.
What do you see as the main points that differentiate AYKAN & CO from your competitors?
AYKAN&CO distinguishes itself through a combination of strategic legal thinking, deep commercial awareness and an unusually close integration with our clients’ businesses.
While many firms focus primarily on the legal mechanics of transactions, our approach begins much earlier: we seek to understand the economic logic, technological context and strategic objectives behind every project. This allows us to structure transactions and legal frameworks that are not only legally robust but also aligned with our clients’ long-term commercial goals.
Another differentiating factor is our ability to operate comfortably in highly international and technology-driven environments. A significant portion of our work involves cross-border transactions, strategic partnerships and investments involving companies from Europe, the United States and Asia, particularly in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, autonomous mobility technologies, software platforms and medical technologies. In these matters we often serve as a bridge between different legal systems, regulatory frameworks and business cultures.
Finally, we operate as a high-engagement boutique rather than a volume-driven practice. We remain closely involved in the strategic aspects of each matter and maintain direct communication with client management teams. This structure allows us to provide the level of attention, responsiveness and strategic insight that sophisticated clients increasingly expect from their external counsel.
Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?
We expect continued growth in three principal areas.
First, cross-border M&A and strategic investments will remain a core growth area. Turkish companies are increasingly engaging with international investors and industrial partners, while global companies continue to view Türkiye as a strategic manufacturing and technology hub. This dynamic is generating complex transactions that require careful structuring across multiple jurisdictions.
Second, we anticipate significant growth in technology-related transactions and regulatory advisory work, particularly in areas such as mobility technologies, software platforms, and artificial intelligence. As companies develop innovative products and business models, they increasingly require legal advisors capable of navigating both the commercial and regulatory dimensions of these sectors.
In this context, another growing area is legal support for innovative and early-stage companies, particularly in relation to investment rounds, shareholder arrangements and governance structures. As entrepreneurial ecosystems continue to develop, founders and investors increasingly seek legal advisors who can combine legal expertise with a clear understanding of business strategy.
Third, strategic commercial agreements and long-term supply arrangements are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Many of our clients are restructuring their supply chains and international distribution networks, which requires carefully designed contractual frameworks that balance operational flexibility with long-term commercial certainty.
The main driver behind these trends is the growing need for legal advisors who combine technical legal expertise with strong commercial structuring capabilities.
What's the main change you've made in the firm that will benefit clients?
One of the most important developments within the firm has been the deliberate strengthening of our strategic advisory approach.
In addition to traditional legal work, we increasingly assist clients at a much earlier stage of their projects, often during the structuring and negotiation phases of complex transactions or partnerships. By being involved from the outset, we are able to identify potential legal and commercial risks before they materialise and help design more resilient transaction structures.
Internally, we have also invested in strengthening our cross-border collaboration framework with international law firms and advisors, allowing us to coordinate multi-jurisdictional projects more efficiently. This enables us to provide clients with seamless legal support in transactions that involve several regulatory regimes and legal systems.
We have also refined our internal working model to ensure even greater partner accessibility and responsiveness, allowing clients to interact directly with the lawyers responsible for strategic decision-making.
At the same time, we have invested in technology-driven tools and internal systems that enhance document analysis, transaction management and collaborative drafting. These tools allow our team to process complex documentation more efficiently and provide clients with faster, more transparent support during negotiations and transaction execution.
For clients, this translates into more efficient deal execution, clearer strategic guidance and faster responses in complex negotiations.
Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?
Technology is significantly reshaping both how we interact with clients and how legal services are delivered.
Clients today expect greater speed, transparency and accessibility, particularly in cross-border matters where management teams may be located in different jurisdictions. Digital communication tools and collaborative platforms allow us to remain closely integrated with our clients’ decision-making processes regardless of location.
We are also increasingly using technology to improve document management, transaction coordination and legal analysis, particularly in complex projects involving large volumes of contractual documentation or regulatory materials.
However, while technology enhances efficiency, we believe the real value we bring lies in judgment, strategic thinking and commercial insight. Technology allows us to work faster and more effectively, but the ultimate value for clients still comes from the ability to interpret complex situations and develop practical solutions.
Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?
In a recent transaction, we advised a client that was entering into a strategic collaboration with a larger international partner.
The project initially appeared to be a straightforward investment and collaboration arrangement. However, our analysis revealed that the proposed structure could potentially dilute the client’s control over key intellectual property assets and limit its strategic flexibility in future partnerships.
Working closely with the client’s management team, we redesigned the legal architecture of the transaction. This included structuring staged investment mechanisms, creating a clearer separation between core technology assets and project-specific developments, and introducing governance provisions that preserved the client’s ability to expand its technology platform through additional partnerships.
The revised structure not only protected the client’s intellectual property and long-term strategic positioning, but also made the collaboration more attractive to future investors and commercial partners.
As a result, the transaction evolved from a simple investment arrangement into a scalable strategic platform for the client’s international expansion.
Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms - where do you see the firm in three years’ time?
Clients increasingly look to their law firms not only for technical legal advice but also for stability, strategic perspective and trusted long-term partnership.
Our vision for the firm over the next three years is therefore not centred on rapid expansion. Instead, we are committed to remaining a focused boutique practice where partner involvement, strategic thinking and close client relationships remain at the core of what we do.
We believe that many sophisticated clients prefer working with a law firm where they have direct access to experienced partners who are deeply engaged in their matters, rather than being part of a large, highly layered organisation.
At the same time, we aim to deepen our international collaborations and further expand our role in complex multi-jurisdictional transactions.
In parallel, we intend to further strengthen our role in supporting innovative and entrepreneurial companies, particularly startups that are building ambitious businesses and navigating complex international environments. These companies often benefit greatly from legal advisors who are willing to engage with their strategy from an early stage.we aim to further strengthen our role in supporting innovative and entrepreneurial companies, particularly startups that are building ambitious businesses and navigating complex international environments. These companies often benefit greatly from legal advisors who are willing to engage with their strategy from an early stage.
In three years’ time, our goal is therefore to be known not for the size of the firm, but for the quality of our work, the depth of our client relationships and the strategic value we bring to the businesses we advise.