Turkey 2019
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Vice president, general counsel and human resources | Alacer Gold Madencilik
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Due to the nature of our business, we are facing mainly...
Executive vice president, chief legal officer, legal affairs | QNB Finansbank
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? One of the biggest transaction I’ve been involved for the last...
Legal and compliance manager of business area - Near East, CIS and Africa | Novo Nordisk
What are the most important transactions and litigation that you have been involved in during the last two years? I had the opportunity to manage a litigation case which is...
Head of legal, Turkey | GSK
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? During the past two years, as the head of legal in...
Legal officer | Tanı Pazarlama ve İletişim Hizmetleri
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? During the last two years, I’ve been working intensively on compliance...
Legal manager, legal counsel | Cigna Finans / Hemenal Finansman
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? All companies focus on their profits and I have contributed to...
Head of legal, regulations and compliance | ENGIE
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? ENGIE GEM Turkey, founded in 2016, is focusing on trading, energy...
Legal director | GittiGidiyor - eBay Turkey
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? In-house lawyers should always have a positive attitude and have to deliver on time. The most important thing...
Country legal counsel, company secretary and assistant general manager | Citibank
Head legal counsel and corporate compliance officer | Bayer
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The US$63bn acquisition of Monsanto by Bayer and the integration of...
Managing legal counsel | GAMA Contracting Group
NOMINATOR QUOTE “He is a very unique and a very competent lawyer. He is very good at what he does but more importantly, he is one of the few in...
General counsel | Polat Enerji
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Full acquisition of Şua Elektrik Üretim AŞ. Şua Elektrik was holding...
Director of legal affairs, compliance officer and data protection official | Media Markt Türkiye
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important issues that required the involvement and steering of...
Public affairs, legal and compliance manager - Middle East, North Africa and Turkey | The Adecco Group
What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how do you intend to assist with this? We are currently living the fourth industrial...
Head of legal | The Walt Disney Company
What have been the major external trends that have impacted your team’s work over the past two years (market developments, changing regulatory environment, political events etc.)? First of all, my...
Country head of legal | Amgen
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? An in-house lawyer who adds real value to the business is one who is not only a legal...
General counsel | TAV Airports Holding
How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners? As in-house lawyers we have to prevail the full knowledge of the business side of the sector that...
Chief legal counsel | KoçSistem
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? KoçSistem and Boston Consulting Group partnership and establishment of “KoçDigital Çözümler...
Head of Legal Affairs Division | METRO PROPERTIES
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Despite the difficulties in Turkey’s economy and the challenges in commercial...
General counsel | Yemek Sepeti Elektronik İletişim Perakende Gıda Lojistik
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The structuring of the first dark store business, named Yemeksepeti Banabi,...
General counsel - cluster Greater Middle East and Africa | Tetra Pak
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? At Tetra Pak, we have a proactive approach to business and...
Senior legal counsel | Yandex Reklamcılık (Yandex Türkiye)
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In the last two years I have been involved in valuable...
General counsel | Coca-Cola İçecek
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Coca-Cola Tajikistan Arbitration 2018 – a successful multimillion dollar arbitration against...
Legal and compliance lead - Nordic and Baltic region | MSD Türkiye
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have been involved in several major transactions and litigations within...
General counsel, compliance officer and corporate secretary | Mercedes-Benz Türk
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? We have been leading the Daimler’s global restructuring project so called...
Legal Director | Star Refinery
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? STAR (SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery) Refinery is established with an investment...
Head of legal | Siemens Mobility Transportation System (Siemens Mobility Ulaşım Sistemleri)
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? A contract has been signed with TCDD for the procurement of...
Director legal and compliance | adidas Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work with...
General counsel | 3M Türkiye
Last year you told us that you began handling government affairs for the company. Have there been any significant lobbying activities you’ve been involved in since then? It has been...
Legal counsel for Middle East, Turkey and Africa | Lenovo
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? As an individual representing a truly global company, I need to...
Executive legal director - Turkey, Middle East and Africa | Avon
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Union and unfair competition cases in Turkey, tax litigation Morocco, new...
Legal director | Emaar Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? A zoning plan amendment has been completed successfully in cooperation with...
Lead country general counsel | Siemens Sanayi ve Ticaret
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Siemens Turkey is carving out its entire Gas and Power business....
Legal affairs and investor relations director | Çimentaş Group
Legal director and board member | Linde Gaz Anonim Şirketi
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? During the last two years, our company has invested in two...
General counsel | AvivaSA Pension and Life Insurance
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? he establishment of Aviva SA Sigorta Aracılığı [which has] more than...
Senior international legal advisor - Southern Europe | FedEx Express Europe
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have been involved in a Competition Authority investigation within the...
Chief legal officer | SOCAR Türkiye Enerji Anonim Şirketi
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In the last two years; SOCAR was extremely active in the...
General counsel and company secretary | Mey İçki (Diageo)
Legal affairs director and head of compliance | Mapfre Turkey Companies
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? One of the most important projects of the last two years...
General counsel and director of global business | TV8 and Acun Medya
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have been involved in the creation of the reality competition...
Head of legal | Domino’s Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Turkish data protection law has been a hot topic since its...
Legal director | Karadeniz Holding
What geographical area does the team cover and what challenges have you faced when covering multiple jurisdictions in the region? We cover all geographical areas that the Company either operates...
Legal counsel | Nusr-Et
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Before moving to Nusr-Et in December, 2019, I was in-house legal...
Legal director | Çalık Holding
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? – Çalık Holding and GE Digital entered into Strategic Partnership Agreement...
Head of legal | Lukoıl-Türkiye
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Lukoıl-Türkiye is engaged in the projects targeting optimisation and expansion of...
Head of legal, Turkey | Ferrero Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In Turkey, Ferrero has grown in an inorganic way. After formal...
Legal and compliance assistant manager | Mercedes-Benz Finansman Türk
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? As legal team, together with my colleague İpek İbrahimagaoglu, the most...
Legal counsel | Samsung
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have been involved two dawn raids by Turkish Competition Authority...
General counsel | Sofra - Compass Group Türkiye
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The most important issues that required the involvement and steering of...
Head of legal | Kale Holding
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Since we have many companies operating in different fields within Kale...
Head of legal | Mi̇gros Ti̇caret
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Migros as a company operating in several segments of retail, i.e....
Deputy general counsel and ethics officer Turkey | ENGIE
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Given the fact that the Turkish power market has been suffering...
Chief legal counsel | SunExpress
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I have been involved in various Aircraft Financing Leasing Transactions in...
Director, legal affairs | Sabancı Holding
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The sale of 57.88% shares of Yünsa, a publicly traded company...
Executive vice president, legal affairs and chief legal officer | Allianz Turkey
Legal affairs manager | Çelebi Aviation Holding
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? As Çelebi is one of the biggest team player for the...
Legal manager | AstraZeneca
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I co-led a Turkey localization project which aimed at manufacturing five...
Head of legal and compliance | Danone Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? FMCG is a very fast and a dynamic sector where changes...
Legal, compliance and internal audit director | Roche Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? The localisation of Roche Products with a local partner and the...
Chief legal counsel | Şişecam
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? We were very fortunate and have not had any major litigations...
Corporate legal and compliance department manager, head of corporate legal and compliance and data protection officer | AKSigorta
What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how do you intend to assist with this? The main focus of the company in...
Chief legal counsel | Kürüm Group International
What geographical area do you cover and what challenges have you faced in covering these jurisdictions? We, as a group, are operating mainly in the Middle East and Balkans. Yet...
Legal director - Turkey and Middle East | Sandoz Turkey
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Initiated an administrative lawsuit for the grouping decision of SSI for...
Legal Manager | Bosch Sanayi ve Ticaret AS
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? As a member of a global legal team, I have been...
Legal and regulation assistant general manager | Türk Telekom
Chief legal counsel and head of contracts | Havelsan Hava Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? HAVELSAN is a leading defense and IT company not only in...
Head of legal - MEA and EUMEA and regional legal lead JV integration (consumer healthcare) | GSK
What geographical area do you cover and what challenges have you faced when covering multiple jurisdictions? I cover the MEA region consisting of more than 35 countries including Turkey, Egypt,...
Legal counsel, head of legal | Koçtaş Yapı Marketleri Ticaret (Koçtaş)
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? Koçtaş is a home improvement retailer, supplying tools, construction products, and...
Legal director - Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia | Coca-Cola
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? I’ve been assigned to lead the legal affairs of MENA organization...
Director of legal affairs | TANAP
What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years? In leading the legal affairs department, I have provided considerable input...
For over 30 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world. In this series, The Legal 500, in collaboration with Legal Business, GC Magazine and The In-house Lawyer, is turning its attention to the in-house function, and recognising those corporate counsel who are driving the legal business forward.
The GC Powerlist is a series of publications, highlighting the most influential in-house lawyers and legal teams in business today. I would like to express my personal thanks to our sponsors Kılınç Law- for supporting this publication. A special mention must also go to the in-house lawyers that took time to speak to us throughout the process, as well as to the research team that worked on this GC Powerlist publication.
David Burgess
Publishing Director
The Legal 500 Series
Since first being published as The Corporate Counsel 100, The Legal 500’s GC Powerlist series has grown exponentially since its beginnings in 2013. It started by covering four of the world’s most established legal markets, and whilst the core objective of the publication – highlighting the most capable, outstanding and innovative in-house counsel in a jurisdiction – has remained the same, the reach and scope of the GC Powerlist has since become almost unrecognisable. Now present in a vast array of jurisdictions and with a portfolio of 70 unique editions, the GC Powerlist series has firmly been established as the “go-to” title that assesses and features leading corporate counsel across the globe.
Now, we at The Legal 500 are evolving the GC Powerlist series even further, deepening our commitment to highlighting and exploring issues and challenges at the forefront of the minds of leading in-house lawyers. Therefore, this and future editions of the GC Powerlist will have a very different look to their predecessors. Instead of profiling individual counsel or in-house legal teams, more incisive insights from in-house thought leaders on the topics of the day will be featured extensively throughout our new look GC Powerlist publications.
With an abundance of feedback from senior in-house legal professionals across Turkey as well as their counterparts in private practice, this year’s edition of the GC Powerlist: Turkey is the largest ever by some distance. In addition to in-depth qualitative information via interviews, we also obtained feedback in the form of a short survey, offering concise information about some of the most important topics in market.
As the data shows, apart from legal advice, a large percentage of respondents demonstrate the most value in the commercial and business advice area, indicating that Turkish counsel are increasingly becoming more business orientated, showing their value within the commercial aspects of the business. Operational change or reorganisation was the second most popular, demonstrating that Turkish counsel are prepared for the ever-changing fluctuations that are inevitable within the business landscape but showing that they are also vital to the reorganisations that might take place from time to time.
The second questions asks what the most difficult hurdles are to overcome when attempting to demonstrate value added by the legal team. Lack of understanding of the work that the legal teams does was joint first in terms of popularity – indicating that there is still some work to do in regards to the business legal relationship. Calculating risk avoided or costs mitigated also scored highly and was the other joint first option, showing that this is also a difficult area for Turkish counsel to demonstrate value.
The third question asks how the continued the continued threat of cyber security breaches and data protection issues affect counsels interaction with the business. The majority of respondents indicated that it increased interaction with the business, showing that this topic provides an opportunity for Turkish counsel to work more closely with various business departments. It also presents a reason for counsel to refine their skills in the cyber security area as it increasingly becomes a more common risk for businesses.
All of these topics – as well as several others – are afforded more in-depth analysis and discussion within these pages, and can be found within the interview transcripts within this publication, as well as in the nominator quotes provided by our sources.
It was my pleasure to speak to and extensively interview Turkey-based counsel, each with their own priorities and challenges, and I would like to thank our sponsors – Kılınç Law- for supporting this publication. I’d also like to thank our extensive network of law firm partners and in-house counsel in the region whose opinions we canvassed during the course of the research. Of course, feedback is valuable and welcomed, so if there are any comments or suggestions please feel free to get in touch with these.
Last but not least, I would like to congratulate all those featured in this year’s list. Their selection means they have been identified as in-house counsel who are amongst the standard bearers of the profession, and as specialists who confront and manage commercial and legal challenges in a way that marks them as market leaders.
Sara Mageit
Senior research analyst
GC Powerlist series
The Legal 500 was proud to host the third edition of the GC Powerlist: Japan 2025 at the Capitol Hotel Tokyu, honouring the top General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Legal Directors, and senior in-house legal professionals operating at the highest level of Japan’s corporate legal landscape. Held in Tokyo, this year’s reception welcomed around 100 of the most respected and senior corporate counsel from across Japan. It was an unrivalled success, and cements Legal 500’s status as the leading force in legal media supporting the achievements of in-house counsel in Japan. The GC Powerlist: Japan 2025 marks the continuation of our commitment to recognising excellence in-house, and this year’s edition represents the most competitive and selective list to date.
Joe Boswell, lead editor of the GC powerlist publication at The Legal 500, opened the evening with an introduction that reflected on the growing prestige of the Japan list. He emphasised how the Powerlist has grown stronger each year, both in scope and quality, making the task of selection more difficult. This year’s honourees emerged from a deeply competitive field, making their recognition even more meaningful.
Boswell extended heartfelt congratulations to all honourees and acknowledged the critical support of key partners and sponsors who made the evening possible. Special thanks were given to Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Morrison Foerster, iManage, JustLegal, and SS&C Intralinks for their generous sponsorship and ongoing collaboration.
In a moment of reflection, Joe paid tribute to Tim Mackey, chief legal officer at SoftBank, who sadly passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. Tim had contributed to the Powerlist in each of its three editions and was known not only for his exceptional legal acumen but also for his warmth and generosity.
The evening featured insightful remarks from distinguished speakers representing our partners and the broader legal community: Mischa Mulligan, Japan Director at SS&C Intralinks; Hiroki Kodate, Partner and Management Committee Member at Anderson Mori & Tomotsune; Jeremy White, Global Co-Chair of M&A for Morrison Foerster; and, representing those awarded in the Powerlist, Naoki Hamada, General Counsel for Japan at HSBC.
Each speaker provided reflections on legal innovation, leadership, and the evolving role of in-house counsel in Japan’s corporate landscape. Their remarks added valuable context to the achievements celebrated throughout the evening.
The formal awards segment celebrated this year’s GC Powerlist honourees. With assistance from long-time collaborator Isaac Uchiyama who read out awardees’ names, recipients were invited to collect their certificates, pose for photographs, and be formally recognised by their peers.
Certificates were presented on stage by Hiroki Kodate or Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and Jeremy White of Morrison Foerster, whose participation further underlined the deep support of the Japanese and international legal communities.
The GC Powerlist: Japan 2025 reception reaffirmed Legal 500’s commitment to spotlighting the very best of in-house legal talent. With record levels of interest and unmatched quality among candidates, the Japan edition continues to solidify its place as one of the most respected publications in the global GC Powerlist series.
We extend our sincere congratulations to all honourees and thank our partners, sponsors, and speakers for making the evening a success.
We look forward to returning to Tokyo again next year. As a parting gift, you can view Naoki Hamada’s excellent keynote address below, where he touches on a lot of issues and themes that many other GC, whatever country they operate in, will recognise:
‘Good evening, everyone. I am Naoki Hamada of HSBC. I am very pleased to be here speaking to you today. It is a great pleasure and honor, and at the same time, I feel a bit overwhelmed being surrounded by the busiest and most expensive lawyers in the industry—even if I know that nobody will be charging us for their time. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Legal 500 for organizing such a great event, and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Morrison Foerster, iManage, SS&C Intralinks, and Just Legal for sponsoring and supporting it. And, huge congratulations on the recognition each of you is receiving, which is truly a great accomplishment and the result of your hard work and the accumulated trust the entire industry has placed in you.
It must be emphasized that this award is given only to general counsels. Being a general counsel means a lot more than just being a subject matter expert. You are a most reliable strategic partner for the business, and I am sure that you have distinguished yourself from the crowd by your ability to identify underlying risks, devise legal solutions, ensure the right processes and governance for corporate decisions, influence others, and educate the next generation of lawyers. This is what you are being recognized for.
Looking back on my career, I have been hugely helped by lawyers in other companies through various industry communities. When I joined the in-house world 12 years ago from a Japanese law firm, large international banks were all struggling with a huge wave of regulatory reform. Back then, I was relatively new to that particular area of finance, and my hiring was somewhat potential-based. Nonetheless, I was assigned to lead the regulatory reform efforts locally. My predecessor had left the bank before I joined, there was no sufficient handover, and I was completely lost as to what to do. What helped me most were the industry peer group discussions, where in-house counsels from major banks would get together to discuss common issues. I learned so much from what was discussed there and absorbed as much as I could. Without that network, I am sure that I wouldn’t have survived that time.
However, our situation today is far more difficult. The changes in the landscape we face today are unprecedented. Technological developments and the corresponding shifts in geopolitical and industrial landscapes are completely unpredictable, and the speed at which they happen is far faster than before. We might face a time that requires us to pivot, forcing us to redefine how we add value and rebuild the way we work. That is somewhat intimidating. But, I am confident that a way forward will be found through the collective wisdom and effort of the people in this room. I would like to be a part of that, and this network of people is enormously valuable and truly priceless.
Finally, let’s have a drink and celebrate our achievements for now – before your CEO calls asking you to join a call! Thank you so much.’
