Team size: Seven

Can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently (cases, transactions, projects)?

To combat against the challenging circumstances created by the pandemic crisis, Media Markt Türkiye legal has focused on enhancing business continuity by implementing necessary measures over the last year. Our team also managed the application of H&S obligations, operational viability for legality and real estate contract negotiations while providing advice on employment and labour matters.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

Digitalisation of in-house legal practice is the most obvious change caused by the pandemic. Most of our works have been done via remote working tools throughout the pandemic, even including the confidentiality sensitive works. Our legal team has swiftly adapted to the circumstances and provided legal compliance advice to the company in a rapid manner. My role as a general counsel has developed into a ‘trusted advisor of the organisation’ as my responsibilities have increased not decreased; our team still had to carry out completion of significant contracts and representation of the company during the global crisis. Media Markt Türkiye demonstrated complete trust for my decision on the issue of management and business continuity.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

I cannot emphasise enough how important ‘communication’ is to build strong relationships with business partners. Effective and sincere communication is the best way to demonstrate support to internal business partners. To mitigate risks effectively for their companies, in-house legal department fully needs to understand the business of their organisations, and the best way to do that will be constantly communicating with other functions. What we emphasise the most in our team is to have agile attitude, and this includes having an open discussion about a range of business of the company with other departments. What makes in-house legal positions different from external counsel is the opportunity to understand the internal procedure and process of their client which is the company they work at.