Recent Development
The 3rd Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation, in its decision
dated 15 January 2026 with file no. 2025/5452 E. and decision no.
2026/129 K. (the "Decision"), ruled that
the arbitration clause commonly found in legal services fee
agreements "disputes shall first be resolved through
mediation; if no settlement is reached, the dispute shall be
resolved by the Bar Arbitration Board; the Union of Turkish Bar
Associations Arbitration Rules form an integral part of this
agreement" is valid. The Chamber has thus changed its
settled precedent by reversing its earlier decision on the same
issue.
What does the Decision Say?
In the Decision, the 3rd Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation
examined alternative dispute resolution methods in detail and
emphasized that the combined use of mediation and arbitration is
widely accepted in both legal scholarship and practice as
"Med-Arb". The Chamber found that the clause in the
parties' agreement dated 1
