With a niche focus at the intersection of the shipping and maritime sector with employment disputes, Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants is praised for its ‘ability to balance international standards with local insight’ as it handles a mix of domestic and international cases. The team is also equipped to handle corporate employment matters, covering business transfers, restructurings, workplace setups, foreign hires, large-scale HR compliance, contract drafting, day-to-day advisory, and employment litigation. Directing his practice to the maritime sector is Ergün Ersoy, who handles employment disputes arising from crew injuries, disabilities, or deaths on board vessels. Emre Ersoy is particularly active across employment contracts, employment disputes, work accidents, and settlements.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants stands out for its combination of deep legal expertise and practical business-oriented advice. The team is highly responsive, collaborative, and able to navigate complex matters with clarity and efficiency. Compared to other firms, their ability to balance international standards with local insight makes them uniquely effective for both cross-border and domestic cases. Their transparent approach to billing and their openness to adopting technology for smoother client interaction demonstrate a forward-looking mindset.’
- ‘Among the individuals I have worked with, Emre Ersoy deserves particular recognition. He combines exceptional legal knowledge with an approachable and solution-oriented style, which sets him apart from many peers. Emre is not only meticulous and detail-focused, but also pragmatic—he consistently provides clear, actionable advice that helps clients move forward with confidence. His professionalism, responsiveness, and ability to anticipate client needs have made him an invaluable partner, and I have valued his judgment and reliability greatly.’
- ‘Introduced to Ersoy after consulting a trusted law firm well known to us for their recommendations in respect to a practice in Turkey. Very pleased to experience a very positive and constructive response from one of the partners. This first experience continued throughout the period of consultation and moved on from one subject to another and onto the Ersoy team more generally. Besides the clear technical knowledge of Turkish law, what was very supportive was the recognition of how we may have related to the issue and help us understand this from the Turkish law position.’
- ‘The employment practice at Ersoy Bilgehan Lawyers & Consultants combines strong knowledge of labour laws with a proactive, client-focused approach to employment issues’
Key clients
- DNV A. S.
- Amazon Inc.
- Columbia Shipmanagement Turkey (CSM Turkey)
- Er Mining
- Eren Holding
- Hapag Lloyd AG
- UK P&I Club
- Oldendorff Carriers GmbH & Co. KG
- Thomas Miller P&I Ltd
- West of England Insurance Services (Luxembourg) S.A
- Gard P&I Club
- Britannia P&I Club
Work highlights
Advised DNV, the world’s largest classification society, in all aspects of employment law matters, including but not limited to preparing employment contracts and documents thereof, providing legal opinions on temporary employment relationships, employment benefits, contingent workers, methods of terminating employment agreement, and consequences of workplace transfer.
Assisted Amazon with their new engagements in setting up new workplaces and employee recruitment for the relevant workplaces in Turkey.
Advised one of the most reputable companies in logistics (Hapag Lloyd) in all aspects of employment law matters, including submitting legal opinions on labour law related consequences of business expansion with regard to hiring of approx. 400 employees.
Practice head
Emre Ersoy; Ergün Ersoy
Other key lawyers
Yesim Odabas