Professional notice
Turkey
Mention competition law in Turkey and, for many, the first name that springs to mind is ELİG Attorneys at Law. This may explain why the firm so often takes a piece of deals that require worldwide notification, such as Publicis/Omnicom. ELİG’s team is led by renowned specialist Gönenç Gürkaynak. K Kohran Yıldırım, who was promoted to partner in January 2014, five senior associates and 10 associates support Gürkaynak, making ELİG the largest competition practice in Turkey.
“If there’s anything interesting going on in competition law in Turkey, you’ll find that we are a part of it,” says Gürkaynak. The firm has done everything, many times over: competition law litigation, investigation defence work, merger clearance, exemption applications, day-to-day advice, compliance programmes for companies and competition law training seminars and advisory comments for public officials.
Gürkaynak defends Turkish Airlines against the authority’s on-again, off-again dominance probes, and cement companies ÇimSA and Adana Çimento against cartel allegations. In the latter case, the authority’s decision-making board rejected collusion and price-fixing allegations due to a lack of evidence, despite the case-handler’s recommendation of fines. In October 2014, the authority found that four companies had colluded to fix the price of fresh yeast. ELİG’s client Mauri Maya Sanayi was due to receive the largest fine, but instead received full immunity – even though it applied for leniency after the preliminary investigation and the dawn raids.
ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law is an eminent, independent Turkish law firm based in Istanbul. The firm was founded in 2005.
ELIG is committed to providing its clients with high-quality legal services. We combine a solid knowledge of Turkish law with a business-minded approach to develop legal solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of our clients in their international and domestic operations.
The firm builds and maintains close working relationships with a number of international law firms and collaborates with them to serve mutual clients on a range of transactions.
All members of the ELIG team are fluent in English and speak a variety of other languages. Many ELIG team members have obtained their graduate degrees in law schools in the US, the UK, Switzerland, France and Turkey. In addition to membership of the Istanbul Bar, Mr Gönenç Gürkaynak, the managing partner of ELIG, is also qualified in New York, and is further qualified as a solicitor of the Law Society of England and Wales, currently as a non-practising member.
ELIG’s key practice areas are ccorporate law, mergers & acquisitions, competition law, anti-corruption, white collar irregularities and compliance, EC law, Internet law, technology, media & telecommunications law, data protection & privacy law, banking and finance law, litigation & arbitration, energy, oil & gas law, administrative law, real estate law, anti-dumping law, pharma and healthcare regulatory, employment law and intellectual property law.
ELIG delivers the top competition law practice in Turkey with 36 competition law specialists, out of a total of 70 lawyers at ELIG. In addition to unparalleled experience in merger control issues, ELIG has vast experience in defending companies before the Turkish Competition Board in all phases of antitrust investigations, abuse of dominant position cases, leniency handlings, and before courts on issues of private enforcement of competition law, along with appeals of the administrative decisions of the Turkish Competition Authority.
During the past year, ELIG has been involved in over 45 merger clearances by the Turkish Competition Authority, more than 20 defence project investigations, and over 10 appeals before the administrative courts. ELIG also provided more than 40 antitrust education seminars to employees of its clients.
ELIG has a significant practice in Turkey focusing on internal investigations and white-collar criminal matters. Among other things, the practice advises clients in connection with Turkish corporate compliance issues under the relevant OECD Convention, FCPA, the UK Bribery Act and Turkish anti-corruption laws. This includes all matters relating to data privacy, employment law, anti-corruption policies and other related aspects of the Turkish legal regime.
ELIG represents local and multinational conglomerates in M&A projects as well. The M&A team have vast experience and capability in handling multiple and significant M&A transactions, reorganisations, joint ventures and spin-offs. The firm’s corporate team has a solid practice in providing commercial and corporate law services to corporations, advising foreign clients during their entry to the Turkish market, and daily operations thereafter.
Unlike many local firms in Turkey, ELIG has a recognised and significant practice in media, internet and new media, and telecommunications law. The practice mainly covers domain name disputes, website agreements, movie distribution agreements, internet copyright and internet trademarks, internet-related litigation, regulatory counselling, notice and takedown or judiciary decision enforcement assistance and localisation of telecom agreements and licenses to be signed with carriers.
ELIG also has a solid track record and knowledge of litigation before Turkish civil and administrative courts. ELIG is well equipped to handle all types of civil legal disputes before the Turkish courts.
Number of Lawyers: 70
Key Contact:
Gönenç Gürkaynak,
Managing Partner
Tel: +90 212 327 1724
[email protected]
For further information, please visit www.elig.com.
Firm contact details:
Çitlenbik Sokak No:12,
Yildiz Mahallesi,
Besiktas 34349,
Istanbul / Turkey
Tel: +90 212 327 17 24
Fax: +90 212 327 1725