Serdar Paksoy is the founding and senior partner of Paksoy. His practice focuses on corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, white – collar crimes, investigations and dispute resolution. He has substantial experience in advising foreign investors on strategically significant disputes, particularly those that may arise in their transactions, whether within Turkey or on an international scale.
Mr Paksoy is the head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice overseeing litigation, arbitration, investigations, and a range of disputes, including corporate, employment and M&A within various sectors and industries. He is an active trial lawyer and has acted for parties in Turkish court actions across a spectrum of contentious matters from shareholder conflicts to construction law, investigations, securities, company law, product liability, tax litigation, administrative law proceedings, and concessionary disputes.
He has represented investors and sovereigns in international arbitrations before various arbitral institutions including the ICC, ICSID, ISTAC (Istanbul Arbitration Center), Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, ITOTAM and TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) Arbitration Center.
Mr Paksoy acts as arbitrator and counsel in numerous tribunals for a variety of disputes in both domestic and international arbitrations. He is a listed arbitrator of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Center. He is the country chair and representative of DRI-the Voice of the Defense Bar in Turkey.
Mr Paksoy is recognised as an Eminent Practitioner for Corporate and M&A in Chambers and Partners 2023. He is also listed as a Hall of Fame individual for Dispute and Resolution in Legal 500 2023, and is a recommended lawyer in their Dispute Resolution Powerlist for Türkiye. He also maintains a highly regarded ranking by IFLR 1000.
Elvan Aziz is the partner heading the corporate practice at Paksoy, specialising in corporate and company law, employment and real estate matters. She has also been extensively advising sellers, strategic buyers and PE clients in M&A projects.
Ms Aziz leads the team of Paksoy advising clients on corporate and commercial issues, including establishment of Turkish subsidiaries, corporate restructuring and restructuring of business, legal mergers and spin-offs and corporate governance. Within the team, there are dedicated lawyers advising clients regularly on individual and collective employment law matters, including implementation of management incentive schemes, strategy building on HR aspects of restructuring or closure of business, preparation and negotiation of individual and collective employment agreements and internal bylaws, dealings with the trade union as well as collective and individual termination of employees, including top management.
Ms Aziz also has significant real estate practice expertise covering structuring of real estate developments, including residential, commercial property and hotel development, drafting and negotiating relevant project agreements for developers and investors, as well carrying out legal land due diligence to determine whether the property is fit for its purpose.
On the M&A side, she has been actively advising clients in various industries, including healthcare, TMT, retail and manufacturing, for high profile and strategic transactions which includes cross-border acquisitions and international joint ventures. She has been acting for foreign and Turkish private equity funds, pension plans, venture capitals and angel investors as well as strategic investors in their investments and acquisitions in Türkiye, as well as advising Turkish selling shareholders and families in their transactions of different sizes and sectors.
Ms Aziz is a member of the International Bar Association.
In 2018, in 2019, in 2020 and in 2021, Elvan Aziz is named as a Women Leader by IFLR 1000, which is the guide to the world’s leading financial law firms recognising 300 female lawyers globally and 13 from Türkiye, that consider to be among the best transactional specialists in their markets and practice areas.
Togan Turan is the partner heading the antitrust and competition practice at Paksoy and successfully advising clients in antitrust matters such as cartel and abuse of dominance investigations and assists them in merger control, individual exemption and negative clearance applications as well as counseling on general competition law matters.
Mr Turan has also corporate/M&A extensive experience in acquisitions and corporate law matters in Türkiye. He has experience in a variety of international clients in retail, energy, gas, telecommunications, tobacco, banking, insurance, healthcare, food and steel sectors. His experience covers all aspects of transactions from due diligence investigations, contract drafting, and negotiating and structuring deals to advising on regulatory aspects such as competition board filings for those transactions. He also takes an active role in privatisations and banking and finance matters in many industries for his clients.
Mr Turan is a recipient of Chevening Scholarship and a member of the International Bar Association.
Ömer Çollak is the partner heading the capital markets practice at Paksoy with a specific focus on equity, debt and equity-linked transactions representing the underwriters and issuers in initial public offerings, Eurobond offerings, Islamic finance transactions, and private placements.
Mr Çollak also acts in regulatory capital issuances under Basel III, and represents clients in structured finance transactions, including but not limited to securitisations. He further has significant experience in listed company mergers and acquisitions in addition to various high-ticket cross-border mergers and acquisitions in varying sectors, including financial institutions and retail, acting for private equity firms and strategic investors.
Prior to joining to Paksoy, Mr Çollak worked as a foreign associate at a US firm in California, where he acted for biotech and high-tech multinational clients.
Mr Çollak is a member of the American Bar Association, International Bar Association, and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations.
He is a member of the Istanbul Bar Association.
Stéphanie Beghe Sönmez regularly advises on foreign law aspects of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, joint ventures, and corporate restructuring for a variety of large foreign and Turkish industrial players and financial investors.
Ms Beghe Sönmez has developed key experience advising investors in diverse sectors in Türkiye including insurance and private pensions, banking, technology, industry and energy.
Ms Beghe Sönmez also has significant expertise in intellectual property and information technology matters, upon which she advises clients in the context of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, capital markets, licensing, distribution and regulatory compliance.
Before joining Paksoy in 2010, Ms Beghe Sönmez was a partner at the Istanbul office of a London-based international law firm. Prior to relocating to Türkiye in 2006, she practised for eight years with the Paris office of a major US-based international law firm.
She is a member of the International Bar Association.
Sera Somay is the partner heading the banking and finance practice at Paksoy.
Ms Somay’s practice covers a broad range of financing transactions
including; club loans, syndicated loans, regulatory capital, ECA covered loans,
acquisition financing, various forms of secured financing and other structured
financings. She has been representing international and local lenders as well
as Turkish borrowers.
Ms Somay is also working on financial restructuring of debt, on debt
collection proceedings and bankruptcy proceedings.
She is a member of the International Bar Association.
Sera Somay is ranked as a Market Leader in
banking and a Women Leader by IFLR1000, a guide recognising 300 top female
lawyers globally. She is also recognised as a market leader by Legal 500.
Nazlı Bezirci specialises in corporate, commercial matters, corporate restructuring, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions.
Nazlı Bezirci advises foreign and domestic clients across a wide range of sectors, including, financial services - with a special focus on banking, insurance and pensions - chemical products, industrial, energy and food and beverages. She also has key expertise in public mergers and acquisitions and the governance of public companies.
In her role as a key team member in corporate and commercial practice group, Nazlı Bezirci is involved in day to day corporate and commercial advice to multinationals and domestic conglomerates in Türkiye including their corporate maintenance work. Ms Bezirci also advises regulated companies in relation to their share and asset acquisitions, regulatory filings and assists with their legal day-to-day requirements.
Nihan Bacanak specialises in mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate and commercial law.
Ms Bacanak advises strategic investors and private equity clients on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate governance.
She takes active role in due diligence reviews, drafting and negotiation of share and asset sale and purchase agreements, joint venture and shareholders agreements, and other ancillary documents relevant to acquisitions or foreign investments.
Ms Bacanak has extensive experience in cross-border transactions, corporate structuring and international business transactions. She represented many foreign and domestic clients in a variety of sectors including retail, manufacturing, services healthcare, logistics, aviation, food and fashion.
Ms Bacanak also has a particular focus on healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses, which she advises on compliance and regulatory matters.
She worked as an associate at Paksoy between 2004 and 2006 before earning her LL. M degree at Georgetown University Law Center, and worked as a senior associate at the corporate department of a reputable law firm based in Istanbul before rejoining Paksoy in 2012.
Ms Bacanak was seconded to an international law firm from 2014 - 2015 where she was a member of the corporate practice group of the firm's London office. She took role in multi-jurisdictional transactions in which the firm advised during her secondment and gained significant experience through such involvement.
Simel Sarıalioğlu specialises in commercial arbitration, arbitration-related court proceedings and commercial litigation.
She has experience in representing clients before tribunals constituted under the arbitration rules of the ICC, ICSID, ISTAC, LCIA, SMA, UNCITRAL, VIAC and WIPO. She also acts as arbitrator in commercial arbitration proceedings. She has experience in disputes in various sectors such as telecommunication, media, technology, construction, insurance, customs, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and retail.
Ms Sarıalioğlu is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London (FCIArb) (2010). She is giving lectures on international arbitration as a visiting speaker at law faculties of reputable universities in Istanbul. Ms Sarıalioğlu acted as the ICC YAF Türkiye, Middle East & Africa Chapter Representative for 2017-2019 mandate. She regularly speaks in domestic and international conferences on international arbitration and she is author of a number of publications on international arbitration. Who’s Who Legal: Litigation and Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration Listings have been naming Ms Sarıalioğlu as a “future leader” since 2019.
Ms Sarıalioğlu is a member of the Istanbul Bar Association, ArbitralWomen, ICC YAF, Queen Mary School of International Arbitration Alumni Association and American Collegiate Institute of Izmir Alumni Association. She also serves as a member of the steering committee of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center Young Professionals group. She is also on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) list of neutrals.
Şansal Erbacıoğlu is heading the tax and fiscal services practice at Paksoy. He advises clients on tax and fiscal aspects of all forms of foreign investments, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, partnerships, equity subscriptions, banking and finance, and capital markets transactions.
Mr Erbacıoğlu works with clients on their multi-jurisdictional investments to establish tax-efficient shareholding, financing, and foreign trade structures.
He advises clients on a wide variety of taxation matters, including income, investment, financing and real estate taxes, with an emphasis on corporate tax, withholding taxes, banking and insurance transaction tax, value-added tax, resource utilisation support fund levy, and stamp duty.
His expertise also covers consultancy on industry-specific taxation matters and special tax regimes for EPCs, PPPs, construction, energy, and aviation, aerospace and defence industries. He actively takes part in advising clients on remedy plans for loss-making entities and optimal debt-equity combinations in accordance with commercial needs and the capital adequacy ratios set forth in Turkish regulations.
Mr Erbacıoğlu also provides consultancy services to numerous lenders/bondholders and entrepreneurs in the refinancing of debt facilities and security restructurings and he works with the litigation team on legal disputes arising from tax and fiscal matters. In addition, he performs tax and financial due diligence, and reviews and assesses financial transactions from a compliance perspective.
Before joining Paksoy, he worked for eight years in the international tax structuring practice in one of the Big Four and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Türkiye.
Ökkeş Şahan specialises in securities law, capital market transactions, corporate governance and public company law.
Prior to joining Paksoy, Mr Şahan worked for almost 15 years at the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye as legal counsel in the department of legal affairs, providing legal advice to other departments of the Capital Markets Board.
He practises in capital markets, acting for issuers and underwriters in equity, including initial public offerings, debt and equity-linked instruments in international public offerings, Eurobond offerings and private placements.
Mr Şahan has also significant experience in listed company mergers and acquisitions in various sectors, including financial institutions and retail, telecommunications, acting for private equity firms and strategic investors. He has a unique experience and deep understanding on the various types of disputes arising among various capital markets participants like investors, shareholders, listed companies, investment institutions, independent audit companies and other capital market participants.
He holds the following licenses: capital market activities (advanced level), derivative instruments, real estate appraiser, credit rating specialist, corporate governance rating specialist and independent auditing in capital markets.
Serdar Ildırar specialises in mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial law, as well as capital markets advising clients from different sectors including automotive, chemicals, construction, healthcare and energy.
Mr Ildırar has vast experience in structuring and negotiating mergers and acquisitions transactions, conducting due diligence, drafting agreements, bond offerings and rights issues, as well as advising on daily corporate matters for both public and private entities.
He worked at Paksoy between 2006 and 2008, and following an in-house period at a Turkish group of companies, he re-joined Paksoy in 2011.
Mr Ildırar joined a secondment program in 2014 at an international law firm where he took part in the corporate practice group of the firm's London, Munich and Warsaw offices. During his secondment practice he advanced his experience through his involvement in multi-jurisdictional transactions.
Gülçin Dere is an antitrust and competition law specialist with more than 10 years of experience in antitrust and competition matters.
Ms Dere worked as a Chief Competition Expert at the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) before moving to private practice. She has in-depth knowledge and understanding of antitrust and competition, mergers and acquisitions cases mainly in automotive, banking and financial services, construction, energy markets, media markets and has significant experience in investigation and reporting cartel cases and drafting legal opinions. She participated in major dawn raids, cartel investigations and represented the TCA in international forums.
Ms Dere attended the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as a legal extern and conducted legal research and provided legal assistance in relation to international competition law issues. In addition, she performed extensive legal research in a law firm in Washington D.C. during her education. She is a regular speaker in competition law seminars and conferences.
Gülce Saydam Pehlivan is the counsel having primary focus on all aspects of labour and employment law including individual and collective labour law matters.
Ms Saydam Pehlivan represents broad spectrum of clients in various industries and sectors including online gaming, banking, energy, real estate investment, retail, chemical industries and media. She has significant experience on implementation of employment restructurings such as downsizings, collective redundancies, closure of business, negotiating and drafting of employment agreements of C-level executives and other top management as well as termination, separation, settlement and release documents, and employment law aspects of the cross border and local business/workplace transfers and acquisations. She also has significant knowledge and experience in the fields of social security and immigration laws.
Ms Saydam Pehlivan also specializes in corporate and commercial law where she regularly advises multinational and domestic clients on corporate and commercial matters for their day-to-day activities. She further represents local and multinational clients on mergers and acquisitions transactions across a wide range of sectors.
Before joining Paksoy in 2013 following her LL. M degree at Queen Mary University of London, she worked as an associate at the labour and employment department of a top-tier law firm based in Istanbul.
Doğuhan Uygun is the counsel specialises in international arbitration, arbitration-related court proceedings and dispute resolution matters as well as conservatory relief measures.
He has extensively advised and represented international and local clients from a wide-range of industries on complex commercial and contractual disputes, shareholders disputes, enforcement of foreign court judgments and arbitral awards, intellectual property disputes, unfair competition lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings before arbitral tribunals and all degrees of courts. In addition, he has successfully represented the defendants on several criminal, administrative and regulatory investigations. He also acts as arbitrator in local and international arbitration proceedings.
Mr Uygun is an active member of the international arbitration community and is a regular speaker at seminars and conferences.
Onur Çeliker is the counsel specializing in the litigation and dispute resolution. He is an active trial lawyer and nearly with 15 years of court litigation experience regularly represents multinational clients from different sectors including real estate, energy, banking and finance, automotive, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, FMCG and e-commerce.
Mr Çeliker acts for clients in a wide range of disputes including administrative law, tax law, commercial law, consumer law, criminal law, intellectual property law, enforcement and bankruptcy law. He represents multinational clients in full range of tax and customs disputes including transfer pricing cases and other lawsuits filed against the authorities for the cancellation of taxes and customs duties as well as the penalties. He also has an extensive experience in complex administrative disputes filed against regulatory and supervisory authorities including the Competition Authority, Public Procurement Authority, Energy Market Regulatory Authority and Capital Markets Board for the annulment of board decisions, administrative actions and fines imposed by such authorities.
Mr Çeliker’s practice also focuses in civil and commercial disputes. He extensively represents multinational automotive and FMCG companies in product liaibility claims and compensation lawsuits arising from defective products. He also involved in one of the most complex and high-profile shareholder disputes and bankruptcy cases in Türkiye.
His experience also covers the representation of multinational and domestic companies in labour and employment disputes filed by former employees with the claims of reemployment, payment of severance and notice pay, overtime pay, mobbing compensation, incentive stock options and etc. He also assists clients in mediation processes where employers and former employees reach a mutually satisfactory settlement of their dispute.
Mr Çeliker is a member of the Istanbul Bar Association. Due to the outstanding performance and overachievements in his legal career, he was recognised as the Rising Türkiye in IFLR Euromoney Legal Media Group Europe Rising Star Awards of 2019 held in London. He was named as a Rising Star for the litigation practice by IFLR Euromoney’s Expert Guides in 2021 and 2022; and also Recognised as a Next Generation Lawyer and a Rising Star by Legal 500 respectively in 2019 and 2020. He is the author of numerous articles and guides published in international magazines.
Zekican Samlı has a vast experience and knowledge in energy and natural resources, including renewable energy, nuclear energy and mining.
Mr Samlı advises project sponsors, lenders, suppliers and other sector entities on drafting and negotiating EPC contracts, O&M contracts, energy supply and power purchase agreements, project implementation agreements, and corporate documents in relation to energy, infrastructure and construction as well as BOT projects. Mr Samlı also has a broad experience in the financing and refinancing of the energy projects and advises financiers and investors regarding the drafting and negotiation of the financing agreements and the provision of the necessary legal requirements.
He has been assisting investors in power, oil, gas, mining, and infrastructure investments, in various regulatory processes, PPPs and licencing requirements. He also advises sellers and buyers including privately held and publicly traded companies during structuring, due diligence, negotiation and regulatory approvals for merger and acquisition deals with a particular focus in energy, natural resources and infrastructure sectors.
Beril Paksoy specialises in banking finance, project finance, restructuring, Islamic finance, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law.
Beril Paksoy’s practices covers a broad range of financing transactions including; club loans, syndicated loans, regulatory capital, ECA covered loans, acquisition financings, project financings, FI financings, various forms of secured financings and other structured financings. She has been representing international and local lenders as well as Turkish borrowers.
Ms Paksoy takes part in all aspects of cross border mergers and acquisitions in various sectors. Has reputable knowledge and experience in advising clients active in real estate projects including residential and commercial developments, their corporate restructuring, corporate and commercial matters as well as their legal day-to-day requirements.
Emre Kotil is the counsel specializing in commercial litigation, dispute resolution, compliance and investigations, as well as white-collar crimes. His extensive litigation experience includes representing foreign and domestic clients across all tiers of civil, commercial, administrative and penal courts. Emre actively represents clients before public authorities, in various matters including administrative investigations. He is also experienced in handling provisional measures.
Emre guides clients on compliance programs and actively contributes to the creation and refinement of codes of conduct, internal policies and procedures covering various areas with a particular focus on anti-bribery, anti-corruption. He advises clients on comprehensive training programs and personally delivers compliance trainings on diverse subjects.
Emre plays a significant role in conducting internal investigations, covering a range of issues including corruption, fraud and misbehaviour in the workplace such as mobbing.
Emre's professional certifications include being a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) accredited by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and holding the title of Ethics and Compliance Manager, certified by TEİD (Turkish Ethics and Reputation Society).
Before joining Paksoy, Emre gained extensive experience across diverse legal areas such as maritime, aviation and insurance law. He actively participates in the enforcement of foreign court decisions and arbitral awards. He advised ship owners, P&I Clubs and cargo interests in a variety of disputes including but not limited to vessel collisions, cargo claims and successfully realized numerous vessel arrests. He also represented aviation companies and financial institutions in disputes arising from, air crashes, loan and lease agreements, baggage and cargo claims. Emre continues to play an important role in these areas, contributing significantly to Paksoy’s proven track record.
Merve Kurdak specialises in capital markets, banking and finance, Islamic finance and fintech.
Her capital markets experience has a specific focus on capital markets transactions, acting for issuers and international underwriters in equity, debt and equity-linked instruments in initial public offerings, Eurobond offerings, issuances of ESG related instruments, Islamic finance transactions, and private placements.
Ms Kurdak’s banking and finance practice covers broad range of financing transactions including ECA covered loans, syndicated loans and various forms of secured financing, Islamic finance transactions and sustainability related issues.
Her fintech experience includes especially legal requirements for payment services, e-wallet services, payment systems and cryptocurrency related issues.
Zeynep Toma specialises in mergers and acquisitions and corporate law, intellectual property law, e-commerce law, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and information technologies law.
Ms Toma takes an active role in all aspects of cross-border and domestic mergers and acquisitions processes, including advising clients on due diligence reviews, drafting transaction documents such as share purchase agreements, shareholders’ agreements, transitional services, intellectual property licence and other ancillary agreements, and providing support with closing matters and post-closing integration. In addition, she has extensive experience in corporate law with respect to shareholders disputes.
She also advises retainer clients on regular corporate and commercial matters in their day-to-day business which includes drafting commercial contracts such as distribution agreements, toll manufacturing agreements, co-marketing agreements, and franchise agreements in various industries and the preparations for the general assembly and board meetings of companies.
Holds key expertise in the e-commerce sector, healthcare and pharmaceuticals as well as in intellectual property law, including IP assignments, licences and IT maintenance agreements.