About

What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last two years?

As a member of a global legal team, I have been involved in the establishment, ramp up and wind down processes of new legal entities in Middle East countries.  I also experienced recently established legal departments in Middle East region countries. I successfully followed up an important serial lawsuits case involving more than 150 files in Turkey.

What have been the major external trends that have impacted your team’s work over the past two years (market developments, changing regulatory environment, political events etc.)?

Both life and technology change quickly and dramatically in the new era. Such changes bring both risks and opportunities to business organisations. As a global company, Bosch is also in the process of being reshaped like the rest of the world.

As a member of a Group which has almost 410.000 associates worldwide, €78.5bn in sales revenue, 60 subsidiaries and regional companies in over 60 countries and regions, sales and service partners in roughly 150 countries and regions worldwide; being a part of such fast changes in the technological environment has major impact in our daily business.

What will be the main focus for the company in the next 12 months and how do you intend to assist with this?

The focus for the company in the next 12 months will be “more digitalisation” in all businesses. As a legal counsel, keeping myself updated helps me accommodate to the change better.

What techniques do you use to provide commercially-focused and optimal business advice to your company? If so, how do you get these across to more junior lawyers in the team?

Commercial awareness is a critical attribute for an in-house lawyer. Companies expect good knowledge on their businesses from their legal team. Having a high commercial awareness is one of the most crucial things for my daily business.

In addition, under this changing environment, it is expected from an in-house lawyer to provide fast, high quality and cost effective legal advices. To meet these expectations is also necessary for an in-house lawyer.

Last but not the least, being a proactive risk manager and trustable counsel to the company management are also what I provide to my company and what I suggest to the junior lawyers in the team.

Does the team use any “legal tech” products and do you find them a helpful management device?

In parallel with significant changes in business life, the technological developments also shapes and enhances legal services. Similar to the market, we may use systems such as legislation monitoring systems, file archiving systems, online internal approval systems et cetera in our daily business life to improve the speed and quality of our services.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role in evolving in your region over the next few years?

In-house lawyers who understands their company’s future strategy better, understands the changes in business more, behaves more like a team member, acts in doable attribute, reacts more fast, collects and keeps more know how/data in the company, works more close to the business divisions would draw the outline of in-house legal in the future.

FOCUS ON: Evolution

The new role of in-house counselling in changing world

In comparison to the recent past, it is definitely possible to say that the in-house legal counselling is undergoing a fundamental transformation. In parallel to the recent dramatic changes in business life, expectations of an in-house counsel are also changing. To be an effective and beneficial in-house counsel, lawyers must perform their duties by taking into consideration these new expectations.

Contrary to the past, one of the major expectations from an in-house counsel is “speed”. Technological developments have sped up the pace of life and professions, and transformed the daily life into a rally. This improved the importance of fast reaction times to an in-house counsel. Adapting to the fast business environment and reaching to the right sources on time are critical. In the changing world, it is so easy to reach all kind information from various sources. However, finding “trustable” sources and “clean” information has never been more important. Using new high tech tools in legal services makes it easy. Now, it is crucial for a lawyer to use new technological tools in legal services to provide a quick and high quality legal advice in a cost effective way. This also ensures a high quality of legal service.

In addition to the above, following up the changes and new trends in business environment, monitoring the new sales and marketing models and thinking more commercially, makes an in-house counsel more close to its internal clients. To give better advice, a better knowledge in the business is necessary. Business partners and clients expect more involvement to the business from in-house counsel. Showing “how to do”, instead of showing “why it is not possible” in a doable attitude is a must. To be in a role as a “counsel to the business management” requires being more a businessperson.

Being an active “risk manager” is another important expectation from in-house counsels. The length of the judgment proceedings is long and the judgment costs are high. Therefore, analysing the risks in advance and acting proactively to eliminate such risks – before it transforms to a litigation – is more valuable than before.

Above-mentioned criteria are not mentioned as “numerus clausus”. There are many other requirements and expectations, which shaped with “change” in life. Each new day brings out new expectations from in-house counsel. To be here to stay, an in-house counsel should be always up-to-date. Only those who adopt the principle of self-continuous improvement can leave their mark in their professions.