Özgür Çolpan joined the German chemical and consumer goods giant Henkel in 2015 following a decade of experience at ABB. In his time at Henkel, Çolpan has refined the workload of the legal function by identifying “non-legal work” that can be moved out of the department and setting up a tracking system to measure the efficiency of its processes. ‘Today we are able to see how many contracts and other work is done by the legal department,’ Çolpan says. ‘The new system increased the service quality and decreased the external legal costs made by the company’. Leading legal affairs across Turkey and a number of regions, Çolpan is also recognised for his international transactional experience, featuring work a number of landmark projects such as the Kadıköy Kartal Metroline Project, the Marmaray Project, the Medcem Cement Plant and a project with Saudi Arabia Electricity Company. Çolpan has also overseen a number of significant litigations recently, including a case against the Turkish State Electricity Company for annulment of a public tender with the value of €10m. Çolpan’s previous in-house role at ABB saw him supporting the rapid growth of the company through his involvement in seven acquisitions and the establishment of three new factories. During this period Çolpan also conducted negotiations with unions and managed to avert a major strike. He states: ‘this experience further strengthened my ability to do contract negotiations with the customers, partners or stakeholders of huge projects’. He has held previous positions in Japan Tobacco International’s in-house legal department and in private practice.