About

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

I have been involved in the creation of the reality competition TV format EXATLON, which is currently being broadcasted in United States, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Hungary and Romania, and in the negotiations and drafting of all contract required for broadcasting on the leading TV channels of the respective countries. In addition, I conducted all collaboration with local law offices for the compliance of all these conventions with the local regulations of the respective country.

The EXATLON TV reality show was originally shot in Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic. Due to the rapid increase in the number of countries in which EXATLON was broadcasted, we began not to fit in Las Terrenas and decided to move the entire operation. At this stage, the determination of the new place to move, examination of all the title deed records of the designated places, application processes of official permits, all rental and purchase contracts of securities and real estate were managed by me.

I took an active part in the determination of both commercial and legal aspects of a comprehensive contract with one of Mexico’s largest channels TV Azteca, for the production of all 3-year Prime Time programs. In addition, I lead all legal processes and contracts of many Tv Productions, especially Survivor, Voice Greece, Greece Got Talent for SKAI television channel in Greece. In this context, I organised all Production and License Agreements with the Broadcasters, Talent Agreements for all juries and hosts in the programs, and Participant Agreements for all contestants in the above mentioned TV Productions.

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.)?

Turkey has deep-rooted change and adaptation on processes functioning under the law on the protection of personal data “KVKK” have been entered into force recently. Especially because of the reality TV shows we are producing we collect the personal data of many applicants; we are conducting detailed studies on many subjects in order to comply with the new regulation.

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

As a fast-growing company, the communication and coordination between the units is very important and the legal implications of this situation are very comprehensive. For this reason, we are carrying out studies for the active usage of automation systems provided by recent technology in our legal processes in order to constitute a stronger internal communication for the company.

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? 

Due to the fact that legal departments are in contact with all departments of a company, they interact with the expertise of all departments. For this reason, legal departments should not be limited to the legal field in order to achieve commercial success. Because of that I have the role of Global Business Model Director as well as General Counsel. Thus, when a business is going to be setup, I find the opportunity to get involved and to eliminate the potential legal risks that may arise afterwards. Junior lawyers in the team also take part in each project at the beginning of every production in order them to gain the notion of the work.

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

We monitor and manage all legal processes within the company by using Oracle based software. With this software, relevant departments can request the contracts they need and follow up from the formation of the contract to the last moment. it also makes it possible to archive and access the relevant departments if necessary. It was very important for us to take an active role in the creation of this software, making it both user-friendly and containing required details so that we can access the information we need.

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

Companies understand that preventive role of in-house legal departments is more important than the legal dispute resolution role. Therefore, they understand better that in-house legal department should be involved from the very beginning of all business processes. This fact causes in-house lawyers to develop themselves outside the field of law. For this reason, lawyers are involved in the important management positions of many companies recently.

FOCUS ON: Things are changing

The general opinion about the legal departments of the companies is that they are the unit that provides solutions to the legal problems that arise. The role of in-house law departments in today’s rapidly evolving and accelerated business life, contrary to the general belief, instead of solving legal problems after they occur, requires determining the issues that may become legal disputes from the beginning and take precautions. For this reason, it is obligatory to use the opportunities provided by today’s technologies and to increase internal communication. On the other hand, since in-house law departments are the units that interact with all units of a company beyond classical law practice, it also requires knowledge of the dynamics of the work performed in the field of finance, human resources, information technologies and internal dynamics of the business of related company. For this reason, today’s business life requires in-house lawyers to adapt to the commercial dynamics of the business in addition to classical law practice. In-house law units need to produce solutions that will strengthen the communication between them and all company units they interact with.

My personal advice is that my colleagues who are considering working as in-house will be very helpful in educating themselves about the commercial areas of the company they work for.