Team size: Five

Can you please give us an idea of the sort of work your team has done recently (cases, transactions, projects)?

Nusr-ET legal is responsible for legal affairs, compliance and IP related issues of the entire corporation. We perform litigation/pre-litigation case management and case file maintenance for global matters. In 2021, we successfully finalised international JV project in the GCC, and international M&A Project in the EU.

Which recent political, economic, or regulatory changes have impacted the company and the team the most?

Over the past two years, the restrictive and preventive decisions made by the government authorities have impacted national and international business activities of the company. Our legal team handled the following to protect the company from any legal risks in the unprecedented time: (i) cancellation of labour contracts and unpaid leave of employees; (ii) facilitating support programmes for business; (iii) supporting the company to adapt to the new government normalisation process; (iv) interpretation of force majeure clauses and regulations; (iv) legal interpretation of contract cancellation and contract suspension; (v) debt collecting and risk management; (vi) setting up remote work system. Nusr-ET continued to invest in their strong financial structure during the Covid-19 pandemic: they launched 11 new restaurants (five in Türkiye, four in US, and one in the UK, and one in Saudi Arabia). In addition to the new openings, the company sustained its ongoing operations while launching new investment projects in the hospitality industry. The legal department actively played an essential role in the management of the company that kept growing during the pandemic, and the legal department became an invaluable and indispensable part of the company’s business operation.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

Every legal advice that I provide to the company is key to operate business. Collaborating with business partners helps us to improve our knowledge and skills in various industries and disciplines. While addressing the need of employees, customers, and suppliers, business functions are facing financial and operational challenges. In this regard, in-house lawyers are required to satisfy business needs while trying to accommodate solutions within appropriate legal framework. For a strong relationship between in-house lawyers and business partners, in-house counsel should be essential part of decision-making mechanisms within their organisations.