Team size: 50

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

As a vice president, legal, the number one challenge that has impacted me over the past year is managing the expansion of the legal team. While it is great that our company keeps growing and requires more legal support, the process of onboarding new team members and integrating them into our existing workflow has been complex and time-consuming. Balancing the workload and ensuring that everyone is up to speed with our policies and procedures has required a lot of training, coordination and communication. Additionally, finding the right candidates with the necessary skills and experience has been a challenge in a competitive job market. However, I am confident that we will continue to overcome these challenges and work together to support our company.

In your opinion, what areas should in-house lawyers focus on over the next few years to prove value to their organisations in Türkiye?

In my opinion, in-house lawyers in Türkiye should focus on digitalisation, ethics, and sustainability to prove value to their organisations over the next few years. Digitalisation has transformed the way businesses operate, and legal departments must adapt accordingly. In-house lawyers should focus on developing expertise in areas such as cybersecurity, data protection, and privacy to ensure their organisations comply with the rapidly evolving legal and regulatory landscape in Türkiye. They should also be familiar with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, which are increasingly relevant in the legal industry. Ethics is another critical area of focus for in-house lawyers. As legal advisors to their organisations, in-house lawyers have a responsibility to ensure compliance with ethical standards and to promote a culture of integrity within the company. In-house lawyers should be familiar with Türkiye’s laws and regulations regarding bribery and corruption, and be equipped to advise on best practices in this area. Sustainability is an issue that is gaining importance across all sectors, including the legal industry. In-house lawyers should understand the environmental and social impact of their organisation’s activities and advise on strategies to minimise negative effects while maximising positive ones. This could include advising on sustainable supply chain management, responsible investment, and green initiatives.

Overall, in-house lawyers in Türkiye must adapt to the changing legal and business landscape by focusing on digitalisation, ethics, and sustainability. By doing so, they can add significant value to their organisations and help drive long-term success.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

As an example, I proposed creating working groups based on areas of specialisation After identifying the key legal areas that our organisation faces, such as contract law, employment law, and intellectual property, we assigned lawyers to specific working groups based on their areas of expertise. The working groups met regularly to discuss legal issues, share knowledge and insights, and develop best practices. By working together in this way, we were able to leverage our collective expertise and improve the quality of legal advice provided to our company. We also built stronger relationships with our internal departments, which helped legal department become a more valued partner to the business in the company. This innovation did not require a large expense and was implemented by simply restructuring the way we worked. By creating working groups based on areas of specialisation, we were able to improve our effectiveness as a legal team, without any significant cost implications. This innovation helped us handle legal matters more efficiently, and we were able to provide more specialised legal advice to our organisation. Overall, the innovation was a success and helped us improve our performance as a legal team.