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

A specific challenge we faced last year, aside from global and sectoral problems, was related to social media. Social media platforms are increasingly becoming a greater part of our daily life and function as today’s public spheres. While they serve to celebrate our freedom of expression, they also have a dark side that is difficult to control. From a legal perspective, we see the apex of this as the rampant dissemination of misinformation, which is highly susceptible to manipulative influences. Looking at regulatory action, we see negative social media behaviours like targeting, discrediting, and blocking emerge as patterns that are often repeated en masse at a global level. I firmly believe that social media is the future of information channels, and that it can remain a free and expressive platform that can lead us to higher critical and cultural communication if properly regulated. As the law will always adapt to the society it governs, the legal frameworks guiding the use of social media will continue to mould themselves to our evolving relationship with these platforms. What is challenging about this period is that the pace of digital development far exceeds that which the supporting legal governance can amend and adapt to.

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-house lawyers are usually more generalist compared to their private practice counterparts, and they should embrace the necessity of knowledge breadth in their work. As companies are further pushed to utilise their own resources, corporate legal departments need to stretch their expertise to reach as many units of their business as possible. In-house lawyers should focus on being as flexible and holistic as possible in their approach to coordinating support across an organisation. Aside from this, we should prioritise our work navigating trade disruptions, geopolitical conflicts, complex international transactions, and rapidly changing economic and business models.

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?

Answering this question from an idea management and efficiency perspective, I have been divesting from the traditional ‘master-apprentice’ approach to mentoring younger members of my team as I don’t think it serves the same purpose it used to. I think it is especially important to foster an environment where young lawyers can freely express their opinions and put forward out-of-the-box ideas to boost both productivity and innovative legal thought.