Legal counsel | TotalEnergies
Fatih Özdemir
Legal counsel | TotalEnergies
What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?
Under normal circumstances, I am someone who tries to follow both the sectoral regulation and the developments in the legal world day by day. However, last year, I had to do my compulsory military service for 26 days. In this process, the difficulty I experienced in communication made it difficult for me to follow the legislation during my military service. After returning to the office, I had to read more than 1000 emails in a short time and retrospectively review all the developments in the legal world in the last 26 days.
Can you outline your role in the legal function of your organization and any significant cases or transactions you were involved in?
To give opinions and advice on competition law, energy law, personal data protection law and compliance, especially corporate business and transactions. Acting with a preventive legal understanding regarding all legal problems faced by the company. Providing all kinds of consultancy on company law, including mergers and acquisitions. The recent energy crisis all over the world has pushed companies operating in the energy sector to invest in alternative and renewable energy sources. This situation obliges these companies to examine new legislation within the scope of renewable energy law, recycling and sustainability. In this context, one of my main duties is to comprehend and adapt to the developing and changing legislation.
In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving over the next few years?
Today, more and more lawyers decide to leave their law offices and move into internal roles. The demand for in-house lawyers is increasing as companies increasingly seek to outsource their services. This means that an in-house lawyer is expected to know “all about the law” and is therefore given extra responsibilities. In addition, the duties of in-house lawyers become more important as the ability of companies to manage risks is more compromised. Nowadays, it is observed that companies are increasingly turning to in-house lawyers to solve legal problems while trying to reduce their legal costs. This has led to a need for in-house lawyers who now deal with more complex issues. The ability to predict and control working hours makes an in-house corporate position particularly attractive for individuals with families. Today, the increasing acceptance in company cultures of alternative work schedules such as flexible working, working from home, part-time work and job sharing makes in-house attorney positions particularly attractive. Given the growing desire by many companies to reduce the outsourcing of legal services, I think the number of lawyers making the transition from law firms to in-house attorneys will continue to increase.
"Fatih in my opinion is a skilled, intelligent and hardworking legal counsel with a strong sense of discipline. He has a profound interest and competency in resolving and understanding commercial and corporate regulation matters. Fatih carried out a number of complex tasks which prove without a doubt that he will be very successful in his professional career. It is clear that he is very dedicated and is curious in all the legal processes regarding international commercial transactions and projects. His ability and interest make him complete any given tasks in an effective, comprehensive and timely fashion. Fatih contributes beyond expectations and renders different legal perspectives in any given legal task. "