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

Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the interest in the capital market grew as people’s desire to invest increased. Therefore, there has been a significant rise in the number of customers of our company, and many new product and service projects have come to our agenda. In such a process, the workload of our legal department has increased considerably, and we have had an intensive study and research process to provide the same quality of service.

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

The speed of technology has increased undeniably nowadays. Therefore, in whatever field an in-house lawyer works, they should not lag behind the technology and follow the developments in his field closely. Otherwise, it may fall behind the agenda.

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?

Because we work in a company that provides services in the capital markets field, my lawyer colleagues in the legal department may have difficulty understanding this area. Since I have worked on the Turkish capital markets board in the past, I am well-versed in managing such problems. To alleviate these challenges experienced by my colleagues, I initiated the ‘harmonisation period’ application. Within this period, they visit specific departments on pre-established days and hours of the week and sit next to the person who will mentor them and experience the work of that person. They can ask these mentors questions to learn about the process. Thus, as they understand the processes better, their adaptation to the legal services related to the relevant processes becomes more straightforward, increasing the overall quality of the services provided.