Our Practice Areas

When you are faced with a legal problem, the first question that usually comes to mind is: "Who should I contact in this situation, how, and when?" This guide was prepared to answer exactly that question. Below, we explain in plain language which practice area you should turn to for which life situation, how the process works step by step, what your rights and obligations are, and the concrete benefits of working with a lawyer. Our aim is to make sure that, even before you reach out to our office, you already have a clear road map for your situation.

Which Situation Calls for Which Practice Area?

Many people delay taking the right step simply because they do not know which branch of law their problem falls under. Yet correctly placing your problem in the right area makes everything that follows much easier. Here are the situations most commonly encountered and the practice areas they correspond to:

• If ending your marriage, custody, alimony or division of property is on the agenda: you need to turn to family and divorce law. Here, it is determined whether an uncontested (anlaşmalı) or contested (çekişmeli) divorce is the right path for you.
• If you have been dismissed from your job, your wage/severance receivables have not been paid, or you have been subjected to mobbing: employment and social security law comes into play. In most employer-employee disputes there is a mandatory mediation (arabuluculuk) stage before litigation.
• If there is a criminal charge against you, you have been summoned to give a statement, or you have been the victim of an offence: in the field of criminal law, having defence counsel by your side from the very first moment of the investigation is decisive.
• If you are experiencing a lease, title deed, condominium ownership or eviction problem: real estate and tenancy law (Gayrimenkul ve kira hukuku) is the relevant area.
• If a relative of yours has passed away, and inheritance sharing or renunciation of inheritance is at issue: you need to act within the scope of inheritance law, and pay close attention to the short forfeiture periods involved.
• If you are unable to collect a receivable, or you have been faced with an unjust enforcement proceeding: you fall within the scope of enforcement and bankruptcy law.
• If you have had a traffic or workplace accident, or your insurer made an insufficient payment: in the field of compensation law you may claim your pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.

It is also possible for a single problem to concern more than one area at the same time; for example, a workplace accident may involve employment law, compensation law and criminal law all at once. Likewise, a divorce process may simultaneously concern family law in terms of the division of property, enforcement law in terms of collecting alimony, and criminal law where one of the parties has resorted to violence. Handling this kind of interlinked case piece by piece often leads to conflicting outcomes and unnecessary loss of time. Thanks to our multidisciplinary structure, rather than squeezing your problem into a single area, we handle it in all of its dimensions and proceed around a single, consistent strategy.

Our practice areas include family and divorce law, employment and social security law, criminal law, commercial and corporate law, real estate and tenancy law, inheritance law, enforcement and bankruptcy law, compensation law arising from traffic and workplace accidents, administrative and tax law, consumer law, insurance law, intellectual and industrial property law, and personal data protection (KVKK) and IT law. This breadth means you can turn to a single address for different life and business situations, without wasting time researching who will resolve your problem.

Is it an individual or a corporate need?

Whether a legal need is individual or corporate also affects the path to be followed. Our individual clients most often come to us with a single, specific problem such as divorce, inheritance, compensation, tenancy or a criminal matter, and their goal is to have that problem resolved as quickly as possible and with the least wear and tear. For corporate clients, on the other hand, law is often not just a single case; it is an area requiring continuity, such as correctly structuring contracts from the outset, following up on commercial receivables, managing employee relations, and complying with legislation. For this reason, we also offer businesses preventive (proactive) legal advisory models that not only resolve problems that have already arisen but also prevent problems from arising in the first place. A properly structured contract prevents, right from the start, a great many disputes that might otherwise be litigated later.

How Does the Process Work? The Road Map from Application to Outcome

Although a legal process may look complicated from the outside, it actually consists of predictable stages. In broad terms, the path we follow once you become our client is as follows: first, at the preliminary meeting, we assess your case and the documents you have, and share your legal position and realistic scenarios with you. We then jointly determine, from among options such as litigation, mediation or settlement, the method most suited to your interests. In many disputes (employment, commercial, consumer cases), the mandatory mediation stage must first be completed before a case can be filed.

Where the litigation route is taken, petitions are prepared, evidence is gathered, hearings are followed, and expert examinations are conducted where necessary. If the decision of the court of first instance is against you, an appeal, and where the conditions are met, a further appeal to cassation, may be pursued. To make sure a decision rendered in your favour does not remain merely on paper, we ensure it is actually put into effect through the enforcement stage. At every stage of the process, we make it a principle to keep you regularly informed of developments, possible risks and estimated timeframes.

One of the most critical points on this road map is the very beginning of the process. Many people, because they delay their problem for a long time or start with a wrong step, later face situations that are difficult to remedy. For example, obtaining a piece of evidence on one's own and in a manner contrary to law may result in that evidence being unusable in court; submitting a petition after the deadline may result in the complete loss of the right in question. For this reason, regardless of how small the problem may seem, making a correct assessment from the very first moment is of great importance. The success achieved at the end of the process is, in most cases, the result of the right steps taken at the very outset.

Is litigation always necessary? You do not always have to go to court

A common misconception is that every legal problem must necessarily be resolved through a lengthy court case. In fact, the Turkish legal system has in recent years placed increasing emphasis on alternative dispute resolution methods. In a significant portion of employment law, commercial disputes and consumer cases, applying to a mediator is mandatory before a case can be filed. Mediation (arabuluculuk) is a confidential, fast and generally less costly method in which the parties, together with a neutral mediator, produce their own solution. An agreement reached at the table is enforceable, just like a court judgment. For this reason, it is also important to act with full knowledge of your rights and interests during mediation talks, and to obtain legal advice where necessary. In commercial and international disputes, arbitration (tahkim) stands out as another flexible, expertise-based solution. We assess together, according to the particular features of your file, which method is best suited to you.

Your Rights and Obligations

In a legal process, it is important not only to know your rights but also to know your obligations. Being entitled to a right is not enough on its own; you must assert that right within the legal time limit, through the correct procedure and with sufficient evidence. Under Turkish law, many claims are subject to strict time limits such as the litigation period, the statute of limitations and forfeiture periods. For example, an action for reinstatement must be filed within a certain period after termination, and the renunciation of inheritance must take place within three months of the death of the deceased. When these periods are missed, a loss of rights may occur even where you are substantively in the right.

Your obligations include providing your lawyer with complete and accurate information, procuring the relevant documents in good time, and taking due care during hearings and expert examination processes. The lawyer-client relationship is based on mutual trust; while every piece of information you share with us is protected as a professional secret, we in turn expect transparent cooperation from you so that the process runs smoothly. It must not be forgotten that incomplete or incorrectly conveyed information can weaken even the best strategy. Sharing a detail you think is unfavourable to you, rather than concealing it, usually allows us to prepare for that detail from the outset.

The importance of evidence and its correct collection

Being in the right in a legal process and being able to prove that you are in the right are different things. The court forms its conviction only on the basis of evidence collected in accordance with proper procedure. For this reason, it is of great importance that evidence such as contracts, invoices, bank receipts, correspondence, photographs, witness statements and official records be correctly identified and preserved from the outset. Particularly where digital evidence (messages, e-mails, screenshots) is concerned, this evidence must have been obtained by lawful means; otherwise, even if it is in your favour, it may not be taken into account by the court. Which piece of evidence should be submitted, how and when, is often a technical matter that directly affects the outcome of the case. For this reason, assessing the documents you have together with a lawyer before taking action allows you both to preserve the evidence you already have and to complete what is missing.

What Is the Benefit of Working with a Lawyer?

The question "could I handle this myself?" occurs to most people. While this may be possible for some simple transactions, in the great majority of legal disputes obtaining professional support is not merely a formality but a concrete gain. A lawyer places your problem on the correct legal footing, tracks time limits whose loss would be irremediable, prepares petitions in accordance with proper procedure, and collects evidence in a lawful manner. Most losses of rights occur not because people are in the wrong, but because they do not know the procedural rules or the time limits.

Beyond this, an experienced lawyer foresees likely outcomes in advance and guides you with realistic expectations; rather than entering into a lengthy and costly case unnecessarily, they identify situations in which faster solutions such as settlement or mediation are possible. Our experience with the Izmir courthouses and their surroundings, local court practices and regional dynamics helps your files proceed in a more predictable manner. In short, working with a lawyer is not just about conducting the case; it is about choosing the right path from the outset and protecting your interests to the greatest possible extent.

Is cost an expense, or an investment?

The concern most frequently voiced by people who hesitate to obtain legal support is cost. Yet when the matter is looked at as a whole, professional support is, in most cases, not an expense but a form of protection and often a saving. A case dismissed because of an incorrectly completed petition and needing to be filed again, a debt that becomes final because an objection deadline was missed, or a settlement document signed without sufficient assessment, usually leads to losses far exceeding the attorney fee that would otherwise have been paid. A well-conducted process, on the other hand, both prevents loss of rights and reduces indirect costs by preventing the case from being unnecessarily prolonged. For this reason, it is more accurate to view legal support as an investment to be assessed according to the scale of your problem, rather than as an expense.

Confidentiality and trust are essential

One of the matters people are most curious about when consulting a lawyer is confidentiality. At the foundation of the lawyer-client relationship lies a duty of professional secrecy guaranteed by law. Every piece of information and document you share with us is meticulously protected as a professional secret and is not shared with third parties. This assurance makes it possible for you to communicate openly and honestly, without hesitation, even on the most sensitive matters; because it is only when full and accurate information is shared that a strategy genuinely useful to you can be developed. We assess each file within its own particular circumstances, form realistic expectations, and share with you the reasoning behind every step we take.

In the frequently asked questions section below, you can find the most commonly asked concrete questions relating to our practice areas and their brief answers. For a sound assessment specific to your situation, however, the right step is to get in touch with us.

Note: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. As every dispute involves its own particular circumstances, we recommend that you consult a lawyer regarding your specific situation.