Europe

Arbitration Law Firm of the Year Turkey

Firm Profile

Akıncı Law Office, founded in 1984, is one of if not the leading Turkish firms in international arbitration, and also has strong and growing litigation, corporate and employment departments.

We understand Professor Ziya Akıncı is the most popular choice for arbitrator amongst Turkish arbitrator candidates, having participated as arbitrator this past year in an extraordinary 14 tribunals. Similarly, our arbitration department acts as party-counsel in numerous and diverse high-dollar arbitrations, and as such Akıncı is one if not the most popular choice amongst Turkish firms for this work.

In addition to the Lawyer Monthly award, Akıncı is one of Global Arbitration

Review’s 100 leading arbitration firms in the world, and the only one from Turkey. Both the firm and Professor Akıncı are listed by Who’s Who Legal under arbitration for Turkey. Akıncı is also ranked by Chamber & Partners – which notes the “overwhelming endorsement” of Professor Akıncı’s “international arbitration work,” “his many years of experience representing clients on a wide array of projects and energy-related arbitration” and that “he is a great, sought-after arbitrator” – and Legal 500 – which notes that the firm “gives exceptional levels of service,” has “extensive experience and expertise in international arbitration across the construction, power and energy sectors, among others” and

Notable Legal Work In just the past year, to name but a few:

• In an ICC investment arbitration arising out of a large infrastructure project between our client, a major Turkish construction company, and the government of a Central Asian Republic, we obtained an award in excess of $21 million and other relief;

• We obtained an ICC award for nearly $60 million for our client, another leading Turkish construction company, in disputes arising out of an infrastructure project in a Central Asian Republic;

• In August, we obtained an ICSID award of more than €9 million, where we acted as co-counsel, regarding disputes arising from two investments – one a

tunnel construction project and the other the operation of a hotel/casino – in one of the Commonwealth of Independent States;

• We have just began work with several Turkish businessmen who had made investments, mostly involving shopping centers, in a Central Asian Republic. These investments were expropriated and several of our clients were imprisoned – where some were tortured – and subjected to a “show trial,” conviction and deportation. The matter will be brought before the ICSID, with damages expected to be more than $50 million;

• We represent one of the most significant Turkish construction companies

in a $100 million-plus arbitration involving disputes related to work our client performed on a prestigious residential development in one of the Arabic Gulf States, before that country’s international arbitration tribunal; and

• Our client, a successful Turkish tyre retreading company, acted successfully for many years as the exclusive distributor for both a Brazilian company and a Spanish company. After disputes arose between the parties, primarily involving claims that the manufacturers unlawfully increased the prices of the products to be distributed, an ICC arbitration was initiated by us seeking damages of some €4 million.

that Professor Akıncı is “‘a master of arbitration.’”

Akıncı presently has 15 attorneys, nine of whom work full-time in arbitration, and several legal apprentices (usually numbering between three and four recent law school graduates). Highly unique for a Turkish firm, our attorneys include an English, U.S. and Russian attorney, in addition of course to our Turkish attorneys. We also have and have had seconded to our offices attorneys from Switzerland and Spain, and expect to pursue this strategy in the future. Also unique, and given our deep involvement in Turkey’s booming construction sector, we employ an experienced engineer.

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Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards 2012