Share
We have formed an association with Turkish law firm, Baysal & Demir. Our firms share a number of global and London Market clients and have worked together on several matters.
Founded in Istanbul, Baysal & Demir is comprised of four partners, two counsels and two associates, and covers arbitration, litigation, insurance & reinsurance, commercial, corporate and mergers & acquisitions, employment, competition & antitrust, intellectual property and product liability.
Turkey has a growing insurance market, which recorded a 4.1% growth in 2020 after adjustment for inflation.
Baysal & Demir has a great reputation for its insurance and corporate specialisms and expertise. Our practice areas are well aligned and by working together we will be able to provide an even greater depth of service to our clients.
The founding partners are Pelin Baysal and Dr. Koray Demir, who work alongside Dr. Ulas Baysal and Dr. Muhittin Astarlı.
Pelin Baysal has over 15 years’ experience of advising and representing companies and state-owned entities across a broad range of industries. Her practice focuses on construction, insurance and reinsurance, M&A, distribution agreements and infrastructure disputes. Her insurance and reinsurance practice is particularly distinguished, and she has vast experience in handling coverage issues on almost all policy types.
Dr. Koray Demir has advised local and foreign enterprises in every aspect of commercial law, company law, competition law and intellectual property law for more than 10 years. Supported by his academic background, he has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating complex contracts. In the last 10 years he has been involved in various large-scale local and cross-border M&A transactions.
Dr. Ulas Baysal is responsible for the employment practice of the firm, advising companies on all aspects of individual and collective employment law. He is a well-known expert on collective bargaining disputes and is called on for his expertise not only by the courts but also by the parties to a dispute. A lecturer at Istanbul Technical University, he is also a well-regarded author, with the Turkish Court of Cassation referencing his work in recent court of appeal precedents.
Dr. Muhittin Astarlı is a professor of employment and social security law. He has extensive experience in relation to labor litigation, restructuring of workforces, mass lay-offs, processes of modification of working conditions and similar complex matters of Turkish employment law. He advises big telecom companies and industrial corporations on matters of employment. He has also authored a number of books on Turkish employment law.
Nick Thomas, senior partner of Kennedys, says: “We are looking forward to partnering with the team at Baysal & Demir. There is a strong connection between our firms in terms of purpose, specialist focus and client base. We’ve worked together previously on client matters and we know them to be a good fit, so we are pleased to be formalising our relationship.
“Our growth has, and will continue to be, led by client need. Through this association, not only can we now support clients across another major and growing insurance market, we do so with a trusted partner who also brings extremely strong connections with the London Market.”
Andrew McGahey, regional managing partner, EMEA, Kennedys adds: “Baysal & Demir has a great reputation for its insurance and corporate specialisms and expertise. Our practice areas are well aligned and by working together we will be able to provide an even greater depth of service to our clients.
“This formalised association is a positive link to developing our international footprint in EMEA.”
Pelin Baysal, one of the founding partners of Baysal & Demir, says: “As a team we have been providing insurance and reinsurance legal services to the London insurance market for 15 years. The areas of insurance and reinsurance, dispute resolution and corporate and M&A are the areas where we do see real synergies between our firms.
Kennedys has a reputation for being a powerhouse in the global insurance and reinsurance market with dedicated experts all over the globe. We are excited to now be part of this team in Turkey.
The non-exclusive association between both firms, will be effective from 1 August 2021, and takes the number of Kennedys’ offices, associations and co-operations around the globe to 67.
This is the firm’s first association with a Turkish firm and follows the firm’s expansion in the EMEA region with the opening of an office in Tel Aviv in 2020 and in Oman earlier this year. Following a global structure review, Kennedys recently appointed Andrew McGahey as regional managing partner for EMEA, demonstrating the firm’s focus on this region.
Insurance and reinsurance