Forty Years in the Making: Our Story Since 1986
1986
First Steps: Technology
Our story began in 1986 at Barbaros Boulevard No. 3.
In those days, one had to wait years to get a telephone line; communication with telex was common, whilst a fax machine was considered a luxury. We not only acquired a telex but also allocated a separate telephone line for the fax machine, which was slowing becoming a means of communication. Through these investments in technology, we aimed to communicate efficiently with our clients and keep pace with the rest of the world.
To become more visible in the international legal community, we listed in the Martindale-Hubbell directory.
1988
Becoming a Brand
Whilst establishing our corporate identity, we took care to ensure that every detail, from our letterhead to the format of our legal documents, reflected who we were and how we conducted our business. We watched our corporate identity evolve into a brand.
A telex from the Bulgarian state-owned company Bulfracht marked the start of one of our early international assignments. A request for assistance regarding pirated books from the Türkiye representative of Cambridge University Press, brought us into contact with the Publishers Association of the United Kingdom. We also began working with the American Publishers Association, bookshops and international publishers. The Business Software Alliance reached out to us. Thus, our work, which began with pirated books, extended to computer software.
1990
Growing Through Specialisation
Polly Peck, with its complex corporate structure spanning various countries and sectors, was the largest cross-border case we had undertaken to date. Alongside our work with Polly Peck and services in Commercial and Corporate Law, with the addition of copyright law, our intellectual property law practice also rapidly developed.
We began to further strengthen our expertise by examining the alignment of Türkiye’s intellectual and industrial property laws with international treaties, and by analysing the areas in which this legislation needed to be developed and how.
In Türkiye, we were known as the Gün Law Firm, whilst abroad we began to be known as Mehmet Gün & Co.
2000
Shaping the Future
We became a team of 10 attorneys.
We had an efficiently functioning system; however, it could not keep pace with our growth and remained dependent on individuals. Whenever a person left, we also lost the knowledge, experience and client relationships that had accumulated with the work of that individual.
We began to have regular meetings every Friday at our office located at Kore Şehitleri Caddesi No: 30 to review our work, plan for the week to come and share our knowledge and best practice. At one such meeting, we outlined our vision for the future of our Firm and decided we needed an institutionalised structure. We decided on establishing a structure where the quality of our work, our knowledge and our client relationships would no longer be dependent on the efforts or recollections of any single individual.
2004
Developing Specialist Teams
Many of our colleagues joined the firm as trainees or junior attorneys; they forged their careers within the Firm, took on responsibilities and rose to become partners. Nine of our current 15 partner attorneys, along with our IP prosecution and investigation department directors, joined us between the years 2004 and 2008. Whilst each charted their own career path within the Firm, they pioneered new areas of practice, trained and mentored teams and assumed leadership roles within the Firm.
The average years of service for this generation of colleagues at our Firm exceeds 20 years.
2006
Best Practice Meetings
At the First Best Practice Meeting we held in 2006, we discussed the future of our Firm with the participation of all our colleagues. Everyone freely expressed their suggestions, expectations and criticisms.
By combining our legal know-how and experience with a professional management approach, we developed a model suited to Türkiye’s conditions and developed our own work culture.
Our Collective Wisdom Meetings continued in subsequent years; during these meetings, we worked together to further refine the model we had developed.
2006
A Brand-New Management Model
We strengthened our institutionalisation process with a management model unique to our Firm, which we established upon three solid pillars.
CAREER PATH: We made the path from trainee to partner transparent and clear. We linked career progression to merit, performance and the undertaking of responsibility.
PERFORMANCE SYSTEM: We combined objective performance indicators with 360-degree feedback mechanisms relating to professional and organisational competencies.
TRANSPARENT REMUNERATION: We directly linked our salary and bonus system to career level, performance and added value. Everyone would be informed with complete transparency, at what level they would be remunerated, according to which criteria, and what was required to increase their position and earnings.
2006
Our Own Software: GÜNCE
From the time personal computers became widespread, we put a great deal of effort into developing law firm software that would allow us to manage our files and business processes from a single, central hub.
Off-the-shelf software failed to meet our needs; we were forced to abandon six separate software projects before they could be completed.
In 2006, we began developing GÜNCE, which would integrate our databases and digitise our Firm’s operations in a way tailored to our specific needs. We are continuously developing the GÜNCE software, and recently enhancing it with artificial intelligence solutions. We offer the GÜNCE software, which we have been using since 2008, to other interested legal professionals.
2006
Moving to Digital
GÜNCE has become the infrastructure that enables our management model, based on three key pillars, to operate in a data-driven manner.
From file and document management to work and resource planning, from human resources and staff annual leave processes to individual and team performance, we have transferred the entire operation of our Firm to the digital environment through its unique design.
As a result of the transformation initiatives we undertook during this period, we changed our Firm’s name to Gün Law Firm in Türkiye and Mehmet Gün & Partners internationally.
2008
Exporting Expertise
Whilst protecting intellectual property rights, we not only safeguarded trademarks, patents and creative works, but also the environment in which innovative ideas can be safely transformed into investments, products and services. We applied our expertise in dispute resolution, consultancy, contracts, regulation, registration and investigation within a holistic framework.
We have become specialised in critical sectors such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; technology, media and telecommunications; insurance and reassurance; energy; construction and property; logistics; the automotive sector; fast-moving consumer goods; and the chemical and defence industries.
Spanning from Europe to the Americas, and from the Gulf to the Far East, we have established ourselves as a Firm that exports expertise to the world.
2008
Top Tier Brands, Prestigious Awards
We have provided advisory or represented approximately one-third of the world’s largest brands featured in prestigious lists such as Interbrand’s Best Global Brands Top 100, Brand Finance Global 100, Forbes’ The World’s Most Valuable Brands Top 100 and BrandZ Top 100 Global Brands, in their legal proceedings in Türkiye.
We have demonstrated consistent success in the reviews of independent international organisations such as Legal 500, Chambers, WTR, Lexology Index, GDR, Benchmark Litigation Europe, Managing IP, IAM, LGM Life Sciences, WWL, IP STARS, The Lawyer and the Global IP Awards, securing awards and rankings for both the Firm and individual attorneys.
2011
Working with Professionals
During this period, we refined the guidelines that form the backbone of our career path system; we continue to use this system today, making only minor adjustments as necessary.
We began working with management professionals specialising in Finance, Business Development and Human Resources.
By delegating a large part of our managerial functions to these professionals, we were able to focus on our work and devote more time to developing our practice and our teams.
2014
Better Justice Association
We established the Better Justice Association with the aim of identifying the challenges facing the Turkish judiciary, developing recommendations for solutions to these challenges, securing social consensus on these recommendations, and implementing the solutions.
The Better Justice Association is a politically neutral think tank. We work with nearly 200 members, comprising leading legal professionals, academics, businesspeople and thought leaders.
Our most comprehensive work is our book, “Turkey’s Middle Democracy Issues and How to Solve Them: Judiciary, Accountability and Fair Representation”. TÜRKONFED has adopted this book as a policy document. We have shared the findings and recommendations in the book with the business and legal communities in many cities across Anatolia. We have also opened it up for discussion at an international level.
2014
Better Justice Association
We compiled our recommendations under nine separate headings into a book entitled “Turkish Judicial Reform - A to Z”, publishing it in both Turkish and English and open it up for discussion.
We shared our recommendations with civil servants, experts and parliamentarians working on issues relating to the judiciary and the rule of law at the European Commission in Brussels, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and the House of Lords of the UK Parliament in the United Kingdom.
Our recommendations were found to be applicable, not only to EU Member States and accession States seeking to improve their judicial systems, but also to North African countries undergoing a process of restructuring.
2014
UN Global Compact
In 2014, we were one of the first organisations in Türkiye to become a party to the United Nations Global Compact.
We incorporated the ten principles relating to human rights, labour standards, the environment and the fight against corruption into our institutional commitments and reported on our progress regularly and transparently.
2014
Social Responsibility
To provide support to high achieving students with limited financial means so they can continue their education without interruption, we have launched and continue to run scholarship programmes in various regions of Türkiye, funded both by Mehmet Gün and the Firm.
Our support is not limited to awarding scholarships; through various internship programmes and placement opportunities for international students, we support young prospective attorneys in gaining a close insight into working life and acquiring valuable experience.
2015
İSTA
At the international conference we organised in Ankara on 30 November 2012, which brought together approximately 400 practitioners, we spearheaded the resolve to establish a specialised association to represent arbitration in Türkiye.
Following a preparatory period that matured with the support of the Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs, as well as institutions such as the Turkish Bar Association, the Istanbul Bar Association, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Turkish Industry and Business Association, and which was strengthened by our contributions to the draft rules of ISTAC, we founded the Istanbul Arbitration Association (ISTA) in 2015 with the participation of 41 founding members and 13 honorary members.
2019
Recognition of Our Unique Vision
In 2019, we became the first and only law firm in Türkiye to receive the Deloitte Türkiye “Best Managed Companies” award.
Our management system, our commitment to equal opportunity, our investments in automation and the business processes we developed with GÜNCE were highlighted in receipt of this award.
2020
Civil Society
In 2020, we were awarded the Great Place to Work® certification.
We hold positions on the boards of FICPI Türkiye, the Association of Patent and Trademark Attorneys (PEM), AIPPI Türkiye, Habitat Association, LES Turkey, the Ethics and Reputation Association (TEİD), the Transparency International-Türkiye, the Sustainable Mobility Initiative (SMİ) and TÜRKONFED. We founded the Better Justice Association and the Istanbul Arbitration Association (ISTA).
Within the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in Türkiye (SKD Türkiye), we support initiatives relating to sustainability, the low-carbon economy and the circular economy. We contribute to the work of the Industrial Digital Transformation Platform, supported by TÜSİAD and the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
2020
Pandemic Period
During the pandemic, we continued our national and international meetings via webinars.
In 2021, we received the “Best Law Firm in South-East Europe” award at the LMG Life Sciences Awards. In the review, which also included international law firms, we were shortlisted in nine different categories.
This achievement highlighted our expertise in pharmaceutical and life sciences law and our ability to deliver services to international standards. Receiving this award at a critical time for the development, protection and sustainability of healthcare products demonstrated the value of our teams and our collective know-how.
2023
Our Commitment to the Environment
Believing that our corporate responsibility extends to the environment, we have our greenhouse gas calculations carried out in accordance with the ISO 14064-1:2019 standard.
At our main office in Istanbul, we have switched to electricity generated from renewable energy sources, certified under the YEK-G scheme; we have also replaced our vehicle fleet with electric vehicles.
We are the only law firm in Türkiye that measures its carbon footprint and publishes a sustainability report. Our reports for 2023, 2024 and 2025 are publicly available.
2024
Gender Equality
In 2024, by signing the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), we transformed our approach to gender equality into an international commitment.
We provide an inclusive working environment where women can progress successfully at every stage of their careers, advance to leadership positions and realise their full potential. Thanks to this approach, we are proud to be one of the pioneering firms contributing to the advancement of gender equality in our sector.
Currently, women make up 66 per cent of our workforce; 67 per cent of our partner attorneys and 65 per cent of our management team are women.
2026
Our Vision for the Future
As we look to the future, our aim is to continue on our path guided by our vision of being a leading, innovative and sustainable law firm that is sensitive to society, the environment and its staff.
By passing on our knowledge and best practice with the next generation, sharing responsibility and making decisions together, we carry our Firm into the future.