Expertise
Mehmet Gün, the founder of the Firm, is truly a self-made man. Despite the enormous difficulties of his childhood, born into poverty in a rural area of Turkey, he managed to break these boundaries to become the founder of one of Turkey’s top law firms and earned global recognition and respect as one of the leading international lawyers in Turkey, instead of herding goats and donkeys in his hometown in the Taurus Mountains in Anatolia.
In a professional career of almost 40 years, he founded and developed a firm which is renowned locally and internationally for its expertise in commercial and corporate, intellectual property, life sciences & pharmaceuticals and commercial litigation practices in Turkey. In addition to leading the Firm, he developed an ERP software suite for managing law firms and other professional service businesses which has become the backbone of the Firms’ continuous development.
He was among the pioneers in the development, regulation, promotion and enforcement of modern Turkish IP laws by the Turkish government, and advised several industry NGO’s and parliamentary debates of the most recent Industrial Property Act of Turkey. He considers himself as a litigator and has acted as lead and co-counsel in numerous local and international litigation, arbitration and mediation. He currently focuses on complex litigation frequently with cross border elements, business concerns and acts as a strategic advisor to clients and the large team of lawyers in the firm.
He has made significant contributions to his country’s and business community’s benefit of his international legal expertise, outstanding understanding the legal and administrative structure of the Turkish Republic, the state of the rule of law, the boundaries of the Turkish Judiciary and their effects on the business and social environment Mr. Gün has established the Better Justice Association and Istanbul Arbitration Association NGOs.
Criticizing the abusive use of court appointed experts by Turkish judiciary he has written a book on “Unconstitutionality of the Privileged Protection Afforded to Community of Experts. He has also written, for TÜSİAD, the Turkish Industry and Business Association, the “Report for Quality in Judicial Services and the Elements of Quality” and led the series of conferences communicating the Report’s key themes to business communities throughout Turkey. He has also written, for the Better Justice Association, “the Proposal for the Establishment of a Higher Judicial Council Structure to Ensure the Independence of the Judiciary.” He recently completed another book on advancing Turkish democracy through the rule of law and public accountability.
In addition, he has authored his professional autobiography “From the Steppes to Becoming a Global lawyer” sharing his vast experience with the Turkish legal community.
He is a philanthropist working to provide university education for disadvantaged of young girls and boys from his hometown, and also for the professional development of legal practice in Turkey. He has organized several conferences sharing the know-how he has accumulated in the firm with his peers in all parts of the country aiming to improve the Turkish legal profession to state of the art international standards. He has begun licensing the ERP software to other lawyers and firms either at no or very low cost.
He is member to several business and professional NGOs contributing to the improvement of the business environment through advocating the rule of law, accountability and separation of powers and the true independence of the judiciary.
Practice Areas
Speaking Engagements
Artificial Intelligence: Latest Developments in the World and Modern Disputes Management with Artificial Intelligence, Istanbul Bar Association, Speaker, İstanbul, 12.06.2023
Industrial Property Experiences from Past to Present in the 25th Anniversary of PEM, Association of Patent and Trademark Attorneys, Panelist, Istanbul, 02.06.2023
Legal Issues to Consider in Technology User & Technology Supplier Collaboration, TÜSİAD SD² Digital Industry Program 2021, Panelist, 15.11.2021
Notification and Foreign Representation in Arbitration Trial Attorney, Marmara University - School of Arbitration Panel, Speaker, Istanbul, Turkey, 04.02.2020
Dispute resolution: Preventing and Resolving Disputes Efficiently, Gün + Partners, Ukrainian Arbitration Association, International Turkish Ukrainian Business Association and Integrites - Turkish-Ukrainian Infrastructure Forum: Creating Opportunities Together, Panellist, Kyiv, Ukraine 13.11.2019
Managing the dispute, Legal500 GC Summit – Turkey, Moderator, Istanbul, Turkey, 26.09.2019
The In-House Counsel’s Guide to Best Practice for (Alternative) Dispute Resolution in Turkey, Legal500 GC Summit – Turkey, Moderator, Istanbul, Turkey, 27.09.2018
Dispute Resolution in Turkey: Threads and Opportunities, ICC – Turkey Arbitration Day Conference, Speaker, Istanbul, Turkey, 09.02.2018
Turkey’s new Industrial Property Code (No. 6769), Gün + Partners Seminar, Speaker, Istanbul, Turkey, 10.02.2017
Quality in Judicial Services in Turkey, Turkish Industry and Businessmen Association and Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation round table meeting, Samsun and Mersin, Turkey, 04.2016
Quality in Judicial Services in Turkey, Union of the Turkish Bar Associations, Samsun and Mersin, Turkey, 2016
Pharmaceutical Patents, İstanbul Bilgi University, Guest Lecturer, 2016
Knowledge Management: What knowledge needs to be managed? – IBA Balkan Legal Forum, Vienna, 26-27.06.2014
A Competition Law Perspective on Enforcement of IP Rights in the Turkish Pharmaceutical Sector, Recent Developments in Competition Law Symposium – VIII., Erciyes University and the Turkish Competition Authority, Speaker, 14-15.05.2010
The Relation Between the Licensing of Pharmaceutical Products & IP Rights in Turkey, Competition in the Turkish Pharmaceutical Sector in Light of the EU Commission Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry, Istanbul Hilton Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey, 11-12.12.2010
Current Issues in the Turkish Pharma Sector, Drug Information Association, 2009
Publications
- Extraordinary Times
- Turkey is Welcoming The Long Awaited Industrial Property Code
- Judicial Shake-up in Wake of Turkey’s Failed Coup
- Attempted Coup’s Impact on Turkish Judiciary
- Turkey Poised To Adopt Doctrine Of International Exhaustion
- In Search Of A Smart Judiciary In Turkey And Europe
- Lawyer Monthly Interviews
- A Better Judiciary to Realise Turkey’s Potential
- A Profession in Irons
- Arbitrating Intellectual Property Disputes
- Kaçakçılıkla Mücadele Kanunu (Mülga)
Associations
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Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD), President of the Judicial Reform Committe and Honor Board Member
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Better Justice Association, Founder and Chairman
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İstanbul Arbitration Association, Founder and Chairman
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Istanbul Arbitration Center (ISTAC), Chairman of Intellectual Property Working Commission
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Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED), Vice President of Board of Directors
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International Bar Association (IBA)
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European Patent Institute (EPI)
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Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle (AIPPI)
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International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI)
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International Trademark Association (INTA)
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Patent and Trademark Attorneys’ Association of Turkey (PEM)
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Transparency International Turkey
Education
- 1980, İstanbul University, Faculty of Law, İstanbul, LL.B.
- 1976, Çanakkale Teaching College, Çanakkale