For over 20 years, our experienced litigation (trial) lawyers in Turkey have represented our clients by designing unique, customized legal services for their personal and professional needs. Litigation is the most formal way and the final destination in terms of settling legal disputes in Turkey. Our litigation attorneys first perform extensive early case analysis to identify the case’s strengths and weaknesses and determine the most effective means of achieving a favorable resolution, including if litigation can or should be avoided or settlement is advisable.

Categories

The Turkish legal system is based on a codified civil law system. Under Turkish law, courts are either categorised as judicial courts or administrative courts. Within these two categories, sub-categories exist. For instance, the judicial courts, which constitute the broadest part of the Turkish judicial system, are sub-divided into 2 branches consisting of the civil courts and the criminal courts, whereas the administrative courts are sub-divided into administrative courts and tax courts.

Turkey’s judicial system has a multipartite structure. Consequently, within each of the sub-divisions described above, diferent levels exist. Turkey has recently abandoned its two-tier system by introducing a three-tier-system. As a result, all courts consist of 3 levels as follows: first instance courts, district courts and supreme courts. The supreme courts of Turkey consist of the Constitutional Court, the Court of Appeals, the Council of State and the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes.

Primary source of law

Since Turkey is a civil law country, legislation is the primary source of law. There is a certain order of priority for the implementation of the applicable legislation in which the Constitution prevails over international treaties followed by the codes and regulations, statutory decrees, and by-laws.

Your requirements

Whether your Turkey civil, business, administrative, tax or criminal legal representation is approached and settled through mediation, arbitration, or litigation, our accomplished litigation attorneys will deliver solutions that are crafted to meet your requirements. We listen to our clients and provide sound, real-time solutions that provide realistic approaches that allow your business or civil needs to advance past the legal stage, so you can proceed confidently without worry.

Legal issue

Running a business is fraught with challenges, and ensuring each day goes smoothly requires nearly all of your company resources. When a legal issue consumes your time and energy, the business can suffer as a result — no matter what industry you are in.

Your legal needs

Bıçak Law litigation attorney will partner with you to learn each detail of your legal needs before completely shouldering the issues, so you can focus on your professional success while we concentrate on your legal triumph.

Our commercial litigation practice areas include, but are not limited to:

• Banking and financial institutions
• Business dissolutions
• Business to business disputes
• Communications
• Construction
• Consumer protection litigation
• Director and officer litigation
• Environmental
• False advertising and unfair competition
• Fraud
• General business
• Products liability
• Professional liability
• Securities
• Shareholder litigation
• White collar criminal defense

Our litigation attorneys take a significant number of matters to trial each year. As such we are highly skilled and efficient in conducting the strategic and tactical preparations that can make or break a case.

Case analysis to identify the case’s strengths and weaknesses

Our litigation attorneys first perform extensive early case analysis to identify the case’s strengths and weaknesses and determine the most effective means of achieving a favorable resolution, including if litigation can or should be avoided or settlement is advisable. We understand our clients’ businesses, and know how to prioritize litigation within the overall scope of their business operations. We staff based on the needs of each individual case, and have the ability to draw from a deep pool of veteran litigators when stakes are high. We also leverage the latest litigation support technology to reduce client costs and improve efficiency.

Business disputes

A significant portion of our commercial litigation work is on behalf of publicly traded companies and funds with significant holdings in public companies. As a result, our litigation attorneys have extensive experience handling a wide range of business disputes. We are particularly skilled in corporate and securities matters, including those involving securities fraud allegations, broker-dealer disputes, contests for corporate control, and shareholder disputes. We also handle high stakes contract, employment, unfair competition, intellectual property, bankruptcy and real estate litigation, as well as legal matters related to the art world.

Court Fee

In Turkey, there are two main ways in calculation of court fees. First of all, there is a fixed fee for the cases which have no economic value, such as divorce cases, eviction cases etc. On the other hand, for the cases which have economic value, such as debt recovery cases, the court fee is 7 % of the total amount of the value of a case. However, only one-quarter of the calculated fee must be paid in advance at the beginning of the legal procedure. For example, the calculation of court fee of 30.000 Euro debt will require 7 % of the total amount as the case has an economic value. Thereby, 2.100 Euro will be the court fee. However, only one-quarter of the calculated fee (530 Euro) must be paid in advance at the beginning of the legal procedure. That amount does not include other case expenses, such as expenses for postal delivery services, expenses for expert, witness etc.

The “court fee” required to be deposited with the court when filing a civil lawsuit is a matter of consideration for potential claimants wishing to file a lawsuit in Turkey. A specific amount of court fee must be paid at the time of filing a lawsuit, either as a fixed fee or as a proportionate fee, depending on the kind of case. Such requirement may pose budgetary problems to potential claimants, especially regarding disputes associated with high amounts.

The official litigation costs and the official representation fees are imposed on the unsuccessful party after trial. Litigation costs are the actual expenses deposited by the claimant to the court before and during the proceedings, and include the following:

• Hearing costs,
• Decision and judgment charges,
• Notification and postage fees,
• Filing and documentation fees,
• Expert and witness fees,
• Fees and expenses relating to the documents obtained from governmental authorities,
• The official attorney fee that is determined in line with the minimum tariff of the Union of Turkish Bars.