Senior Partner Erdem Atilla has been appointed Head of Dispute Resolution at Pekin & Pekin in Turkey.
Atilla joined Pekin & Pekin immediately after graduating from the Galatasaray University in Istanbul in 2009. He was promoted to Partner in May 2018 and became Senior Partner in July 2019.
Pekin & Pekin’s Dispute Resolution Department consists, Atilla reports, of two senior partners (including him), one partner, one senior associate, one associate, and two trainees.
According to Atilla, "commercial lawsuits constitute a field where I can claim expertise. However, in Pekin & Pekin’s Dispute Resolution Department, we do not have sub-departments, meaning that I have been assisting clients in civil and criminal proceedings, mediation/settlement negotiations, intellectual property cases, employment cases, fraud & ethics investigations, administrative lawsuits, as well as arbitration proceedings. We also do advisory work by providing the clients with legal opinion and legal advice as per Turkish law."
Atilla quotes Pekin & Pekin Founding Partner Ahmed Pekin as saying, “I compare litigators to gladiators of Rome. There is an arena (courtroom) and there are gladiators fighting (attorneys). You either live or die (win or lose the case). However, if you die as a gladiator, you die once; but if you lose the case as a lawyer, you cannot escape that easily!" According to Atilla, "I have always believed in the accuracy of this metaphor from the very beginning of my career at Pekin & Pekin back in 2009, and I believe it now, after ten years of litigation experience when I became Head of the Dispute Resolution Team where I used to work as a trainee once."
"Apart from the legal issues, being a Team Leader is of course not only about your legal skills, Atilla told CEE Legal Matters. "What makes you a true leader, is in fact your soft skills. You must invest time in the role, influence your team to achieve its objectives, lead by example, reward the good and learn from the bad and, last but not least, communicate, communicate, communicate, etc.
After all, leading a Dispute Resolution Team is often challenging, but also rewarding if you do it right. Heading up a team that’s working well and delivering results is undoubtedly a great feeling, so I’m ready to enjoy it!"
