The Akol Attorney Partnership in Turkey is no more, at least in its relationship with White & Case in Turkey, as Managing Partner Meltem Akol has concluded her relationship with the White Shoe Firm.
Akol’s place as head of White & Case’s Istanbul arm has been filled by Zeynep Cakmak — who moves to Istanbul from Ankara, where she headed White & Case’s office in the Turkish capital — and Istanbul-based Banking/Finance Partner Guniz Gokce. The office began operating as Cakmak Gokce Attorney Partnership on September 15, 2015. Despite Zeynep Cakmak’s formal assumption of duties in Istanbul, the Cakmak Attorney Partnership in Ankara won’t change its name, as Ms. Cakmak has been replaced as formal head of that office by her husband, Mesut Cakmak.
When contacted by CEE Legal Matters, a White & Case spokesman in Turkey reported that “despite all the legalities and new entities and these things, essentially it’s one person leaving the firm.” He insisted that, “in terms of quality of work and the quality of work and the service everyone’s going to get from White & Case, it really is business as usual.”
Additional details on this story will appear in the October 2015 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine.
