Aaron Muhly is a trainer and L&D professional. He works with law firms and legal departments around the world on boosting the effectiveness of their communication skills in core areas, including legal writing, presentation, and business development.
Aaron began his career as an Associate at Jenner & Block in Chicago. Subsequently, he switched careers and assumed the role of Professional Development Officer for Baker & McKenzie. For the last 15 years, Aaron has been working as a trainer and L&D consultant for law firms. In connection with Evelaw, he has established a series of offline and online training courses focusing on the core communications needs of his clients.
Aaron has a BA degree from Dartmouth College. He also earned a JD from the University of Iowa College of Law.
Ali Yilmaz is a Chief Legal Officer at QNB Finansbank.
Ali joined QNB Finansbank in 2016. Appointed as Chief Legal Counsel in May 2018, Ali has been serving as Executive Vice President since January 2020. Initially, he started his banking career at Disbank in 2003. Later, he served as Director of Legal Affairs at Fortisbank and as a Member of the Board and Legal Counsel at Societe Generale Turkiye.
Ali graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Law in 1999. Active in business since 1996, Ali received his finance education at the University of Toronto between 2000-2002.
Claude Brown is a Partner in the Reed Smith London office and leads the firm's ESG practice.
Claude joined Reed Smith as a Partner in 2013, after spending 17 years at Clifford Chance from 1996 to 2013. Prior to that, he worked at Linklaters from 1991 to 1996.
Claude specializes in adaptive and impact finance, as well as voluntary carbon offset and sequestration schemes. He has helped clients design voluntary carbon schemes, weather hedging platforms, and fund-like investment vehicles, as well as advising national governments on their legislation and regulations for the use and marketing of climatic variable-based financial instruments.
Claude is a Board Member of the Weather Risk Management Association and the European Committee of the International Energy Credit Offices Association.
Dinc Sanver serves as a Legal Director at Pearson for MEA & Turkey & Africa.
Dinc has been a part of Pearson since 2022, having previously held the position of General Counsel & Local Compliance Officer for Turkey & MEA at Teva Pharmaceuticals from 2020 to 2022. Prior to that, he served as Compliance Manager EMEA at Zimmer Biomet from 2017 to 2020 and as Legal Compliance Manager at Samsung Electronics Turkey from 2011 to 2017. Before joining Samsung, Dinc worked as a Legal Consultant & IP Specialist at Istanbul Patent Trademark Consultancy from 2010 to 2011.
Dinc has a bachelor’s degree in international law and legal studies from Yeditepe University, obtained in 2005.
Deniz Ozkan Ergun currently serves as Director and Head of M&A Legal at Delivery Hero.
Deniz has an experience in M&A, corporate and commercial law, contract law, and antitrust law. Currently, Deniz leads Delivery Hero's M&A legal team for the Latam and MENA regions, where the M&A legal team oversees the group's M&A matters worldwide.
Deniz has been with Delivery Hero since 2020. Earlier, Deniz spent over nine years at Paksoy, where she advised both local and international clients on a range of legal matters, including corporate law, M&A, commercial law, and antitrust law. In 2016, she was a Secondee at Linklaters. Between 2009 and 2010, she also was a Trainee at Caga & Caga Law Firm.
Deniz holds a Master’s degree in Law from Istanbul Bilgi University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Istanbul University.
Dino Aganovic is the fresh CEO and formerly Head of Legal and Compliance at iQR Asset Management in Sarajevo.
Dino joined iQR Asset Management as a Partner and Head of Legal and Compliance in 2021, and in 2023, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer. Previously, he spent over six years as Head of Legal and Compliance at Heta Asset Resolution, starting in 2015. Dino also held positions with Hypo Alpe-Adria-Invest from 2013 and 2016, first as a Director of the Legal Team and later as a Member of a Supervisory Board of Hypo’s Fund Management Company. During this time, Dino also represented the bank in the General Assembly of the Chamber of Commerce FBiH from 2014 to 2015.
Before joining Hypo Alpe-Adria-Invest, Dino was the Head of Legal and HRM in two Bosnian subsidiaries of the Slovenian Merkur trade company from 2011 to 2013 and also was an Attorney Apprentice at Mirsad Arslanagic between 2009 and 2011.
Basak Gurbuz serves as the Lead Regional Counsel for the South Europe cluster at Visa, focusing on five countries including Turkey, Israel, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus.
Following the completion of her internship at Kasarollu and Yazici Law Firms in Ankara, she worked at Bayindir Holding temporarily and then moved to Istanbul in 2006, beginning her career at Pekin & Bayar Law Firm. After two years of service, she transitioned to Gun + Partners where she worked for eight years and headed the Advertising & Media Law department. After leaving private practice in 2015, she became the Legal and Compliance Director at the Walt Disney Company. In 2020, she joined the Visa Legal team as Regional Counsel looking after nine countries in the South-Eastern Europe cluster. Currently, she is the Lead Regional Counsel for the South Europe cluster.
After graduating from Ankara University Law Faculty in 2004, Basak went on to pursue her LL.M degree at Ankara University in 2005, with a specialization in Commercial Law.
With almost two decades of experience in the legal field, Bige Yucel currently serves as a Lead Country General Counsel and Board Member at Siemens Turkey.
Bige previously spent over 14 years at Herguner Bilgen Ozeke Attorney Partnership between 2005 and 2020 as an Attorney-at-Law, Managing Attorney-at-Law, and a Partner in the firm’s Litigation and Non-Transaction Processes department. Earlier, she was with Bicakci & Tanverdi Law Firm from 2002 to 2005.
In 2002, Bige completed her studies at Istanbul University's School of Law and later went on to earn a Master of Laws degree in business law from Istanbul Bilgi University in 2008.
Christian Blatchford, who specializes in M&A, projects, and finance, holds the position of General Counsel at Energo-Pro in the Czech Republic.
He has been a part of Energo-Pro since 2018 when he initially joined as General Counsel, and has also been serving as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the company since 2021.
Christian’s professional journey started after graduating from the University of Law in Guildford, UK. He then relocated to the Czech Republic, where he began his career as a trainee at Altheimer & Gray in 2001, before moving to CMS in 2003. In 2006, he joined KSB and eventually became a Partner in January 2017.
Duygu Tanit specializes in e-commerce, data protection, competition, and commercial law, and currently heads the legal teams of all Yemeksepeti Companies.
In 2009, Duygu embarked on her legal career as a legal advisor at the Postacioglu law office, and subsequently joined GSI Meridian in 2010. After a year and a half, she transitioned to NN Hayat Emeklilik where she served as In-House Counsel. In 2015, Duygu joined Yemeksepeti, where she established the legal department. Over the course of five years, she rose to the position of Chief Legal Officer, providing guidance on various projects including Yemeksepeti Market, Turkey's largest and rapidly growing online grocery delivery service.
Duygu holds a master's degree from Bilgi University Business Law Program.
Emre Ozer is a Partner in Kinstellar’s Istanbul office and the Co-Head of the firm’s M&A, Corporate, and Private Equity service line.
Emre started his career at Slaughter and May in 2001, joining as an Associate. In 2009, he continued his work with White & Case in Istanbul as a Senior Associate, where he spent two years. In 2011, Emre co-founded Gen Temizer Ozer, where he has been a Founding Partner since then, and in 2019, he eventually joined Kinstellar.
In 1997, Emre completed his master’s degree at Cambridge University.
Merve Oney Barlas specializes in the fields of law and compliance and has been registered with both the New York and Istanbul Bar Associations. Starting from February 2023, Merve Oney has taken up the position of Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at TurkNet.
Following her graduation from Saint Joseph High School in 2004, Merve continued her undergraduate education at Galatasaray University Faculty of Law and started her career at Dentons. Following nearly four years of service there, she relocated to New York in 2012 to pursue her graduate studies and obtained a Master of Law degree from Columbia Law School. Subsequently, she moved to Washington DC where she worked at Criterion Economics. Upon returning to Turkey in 2014, Merve worked as a lawyer at Herguner Bilgen Ucer Attorney Partnership, then went on to hold the position of Chief Legal Officer at Mapfre Insurance, and eventually at DgPays.
Marian Husar is Head of Legal at J&T Banka and Group General Counsel at J&T Finance Group.
Marian joined J&T in 2020 after spending almost a decade in the Clifford Chance Prague banking and finance team between 2010 and 2020.
He graduated from Charles University in 2011 and obtained a master’s degree in finance from Masaryk University, a Magister Juris degree from Oxford, and an LL.M. from the University of London.
Hande Karakulah is currently working as the Legal and Scientific Director of L’Oreal Turkey.
Hande commenced her legal profession in 2001 at Sanver & Esin Law Firm. Subsequently, she held the position of Partner at ADMD Law Firm, followed by serving as a Legal Consultant at British American Tobacco Turkey. She then assumed the role of Chief Legal Counsel for Natura&Co, encompassing Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa regions, for a decade.
Hande is a graduate of Ankara Ataturk Anatolian High School and Istanbul University Faculty of Law and also completed her master’s degree in European Union Law from Marmara University.
Eda Yuksel holds the position of Chief Legal Officer at Turcas Petrol.
Eda began her career in 2000 at the White & Case’s Istanbul Office and worked on a variety of international projects until 2008. She later worked at ECE Turkey as a Legal Manager between 2008-2015 and focused on real estate development projects, management/operation of shopping centers, and M&A deals within the company. Between 2015-2019 she worked as an Executive Committee Member, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary of Ronesans Holding and focused on financing, development, and management of commercial assets and PPP model hospital projects. Since, 2019 she is the Chief Legal Officer of Aksoy Holding and she is a member of the Executive, Strategy, Corporate Governance, and Risk Management Committees.
Eda holds a college degree in law from Istanbul University, and a bachelor's degree in law from Istanbul Kultur University, and continuing her MBA education at Harvard Business School.
With over 23 years of experience in the legal profession, Inan Ozcan has served as the Lead Counsel for Takeda Turkey for more than 5 years. Her expertise spans across sectors such as media and broadcasting, insurance, and pharmaceuticals.
Inan joined Takeda company Shire in 2018 and has been an integral part of the team since then. Prior to that, she served as the General Counsel at AIG from 2012 to 2017 and held the position of Senior Legal Counsel at Eczacibasi Holding in 2011. In addition, she has also worked as Legal Counsel and Legal Manager at Eczabasi-Zentiva and Sanofi from 2007 to 2011 and was a Senior Associate at Salans in 2006. Inan's earlier experience includes serving as a Legal Counsel at Saran Holding from 2004 to 2005, and as a Legal Counsel at Star TV from 2000 to 2003. She also worked as an Associate at AVK Law Office from 1999 to 2000.
Inan has a law degree from Ankara University and a master’s degree from Vrije Universiteit Brussels.
Muge Bulat Cetinkaya has been working as a since 2018.
Muge previously held the position of Legal Unit Manager at Boyner Buyuk Magazacilik from 2014 to 2018, and was a Legal Manager at Cefic Turkey from 2011 to 2014. Prior to that, Muge worked as an Attorney-at-Law at Arihan Law from 2008 to 2009, and as a Legal Intern at Cinar & Cinar from 2006 to 2008.
Muge holds an LL.M. from Queen Mary University of London and graduated in 2010. She also received her bachelor’s degree from Marmara University School of Law, Turkey, in 2006.
Mihaela Racles, Legal Compliance Director at Profi Rom Food, has been with the company since 2020.
Mihaela’s work experience includes being a Head of the Legal | Group General Counsel at Nobel, from 2019 to 2020. Earlier, she spent over five years at Lidl Romania, between 2014 to 2020. Mihaela also served as a Legal Adviser & Compliance Officer at Alpha Leasing Romania from 2011 to 2014 and as a Legal Adviser at BCR from 2009 to 2011. Mihaela also worked as Junior Legal Adviser at Raiffeisen Leasing Romania from 2008 to 2009, and as a Customer Support Specialist at BCR Leasing from 2005 to 2008.
Mihaela holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Nicolae Titulescu University of Bucharest and the University of Bucharest.
Olga is an associate in the disputes and investigations group at Slaughter and May. She has a multi-specialist practice advising clients on a wide range of contentious matters, including competition claims and mass tort claims.
Olga has acted on a number of complex multi-jurisdictional cases, including before the High Court, Competition Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal. Olga has experience across a number of industries, including banking, insurance and natural resources. Prior to joining Slaughter and May, Olga completed a PhD in private international law at the University of Cambridge.
Olga has a keen interest in the CEE region and has advised clients in various CEE jurisdictions.
His clients range from insurers and asset managers to government departments and outsourcers.
Jonathan is one of the partners at Slaughter and May responsible for the CEE region, and has been involved in advising a variety of clients across the region.
Jonathan is listed as a leading individual in the Legal 500 rankings, and also ranked in Chambers, for his work in the insurance sector.
Kevin-Paul Deveau is a Partner in Reed Smith’s Banking and Private Credit practice. He regularly advises banks, alternative lenders, asset managers, and borrowers on a wide range of direct lending, private credit, specialty finance, acquisition finance, and stressed/distressed finance transactions.
Kevin-Paul's professional experience includes working at law firms such as Dechert in London from 2015 to 2018, Clifford Chance in London from 2007 to 2015, and Blake, Cassels & Graydon in Toronto from 2005 to 2007, prior to joining Reed Smith.
Kevin-Paul earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Toronto in 2002 and 2005, respectively.
Per Hoffman is Head of Global Customer Operations and Vice President Legal at Ericsson. He manages the legal teams covering Europe & Latin America, the Middle East & Africa, North East Asia, South East Asia Oceania & India.
Per joined Ericsson Group in 2000, initially working with the legal part of the standardization of Bluetooth technology. During his 23 years at Ericsson, Per has worked on supporting sales, sourcing, and M&A activities, and served on the Board of Directors in several of the legal entities at Ericsson, including the joint ventures. Per has also held acting positions in Sourcing, Sales, and Commercial Management. Prior to joining Ericsson, Per worked with the Swedish municipal court, as well as the Swedish telecom operator Telia.
Per was born in Orebro, Sweden, and has a master’s degree in law and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Lund, Sweden.
Radek Lepschy Dolezal has been a Legal Counsel at the Vienna Insurance Group company Kooperativa in the Czech Republic since 2018. Radek previously also worked at TNT in Austria in 2018.
In 2013, Radek completed his undergraduate studies at Palacky University Olomouc, earning a bachelor's degree. He then went on to further his education and in 2018, he received his master's degree from the same institution.
Martin Racek is a Senior Legal Counsel at Erste Group Bank. His work focuses on infrastructure finance, renewables, PPP transactions, and outsourcing.
Martin has 20 years of experience in banking providing legal support to financing and general corporate matters. He joined Erste Group Bank in 2007 and has been with the company since. Earlier, Martin was a Legal Counsel at Slovenska Sporitelna between 2003 and 2007.
Martin is based in Vienna, the Head office of Erste Group. He holds a master's degree in law from Comenius University Bratislava, earned in 2001, and a diploma in English and EU law from the University of Cambridge, obtained in 2007.
Ronald B. Given has 40+ years of experience in the practice of law, first as a Corporate and Finance Partner with the international law firm Mayer Brown, concentrating on Asian and US matters, then as the General Counsel of a listed, global insurance group. This was followed by more than a decade of living in and managing law offices in Zagreb, Prague, Kyiv, and Warsaw, as well as Central Europe, for Vienna-based Wolf Theiss and Deloitte Legal.
Ronald has also served on the Board of Directors of various profit and not-for-profit organizations and is an active member of the Association of Corporate Counsel.
From Chicago, Ronald currently focuses on coaching law firms and lawyers in the Americas and Europe.
Richard has experience across a wide number of industries, including the banking, consumer credit and wider financial sector, insurance, retail, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, construction and energy and natural resources.
Richard is one of the partners at Slaughter and May responsible for the CEE region, and has advised on a wide range of financing-related matters involving various CEE jurisdictions over the years.
Andrej Sovik has years of experience leading in-house legal workstreams. Andrzej spent several years as a part-time in-house counsel for a construction company in Slovakia before joining Howden, a global provider of air and gas handling products, in the Czech Republic in 2017. Since 2019, he has served as Senior Legal Counsel for Europe, offering legal assistance to eight Howden business units throughout continental Europe. Andrzej is a member of Howden's legal team, which comprises around 25 in-house lawyers, mainly based in Renfrew, Scotland.
Andrej is a graduate of the master’s program in law in the Czech Republic, Masaryk University in Brno, and KU Leuven, and currently, he is enrolled in Leiden University to obtain LLM in European law.
Selin Evrem Pattni, with more than 15 years of experience in in-house and compliance work, currently holds the position of Head of Legal Global Supply Chain and Purchasing Operations & Senior Corporate Director at the Henkel Group. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of Henkel Global Supply Chain located in Amsterdam.
In 2013, Selin joined Henkel, following her work as Legal Counsel at Habboush Group from 2012-2013 and Carrefour from 2009 to 2012. Prior to that, Selin gained valuable experience in M&A and corporate law areas during her time at Ernst & Young from 2005 to 2007, as well as at Veziroglu Law Firm in 2005.
Selin earned her master’s degree from Martin Luther University in Germany, where she focused on international business law and economics as her double major.
Viktoria Tari is a legal and compliance expert, with years of experience as an in-house legal professional. She presently serves as the Deputy Head of Legal at CherryHUB BSC.
Viktoria kickstarted her career by obtaining master's degrees in law and international relations and affairs from the University of Szeged. She later worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary before taking up the position of an in-house Junior Lawyer at HB Reavis, where she spent nearly two years from 2018 to 2019. Since then, Viktoria has been a part of the CherryHUB BSC team.
Olgu Kama is Vice General Counsel for TUI region at Unilever. She is a corporate and compliance counsel with experience in business and commercial law.
Having spent more than twenty years working at prominent law firms, she joined Unilever in 2021. Previously, she was an International Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright from 2018 to 2020, following her tenure at ELIG, where she was a regulatory and compliance Partner between 2009 and 2018. She was an Associate at Eryurekli & Fidan and Caga & Caga law firms.
Olgu holds Master’s degrees in Banking, Corporate, and Finance Law from Fordham Law School, New York, and Law and Economics from Galatasaray University, Istanbul. Olgu also is Vice Chair of Transparency International Turkey.