Founding Partner, Breitegger – Develioglu Law Firm
What was it that made you want to become a lawyer?
Having an impact in the society we live in has always mattered to me, even when I was very young. As a woman with a sense of agency; being able to take my own decisions, contribute personally to changes in the society and my passion for reading have been the main sources of my interest for becoming a lawyer. Further more, it is one of the few professions allowing its practitioners to combine academic interest with the practicality of the business life and I find this very intriguing. I remember having a great feeling of improvement after having studied the first year of law school, as it was filled with extremely interesting topics such as philosophy of law, Roman law and many others that actually explain why we do things the way do them even to this day. The ability to use this daily in my profession gives me a sense of fulfillment and I realize that I became a lawyer for the right reasons for myself.
Since you graduated, your career has been varied from being the head of the Turkish Desk at a leading law firm in Vienna, Austria to now managing your own practice in Turkey. What prompted these changes and what were your motivations?
Pursuing an international career has been a main drive in most of what I did as a student and as a lawyer. As a polyglot, I also wanted to learn German, explore a different culture and study abroad, therefore I pursued my LL.M. degree at the University of Vienna. This was followed by my position as the head of Turkish Desk in a reputed law firm in Vienna as I also wanted to experience work culture in Austria. Studying in a foreign country and working in a foreign country are actually two completely diverse experiences and they both broadened my horizon tremendously.
Throughout my years in Vienna, as I was representing mainly foreign investors in Turkey, I have seen the need for a specialized law firm for such clients. Therefore, we decided to establish Breitegger-Develioglu Law Firm with my partner Burçin Yıldırım Develioğlu. We wanted to create our own culture in the legal world, carve our own path. Of course, there were already law firms serving foreigg investors in the Turkish market but we had the vision of a boutique law firm with a closer connection to its clients; a law firm that would become the trusted partners of its clients by supporting them with sharp legal knowledge that is communicated and tailored according to their needs. We had made the decision to become partners while studying and working together beforehand. Once we saw that such a law firm was needed, we acted on it immediately and established our firm.
You have been at Breitegger – Develioglu Law Firm as its founding partner since 2014. What have been your personal highlights of how the firm has developed both locally and internationally?
It was a great journey for me to see that I could reflect my international experience into our firm. In a very short period of time, we started to deal with very exciting international, as well as local, deals and cases. On another point, not only we represented our clients in major international arbitration cases, we also did it in different forms. It was definitely a highlight for me to perform a fully virtual arbitration hearing with international arbitrators, witnesses and colleagues during the pandemic. Being able to lead a major investment project in Turkey that will enable Turkey to produce a high technology product was also a personal highlight for me. Becoming trusted attorneys of several foreign chambers of commerce shows me that we are following the path we aimed for. This year was also important for us as we have been named as a leading firm for Commercial, Corporate and M&A in Turkey by Legal 500 and it was great to see that our efforts are being recognized.
