Gönenç Gürkaynak

Dr. Gönenç Gürkaynak is the founding partner of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law, a leading law firm of 95 lawyers based in Istanbul, Turkiye. Dr. Gürkaynak graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Law in 1997 and was called to the Istanbul Bar in 1998. Dr. Gürkaynak received his LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School, and he has received his Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) degree from University College London (UCL) Faculty of Laws. Before founding ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law in 2005, Dr. Gürkaynak worked as an attorney at the Istanbul, New York and Brussels offices of a global law firm for more than eight years. In addition to his membership to the Istanbul Bar since 1998, he was admitted to the American Bar Association in 2002; New York Bar in 2002 (currently non-practising; registered); Brussels Bar in 2003 – 2004 (B List; not maintained); Law Society of England & Wales, 2004 (currently non-practising; registered).

Dr. Gürkaynak heads the competition law and regulatory department of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law. He has unparalleled experience in Turkish competition law counselling issues with more than 25 years of competition law experience, starting with the establishment of the Turkish Competition Authority. Every year, Dr. Gürkaynak represents multinational companies and large domestic clients in more than 35 written and oral defences in investigations of the Turkish Competition Authority, about 15 antitrust appeal cases in the high administrative court and over 85 merger clearances of the Turkish Competition Authority, in addition to coordinating various worldwide merger notifications, drafting non-compete agreements and clauses, and preparing hundreds of legal memoranda concerning a wide array of Turkish and European Commission competition law topics.

In addition to his continuing private practice as an attorney, primarily through ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law in Istanbul/Turkiye, Dr. Gürkaynak is an Honorary Professor of Practice at UCL Faculty of Laws in London. In addition to his academic role at University College London, he also teaches competition law at Bilkent University Faculty of Law in Ankara/Turkiye since 2005, and he has taught competition law in more than 10 universities in Turkiye, in the EU, in the UK and in the US in the last 18 years.

Dr. Gürkaynak is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Law, Economics & Society (CLES) at UCL Faculty of Laws in London.

Dr. Gürkaynak frequently speaks at international conferences and symposia on competition law matters. He has five books, and more than 80 academic articles published in refereed international law journals.