Cemal Araalan

Cemal is a dispute & corporate lawyer with a focus on IT Law practice. He has more than fifteen years of experience representing Turkish and multinational corporations in high-profile dispute resolution matters, as well as daily corporate issues, including a wide range of compliance matters.

Taking his dispute experience into consideration, his primary focus areas include white-collar crimes, construction disputes, conflicts arising from the liability of board members, high-profile IT&IP disputes, employment issues, energy disputes concerning both commercial and administrative law perspectives, competition investigations, and media & telecommunications law. Prior to joining CBC Law, Cemal led litigation teams of reputable law firms as a partner and head of their litigation teams. Apart from his local litigation skills, Cemal has represented many multinational and local clients for their complex arbitration procedures, such as the International Chamber of Commerce, ICSID, and the American Arbitration Association.

Having solid transactional background, Cemal has also consulted clients on a broad range of issues, including complex IT&IP Law disputes, data protection and compliance projects (data protection projects involving local requirements and GDPR, anti-bribery, money-laundering, competition, privacy), fin-tech projects (consultancy for crypto-asset service providers, fin-tech companies electronic money and payment institutions, open banking, digital banking, handling the required procedures with relevant authorities in Turkey such as MASAK, Capital Markets Board, Banking Regulation & Supervision Authority, etc.). Besides that, his daily corporate advice boasts different market-leading corporate clients in industries such as gaming, electronics, telecommunication, stationery, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, media and advertising, aviation, insurance, reinsurance, construction, energy, and confectionery.

While Cemal has been involved in many blockchain-related projects, he has consulted crypto assets service providers, decentralized autonomous organizations, initial coin offerings, and metaverse platforms to shape their legal strategy. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles on different aspects of blockchain technology in leading publications, and he attended many academic symposiums and gave speeches as a keynote speaker. Cemal is a Certified Blockchain Expert (CBE) and Certified Metaverse Expert (CME) certified by the Blockchain Council. He is a member of the IT Law Commission of the Istanbul Bar Association, the Turkish Information Association (TBD), the Information & Technology Law Association, and Sodimer (President Consultant for Legal Strategies). Cemal is a Senior Mentor at Idea to Business (BTM), and throughout this time, he has repeatedly mentored plenty of startups and shaped their legal strategies.

Representative Matters

• Representing an investment management company in the cross-border enforcement of an ICC award
• Representing a foreign state in the enforcement of an ICSID award, 
• Advising a multinational mining company in ongoing arbitration in terms of Turkish law aspects of the dispute, 
• Advising a Turkish chrome mining company for daily corporate issues,
• Represented a Turkish logistic company in the incorporation of a new company in Turkiye with foreign investors,
• Represented a shareholder of several companies under the umbrella of a holding company in numerous corporate disputes against the other shareholders, including cancellation of the board of directors’ resolution and general assembly resolutions and liabilities of board members,
• Represented a leading French bank against Turkish companies through bankruptcy lawsuits and proceedings before local commercial and execution courts as well as before various commercial chambers of the Court of Appeals
• Advised a French airport operator company in an acquisition of shares in a Turkish company,