In many countries, law firms operate under corporate structures such as limited liability companies (LLCs) or partnerships, giving them the flexibility to function as businesses while protecting individual lawyers from personal liability. However, Türkiye has taken a very different legal approach.
In Türkiye, lawyers cannot establish corporate legal entities (such as joint stock companies or limited liability companies) to provide legal services. Instead, they can only operate as individual practitioners or as part of a law office under their personal names.
This often surprises foreign clients, especially when they are asked to make legal service payments directly to a lawyer’s personal account. But there are important legal and ethical reasons behind this unique system.
In this article, we will explain why lawyers in Türkiye are restricted to operating as individuals, the legal foundations of this rule, and how this differs from practice in other countries. This is one reason hiring the right type of lawyer in Türkiye matters, especially for foreigners.
The prohibition on corporate law firms in Türkiye stems from the Attorneyship Law No. 1136 (Avukatlık Kanunu). According to this law:
Only individuals registered as attorneys (avukat) can provide legal services.
Law offices can be formed as a partnership or association of individual lawyers but cannot take the form of a corporate entity (such as an A.Ş. or Ltd. Şti.).
Legal services are considered a public function intertwined with personal professional responsibility, not just a commercial activity.
This means that every lawyer in Türkiye bears personal professional responsibility for the services they provide. While lawyers can work together and share office expenses, they cannot shield themselves from legal accountability through corporate structures. The same logic underpins why law firms in Turkey cannot operate as corporate companies.
There are several reasons behind this rule, all connected to ensuring the integrity of the legal profession and client protection:
Personal Accountability:
Lawyers are personally liable for the legal services they provide, ensuring a direct professional responsibility toward the client.
Public Trust:
Since legal services affect individuals’ rights, freedoms, and assets, the Turkish system emphasizes ethical responsibility over commercial interest. A client knows they are dealing with a licensed attorney, not an anonymous corporate entity.
Independence of the Legal Profession:
The prohibition on corporate entities helps preserve the independence of lawyers from commercial pressures, investors, or non-lawyer stakeholders.
While corporate entities are not allowed, lawyers can:
Establish their own individual law practice.
Work under the roof of a shared law office (ortaklık bürosu), which is a non-corporate partnership of lawyers.
Employ other lawyers or interns under their name.
All client contracts, fee agreements, and payments are tied directly to the individual lawyer or the group of lawyers operating under the office.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we sometimes see clients surprised when we provide a personal bank account for payment of legal fees. For international clients, this can feel unfamiliar, as they expect to pay a company bank account.
However, under Turkish law, legal fees must be paid to the individual lawyer, not to a company, because:
The lawyer is personally responsible for the legal service.
The law office is not a commercial company but an association of individual professionals.
The lawyer-client relationship is personal and trust-based, and the Attorneyship Law reflects this principle.
In countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and many EU states, law firms can be incorporated as:
Limited Liability Companies (LLCs),
Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs),
Professional Corporations (PCs),
or similar entities.
These structures allow for:
Limited personal liability for owners,
External investments or non-lawyer management in some jurisdictions,
Commercial branding separate from individual names.
Türkiye’s legal system, by contrast, prioritizes professional and ethical liability over commercial flexibility, seeing law as a regulated public service rather than a purely market-based activity. For broader context, foreigners often benefit from a guide to hiring a local law firm in Turkey.
Also read: Understanding attorney fees and counter attorney fees in Türkiye. You may also want to know how to issue a power of attorney to a lawyer in Türkiye.
The Turkish legal profession is governed primarily by the Attorneyship Code No. 1136, which mandates that law firms in Turkey cannot be established as corporate entities or companies. Instead, Turkish attorneys are obligated to operate as individual practitioners or as partners in what is termed a law partnership, which is not the same as a corporate company.
This partnership model comes with its own set of limitations, largely because law is regarded as a profession that must operate under strict ethical guidelines, with personal accountability and integrity at its core.
According to the Attorneyship Code, Turkish lawyers are required to maintain their professional independence and avoid any commercial or corporate structure that could compromise this principle. Here's a look at some of the key provisions in the Attorneyship Code that reinforce this requirement:
Because of these strict regulations, Turkish attorneys do not operate through corporate bank accounts. Instead, legal fees are typically paid to personal accounts designated by individual attorneys or their law partnerships. For foreign clients, who are often used to paying legal fees to corporate accounts in other jurisdictions, this requirement can seem unusual or even concerning.
However, this practice is a legal necessity in Turkey, ensuring that payments are directly associated with the attorney's personal responsibility for the services provided. This is also why writing a clear money transfer explanation matters when sending legal fees to an attorney's personal account.
In addition, the Turkish Attorneyship Code does not permit attorneys to solicit or advertise their services in the same way a corporate entity might in other industries. The law prohibits any actions that could be perceived as commercializing the profession, emphasizing that legal work is not a commercial service but rather a public duty provided within a strict ethical framework.
In many countries, including the United States, the UK, and some EU countries, law firms can establish themselves as corporate entities. In these jurisdictions, law firms can incorporate, allowing them to manage finances, offer shareholder positions, and separate their business assets from personal liabilities. This model is designed to allow greater flexibility in scaling the business, diversifying ownership, and managing risk. By contrast, structures such as limited liability and joint stock companies in Turkey are available to ordinary businesses but not to law firms.
The Turkish model instead emphasizes individual accountability. The Attorneyship Code specifies that lawyers must personally bear responsibility for their work, and by requiring payments to go directly to attorneys, the system reinforces this accountability. This framework aims to protect clients by ensuring that their legal representation is provided by attorneys who are personally responsible for each aspect of their work, rather than by an impersonal corporate entity.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we understand that these regulations may seem unconventional to clients from other countries. However, we believe transparency is essential in clarifying how Turkish legal regulations ensure the integrity of legal services in Turkey. The requirement to operate as individual practitioners or partners in a law partnership and to receive fees in a personal account is intended to maintain professional accountability and uphold high ethical standards.
If you want to confirm that the lawyer you are dealing with is genuinely licensed, our guide on how to check if a lawyer is real using the Bar Association register walks you through the process. For our foreign clients, this system offers several advantages:
Although foreign clients may find it surprising, the requirement for lawyers in Türkiye to operate as individuals, without corporate shields, serves an important purpose: protecting clients, maintaining public trust, and ensuring ethical accountability.
At Bayraktar Attorneys, we are proud to uphold these standards. When you work with us, you are not just hiring a company—you are engaging a dedicated lawyer who personally stands behind every piece of advice and representation.
If you have any questions about our legal services, payments, or how we operate, feel free to contact us. We are always happy to clarify the process and assist you with your legal needs in Türkiye.
