Officially inaugurated in Istanbul, Turkey in September 2024, the Turkey Office of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES is a directly affiliated branch under the firm’s global expansion strategy. Leveraging Turkey’s strategic position as a Eurasian economic and trade hub, the office focuses on two-way cross-border legal services between China and Turkey.
By deeply integrating long-established local legal resources, judicial practice experience and full-scope practice capabilities in Turkey, the office has built a multi-disciplinary legal team holding professional qualifications in both Chinese and Turkish law, with in-depth knowledge of the regulatory rules and commercial practices of both jurisdictions. Operating within the framework of Turkish legal practice regulations, the team delivers full Chinese-language support for requirement communication, solution design and on-the-ground implementation, removing institutional and practical barriers to China-Turkey cross-border legal services. It provides localised, end-to-end, cross-jurisdictional professional legal services to all types of market entities, with core coverage of key demands including Chinese enterprises’ investment in Turkey, cross-border commercial matters, infrastructure construction, compliance and risk control, and dispute resolution, delivering one-stop, full-lifecycle, dual-jurisdiction compatible professional legal support.
This document sets out the official unified fee schedule of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Turkey Office for 2026. All quoted fees are exclusive of value-added tax (the current standard VAT rate in Turkey is 20%). Settlement is available freely in three currencies: Turkish Lira (TRY), Renminbi (CNY) and US Dollars (USD).
I.Compliant Fee Structures of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Turkey Office
In strict compliance with the Turkish Lawyers’ Professional Law and the practice regulations and fee guidelines of the Turkish Bar Association, and taking into account the cross-border service conventions of Chinese enterprises, the office has established five standardised fee structures, all fully aligned with Turkish judicial supervision requirements and international commercial service standards:
1.Fixed Fee Arrangement
Applicable to basic legal services with standardised procedures and accurately quantifiable workload. The total fee and scope of services are locked upon contract signing, with no hidden additional charges. This structure covers standardised matters such as corporate commercial registration, basic compliance filing, and standard document processing.
2.Hourly Rate Arrangement
The prevailing billing model in Turkey’s commercial legal service industry, applicable to major cross-border projects, complex dispute cases and customised compliance consulting. Fees are charged based on the effective working hours of lawyers, with detailed monthly time sheets provided for full auditability and traceability.
3.Proportional Fee Arrangement (by Subject Matter Value)
Applicable to property-related matters such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, asset transactions and large commercial claims. Fees are charged on a tiered basis according to the value of the subject matter, in line with common practice in Turkey’s high-end commercial legal service sector.
4.Contingency Fee Arrangement
Implemented within the framework of Turkish legal practice regulations, and only applicable to debt collection, commercial recovery and tort claim cases. Fees are conditional on successful fund recovery or a favourable judgment, with the fee ratio not exceeding 30% of the actual amount recovered, strictly complying with the upper limit for contingency fees in the Turkish legal profession.
5.Annual Retainer Arrangement
Provides year-round comprehensive legal support for enterprises, with a fixed annual service fee.
II. Hourly Rate Standards for Lawyers at GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Turkey Office
All lawyers at GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Turkey Office hold valid practising certificates issued by the Turkish Bar Association. The core team is proficient in the application of both Chinese and Turkish law and capable of seamless bilingual service delivery. Senior partners hold practising qualifications across multiple Eurasian jurisdictions and have deep expertise in core areas including cross-border investment, international commerce, infrastructure engineering, and compliance regulation. A tiered pricing system is implemented.
Unified hourly rate range for 2026: TRY 1,800 – TRY 5,800 per hour, covering all levels including junior practising lawyers, mid-level specialist lawyers, senior partners, and cross-border experts from the Beijing headquarters. The final rate is determined based on a comprehensive assessment of case complexity, professional suitability, project urgency and team configuration.
Additional Billing Rules
A travel and fieldwork allowance of 25%–50% shall apply for work conducted outside Turkey.
A 50% surcharge shall apply for 48-hour urgent response and work on public holidays, implemented uniformly under this schedule.
A 20% uplift shall apply to cases requiring cross-jurisdictional coordination across Eurasia.
A 15% uplift shall apply to exclusive bilingual court hearing services.
A 10%–20% uplift shall apply to special compliance cases involving financial regulation or energy and infrastructure.
III. Specific Fee Standards for Core Practice Areas
This schedule focuses on the core business lines of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES’ Turkey Office, precisely addresses the essential demands of Chinese enterprises operating in Turkey, complies with the requirements of relevant Turkish regulatory authorities, and aligns all services with Turkey’s domestic legal system. Details are set out below:
1. China-Turkey Cross-Border Investment and M&A Legal Services: TRY 12,000 – TRY 78,000
(a)Full-process services for Chinese enterprises investing in Turkey, including investment structure design, cross-border tax planning, legal due diligence, and transaction document drafting and negotiation.
(b)Supporting legal services for Turkey’s foreign investment access, filing and approval, foreign exchange compliance, and anti-monopoly and national security review.
(c)Full-chain services for greenfield investment, equity/asset mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and cooperation, asset restructuring, and post-investment compliance governance.
(d)Full-process legal support for Turkish enterprises investing in China, covering market access, structure design, compliance implementation and operation management.
(e)Full-process agency for the establishment of regional headquarters and representative offices of Chinese enterprises, including foreign investment access compliance screening and policy liaison services.
2. Infrastructure and Engineering Project Legal Services: TRY 15,000 – TRY 92,000
(a)Full-lifecycle legal services for engineering projects in sectors including energy, transport, municipal works, real estate and industrial construction.
(b)Compliance review of project bidding and tendering, EPC/DB general contracting contract system design, and performance risk management and control.
(c)Full-process services for BOT/PPP concession projects, and compliance management of engineering consortium cooperation.
(d)Full-link services for engineering claims and counter-claims, project completion and acceptance, final payment collection, and engineering dispute resolution.
(e)Special services for project development, compliance management and ownership dispute resolution in new energy and natural resource sectors, including wind power, photovoltaics, minerals and oil and gas.
3. Cross-Border Trade and Compliance Risk Control Legal Services: TRY 5,000 – TRY 75,000
(a)Drafting and review of international trade contracts, compliant application of trade terms, and cross-border settlement risk management and control.
(b)Legal services related to Turkish customs compliance, import and export control, and application of rules of origin.
(c)Full-process response to trade remedy cases such as anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations.
(d)Full-chain compliance for cross-border e-commerce, legal risk prevention and control for supply chains and logistics, and emergency response to trade fraud.
(e)Pre-mediation of China-Turkey bilateral trade disputes, and full-process non-litigation rights protection for cross-border contract breaches.
4. Corporate Commercial and Daily Operation Compliance Legal Services: TRY 2,500 – TRY 62,000
(a)Full-process compliance services for the establishment, amendment and deregistration of local Turkish companies.
(b)Optimisation of corporate governance structure, protection of shareholders’ rights and interests, establishment of commercial contract systems and routine contract review.
(c)Labour and employment compliance management, labour dispute resolution, and compliant design of remuneration systems.
(d)Data security and personal information protection compliance, tax compliance consulting, and enterprise compliance system establishment.
(e)Legal services related to enterprise bankruptcy reorganisation and liquidation, and franchise compliance.
5. Intellectual Property Protection Legal Services: TRY 2,200 – TRY 32,000
(a)Application, registration, renewal, licensing and assignment services for all types of intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and geographical indications.
(b)Administrative complaints, civil rights protection and criminal accusation services for cross-border IP infringement, brand counterfeiting and unfair competition.
(c)Formulation of IP layout strategies for enterprises expanding overseas, and establishment of risk prevention and control systems.
(d)Drafting of China-Turkey cross-border IP licensing and assignment agreements, and compliance risk management and control for technical cooperation.
6. Cross-Border Dispute Resolution and Crisis Management Legal Services: TRY 1,600 – TRY 480,000
(a)Litigation representation for China-Turkey cross-border civil and commercial contract disputes, investment disputes, equity disputes, engineering disputes, trade disputes, intellectual property disputes, labour disputes and other cases.
(b)Representation in domestic and foreign commercial arbitration cases, formulation of dispute resolution strategies and full-process follow-up.
(c)Full-process agency for cross-border recognition and enforcement of Chinese and Turkish court judgments and arbitral awards, cross-border property preservation, debt collection and enforcement proceedings.
(d)Emergency legal services for cross-border regulatory investigations, sudden compliance crises and major public opinion crises.
(e)Resolution of administrative disputes and commercial tort disputes, and cross-border criminal compliance review and supporting legal services.
Special Note: For major cross-border compliance mandates, complex cross-border economic disputes and supporting criminal compliance cases, there is no fixed fee cap. Quotations are customised based on case difficulty, scale of cross-border collaboration and evidence collection costs, with the final amount subject to the formal written engagement contract.
7. Specialised Financial and Capital Markets Legal Services: TRY 6,000 – TRY 82,000
(a)Specialised legal services for cross-border financing, bank credit, private equity funds, bond issuance, insurance compliance and financial transaction risk control.
(b)Specialised services in the maritime and aviation sectors, covering sea cargo transportation, ship chartering, maritime claims, air transport compliance and shipping insurance dispute resolution.
(c)Cross-border investment and financing transaction structure design, and full-process management of transaction document drafting, negotiation and closing.
(d)Compliance review of Turkish enterprise financing and capital increase and share expansion, and compliance risk prevention and control for capital operations.
(e)Cross-border M&A regulatory filing, foreign exchange compliance liaison, and dual-jurisdiction transaction compliance coordination services between China and Turkey.
8. Personal Cross-Border Planning and Family Wealth Management Legal Services: TRY 800 – TRY 48,000
(a)Full-process compliance agency for business visas, long-term residence visas and investment-based residence status applications.
(b)Compliance review of real estate purchase and leasing by foreign nationals in Turkey, and legal risk control for asset transactions.
(c)Legal services for cross-border marriage and family disputes, cross-border succession, family wealth inheritance planning and cross-border asset allocation compliance.
(d)Personal commercial compliance consulting, and legal risk screening and compliance advice for cross-border asset allocation.
IV. Key Factors Affecting Legal Fees
1.Cross-border compliance complexity: Fees shall be uplifted according to the level of difficulty for cases involving the application of both Chinese and Turkish law, cross-border evidence collection, and multi-party collaboration across jurisdictions.
2.Industry professional barriers: Fees for highly specialised areas such as energy and infrastructure, financial regulation, cross-border investment and intellectual property shall be higher than those for basic civil and commercial legal services.
3.Case handling difficulty: Fees shall be dynamically adjusted for major litigation and arbitration, difficult cross-border enforcement, and special regulatory response matters.
4.Service urgency: Urgent service initiation and work on public holidays shall be subject to an urgent service surcharge in strict accordance with the standards.
5.Cooperation and procurement model: A bundled annual retainer arrangement reduces overall costs by 15%–25% compared with separate procurement of individual services.
6.Service team configuration: Fees shall be adjusted accordingly for cases handled by a joint panel of experts, with headquarters cross-border coordination, or with an exclusive bilingual team.
7.Case performance risk: The contingency fee ratio for contingency arrangements is directly linked to the probability of success, difficulty of fund recovery and service cycle.
V. Additional Third-Party Fees to Be Budgeted
The following fees are separate from legal service fees and shall be reimbursed at actual cost in accordance with official Turkish standards or actual expenditure. Our firm charges no agency premium for these items:
1.Government fees: Commercial registration fees, visa application fees, court litigation fees, arbitration fees, intellectual property official fees, licence filing fees, etc.
2.Notarisation and authentication fees: Local Turkish notarisation and Hague apostille services; China-Turkey consular authentication fees shall be settled according to official standards.
3.Professional translation fees: Chinese-Turkish / Chinese-English translation of legal documents and simultaneous interpretation for court hearings, charged per document / per word in accordance with Turkish industry standards.
4.Expert service fees: Judicial appraisal, industry expert consulting, and third-party due diligence agency fees, settled at actual expenditure.
5.Field travel expenses: Transportation, accommodation and fieldwork allowances for domestic and overseas case handling, reimbursed against valid receipts.
6.Financial handling fees: Bank fees arising from cross-border transfers and currency exchange shall be borne by the entrusting party.
7.Other third-party fees: Fees for professional institutions such as auditing, valuation and compliance testing, settled at actual entrusted expenditure.
VI. Important Notice
All fee standards set out in this document are official benchmark reference prices for the 2026 fiscal year and do not constitute a service offer of any kind. The final fee for all legal services shall be determined by the formal written engagement contract signed by both parties, based on the client’s specific requirements, the actual circumstances of the case, the scope of services and project complexity.