Okan Demirkan
Okan Demirkan is a Partner at Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli, leading the firm’s Dispute Resolution, Energy and Infrastructure as well as Ethics and Compliance practices.
He represents domestic and international clients in a wide range of litigation matters, including commercial disputes, employment-related disputes, intellectual property claims, administrative disputes, enforcement and set-aside lawsuits, as well as criminal proceedings in relation to white-collar crimes at all levels of the Turkish courts.
With significant experience of over 20 years in international arbitration, he has been extensively involved in numerous ICC, DIS, SAC, LCIA, DIAC, LME, ITOTAM, ISTAC and UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings where he serves as counsel, arbitrator or expert witness. He regularly acts as presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator in institutional as well as ad hoc arbitrations. Okan has been heavily involved in arbitration proceedings concerning major infrastructure projects and has successfully represented several international clients as well as local entities in arbitration proceedings concerning disputes arising from build-operate-transfer (BOT) model investments, share purchase agreements, shareholders agreements, sales agreements, EPC contracts and licensing contracts. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and the Swiss Arbitration Ambassador to Turkey. In 2024, he became a member of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Arbitration Committee.
Okan Demirkan is recognised as a Leading Partner by The Legal 500 in its Dispute Resolution, Compliance and Energy categories as well as ranked in “Band 1” in Litigation and “Band 2” in Arbitration listings by Chambers Global and Chambers Europe. Chambers Europe also ranks him in its Projects & Energy category. Lexology recognizes Okan Demirkan as a “Global Elite Thought Leader” in the field of Energy since 2020. In addition, Lexology and GAR recognise him as a “Thought Leader”, and since 2023, Lexology also lists him in the field of Commercial Litigation. The IFLR1000 also names him as a Highly Regarded Lawyer.
According to Chambers Global, he is “a well-qualified, proactive and result-oriented individual” and “able to put himself in the client’s perceptive.” According to The Legal 500, “Okan Demirkan is the leading disputes partner. He is very hard-working, has excellent advocacy skills and is a true fighter.”
