Founder & Managing Partner
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Mr. Şafak Herdem is the founder and managing partner of the HERDEM Attorneys at Law, Istanbul, Türkiye-based law firm focusing on international trade and other international business issues having special focus on aerospace & defense and international trade. Mr. Herdem represents, among others, numerous U.S., Canadian, ASEAN, Middle Eastern and European companies on issues arising under international trade both in advisory and dispute settlement matters. Mr. Herdem has counseled numerous foreign firms on securing themselves in complex military purchases in major defense programs in Türkiye. He has advised numerous foreign companies on regulatory matters in different industries for their investment planning. He has provided export control training to a variety of aerospace and defense firms, as well as government officials and various agencies of the government on industrial cooperation programs. He has represented a U.S. fund to acquire MNG Airlines of Türkiye to open to public at New York Stock Exchange in USD 676 million deal. He has represented several foreign entities in military offset projects in Türkiye.
Mr. Herdem’s most interesting career started with a Canadian mining company
in Türkiye. Today, his practice mainly focuses on every aspect of international trade and government contracts law, and he represents some of the major Fortune 500 companies in various projects in Türkiye. He has also wide experience in industrial cooperation and assists public authorities in law-making progress on regulations. His accomplishments include authoring the first and only legal book on defense procurement in Türkiye and lecturing at reputable universities. His latest book is the first Turkish resource on International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
For over sixteen years, Mr. Herdem has edited and published over five hundred articles published on several worldwide publications including but not limited to Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg. Besides having thousands of readers around the world, Mr. Herdem has been counted as a country expert in aerospace defense procurement for three consecutive years by the legal publication of Thomson Reuters.
During the past ten years, Mr. Herdem has been working to attract new investors, identify new economic models, turn the new inflow of information into new projects, analyze sectors in detail, and finally helping to establish a wide communication network in industrial cooperation/offset programs in the defense and civil industries. Today as a result of great relationships with both public and private sector entities, Mr. Herdem acts as a consultant to major organizations and an ambassador of goodwill bridging foreign investment with local Turkish industry and helping to forge new and important commercial alliances. In efforts, such initiative he introduced Global Offset and Industrial Cooperation Association, a U.S.-based NGO, that provides a forum for industry and government leaders to connect, share best practices, policy updates, success stories, and lessons learned for creating and implementing industrial cooperation & partnership programs that deliver sustainable economic and social benefits to the countries where they are established, to American Turkish Business Society in recent years with a panel moderated by Mr. Herdem at American Turkish Council.
Mr. Herdem is also a frequent speaker and commentator on different issues and matters. He is regularly invited by UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development to be a panelist. He has also delivered speeches at OECD, American University of Beirut, and Drexel University for various issues and been awarded by the international magazine World Finance at London Stock Exchange. He has recently been invited to a workshop organized under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security Program to train Turkish government officers and private industry by the Center for Policy Research at the State University of New York both in Ankara and Istanbul. He also regularly organizes seminars and training programs on the export control laws of the U.S., E.U, and Türkiye. His latest in-presence seminar was a full-day training program on the ITAR for aerospace & defense companies’ in-house counsels in Ankara.
Mr. Herdem is also active in a number of international organizations and serves as a country member of the European Association of Trade + Investment Controls and Compliance Attorneys, officer to the International Bar Association’s Power Law Committee, member of the American Bar Association, member to the Swiss - Chinese Law Association, chairman of the Aviation & Aerospace & Space Law Committee of Mackrell International and member of International Compliance Professionals Association. Besides, he is a member of the Turkish Ethics and Reputation Society (TEID), Corporate Governance Association of Türkiye (TKYD), Turkish Quality Association (KALDER).
Besides advising companies, Mr. Herdem has also served as a general partner and arbitrator of the American International Commercial Arbitration Court and represented many clients in complex arbitration matters in different jurisdictions. In the years 2019-2023 he has been invited by Leiden University in the Hague to act as a judge for a dispute in a moot court.
About HERDEM
HERDEM is an Istanbul-based law firm formed in 2011; it provides the highest quality legal services to its local and international corporate clients. We provide tailor-made legal services to our clients with the aim of contributing to their business objectives. Drawing on the targeted industry knowledge, we help our clients to navigate themselves in their sophisticated legal matters. Our client portfolio includes, but is not limited to, entities in defense & aerospace, life science/pharmaceuticals, tourism & travel, and aviation industries.
Working with us means that you will have a partner “To Respond Together” to all your sophisticated legal problems. Our team consists of dedicated lawyers and counsels that defend the rights of the clients where required: from a contract negotiation meeting to a courtroom, always prioritizing clients’ needs as what a real partner would do.
Our culture always encourages us to bring innovative approaches to the table for our clients. HERDEM tailors contracts, creates business structure, and designs legal documents for clients based on specific industry requirements, clients' objectives, and legal requirements. This is what we call “Legal Engineering”. Our multilingual Legal Engineers with multidisciplinary backgrounds are ready to apply advanced legal engineering skills for our clients.
International Memberships & Recognition
HERDEM’s tailored practice includes a robust capacity to assist clients across the globe and we continuously maintain our strength both in the local market and internationally.
Our counsels take active roles in international legal organizations such as International Bar Association, American Bar Association and etc. to contribute to and support the international legal community to assist clients in a knowledge-based global economy and regularly speak at international conferences, and participate in training panels on legal issues globally. We are also active in helping advocacy organizations supported by different governments and offer clients a powerful and valuable network of business relationships with senior leaders and professionals from both industries and governments and we further develop our alliances in the legal and commercial areas.