Mehmet Gün is an internationally recognised lawyer and Founder and Chairman of the Better Justice Association.
Born in Dere village, Bozkır-Konya, through perseverance and hard work Mehmet earned a place at the Canakkale Teaching College. However, soon after commencing teacher training, a change in Turkish education policy impelled Mehmet to pursue a law degree at Istanbul University instead. This laid the foundations for his career, in the course of which he has founded one of Turkey’s largest and most prestigious law firms, Gün + Partners. He has also pioneered the development and enforcement of modern Turkish intellectual property laws.
Mehmet has an impressive professional track record; Legal500, Chambers and Partners and Euromoney rank him among the most influential lawyers in Turkey, whilst Gün + Partners was winner of the numerous international awards, including as the National Firm of the Year by The Lawyer, by Managing IP and by Who’s Who Legal and Iam 300 The World’s Leading IP Strategist, “Best Managed Companies”, “Great Place to Work”, “Patent Firm of the Year in Turkey” , “Euromoney: National Firm of the Year”. The Turkish Exporters Assembly also identified Gün + Partners as the Top Professional Service Exporter in 2016.
Mehmet is determined to give back to the country that has given him so much; he is sharing his experiences and insight to help Turkey develop an internationally celebrated system of law. As part of this effort he published his autobiography – From the Steppes of Anatolia to the World of Global Law. His books and articles demonstrate his drive to reform the Turkish judiciary in order to strengthen and improve the rule of law and democracy in Turkey, and in turn help achieve sustainable economic growth. These include Unconstitutionality of the Privileged Protection Afforded to the Community of Experts and Turkey’s Middle Democracy Issues and How to Solve Them. The latter identifies Turkey’s democratisation issues, highlights the root causes and offers solutions.
In addition to the Better Justice Association, created to advocate for an independently functioning judiciary as a necessary foundation for a democratic Turkey, he is Founder and Chairman of ISTA, the Istanbul Arbitration Association. Through ISTA, Mehmet hopes that arbitration will be fostered as Turkey’s favoured method of dispute resolution and aims to promote Istanbul as a leading centre for international arbitration. He directed ISTA to write and publish Ethics Rules for Arbitrators, a product of the first and most in-depth studies in the field of Arbitration Ethics in Turkey.
Mehmet recognises the importance of a system of beliefs and behaviours which empowers the whole of society and is therefore very keen to help others progress. The principles of equality and diversity are enshrined into the very foundations of Gün + Partners and the firm has invested significant resources into providing fair opportunities for all, transparency and implementing measures to protect and promote women across all levels in the firm. The Gün + Partners staff is majority female both at board level and more widely. He also runs a scholarship programme for disadvantaged children from his hometown, helping them to pursue higher education.
He is an active member of several professional associations, such as being honorary council member at TÜSIAD (the Turkish Business and Industry Association) and Mehmet has also developed software for law firms with applications for governance called Günce.