Our Mission Matters

Okan Demirkan is a partner at Kolcuoğlu Demirkan Koçaklı. He leads the Firm’s Dispute Resolution, Energy and Infrastructure as well as Ethics and Compliance practices. 

With significant experience of approximately 25 years in international arbitration, he has been extensively involved in numerous ICC, DIS, SAC, LCIA, DIAC, LME, ITOTAM and ISTAC arbitration proceedings, as well as various ad hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. He has served as counsel, arbitrator (presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator) or expert witness. 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 and his dispute resolution team have represented several international clients in the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, with a 100% success rate since Okan joined Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli as a name partner. 

Okan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He is a Board Member of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA). In 2025, he became a Co-Chair of the IBA’s Enforcement & Recognition Sub-Committee. Lexology and GAR recognize him as a “Thought Leader” in the field of Arbitration, and Lexology also lists him in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Asset Recovery. In 2025, Benchmark Litigation has recognized him as “Turkey Litigator of the Year”, and he has been selected as the exclusive Client Choice 2026 winner for Turkey in arbitration, being the sole lawyer in the country to receive this recognition.

Nigar Guliyeva graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 2015. 

Currently she is a partner at Kılınç Law & Consulting and currently heads Contracts and Dispute Resolution Departments, also works under Project Finance Department. 

She has extensive experience advising on complex cross-border commercial, construction, energy and infrastructure matters, with particular expertise in EPC and FIDIC-based contractual frameworks.

Nigar regularly advises contractors and international investors on the structuring, drafting and negotiation of construction and commercial agreements, as well as on risk allocation and dispute prevention strategies. Her practice combines front-end contract structuring with representation in high-value disputes arising from construction, energy and commercial transactions.

She has represented clients in international arbitration (ISTAC, ICC etc.) and litigation proceedings and has served as arbitrator in international commercial arbitration cases. Her experience includes advising on large-scale infrastructure and energy projects and managing complex contractual and dispute resolution processes.

‍

Marie-Laure Bizeau is a founding partner of Medici in Paris and a member of the Paris Bar since 2003. She has more than twenty years of experience in international arbitration.

She began her career at Lazareff Law Firm before joining Derains & Gharavi at its creation, where she later became partner, before co-founding Medici.

Marie-Laure regularly acts as arbitrator in international and domestic commercial arbitrations. She has been appointed as president of the tribunal, sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in proceedings conducted under the rules of various arbitral institutions, including the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA), as well as in ad hoc arbitrations. These disputes have involved parties from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia and have concerned a broad range of sectors, including construction and infrastructure, energy, industrial equipment, distribution, telecommunications and healthcare.

In addition to her work as arbitrator, Marie-Laure has extensive experience as counsel in international commercial arbitration proceedings conducted under the rules of major arbitral institutions (ICC, LCIA, DIAC, CRCICA, Swiss Rules, KCAB and UNCITRAL), as well as in investment arbitration proceedings, whether ad hoc (notably under the aegis of the Agreement on Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments among the Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference) or under the ICSID Rules. She also regularly represents parties in arbitration-related litigation before French courts, particularly in annulment and enforcement proceedings.

Marie-Laure is a member of several arbitration associations and panels, including ICC France, the French Arbitration Committee, the French Arbitration Association (AFA), CMAP and the CCJA.

Ulvia Zeynalova-Bockin is a Partner and Co-Managing Partner in Dentons’ Baku office, where she advises on banking and finance, regulated mergers and acquisitions, corporate law, project finance matters, and general business law matters. She brings a distinctly international perspective to her practice, having worked with the Corporation Finance Division of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, as well as in Salans’ legacy office in New York and Dentons Rodyk in Singapore. Over the course of her career, she has advised local and international clientele in high-profile matetrs and has developed a strong reputation for handling complex, cross-border and strategically significant transactions.

Ms Zeynalova-Bockin has extensive experience advising state-owned enterprises and major commercial clients on high-profile projects and procurement matters in Azerbaijan. 

Her track record in sophisticated financing and corporate transactions has established her as a leading finance and M&A lawyer in Azerbaijan. She is qualified to practise law in Azerbaijan since 2006, admitted to the New York Bar since 2010, and was registered as a foreign lawyer in Singapore from 2017 to 2021. 

Her standing in the market has been recognised by all reading legal directories. Most recent rankings include IFLR1000 raking as Market Leader in Banking and Finance and M&A in Azerbaijan; Band 1 ranking by Chambers & Partners in General Business Law in Azerbaijan; Leading Partner The Legal 500 EMEA. She has been shortlisted for the prestigious Women in Business Law Awards EMEA 2024 in Banking & Finance category by IFLR1000 and included among IFLR1000 Women Leaders for Azerbaijan. 

Ulvia combination of senior leadership, international experience, and deep expertise in complex commercial and financing matters makes her a highly respected practitioner in the Azerbaijani legal market.

Azar Aliyev is a Professor of International Economic Law and Comparative Law at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in law from Baku State University with distinction, then completed a Master of Laws at Heidelberg University, graduating magna cum laude. His research focuses on international contract law, international commercial arbitration, the law of digital technologies, and the comparative analysis of the legal systems of post-Soviet countries.

Professor Aliyev currently serves as the scientific director of the project "The European Center of Just Transition Research and Impact-Driven Transfer" (JTC) and is co-director of the Institute for Structural Change and Sustainability at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He is a member of the Scientific-AdvisoryCouncil of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan and a member of the working group on the modernization of the Civil Code. Professor Aliyev has served as a legal expert before international and domestic courts, including arbitral institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and has acted as an international expert in private and business law reforms for a number of states.