The education sector is complex, with a range of regulatory obligations, stakeholders, as well as increasing commercial and political pressures. As a result, legal issues in this context bring closely intertwined elements of public, private, non-profit and constitutional law.
Moroğlu Arseven offers a full range of support and advice to educational organisations regarding a challenging array of commercial, ethical and regulatory considerations. Moroğlu Arseven serves all segments of the education sector, along with the various businesses which support educators. These include early childhood centres, through to higher education institutions such as universities, institutes and research centres. We also advise other entities in the education sector, such as associations, education companies, suppliers, foundations, financiers and investors.
Educational institutions’ needs are diverse and involve nearly all areas of the law. As a result, Moroğlu Arseven’s support brings together topic experts from multiple disciplines, including employment, union relations, civil rights, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance, tax, governance, real estate, privacy, crisis management and government procurement.
The firm supports education-related clients during their everyday commercial or operational matters, as well as sector-specific governance and compliance programs, or constitutional issues. We pay particular attention to ensuring clients understand government policy initiatives and their flow-on effects, in turn implementing any necessary legal changes to ensure ongoing compliance. We also advise clients with developing appropriate and best-practice disciplinary processes for both staff and students, as well as supporting with emerging disputes.
Moroğlu Arseven regularly advises on processes and requirements for Turkey’s Ministry of National Education, as well as the Directorate General for Private Education Institutions. We strategically support and represent clients during all aspects of their interactions with these bodies, assisting clients to obtain a wide range of routine and exceptional approvals, exemptions or licenses. Our support includes dealing with day-to-day regulatory relations, as well as high-stakes regulatory investigations or enforcement proceedings.
The firm’s dispute resolution team provides full-scope and integrated support to education clients, meaning conflict specialists are involved from the early stages of emerging issues. We support clients with all aspects and perspectives on disputes, along with regulatory investigations. Support includes representing clients in a full spectrum of forums and related processes, including civil and administrative litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution methods, strategic negotiation and settlement processes, as well as injunctions and enforcement actions. For instance, representing clients involved in disputes about real estate and leasing for school buildings, international debt collections, or disciplinary processes.
Moroğlu Arseven’s strong intellectual property team helps education clients to proactively protect their intellectual property in Turkey. The firm supports with a full range of issues, including litigation, enforcement, counselling, prosecution and transactions. Intellectual property advice is tightly integrated with other practice areas, assisting clients to establish, protect and commercialise their intellectual property assets from the earliest possible stage. For instance, copyright or trademark infringement, as well as software and unfair competition issues which arise from educational methods or apps.
Moroğlu Arseven assists education clients with all types of major corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, spin-offs, divestitures and group restructures. The firm has significant expertise assisting during complex, inter-jurisdictional transactions, where strategic guidance is required to deal with the legal, commercial and operational factors simultaneously. These projects often involve high values, or complicated leveraging and equity structures. We work closely with companies, shareholders, investors and financiers on both buy and sell-side, assisting through all stages of these projects.
Moroğlu Arseven places a strong focus on ensuring we consider each client’s business objectives and the dynamics of the education industry, then reflect these factors into the transaction’s structure, risk allocation, or asset transfers.