Ongoing legal counsel means managing all of a company’s legal matters, such as contracts, resolutions, and notifications, within a single recurring framework. The obligations that the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 (enacted in 2011 and in force since 1 July 2012) imposes on companies with respect to contracts, resolutions, and registrations can easily be overlooked when tracked in a fragmented way. This model aims to reduce that risk by placing every item, from the contract inventory to corporate resolutions, on a defined calendar.
How Is the Work Divided Under the Ongoing Legal Counsel Model?
The model organizes a company’s legal needs around three main pillars: regular contract tracking, tracking of corporate resolutions, and periodic review of other legal matters such as service of process (tebligat) and litigation. Each pillar is set up not as a one-off legal task but as a recurring review cycle repeated at set intervals.
For example, in a manufacturing company with multiple suppliers, a single monthly list can show which contract’s renewal date is approaching, which board resolution needs to be registered, and which case file has a deadline running. Matters that would otherwise need to be remembered separately are turned into a systematic workflow.
How Is Regular Contract Tracking Carried Out?
Contract tracking begins by listing all of the company’s active contracts in a contract inventory. The inventory records each contract’s parties, term, renewal conditions, and termination notice period separately, making it possible to see in advance when each contract will renew or needs to be terminated.
For instance, if a company sourcing goods from abroad has a supply contract with an automatic renewal clause, the company may remain bound for a period it did not intend once the termination notice period has passed. Regular tracking flags this deadline in advance, giving the company time to make a timely decision. Periodic review of terms such as price, delivery time, and penalty clauses is likewise part of this process.
In this context, regular review of commercial contracts allows a company to spot potential disputes before they arise. Beyond the risks present when a contract is first drafted, the changing circumstances that arise over its term also need to be monitored.
How Is Tracking of Corporate Resolutions Carried Out?
Tracking corporate resolutions concerns the timely adoption of board of directors or board of managers resolutions, their entry in the resolution book, and, where required, their registration and announcement with the trade registry. Under Articles 409 and 617 of Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, joint stock and limited liability companies must hold their ordinary general assembly within three months of the end of each financial year. For companies whose financial year coincides with the calendar year, this deadline falls on 31 March.
For example, if a limited liability company with multiple partners adopts a board of managers resolution but fails to record it in the resolution book, the validity of any transaction based on that resolution may later be disputed. Likewise, failing to register changes in signature authority can make it difficult to prove, vis-a-vis third parties, that the person acting on the company’s behalf actually had authority to do so.
The scope of managers’ authority and responsibilities, and the circumstances in which general assembly resolutions require registration and announcement, can vary depending on the company’s size and ownership structure. For this reason, keeping a separate tracking list for each type of resolution helps avoid confusion.
How Is Periodic Review of Other Legal Matters Carried Out?
Legal matters outside contract and resolution tracking include the regular monitoring of service of process, litigation and enforcement proceedings, and regulatory changes. Because these matters often arise suddenly, the risk of missing a deadline is higher when they are not tied to a pre-set review calendar.
For example, under Article 7/a of Notification Law No. 7201, a notice sent to a company’s registered electronic notification address is deemed served at the end of the fifth day following the date it reaches that address, meaning the deadline starts running without waiting for the notice to actually be opened and read. Under regular tracking, such notifications are checked daily and the relevant deadline is calculated and logged immediately. Similarly, the status of any pending enforcement proceeding or lawsuit is reviewed periodically.
Regulatory changes are also part of this periodic review. As of November 2026, the legislation governing companies can change frequently, so scanning the rules relevant to a company’s field of activity at regular intervals allows precautions to be taken in advance. This area is also directly connected to debt collection and litigation processes, since a file that is not tracked on time can lead to losses of rights that cannot later be remedied.
How Does the Legal Ops Model Make Legal Work Operational?
The Legal Ops model means managing legal work not item by item but as a whole, through process, calendar, assigned responsibility, document templates, and reporting. Under this approach, each legal task is tied to a predefined workflow that specifies when it is due, who is responsible for tracking it, and what document it results in.
For example, a legal calendar prepared at the start of the year for a group of companies can show, in a single chart, which general assembly meeting is due in which month, which contract needs renewing, and which filing is due. This chart turns dozens of dates that would otherwise need to be remembered individually into a single chain of accountability. The reporting step, in turn, regularly shows company management which tasks have been completed and which are still pending.
What this model changes for corporate and commercial law matters is that legal work is no longer carried out on an ad hoc, request-by-request basis but follows a predetermined cycle. Most matters within the scope of corporate and commercial law already have a recurring structure, so this model fits naturally.
How Is This Model Set Up, and for Which Companies?
This model is particularly useful for companies with more than one partner, companies maintaining ongoing contractual relationships, or companies with foreign partners. For a small, single-owner company with a limited number of contracts, the same structure can be set up with a simpler calendar.
The implementation sequence can be summarized as follows. First, an inventory is prepared of existing contracts and past resolutions. Next, the recurrence date for each task is entered into a calendar. Finally, a person responsible is assigned for each item, and a status report is presented to company management at regular intervals.
Following this sequence turns a company’s legal matters from one-off interventions into a sustainable structure. Since each case has its own particular circumstances, the calendar that is set up should be tailored to the company’s actual volume of contracts and resolutions.
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