Contract architecture that grows and protects your sales network.
Establishment, management and separation in distributorship and dealership networks: grow your network with contract architecture that accounts for goodwill compensation risk, competition compliance and a performance framework.
An integrated legal framework for Distributorship & Dealership Networks
A sales network is the brand's body in the field; a poorly drafted distributorship agreement produces dependencies that drag on for years, competition-law penalties, and costly terminations. As the backbone of Turkish-German trade, these relationships require attention to two legal systems at once.
From the design of the network model to the contract set, from competition-law compliance to performance management and the equalisation claims that arise when the relationship ends, we build and protect your network in line with your growth objective.
Services We Offer in This Focus Area
In the Distributorship & Dealership Networks focus area, we combine the relevant legal disciplines into a single work plan.
Network Model Design
Distributor, dealer, agent or franchise: selecting and structuring the right model for the target market.
Explore →Contract Set
Balanced, scalable contracts with provisions on exclusivity, targets, brand use and termination.
Explore →Competition-Law Compliance
Compliance of price, territory, and online-sales restrictions with the rules on vertical agreements.
Explore →Performance & Revision
Target monitoring, formal-notice processes and periodic legal maintenance of the network.
Explore →Termination & Equalisation
Termination strategy and the management of equalisation (goodwill) claims when the relationship ends.
Explore →Cross-Border Networks
Structures compliant with both legal systems and dispute monitoring for networks in the German and EU markets.
Explore →A team that knows the distribution practice of both markets
A Turkish manufacturer's German distributor or a German brand's Turkish dealer — in each direction, the relationship's critical clauses read differently. On matters such as goodwill compensation, exclusivity and online sales, we keep both bodies of case law in view at once and build the network to be resilient from the outset.
- A combination of Turkish and German distribution-law practice
- Experience with competition compliance in vertical agreements
- Case experience on both sides of equalisation claims
- A standardised contract and revision framework at network scale
- An integrated perspective covering logistics and customs
Related Practice Areas
The legal disciplines this focus area draws on.
Related Services
Our services most often engaged in this focus area — together with their scope.
Contract Management
Contract management covers the drafting, negotiation and full-lifecycle tracking of your commercial contracts. Weighing Turkish law together with DACH-region practice, we structure balanced and enforceable texts.
Explore →Compliance
Compliance advisory: we build programmes that bring your company into line with KVKK/GDPR, anti-corruption rules, and sectoral regulations. Through internal audit, policy, and training, we turn compliance into a lasting corporate culture.
Explore →Litigation
In commercial and civil litigation, we provide holistic defence — from case strategy to pleadings, from evidence management to hearing representation, all the way through the appeal and cassation stages. We are also at your side in the recognition and enforcement of cross-border judgments.
Explore →Recognition & Enforcement
Foreign court judgments and arbitral awards do not automatically take effect in Türkiye. Through recognition and enforcement actions, we transform your decision into a valid, enforceable judgment under Turkish law; we run the entire process from a single point of contact, through to collection.
Explore →Counterparty & Reputation Due Diligence
A new distributor, supplier, partner, or customer is only as trustworthy as its commercial history. Through registry, litigation, enforcement, and reputation screening, we reveal the counterparty's true profile before you sign, grounding your decision in data.
Explore →Related Sectors
The sectors this focus area touches often.
Automotive
Contract, compliance, investment, and dispute advisory across the automotive value chain for OEMs, suppliers, distributors, and investors.
Explore →Iron & Steel
Advisory services on industrial production, raw material supply, energy, exports, ESG, occupational safety, and commercial disputes.
Explore →Logistics
Advisory on contracts, liability and disputes in transport, warehousing, customs, CMR and cross-border delivery processes.
Explore →Technology
Legal advisory on licensing, SaaS, data, intellectual property, investment, scaling, compliance, and product law for technology companies.
Explore →Related Regional Desks
Our cross-border and specialist desks that run this focus area.
Germany Desk
An end-to-end legal bridge in Türkiye for companies from the DACH region and in Germany for Turkish companies.
Explore →Türkiye Desk
Advisory and litigation representation for domestic and foreign investors across all areas of Turkish law.
Explore →Global Desk
Single-point coordination in cross-border transactions with our partner firms (GGI) in 126 countries.
Explore →Track Record: Selected Matters
Anonymised examples of our work in this focus area, including the approach, process and outcome.
Defending the manufacturer against a compensation claim
Resolving, through defence and negotiation, a compensation claim asserted upon the ending of a German distributorship relationship.
Review the matter →Establishing a distribution network in Türkiye
Designing a market entry strategy, distributorship agreements and competition compliance.
Review the matter →Establishing a performance and revision framework across a dealer network
Embedding a target, reporting and review mechanism into the contracts of an existing dealer network; an exit design for the weak links.
Review the matter →Team in This Focus Area
Distributorship & Dealership Networks and meet our experienced multilingual team.
Related Publications
Distributorship & Dealership Networks — latest insights and guides.
Related Legislation
Distributorship & Dealership Networks — the legislation that directly affects this focus area, tracked in plain language on our Legislation Radar.
A regulation introducing safety, traceability and — critical for non-EU sellers — an EU-established “responsible person” requirement for consumer products sold in the EU; in force since 13 December 2024.
ABAvrupa B.EU Directive & RegulationRecently amendedPackaging Compliance: VerpackG/LUCID and EU PPWRSource · ABl. L, 22.01.2025 (PPWR)In force · LUCID: in force · PPWR: 12.08.2026Last amended · PPWR entry into force 11.02.2025The LUCID packaging registration mandatory for every seller shipping to Germany, together with the EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR) taking effect on 12 August 2026; an authorised representative requirement is coming for non-EU sellers.
Yes: fixed-term, target-based pilot structures that open up exclusivity in stages can be set up. This way, no permanent dependency arises before performance has been demonstrated. We design the pilot contract together with exit options.
If buy-back, discount, and a sell-off period are not regulated in the contract, post-termination stock becomes the main item of dispute. We close this risk by writing the buy-back formula and the pricing into the contract from the outset.
A franchise transfers the use of a brand, know-how, and a system under strict standards and gives rise to an ongoing support obligation; a dealership is a looser sales relationship. The balance of liability and termination shifts with the model — we choose the right model together.
An agent acts in your name and enjoys strong statutory protections (including the goodwill indemnity); a distributor buys and sells in its own name. Mislabelling leads to unexpected claims on termination. We set the model up correctly from the start and operate it in keeping with its label.
As a rule, no; a complete ban on internet sales is contrary to competition law. Limited steering is possible through quality standards and selective distribution criteria. We design the restrictions so that they do not attract penalties.
The biggest risks are failing to grant a reasonable notice period and, where its conditions are met, a goodwill indemnity claim; under German law these claims can extend to distributors as well. We build the termination strategy on notice period, grounds and documentation, and make the cost predictable.
A choice of law can be made in the contract; however, the mandatory rules of the German market (goodwill indemnity, competition) often remain in play. We frame the choice-of-law and jurisdiction clauses with an eye to enforceability.
Let's build a legal strategy in the Distributorship & Dealership Networks focus area.
Let's assess your need together with the relevant practice areas, sectors and regional desks.