Dr. Berk Demirkol

Doing Business in the Middle East

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Berk Demirkol is a partner at Potestas Partners based in Dubai and has over 15 years of international arbitration experience. Berk acts as counsel, arbitrator and expert in investment treaty and international commercial arbitration cases conducted under the rules of the major international arbitration institutions.

Berk taught at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) of Queen Mary, University of London, and held a tenured associate professor (docent) position at Galatasaray University in Istanbul between 2014 and 2025, where he taught International Investment Law and Arbitration, International Commercial Disputes, and Private International Law.

Berk was graduated from Galatasaray University and holds LL.M. degrees from the University of Geneva / Graduate Institute (Master in International Dispute Settlement) and from Galatasaray University. He completed his Ph.D. studies in International Investment Law at the University of Cambridge. His thesis “Judicial Acts and Investment Treaty Arbitration” was published by Cambridge University Press and was awarded in 2017 the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) World Business Law Prize. He has published numerous articles on international arbitration in leading international journals. Berk has also contributed several times to ICSID Reports providing reviews of ICSID awards.

Berk was among the core team who drafted the ISTAC Med-Arb Rules, the world’s first-ever med-arb rules released by an arbitration institution. Berk has also contributed to several arbitration-related databases, including the 1958 New York Convention Guide database maintained by Columbia Law School, the “Investment Claims” database of the Oxford University Press, and Investment Law and Arbitration Wiki for Jus Mundi.

Berk is dual-qualified lawyer, admitted to practice in England & Wales and Turkey.