Elif Naz UZMAN PEHLIVAN

Elif Naz Uzman, LL.M, is a Senior Legal Counsel at Tiryaki Agro, a leading and well-known agricultural supply chain company operating in Turkey, the US, Canada, the Middle East, and Africa. Beyond its core agricultural operations, the company also engages in construction projects, port management, and sustainable jet fuel initiatives.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, and earned her LL.M degree from Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey, with a thesis on Adaptation and Termination of Public-Private Partnership Contracts through Arbitration. Her thesis has been published as a book in both Turkish and English. In addition, she completed the HarvardX Program on US Contracts Law. She also attended specialized programs on Maritime & Transport Law at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands and Energy Disputes at Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. In 2018, she participated as an ELSA International Delegate at the 51st UNCITRAL Commission Meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where the Singapore Mediation Convention was being finalized.

Before transitioning to an in-house counsel role, she worked for many years as an external counsel at prestigious law firms, representing and advising clients in complex cross-border disputes and high-value commercial transactions. With extensive experience in international arbitration, construction law, public-private partnerships (PPPs), private international law, aerospace law, maritime law, and contracts law, she has advised multinational and global companies and investors. She has also represented clients in international arbitration proceedings before ICC, ICSID, GAFTA, FOSFA, and ISTAC.

Elif has been invited as a speaker at international panels and conferences, sharing her insights on arbitration, dispute resolution, and cross-border projects. She is a member of Istanbul Bar Association and has actively contributed to the Istanbul Arbitration Center (ISTAC), where she previously served as Chair of the Events and Organizations Committee.
In addition to her legal career, she has a strong background in the arts, having trained as a professional ballerina and taught ballet for many years. She also enjoys windsurfing and literature.