The Legal 500

France

Dispute resolution: International arbitration

Dispute resolution: International arbitration - ranked: tier 5

Bird & Bird

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Dispute resolution: White-collar crime

Dispute resolution: White-collar crime - ranked: tier 4

Bird & Bird

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EU, competition and distribution

EU, competition and distribution - ranked: tier 4

Bird & Bird

Thomas Oster and associate Florence Leroux are the main names to note in Bird & Bird's antitrust practice in Paris. The pair recently handled a number of disputes for clients such as Conserves France, which is facing the FCA in proceedings arising from an alleged cartel in the processed fruit market while also challenging the validity of the dawn raids carried out on its premises. Other work highlights pertain to regulatory compliance reviews and commercial audits. Consultant Claude Lazarus shares his time between London and Paris and is also a name to note.

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Employment

Employment - ranked: tier 3

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird provides ‘advice adapted to client needs’. The ‘approachable and available’ 14-lawyer team, which operates from the firm's offices in Paris and Lyon, advises French and international companies including several major pharmaceutical laboratories and TMT groups. The practice assists with collective matters including site closure, mass redundancies, negotiation of working time agreements and the harmonisation of terms and conditions. It notably assisted Semperit with the closure of its French operations and related downsizing programmes. The team also handled the employment aspects of M&A transactions including advising Teva Europe and Teva Santé on the sale of its women's health division. Other work includes conducting internal investigations and advising on whistleblowing and data protection issues. The team is led by Benjamine Fiedler and Nathalie Devernay. Alexandra Stocki  joined Proskauer Rose LLP.

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Insolvency

Insolvency - ranked: tier 4

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird has particular expertise advising on fiducie schemes and acting for corporate trustees in the context of restructuring and safeguard proceedings in France. The practice notably assisted Equitis acting as corporate trustee (fiduciaire) and Rive Defense with the sale of the underlying property asset during Rive Défense's safeguard proceedings. The practice is also handling a high amount of insolvency litigation. Practice head Nicolas Morelli and counsel Céline Nézet are the key names.

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Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions - ranked: tier 5

Bird & Bird

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The regions

The regions - ranked: tier 1

Bird & Bird

UK firm Bird & Bird has its main French office in Paris and a secondary office in Lyon, which has developed very well and now houses some 40 lawyers and professionals. The Lyon office, which has a broad range of business law expertise, is jointly headed by David Malcoiffe, whose private equity expertise is well recognised, and Yves Bizollon, who ranks among France's leading patent litigation experts.

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France: Dispute resolution

Dispute resolution: commercial litigation

Dispute resolution: commercial litigation - ranked: tier 4

Bird & Bird

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France: Industry focus

Industry focus: Healthcare and life sciences

Industry focus: Healthcare and life sciences - ranked: tier 2

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird's team consists of 11 partners and covers the intellectual property, corporate, data protection, commercial, employment and tax aspects of the healthcare and life sciences sector. Recent intellectual property highlights include Yves Bizollon's advice to Actavis regarding a patent revocation claim against Servier, andspan class="legalease-display-reference" data-type="contact" data-id="130007" data-parent-type="account" data-parent-id="12385" data-disabled-flag="FALSE">Anne-Charlotte Le-Bihan's work for a medical device manufacturer in the context of two multi-jurisdictional patent infringement actions. Clients such as Enterome instructed experts such as Emmanuelle Porte and Anne-Cécile Hansson to act on significant corporate and financing mandates, while Ariane Mole has been advising a leading global pharmaceutical company on a host of regulatory issues including market access and GDPR compliance. The tax front is covered by Laurence Clot and Alexandre Vuchot is the main name in the commercial sub-group.

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Industry focus: IT, telecoms and the internet

Industry focus: IT, telecoms and the internet - ranked: tier 1

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird regularly assists its enviable client base with litigation, major outsourcing deals, cloud-computing matters and new technology issues such as the Internet of Things, and data protection. MACSF instructed a team led by Ariane Mole to advise on its data privacy compliance, and Stéphane Leriche teamed up with Merav Griguer to oversee CDC's migration of its messaging and collaborative tools to a cloud system. Litigation specialist Marion Barbier defended a client in a software counterfeit, unfair competition and outstanding debt action. Also notable are fintech and regulatory expert Cathie-Rosalie Joy, commercial partner Alexandre Vuchot and the Lyon-based Géraldine Arbant, who specialises in intellectual property.

Leading individuals

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Industry focus: Luxury goods

Industry focus: Luxury goods - ranked: tier 1

Bird & Bird

The luxury offering at Bird & Bird operates as part of its global retail and consumer group, which covers the full gamut of corporate, commercial, intellectual property, regulatory and regulatory issues. The intellectual property department is headed by span class="legalease-display-reference" data-type="contact" data-id="130007" data-parent-type="account" data-parent-id="12385" data-disabled-flag="FALSE">Anne-Charlotte Le-Bihan while Alexandre Vuchot heads the competition and distribution sub-group. Data protection and IT law expert Ariane Mole recently advised a well-known drinks brand on its GDPR compliance project, which included updating its contracts with service providers, suppliers and vendors; Stéphane Leriche teamed up with Mole to assist a French fashion company with the implementation of its digital strategy as a first step towards creating an online commercial presence. Le Bihan and Géraldine Arbant acted on numerous design and intellectual property protection mandates, and Laurence Clot advised on tax and distribution issues.

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France: Intellectual property

Intellectual property: Patents

Intellectual property: Patents - ranked: tier 1

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird handles local and European patent matters for a broad range of enviable client names. Yves Bizollon recently represented Actelion in a patent revocation action against Icos - an affiliate of Eli Lilly - and Anne-Charlotte Le-Bihan continues to lead the advice to Technicolor regarding a series of infringement claims filed against Samsung pertaining to technologies such as video coding. The team also acted on a number of sensitive proceedings in the healthcare and consumer goods sectors. Géraldine Arbant is the main name to note in Lyon and counsel Laurent Labatte is also a key contact within the Paris branch.

Leading individuals

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Intellectual property: Trade marks and designs

Intellectual property: Trade marks and designs - ranked: tier 1

Bird & Bird

Known to clients as 'the perfect balance between theory and practice', the intellectual property team at Bird & Bird distinguishes itself through its 'pragmatic approach' and ability to 'emphasise the pros to reduce the impact of the cons'. Anne-Charlotte Le-Bihan continues to assist CrossFit with a host of actions for the enforcement of its trade marks, while Lyon-based Géraldine Arbant is representing Groupe SEB before the EU Intellectual Property Office in its opposition to the EU trade mark application for the 'foodle' logo by an Armenian company. Yves Bizollon is also a key name alongside associate and trade mark attorney Estelle Henry-Mayer, who is based in the Lyon office and specialises in the intellectual property aspects of marketing campaigns. Other noteworthy clients include Electrolux, Sodebo, Petit Bateau and GO Sport.

Leading individuals

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Intellectual property: copyright

Intellectual property: copyright - ranked: tier 1

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird's Lyon-based Géraldine Arbant is currently acting for Swiss designer furniture manufacturer Vitra in several copyright infringement proceedings against a host of parties, and in Paris Yves Bizollon successfully defended an international home appliance manufacturer in an infringement claim filed by a designer previously employed by the defendant. Also notable is Anne-Charlotte Le-Bihan, who is currently representing a leading global hospitality client in contractual and copyright infringement disputes across multiple jurisdictions.

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France: Private equity

Private equity: venture/growth capital

Private equity: venture/growth capital - ranked: tier 2

Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird is especially active in the life sciences and technology sectors. Recent highlights include advising Enterome on the creation of a joint venture with Nestlé Health Science for the development of an inflammatory bowel disease test, assisting Tilak Healthcare with its €250,000 Series A fundraising with Ibionext Growth Fund and acting for the Caisse des dépôts et consignations on its minority investment in Baluze, a French start-up that aims to produce and distribute photographs resulting from collaborations between photographers and art institutions. Les Villas de Porto Vecchio, Enyo Pharma and Pixium Vision are also clients. Emmanuelle Porte in Paris and David Malcoiffe in Lyon head the practice. Bertrand Lévy joined from DLA Piper.

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