Bird & Bird

Géraldine Arbant

Geraldine's practice encompasses the full spectrum of transactional and advisory IP work, brand management and IP litigation.She assists clients with the protection of their intellectual property, including filing and registering trademarks, drawings and models, patents and creations covered by copyright; licence agreements, order agreements, manufacturing and distribution agreements, various consultations, audit and defending their IP against infringement, unfair competition and employees’ actions before the French courts and international tribunals. Geraldine's clients are drawn from the Life Sciences, Food & Beverages, Automotive and Tech & Comms sectors.In addition to her IP practice, Geraldine also advises clients on the implementation and development of their activities, including commercial law, data protection, outsourcing and commercial litigation and supports clients in setting up customer service provider relations.She regularly hosts conferences, teaches intellectual property at DJCE in Montpellier and at EM Lyon, and publishes articles in various specialised magazines.

Félicien Bardsley

Yves is renowned for his extensive experience in patent litigation. Yves is the partner who leads our Intellectual Property group in France. He is based in our Paris office. With more than 25 years' experience in IP, Yves has extensive experience in litigation. He has dealt with some of the most significant, cross border, patent cases in the fields of pharmaceuticals, electronics, telecommunications and mechanics. Yves also led the establishment of our Lyon office in 2006, making Bird & Bird the first Anglo Saxon law firm to practice in Lyon. Before joining us, Yves was an IP partner at Lamy Véron & Associés. He is a Professor at CEIPI (Strasbourg), a lecturer at Centre Paul Roubier and regularly teaches at Montpellier Law University.

Carole is a partner in the Corporate group in Paris, where she is involved in M&A and private equity transactions. Carole regularly advises French and international companies, investment funds and institutional investors on their M&A transactions. She also advises corporate funds, investment funds and start-ups on private equity transactions (venture capital, development capital).

Diane de Bustamante

Diane is a counsel in the Paris-based Finance Team. Her practice focuses on aviation finance and leasing, where she has an extensive experience in structuring, documenting and negotiating transactions on French and English law, as well as cross-border aspects of the transactions. She advises primarily airlines, lessors and lenders on their transactions. She assists clients with their complex tax structures such as green financing, JOLCOs, Insurance product financing (Balthazar and Piiq) and title retention agreements as part of SLBs. Working closely and building lasting relationship with her clients has allowed her to work on new topics and innovative financings/products such as sustainable lending, Balthazar and PIQ-type financings. Her goal is to act as a one-stop shop for our clients in aviation-related, corporate, finance and tax matters.

Romain de Ménonville

Romain is a partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency department in Paris. He assists creditors and debtors at all stages of amicable and collective proceedings.

Jessica Derocque

Jessica is a partner in the Banking and Finance department in Paris. I am particularly involved in LBO and corporate finance transactions. I advise lenders (debt funds, mezzanine funds or banks), borrowers or sponsors in their LBO or corporate financing transactions, with a national or international dimension. I also have significant experience in debt restructurings where I have advised lenders on several lenders' led transactions.

Nathalie Devernay

Nathalie is an experienced employment lawyer with a clear international and client focused vision. She advises international corporations in both individual and collective French employment law matters, such as contracts of employment and internal regulations, termination procedures, post termination obligations and business protection, as well compensation schemes.Nathalie regularly advises on international mobility, transfers of employees, corporate transactions and restructuring plans, including cross border matters. She also assists clients before French courts in litigations related to employment issues.

Jil’s practice covers international business law, notably related to the Arab world and Europe, and more specifically in the field of international disputes and foreign investments. Having acted as a counsel, arbitrator and expert in about 100 cases, Jil has strong experience in managing international disputes and particularly disputes regarding shareholders and securities suits, class actions, breach of negotiations, bank guarantees. The type of business his practice includes relates to the trade of commodities, telecom markets, port concessions, construction industry and sport; etc. With a solid academic background (degrees in law, finance and political science), he is well regarded from a scientific standpoint. He is Lebanon’s UNCITRAL Representative and a member of the ICC Court. Also, he chairs the European Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is the vice-chair of the IBA Arab Regional Forum. A regular speaker at numerous international arbitration conferences, Jalal is the author of various articles and the co-author of Arbitration with the Arab Countries (Kluwer, 2011). He is also managing editor of the International Journal of Arab Arbitration, available on www.kluwerarbitration.com and www.intljaa.com. In 2019, he will publish a book on Arbitration Law in France, with Professor Daniel Mainguy (LexisNexis). Jalal is also a lecturer in arbitration law at the Versailles University and SciencesPo Paris (IEP).

Benjamine Fiedler

Benjamine is a reputed employment specialist with particular focus on M&A transactions, outsourcing and restructuring projects Benjamine is a partner in our Employment Group based in Paris. Since April 2000 she has led the employment department in Paris and she is also Co-Head of our International Employment Group. Focusing on employment and social security law, she generally assists her clients in both individual and collective employment law matters, particularly restructuring operations and collective negotiations. Benjamine has also developed specific expertise in cross-border transactions and their effects on employees, including outsourcing, restructuring, union negotiations and compensation strategies. Benjamine appears regularly before civil and employment courts in France. She is the author of a number of articles on employment law, notably on the subject of information technology and regularly speaks at conferences.

Laurence Hanley

Laurence is an aviation finance specialist, advising on all structured finance matters, from LOI to funds flow, covering debt, JOLCOs, green financing, Balthazar and PIQ-type financings, specialist sale agreements, tax structuring and aircraft portfolio securitisations, with a specialisation in the negotiation of operating leases and litigation stemming from aircraft redeliveries. He also advises lessors and lenders, particularly in relation to security and asset recovery and assist with the setting up and operation of special purpose companies. Leading the aviation finance team, he provides English and French law advice for all stages of financing an aircraft, from negotiating the all-important letter of intent to assisting with the practicalities of delivery and aircraft and security registrations. One particular strength is negotiating practical terms for operating leases, where his decades of experience promote watchfulness for onerous clauses and gives him the means to provide alternative solutions acceptable to the leasing industry. Laurence also advises on SAF and regulatory issues, and tax-efficient structures for leasing into certain jurisdictions, including by setting up SPC lessor vehicles in France. His aim is to complement your own technical team by integrating with them over the documentation process, so that the documents match your operating reality, rather than expose you to a default by introducing obligations agreed between two legal teams with no insight into how you operate your business in practice. The team is friendly and multinational, with French, English, German, Russian, Spanish and Arabic languages all spoken fluently by versatile lawyers with access to expertise critical to the commercialisation of emerging technologies key to the aviation industry, including, for example, the negotiation of SAF supply agreements. Building lasting relationships with clients has provided the team with a unique back-catalogue of clauses that have been stress tested in practice, for example aircraft redelivery terms in scenarios where the redelivery condition of the aircraft is litigated, or where liability for an unexpected insurance premium tax is contested. We are happy to assist younger companies who do not yet have all the experience that they require to give themselves the advantage of trading on documentation that allows them to compete with more established peers. Our client base represents an interesting mix of airlines, lessors, and lenders, with the majority of lessor and lender work being focused on asset recovery, restructuring, advice on security and local corporate work.

Anne-Cécile Hansson

Anne-Cécile has built a unique practice advising French, Swedish and Nordic clients on a broad range of corporate and commercial issues. Anne-Cécile is a partner in our International Corporate Group, based in Paris. Working with clients from the industrial, life sciences and new technologies sectors, her practice is focused on advising French, Swedish and Nordic companies on corporate and commercial law issues. Anne-Cécile has particular expertise in mergers and acquisitions, cross border transactions, investments, restructurings, as well as the negotiation and drafting of commercial agreements. Her practice also involves commercial and civil litigation, labour and employment law. Before joining us in 2014, Anne-Cécile worked for Jones Day in Paris for twelve years.

Johanna Harelimana

Johanna is a junior associate, with experience advising clients on regulatory matters across several sectors, especially in life sciences, food and beverages, and environmental sectors. She currently offers both French and international clients legal advice on product's qualification, clinical trials, market access, price and reimbursement, anti-gift regulation, advertising and promotion, e-health (including telemedicine), as well as drafting contracts (distribution, professional services, clinical trial agreements, etc). She also assists with regulatory advice on other products such as cosmetics, biocide, phytopharmaceuticals and novel food. She works hand in hand with the data protection, commercial, intellectual property, and corporate departments of the firm to provide clients with tailor made advice and solutions. Prior to joining Bird & Bird, Johanna gained professional experience working for a renowned pharmaceutical company which allowed her to understand the complex regulatory frameworks pharmaceutical, biotech and medical devices companies have to face. She also became very familiar with the functioning of health authorities and the legal framework for the authorisation, manufacture and distribution of medicines in the EU while working for the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM). Since regulatory regimes are subject to constant changes and new regulation, she closely follows the legal and regulatory evolutions in the health sector to provide clients with the latest updates. She is fluent in French and English.

Cathie-Rosalie Joly

Cathie-Rosalie provides both legal advice and acts in regulatory litigation. She has developed solid experience in regulatory and prudential matters (licensing or exemption procedures, freedom to provide services or freedom of establishment regime, declaration of agents, distributors or intermediaries, drafting of complex contractual agreements including outsourcing, implementation of internal procedures, compliance, anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing, internal control, management of conflict of interest intra group, banking secret, etc.). She also advises her clients concerning the payment systems (EDI, Swift net, Target II, Euro 1) and the requirements of professional rules, especially PCI-DSS, PA-DSS. With a leading position in supporting projects linked to new technologies, Cathie-Rosalie draws from more than 10 years' experience, representing both new disruptive players operating in Fintech, RegTech and Insurtech sector and banks, financial institutions or insurers in the development of innovative services (e-payment, electronic money, prepaid cards, mobile, banking, blockchain, crowdfunding, crowdlending, crowdequity, payment initiation services, account information services, investment platforms, robot advisory, online KYC, etc.). She also assists her clients in the implementation of their dematerialisation projects of contracts, electronic/biometric signature, strong authentication, cybersecurity, data protection, outsourcing, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Cathie-Rosalie supports her clients as they develop their presence in both Europe and French speaking Africa.

Laurent Labatte

Working as Counsel in our Paris Intellectual Property Group, Laurent draws on both his R&D engineering experience and on his registered French and European patent attorney experience to advise our clients on all phases of patent litigation matters. His thorough knowledge of European patent law and enthusiasm for complex technological issues have equipped him to effectively navigate patent litigations in numerous technical fields, ranging from video coding to concrete mixes, coffee capsules, telecoms and industrial mechanics to name just a few. From software engineering to judicial litigation, his professional career has been built upon three complementary professions. Laurent started out working as an R&D engineer for five years, in a large defence electronics company, working on the design and development of engineering projects. The discovery of law practice triggered his interest and led him onto a registered French and European patent attorney's path. He worked at the French office of an international IP firm for six years where he assisted innovators in protecting their inventions by drafting and prosecuting patents in a number of patent offices. He was also given the opportunity to act as a reference in European patent law for a large New Zealand industrial property firm for a few months. Now, as part of the Paris team and together with his colleagues across Bird & Bird, he is always keen to delve into clients' various activity fields and to guide them through the maze of patent litigation. Laurent is eager to assist with devising the most effective strategy in order to achieve practical defensive or offensive results before the French courts, or for the purpose of negotiations. His former experience in patent prosecution allows him to better discern the opposing party's weaknesses and anticipate potential risks arise from a competitor's patent portfolio. Aside from pure litigation proceedings work, he also regularly advises his clients on freedom-to-operate matters, risk assessment, and other opportunities offered by their patent assets. Since 2014 he has been lecturing on patent law at Paris-Sud University and has been a member of several professional associations such as LES France and APEB.

Anne-Sophie Lampe

Anne-Sophie is a partner based in our Paris office, with 15 years' experience in the technology sector. She specialises in IT and Internet litigation, and works for both tech companies and end-user clients. She is passionate about the technology sector because of its relentless innovation. In addition to her practice in IT litigation, she is also interested in market trends, such as the ongoing digital transformation of companies, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and specifically the challenges related to generative AI. Additionally, Anne-Sophie closely follows the increasing regulations surrounding platforms, which are inevitably leading to complex legal disputes. She is passionate about understanding our clients' businesses to better serve them. She loves to impart information, so she teaches in two different Masters 2, dedicated to Digital creation law, as well as organising training for Numeum (formerly Syntec Numérique, a union of IT service providers) and writing articles.

Thierry Lautier

I am a partner in the Paris IP team. I am a patent litigator with a dual legal and engineering background (optics, electronics). I am qualified as both a French attorney-at-law and a European patent attorney.

Anne-Charlotte Le Bihan

Anne-Charlotte co-head our French IP team and our International patent group. Best known for her strategic and business approach to complex IP matters, she has significant experience in both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters, developed over the past 22 years. Her major forte is patent litigation, notably in the pharmaceutical, electronics and telecommunications sectors. She coordinates highly complex pan-European patent litigations and is known for her capacity to work on complex technical matters as well as very sensitive legal issues. Anne-Charlotte was President of LES France from 2017 to 2020 and was a Board member of CEIPI until 2023.

Anne-Charlotte Le-Bihan

Anne-Charlotte has significant experience in both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters, developed over the past 15 years. While her major forte is patent litigation, notably in the pharmaceutical, electronics and telecommunications sectors, she also has vast experience in soft IP matters. Within this area she notably advises major pharmaceutical, luxury, sports and electrical goods companies on sensitive trademark and design related matters. Anne-Charlotte regularly advises clients in negotiating IP related contracts. She also advises her clients on pharmaceutical regulatory questions. Anne-Charlotte teaches Intellectual Property Law at the Universities of Paris II Panthéon Assas and Orsay Paris Sud. She is a regular speaker at major legal and industry conferences such as ABA, LESI, or ABPI. She is the author of many legal articles among which SPCs: Three new pillars buttress case-law, (Revue Propriété Industrielle, March 2014). MIP ranks her as an "IP Star".

Stéphane Leriche

Stéphane provides cutting edge, business-oriented advice on all aspects of technology transactions and partnerships Stéphane is a partner in ourCommercial and IT Groups, based in Paris. His specific interests include the drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts in the Information Technology, Communications and eCommerce sectors. His current practice is focused on high profile transactions and strategic partnerships, advising major companies in structuring their strategic alliances, joint ventures , IT and business process outsourcing deals. Stéphane has extensive experience of complex and structured contractual arrangements, particularly in regulated environments. In addition to his transactional work, Stéphane’s advises on copyright issues related to the protection of technology assets such as software and databases in both contentious and non-contentious matters. Stéphane regularly contributes to publications on information technology-related matters and is a frequent speaker at conference on such matters.

Bertrand is specialized in M&A transactions and more particularly in LBO transactions. He advises French and foreign investment funds as well as corporations for their acquisitions or divestment processes in France or abroad. Bertrand also focuses in the Tech sector and assists his clients for their M&A Tech transactions. Bertrand has been involved in very high profile LBO and M&A transactions, giving him significant expertise in the French market.

Benjamin Lichtlé

Benjamin is a partner in charge of the French tax practice, advising and assisting our clients on all aspects of taxation and has a strong expertise in group taxation. Benjamin has extensive experience of group taxation, advising on all transactions in a domestic and international context. His clients operate in a variety of sectors, including chemicals, engineering, healthcare and retail. Benjamin also manages multidisciplinary teams in different countries for large-scale reorganisations of international groups in project mode. He regularly performs audit assignments and has extensive experience in the tax structuring of acquisition transactions.

With vast experience in a wide range of transactions, Gildas specialises in mergers and acquisitions as well as private equity in France and Africa. Gildas is a Partner in our International Corporate Group. He is based in Paris where he acts as head of the Corporate Group in France. He advises both public and private French and foreign groups, from the industrial or services sectors, on their M&A operations – including sales, acquisitions, Joint Ventures, majority or minority investments, and reorganisations. Gildas heads our African Group in Paris. This dedicated team advises on the risks and opportunities related to M&A projects in Africa. The Group represents corporations, private equity investors, governments and State-owned entities.

David Malcoiffe

David is a leading corporate lawyer advising on mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and private equity transactions. David is a partner in the Corporate Group in our Paris and Lyon offices. With training and expertise in both corporate and tax law, David has extensive experience in advising purchasers/sellers in national and international M&A transactions. He also advises investment funds and start-up companies in private equity and venture capital transactions, including the drafting and negotiation of term sheets, share/asset purchase agreements, investment and shareholders’ agreements, joint venture and merger agreements and the coordination and undertaking of (cross border) due diligence procedures. In addition, David regularly advises clients on corporate reorganisations and assists companies and managers with laws of corporation and corporate governance matters. He is a regular speaker at seminars regarding corporate and tax laws, including those held by the Chartered Accountant Association.

Boris is the partner in charge of the Banking and Finance department in Paris. As a partner in our Paris office, Boris advises funds, banks, sponsors and public authorities on the structuring, allocation and financing of infrastructure and energy projects in Europe and Africa.

Willy is a tech-friendly lawyer based in Paris, specialising in data protection, communications and satellites, with a commitment to providing business-oriented, sustainable advice. After training at a telecommunications operator, an e-commerce world leader, the European Space Agency and the TMT departments of law firms in Paris and London, and gaining significant experience in commercial, communications, satellite and data protection law, he joined Bird & Bird in 2013. This experience helps him advise some of the world's most technologically advanced organisations on the implementation of regulatory requirements, the negotiation of commercial contracts with a strong regulatory component or where he acts for clients in proceedings before the regulators and courts. He has experience in advising businesses and regulators in all areas of communications and satellite law across Europe and emerging countries. This includes network deployment, licensing, radio spectrum, numbering, interconnection, cybersecurity, public safety, law enforcement, consumer protection, terminal telecommunications equipment product conformity, regulatory taxes, etc. His expertise also covers satellite regulatory and commercial matters such as licensing requirements for space activities, liability and space contracts. In the field of data protection, he assists organisations in developing and implementing their privacy program, establishing GDPR compliance tools (eg. information notices, internal policies and procedures, privacy impact assessments, data breach notification process, etc.), complying with international data transfer requirements (data transfer agreements, BCRs, etc), responding to data subjects requests and complaints or representing companies in their dealings with data protection authorities. With his telecoms background, he is also able to provide expert advice on data protection requirements which specifically apply in the electronic communications sector (cookies, email direct marketing, traffic data retention obligations, and other ePrivacy obligations). Willy regularly acts as a lead lawyer on international projects and transactions. His secondment to Bird & Bird's London office in 2017 taught him to work as a single, cohesive team with his colleagues across all of our offices, and beyond the firm with our network of trusted partners in America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. This helps him implement complex multi-jurisdictional projects smoothly and efficiently.

Ariane is renowned for her in-depth knowledge of data protection matters and advising some of the world’s most innovative and technologically advanced companies Ariane is joint head of our International Data Protection Group and is one of the leading lawyers in personal data protection law. She is based in our Paris office. Ariane advises French and international companies and public services clients on all aspects of personal data protection and privacy, particularly international data transfers and businesses, monitoring at work and data protection issues. She also assists her clients with their relationships with the CNIL and with other national or local Data Protection Authorities. She advises clients on technologies, privacy and individual liberties and on the application of personal data protection laws, audits of information systems and compliance of data processing systems. A member of the Paris Bar since 1995, Ariane previously worked within the Legal Department of the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) focusing on international matters before becoming an expert to the DG XIII of the European Union Commission where she helped to draft the 1995 Directive on Personal Data Protection. In 2008, Ariane was admitted as a Legal Expert to the EuroPriSe project launched by the EU Commission, allowing her to offer assessments to manufacturers and vendors of IT products and IT-based services in order to obtain EuroPriSe privacy certification. In June 2012, CNIL awarded her the "label CNIL”, for her data protection training seminar, "Loi Informatique et Libertés - le regime juridique des traitements et des fichiers". She is a frequent speaker at data protection related conferences and training seminars. She is also a regular contributor to newspapers and specialist legal magazines.

Nicolas Mordaunt-Crook

Nicolas has over 25 years of experience practicing banking and financial law and has extensive experience of the Industry, having supported a broad range of players: credit and payment institutions, investment firms, asset managers, insurance companies and financial intermediaries. He provides his clients advice and assistance relating to the provision of banking, investment, fund management and insurance services or financial intermediation, both from a regulatory and transactional perspective. Nicolas has extensive knowledge of laws and regulations that apply to different types of banking and financial activities in France and the EU, as well as of the procedures for obtaining relevant permissions or licences. His practice aims to address the needs of both local and international players : In the banking / payment services and capital markets space, he supports clients with initial set-ups (including applications for authorization and EU passport filings), the design and roll out of large-scale and cross-border, reorganizations, business cooperation / joint-venture schemes and marketing / product distribution arrangements. More generally, he provides technical advice relating to day-to-day business on a broad range of banking or capital markets related issues In the Asset Management area, he has long-standing experience with structuring AMF-authorized investment management companies and their funds, primarily in the alternative space (private equity and real estate areas in particular). He also advises foreign players on the marketing of their funds in France (alternative or UCITS), with due consideration given to local rules and constraints (112) In the Insurance sector, he supports both insurers and brokers, with particular focus on product-related regulatory and contractual issues, distribution schemes and reorganisation and / or merger of insurance companies.

Nicolas Morelli

Nicolas advises on all stages of financial and industrial restructurings, from consensual workouts to litigation involving distressed companies.His practice covers insolvency law, both as an advisor and as a litigator. In addition, Nicolas has a strong expertise in complex commercial litigation.

Boubeker Moussaoui

Boubeker is an Associate Lawyer in the Paris office and a member of the Aviation Finance team. He is involved in a wide range of transactions covering mainly commercial aircraft, but also helicopters, engines and spare parts. He also covers leasing and financing transactions, as well as number of corporate matters. Providing both English and French Law advice, Boubeker assists major airlines with novation, leasing (whether operating or financial leases, including the review of LOIs), financing transactions (including green finance and various insurance products (such as Balthazar). He also assists lessors, particularly with the setting up and operation of special purpose companies (SPVs). He enjoys being a part of a multicultural team. The team provides French, English and Irish Law advice and, speaks French, English, Russian, Arabic and Spanish. They have a very close relationship with their clients, and always aim to protect their best interest.

Thomas specialises in competition law, having significant experience in helping clients to avoid competition law pitfalls and representing them in proceedings before the competition authorities. His practice covers both contentious and non-contentious national and European competition law, together with commercial and distribution law.Thomas has substantial experience of advising on cartel investigations and assisting companies in preparing leniency applications before the European Commission and the French Competition Authority. He helps to develop and implement competition compliance programs and provides assistance in notifications of transactions to the European Commission under the EC Merger Regulation and to the French Competition Authority.Thomas’ experience of competition law covers different angles, having worked in practice, in house and having done an internship at the French Competition Authority. Prior to joining Bird & Bird he worked for 14 years in the Paris office of a major global law firm.On the commercial side, Thomas has experience of advising clients on the structuring of selective, exclusive or franchise distribution networks across Europe, as well as advising on supplier-distributors relationships and sales regulations. He also regularly assists clients in relation to product liability issues.Thomas regularly participates in seminars and conferences and is the author of several articles on competition law.

Xavier Philipps

With a focus on tech and complex financial matters, Xavier offers a full-spectrum criminal defense, helping clients navigate both traditional white-collar issues, emerging digital risks and regulatory disputes. As a white-collar crime attorney, he guides clients through every step of the legal process, from preventing risks to defending clients in high-stakes criminal trials. His work often starts with risk identification, prevention and management where he helps businesses and executives navigating criminal and regulatory intricacies. Xavier conducts internal investigations if misconduct is suspected, gathering evidence and advising on corrective measures. When clients face a judicial or regulatory investigation, he assists them in responding to inquiries. He manages dawn-raids and seizures, ensuring their rights are protected. He also accompany clients through negotiation with prosecutors and judges when alternatives to prosecution are possible. Xavier represents his clients before the courts, often working with forensic experts to analyze complex financial or technical data. He has also developed a specific expertise with auditors, accountants and other financial service providers and often defends them before courts and regulatory bodies. As former Secrétaire de la Conférence des avocats du Barreau de Paris (a two-hundred-year-old institution which elects each year, by means of a public speaking competition, 12 lawyers who will be court-appointed in the most complex and serious criminal matters) Xavier gained a valuable in-depth knowledge of courts, judges and prosecutors as well as procedural technicalities to be envisaged for each specific case. Before joining Bird & Bird, he worked 10 years at Tier-1 law firms specializing in Tech-oriented disputes and white-collar crime.

Emmanuelle Porte

Emmanuelle is co-managing partner of Bird & Bird France. Emmanuelle advises companies and venture capital funds on fund-raising processes, M&A transactions, private placements and IPOs. She specialises in venture capital, M&A and corporate finance transactions within the Life Sciences & Healthcare sector. She focuses in particular on clients in the biotech, medtech and healthcare industries, although she also works for clients in the Tech & Comms sector. Emmanuelle's practice frequently involves advising small to mid-size corporate clients on fundraising processes, both within the French market and overseas. Her expertise includes advising start-ups and those selling new technologies on M&A, private placements and IPOs as well as general corporate and commercial matters.

Anne-Florence Raducault

Anne-Florence has a particular interest in the civil and criminal risks in industrial public firms, especially on matters related to responsibilities in these fields. Her practice encompasses public administration, government departments and private firms, on both nationally and internationally. Anne-Florence advices on litigation cases before the Courts of first degree or Appeal Courts together with civil, criminal and public issues cases before the Administrative Courts.In addition, Anne-Florence advises on tort and criminal cases together with claims for damages; commercial cases; shareholder claims and cases based on contractual links and contract law, especially related to international contract or foreign contract policies.She is a regular speaker at conferences for public and private firms on torts, risks and civil or criminal liability, Anne-Florence draws upon her experience of European issues, particularly on recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.Anne-Florence conducts audits on criminal risks for public and private companies and works on criminal risks prevention with her clients; she wrote a book aimed to business leaders to help them understand their personal risks and the organisation of the internal prevention of risks.

Alexandra Schellino

Alexandra is a lawyer in the Intellectual Property team in our Paris office, where she assists French and international clients in litigation and non-contentious matters across the full spectrum of IP. She joined Bird & Bird in February 2022 as an associate. Prior to this, she gained her first experiences working in French and international law firms, in a world leading beauty group, as well as in the European Union Intellectual Property Office, in Alicante. These experiences enabled her to acquire a comprehensive and practical vision of intellectual property. Today, as part of the Paris team and in close collaboration with the various Bird & Bird offices, she assists her clients in a variety of sectors, mainly in trademark and patent law, as well as design and copyright. She has also developed an expertise in customs procedures relating to IP infringement. She is a member of APRAM.

Djazia Tiourtite

Djazia is a partner in our Dispute Resolution Group in Paris, taking a pragmatic approach to litigation, combined with in-depth expertise in the French rules of civil procedure in all aspects of litigation (mediation, negotiation, trial and enforcement). She has been practising as a qualified litigator since 2008, mainly assisting international companies in their disputes. Her expertise covers a wide range of commercial and liability disputes (unfair competition, distribution, breach of contract, breach of established contractual relationships, IT and industrial project failure, technical intermediary liability, e-reputation, cyber security) for clients from the IT, media, energy and utilities, and communications sectors. Djazia has a deep understanding of all the latest trends in technology and communications and a real appetite for innovation, which gives her real added value in all technology and communications-related disputes. These skills enable him to provide clients with efficient and successful assistance in their disputes.

Edouard Treppoz

Edouard is Of Counsel at Bird & Bird in Paris, specialising in IP/IT law and international dispute resolution, dividing his time between the IP and dispute resolution teams. He is a full-time professor at the University Paris 1 Panthéon/ Sorbonne where he mainly teaches copyright law in its internal, European and international dimensions. During his PhD at Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, he was a Fulbright visiting scholar at Columbia Law School. Edouard is the author of numerous articles dedicated to copyright law, private international law and European intellectual property law published in French and English, the co-editor of two books on those issues and the co-author of a casebook dedicated to 'International Copyright Law – US and EU perspectives' (ed. Edward Elgar Publisher with Jane C. Ginsburg as a co-author). His main areas of expertise are copyright law and the intersection of intellectual property and private international law/conflict of laws. He often speaks and presents at professional events here in France and internationally. He has been appointed as a member of the International Law Association's Committee, dedicated to intellectual property and private international law. In 2014, he was a visiting professor at Columbia University Law School where he taught international copyright law. Edouard is currently directing the Master 2 D2A in Economic Law and Audiovisual Management at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon/Sorbonne.

Alexandre Vuchot

Alexandre’s breadth of experience enables him to provide his clients with strategic commercial solutions. Alexandre is a partner in our International Commercial Group, based in Paris. With both French and English postgraduate qualifications in commercial and corporate law, Alexandre has extensive experience of transactional matters. He is able to offer comprehensive advice on all aspects of general business law including supply and manufacturing agreements; standard terms and conditions of supply and purchase; sales; joint ventures; co-operation and collaboration agreements; strategic partnerships; and procurement and outsourcing, particularly in the telecoms, media, IT, internet and ecommerce sectors. His practice also includes advertising, marketing, sales promotion and sponsoring matters and he specialises in broadcasting and media regulation. In addition, Alexandre advises and acts on real estate matters for institutional investors, in relation to acquisition of buildings, as well as the preparation of leases and provide assistance for negotiating, renegotiating or terminating commercial leases. He has significant experience in drafting and negotiating property development agreements, agreements for delegation or assistance in project management, or general construction contracts. Complementing his commercial expertise, Alexandre leads our initiatives to support entrepreneurs in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sector, using this experience to assist our clients in the implementation of their CSR initiatives.

Within our commercial and dispute resolution teams, Cen advises french and international clients on technology and copyright-related projects and disputes. As part of his transactional law practice, he is experienced in complex and innovative IT projects. He assists clients, ranging from start-ups to multinationals, from the inception of their projects (contractual arrangements, risk analysis) to the drafting and negotiation of IT agreements (outsourcing, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, license terms). Cen also has a keen interest in media and entertainment law. In this respect, he advises clients in the video game and the audiovisual industry, notably on French and European copyright and regulatory matters. His work includes secondments in the digital and IT law department of various leading French companies, which furthered my understanding of my clients' practical needs and expectations. As such, he strives to provide business-oriented solutions. As part of his litigation law practice, he represents and assists French and international software publishers, IT providers, and customers, in disputes relating to IT projects or copyright infringement claims. In this respect, he has successfully represented clients in high-stake arbitrations and proceedings before French courts, notably relating to failures of ERP software or CRM software implementation projects. Prior to joining Bird & Bird in 2023, Cen worked as an attorney for five years in a top-tier French law firm, well recognised in IT law.