Bird & Bird

Bird & Bird

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Géraldine Arbant

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.
Mélanie Bercot

Mélanie Bercot

As a Counsel in the Tech & Comms group in Paris, and a member of the Paris Bar, Mélanie advises our telecoms clients on a wide range of issues and represents them in litigation. She assists telecom operators in all kinds of projects. In particular, she advises our clients in their projects and issues related to network telecoms (deployment and maintenance of telecom networks), in drafting and negotiating sales contracts of telecom services (contracts with operators and B2B/B2C end-users), procurement contracts (contracts with other operators related to network and wholesale purchase, contracts with providers such as subcontractors or telecoms equipment providers). She also supports telecom operators on regulatory issues (licence, access to resources, discussions with regulators, lobbying related to frequency allocations). She is also experienced in supporting public authorities in their projects to roll out electronic communications networks, especially when there is a lack of private initiative. In this regard, she has gained expertise defining the legal strategy, drafting tenders and selecting operators, as well as monitoring the execution of public contracts. More recently, she has represented Bird & Bird's clients in litigations before administrative and commercial courts and assisted them in their dispute settlements before the national regulatory authority (the ARCEP). She previously held various positions within the legal department of a public authority and worked for a major French telecoms operator. From these past experiences, she has gained the ability to understand and identify legal and operational problems faced by her clients.
Frédérique Bocqueraz

Frédérique Bocqueraz

Frédérique is a lawyer in our Intellectual Property Group in our Lyon office. With about 15 years of experience, she assists our clients mainly in the context of IP litigation and pre-litigation. She acts mainly for retail and consumer businesses and mostly deals with copyright or trade mark infringement, unfair competition and free riding issues. Where possible, a transactional approach to finding an amicable solution is preferred before any legal proceedings, during the proceedings or in the context of mediation or conciliation proceedings. Over the years, she has developed particular experience in international copyright law issues and in the assessment of damages in the context of infringement proceedings. Her experience in IP disputes helps her to advise our clients to secure their IP rights in particular over employees' work and to enhance their IP assets. She has been involved in the creation and implementation of compensation policies for inventors and tools to identify and formalise know-how and to document the creation process. She regularly assists our clients in the management of employees' claims concerning intellectual property rights on work performed in the course of their duties. She also has experience in dealing with the day-to-day IP agreements (assignment, licence, partnership, consortium, settlement agreements etc.)
Nathalie Devernay

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.
Anne-Cécile Hansson

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.
Anne-Sophie Lampe

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.
Anne-Charlotte Le Bihan

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.
Stéphane Leriche

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.
Benjamin Lichtlé

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.
Gildas Louvel

Gildas Louvel

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 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.
Willy Mikalef

Willy Mikalef

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 Mole

Ariane Mole

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.
Thomas Oster

Thomas Oster

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.
Romain Perray

Romain Perray

Romain advises clients across the full spectrum of data protection and data security matters, including automotive, adtech, life sciences, insurance, e-commerce, leisure, social networks, and even the public sector, especially in the context of smart city projects. His experience extends to multijurisdictional cross-border data transfers strategy (including global intragroup data transfers framework agreements), joint data controllers and/or data processor agreements, the formulation of privacy and/or cookies policies, and the use of personal data for marketing purposes, including through profiling techniques, particularly in a Big Data context. He has also conducted numerous privacy impact assessments (notably in cases of pseudonymisation or anonymisation) and international data protection audits to ensure compliance with both EU and domestic data protection requirements. Beyond data privacy, he also advises on the EU Data Act, open data issues and cybersecurity (including incident response to cyberattacks, NIS2 and DORA compliance programs). He is also a lecturer in data privacy and data protection at the University of Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne, the University of Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, the University of Sorbonne Morocco and the University of Tokyo. Alongside his work, he lectures on data privacy and data protection in Master of Laws classes at the University of Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne, the University of Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, Sorbonne Morocco and the University of Tokyo (2026). He is also a regular contributor to leading legal publications, including LexisNexis and Lamy Editions, and the author of two significant manuals on data protection and video monitoring. He is a bilingual speaker and advises clients in both English and French.
Flore Poloni

Flore Poloni

Flore Poloni is a partner in the dispute resolution group in Paris, with extensive experience advising companies and public entities on complex cross-border disputes. Her work focuses on complex arbitration proceedings across strategic sectors such as energy, defence, life sciences and logistics, often linked to projects in Africa. She acts as counsel in significant international cases and also serves as an arbitrator, offering clients a well-rounded perspective on dispute resolution. She has extensive experience in high-stakes arbitrations arising from commercial agreements, corporate transactions, and shareholder arrangements. Many of these cases involve sensitive issues triggered by geopolitical or regulatory changes, including sanctions and force majeure events. Clients value her ability to manage time-critical proceedings and deliver practical solutions that protect their interests. With a background spanning business and law and in-house experience in claims management, she brings a commercially focused approach to arbitration strategy. Also having a litigation background, she advises on enforcement and asset recovery to ensure that awards translate into tangible results. She is also experienced at handling parallel proceedings of all kinds and in all jurisdictions.
Emmanuelle Porte

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 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.
Djazia Tiourtite

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.
Alexandre Vuchot

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.