Bird & Bird lands French IT/IP partner

Bird & Bird has taken on a partner from Andersen Legal's Paris arm SG Archibald to advise on competition work in the IT sector.

Olivier Fréget, who joined the firm last week, was a partner in the intellectual property/IT group at SG Archibald and also head of competition and European Union work.

He advises major French telecoms companies and internet service providers on telecoms liberalisation issues in relation to the Competition Council and the French telecommmunications regulatory body.

Bird & Bird Paris managing partner Frédérique Dupuis-Toubol says that the firm has been looking for a partner with experience in both areas for over a year. "There are a lot of competition issues in our technology-focused area, so to find someone with media and competition experience is very interesting," she says.

Fréget will be the only competition partner in Paris, but there are three in the group, which combines Paris and Brussels.

The office's clients include Credit Lyonnais, EDS, Sema, Vivendi, UPC and AOL.