The Paris office of Signature Litigation adds significant strength to its partnership and litigation expertise with the appointments of Laurent Martinet and Ela Barda.
4 July 2025: Signature Litigation’s Paris office keeps on growing and adds a renowned litigation partner to its existing team of six partners: Laurent Martinet.
Laurent has more than 30 years of experience in handling multi-jurisdictional, complex commercial disputes. He acts for a broad range of French and international companies operating in the chemical, energy, new technologies, automotive and finance sectors. Before becoming a litigation partner at Paul Hastings, Laurent spent 15 years at Jones Day before joining Dechert for 5 years.
With clients around the world, Laurent is well-known to French companies and in the French market, as well as across the French legal profession. He has served as vice-Head of the Paris Bar (2014-2015, vice-Chairman of the CNB (Conseil national des Barreaux (2021-2023)) and was Chairman and then Deputy Chairman of the EFB (Ecole de formation des Barreaux (2014-2018)).
The Managing Partner of Signature Litigation’s Paris office, Thomas Rouhette, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Laurent to our team in Paris. Laurent brings with him a wealth of experience in bet the company litigation and a wide-ranging expertise across various jurisdictions, which will also strengthen our pan-European offering to clients.”
Commenting on his appointment, Laurent Martinet said: “Signature’s positioning as an international boutique commercial disputes firm with few conflicts is a compelling proposition for corporate clients operating globally and which seek deep legal and sector-focused expertise from their counsel, and I am excited to contribute to this with my new colleagues.”
Signature Litigation now comprises 26 partners and over 100 members across its four offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Gibraltar.
This news was published on the front cover of La Lettre des Juristes d’Affaires, 4 July 2025 and online here. This news was also published in Law.com International, CDR News, Global Legal Insights, Legal Business, The Global Legal Post, Le Monde du Droit and Le Point.
11 July 2025: The Paris offices of specialist commercial disputes law firm Signature Litigation today announces the promotion of Ela Barda to Partner.
Ela joined Signature Litigation in 2019 as an Associate and was part of the team who launched the firm in Paris, before being promoted to Senior Associate in 2020 and Counsel in 2023.
Ela is a litigator specialising in commercial litigation, asset tracing and enforcement matters, and she has increasingly developed specific expertise in digital platform law. She represents both claimants and defendants before the French civil and commercial courts at all stages of litigation, with a particular focus on high-profile cross border disputes.
Commenting on her promotion, Ela said: “It is an honour to be promoted to partnership, having witnessed Signature’s success over the past few years. I’m looking forward to continuing working alongside my colleagues and contributing to the firm’s growth in the Paris market, and particularly expanding our enforcement and digital platform-related expertise.”
Partner Thomas Rouhette congratulates Ela and commented: “We are proud to promote Ela to Partner (the first from the ranks in Paris), and her growth from Associate to Partner over the past six years is a testament to her dedication to her clients and core values at Signature. It reflects our commitment to sustained investment in organic growth across our offices.”
Ela’s promotion follows the recent appointment of Laurent Martinet from Paul Hastings, who joined as a Partner in Paris in June.
Signature Litigation now comprises 29 partners and over 100 staff across its four offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Gibraltar.
This news has been published in Global Legal Insights, Solicitors Journal, La Lettre des Juristes d’Affaires, Le Monde du Droit, Décideurs Juridiques and LegalMoves.