Bird & Bird appoints previous Airbus Vice-President of Legal Affairs as a partner in Paris

International law firm Bird & Bird appoints Jean-Claude Vecchiatto as a partner in Paris. Vecchiatto joins the firm’s Banking & Finance practice group and will head the International Aviation & Defence sector group in France. Former Vice President Legal Affairs at Airbus, he was responsible for Finance and Projects. In his 12 years at EADS and Airbus, Jean-Claude managed group corporate and project finance risks including complex aerospace and defence projects, satellites and communication systems across several jurisdictions. He was also involved in the negotiations of a number of landmark projects, including the Skynet refinancing, FSTA, Galileo, Yahsat, Comsat NG