Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Paul Bird is Head of the firm’s European Corporate Practice and a senior M&A partner.

His practice focuses on advising private equity firms, public companies, boards of directors and special committees in connection with mergers & acquisitions and other significant corporate matters, including cross-border transactions, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs and takeover defense. He also regularly counsels corporations and their directors on corporate governance and fiduciary duty matters. A former member of the firm’s Management Committee, Mr. Bird was Co-Chair of the firm’s Corporate Department from 2010 to 2016 and Co-Head of the firms’ Mergers & Acquisitions Practice from 2001 to 2010.

From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Bird was resident in the firm’s Paris office, where he became a member of the Paris bar and worked extensively on international mergers & acquisitions and other cross-border transactions, which continue to represent a significant portion of his practice. Prior to joining Debevoise, Mr. Bird served as law clerk to the Hon. Robert W. Sweet, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Bird is Treasurer and a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee, Finance Committee and Human Resources and Compensation Committee at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. He is also Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Star of Hope Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees and member of the Finance and Nominating Committees of YMCA Camp Belknap. He formerly served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the French-American Foundation and on the Board of Directors of The Legal Aid Society of New York City.

He received his B.A. from Yale University in 1983 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1987, where he was senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.