International law firm Bird & Bird today has strengthened its global aviation finance capabilities with the addition of Richard Sharman as a London-based partner in its Banking & Finance Group / Aviation & Defence Sector Group.

Richard joins from the London office of Clifford Chance, where he was a senior associate.

Richard handles aviation and other transportation transactions on behalf of financial institutions, aircraft leasing companies, airlines, arrangers and equity investors.

His deals include commercial debt financings, operating leasing, structured tax-based financings, equity funds, export-credit, asset portfolio sales and purchases, joint ventures and Islamic financings. His experience also covers secondary debt trading, repossessions and restructurings.

Richard joins at a time of continued growth: Bird & Bird recently welcomed Simon Gough, formerly a senior tax partner at Dentons & DLA, whose experience includes advising on aviation finance transactions and Pierpaolo Mastromarini, an aviation finance/export credit lawyer based in Italy. Further, Bird & Bird will soon be adding to the team in Frankfurt led by Matthias Winter.

Paul Briggs, Co-head of the Aviation & Defence Sector Group says:

"We're delighted to welcome Richard Sharman to Bird & Bird. Our aircraft transactions team – which includes aircraft finance specialists in London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden and the UAE – has been incredibly busy as evidenced by our strong showing in the most recent AirFinance Journal Lawyers Guide. We’re excited about the added experience and expertise that Richard brings to the practice. It's great to have him on board!"

Richard adds:

"I'm very happy to be joining Bird & Bird – the firm has a global team with deep industry knowledge and a strong track-record of handing complex aviation transactions. I look forward to working alongside Paul Briggs, Leo Fattorini, Matthias Winter and the rest of the Bird & Bird team to help our clients achieve their goals."