


Ela Barda is a Partner at Signature Litigation’s Paris office specialising in commercial litigation, digital platform law, civil fraud and enforcement matters.
Ela has over 10 years’ experience in commercial litigation. 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.
She has developed specific expertise in digital platform law and regularly represents French and international online platforms and media tech companies in civil and commercial litigation against individuals, companies and local authorities.
Ela also has extensive experience in investigating, initiating and defending civil fraud claims. She regularly acts for international clients on asset-tracing and asset recovery proceedings. She has in-depth experience in pre-action proceedings on a wide range of interim applications. In addition, Ela has developed a strong expertise in the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.
Ela also represents manufacturers in commercial and product liability disputes in the aviation sector, as well as company directors in personal liability cases before commercial courts in the context of insolvency proceedings.
Prior to joining Signature Litigation, Ela worked at the Paris office of a major international law firm.
She is recognised as a ‘Recommended Lawyer’ for commercial litigation in The Legal 500 EMEA 2026 Guide. She is praised for being “extremely competent” as she “handles the legal and technical issues of a case to perfection.” Additionally, Ela is also ranked as a ‘Recommended Lawyer’ in the Guide for her aviation expertise. She has further achieved recognition in Best Lawyers’ ‘Ones to Watch’ 2027 Guide for the ‘Litigation’ category in France.
Ela was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2014. She is a native speaker of French and Turkish and a fluent English speaker.
Commercial litigation and digital platform law
Civil Fraud, Asset Tracing and Recovery
Aviation disputes
Article: French ‘blocking statute’: time for a rethink? – The Law Society Gazette – 10 July 2026
Article: EU AI Act Transparency Code: Concrete Guidance Comes with New Compliance Challenges – The AI Journal – 21 May 2026
Comments: Top tips to comply with EU AI Act’s transparency obligation – Compliance Week – 15 May 2026
Article: The Digital Services Act: A new era of platform accountability in Europe – Litigation Finance Insider – 7 December 2025
Article: The DSA era: What digital platforms operating in the European market need to know – European Business Magazine – 17 November 2025
Interview: DSA: what future litigation? – Lex Inside – 2 October 2025
Article: Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2026: France – Lexology – 15 August 2025
Podcast: What developments for digital litigation with the Digital Service Act? – Lefebvre-Dalloz – 16 July 2025
Article: Signature Litigation Paris promotes commercial litigator Ela Barda to Partner – Global Legal Insights, Solicitors Journal, La Lettre des Juristes d’Affaires, Le Monde du Droit, Décideurs Juridiques and LegalMoves– July 2025
Article: Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2025: France – Lexology Panoramic – 24 September 2024
Article: Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2024: France – Lexology: Getting the Deal Through – 23 August 2023
Press Quote: Signature Litigation promeut Ela Barda au rang de counsel – Le Monde du Droit – 11 July 2023
Article: International Comparative Legal Guide – Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2022 – ICLG – 4 April 2022
Article: Fraud, Asset Tracing & Recovery 2022: France – CDR Essential Intelligence – 31 March 2022
Article: Fraud, Asset Tracing & Recovery 2021: France – CDR Essential Intelligence – 19 March 2021