Bird & Bird has been handed a first-time appointment to Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) EMEA panel, following a review of the technology giant's roster of legal advisers.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Baker & McKenzie have also been appointed, with the full line-up comprising fewer than 10 firms.

Bird & Bird will advise HP on disputes and commercial IP matters as a result of the review. The relationship is managed from Bird & Bird's Paris office by IT partner Frederique Dupuis-Toubol.

Both Freshfields and Bakers are longstanding advisers to HP in Europe and were also appointed to its legal panel when it was last reviewed in 2009. Freshfields is HP's primary adviser in Europe on matters such as large-scale M&A transactions, with Bakers advising across a range of areas.

HP's panel review was led from the company's European headquarters in Geneva by EMEA general counsel Dave Bruscino. It comes after Bruscino's predecessor, Joyce Norcini, left HP in August last year to become the new GC of Nokia Siemens Networks.

HP also has relationships with UK firms such as Eversheds and Shoosmiths, which in 2008 was selected as HP's main UK property adviser. Outside Europe, HP uses firms including Cravath Swaine & Moore and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.