People

Gil Shefer Senior Associate

San Francisco

He advises developers and sponsors operating in the energy sector on a wide variety of matters, including tax equity financings, energy storage acquisitions, power purchase and sale agreements, and EPC and supply agreements. Prior to joining Orrick, Gil worked as an economic consultant for the World Bank in their Kigali, Rwanda, office.

Les Sherman Partner

San Francisco

Chambers publications identify Les as a Leading Lawyer and report that clients say Les is an “icon in California in the renewables space”, has "notable expertise spanning solar and wind generation projects as well as battery storage development" and has “established a reputation as the go-to guy in California”.  Chambers also reports that Clients say Les has "a brilliant mind," "his finger on the pulse of the market" and "a very good eye for detail when thinking through practical agreements and understanding how it is all going to work in practice". Clients note "he is one of the best PPA lawyers in the business." Les also is recognized by Euromoney, The Legal 500 and The Expert Guides as a Leading Lawyer in energy project development, M&A and finance.

Les represents many of the industry’s leading companies on project development, financing and M&A transactions for solar, wind, energy storage, biomass, gas and similar projects. Les has led the Orrick team’s thought leadership in the growing battery and hydrogen energy storage market, has published numerous articles on the topic, and has served as lead counsel on many of the largest storage and renewables+storage transactions completed to date.

Kentaro Shoji Of Counsel

Tokyo

He mainly works on project contracts, including EPC, BOP, O&M contracts and various supply contracts such as TSA. He acquired a great understanding of clients’ needs after a secondment at a Japanese major trading house.

He also has experience advising domestic and overseas financial institutions, real estate funds, real estate developers and other companies on sophisticated real estate and asset finance transactions.

Prior to joining Orrick’s Tokyo Office, Kentaro worked in the Tokyo office of another international law firm where he engaged in cross-border M&A, finance transactions and dispute resolution.

Oliver Sikora Senior Associate

London

Oliver works primarily on domestic and cross-border transactions in the renewable energy space, and also has experience advising on deals in the transport sector.

Spencer Sinclair Senior Associate

Houston

Spencer is a trusted advisor to a diverse range of clients, including renewable energy developers, private equity investors, multi-national energy companies, and startups, providing expert guidance on complex transactions and helping clients achieve their most important business goals. Known for his strategic insight and practical approach, Spencer delivers tailored solutions that drive value and mitigate risks, ensuring successful outcomes for clients across the full lifecycle of their ventures.

As global energy demand continues to grow amidst an increased focus on decarbonization of the energy industry, Spencer takes pride in working closely with pioneers involved in the energy transition, helping to steer development and investment in solutions such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, ammonia, offshore wind, renewable power generation, energy storage and other exciting technologies that are critical to achieving decarbonization on a global scale.

Eric Stephens Partner

San Francisco

Eric helps clients design and build successful renewable energy businesses by advising on how projects and portfolios large and small can maximize their value through well-informed negotiation, efficient diligence and acquisition techniques, and responsive and creative problem solving.

Eric has particularly deep knowledge in helping developers strategically procure the equipment and services necessary to develop, construct, commission, operate and sell renewable energy projects of all sizes, and in helping investors evaluate the development work of potential investments. Development and procurement managers excel at sourcing and pricing a project’s needs, and Eric can build on this by bringing these contracts to completion with deep market knowledge, in a way best suited to the client’s commercial objectives and so that they withstand the scrutiny of project investors, lenders and buyers. Eric balances work for utility-scale projects with the growing distributed energy generation and storage sector, both of which recently include negotiation of contracts to “safe harbor” equipment or construction activities to preserve higher levels of ITC or PTC. He has represented energy project developers, equipment suppliers and installers, publicly-owned utilities, private equity investors and other parties in developing energy projects from very early stages of securing technology and land/resource rights to buying and selling operating assets, and everything in between.

Dahl Thompson Partner

Houston

Dahl represents project sponsors/developers, private equity investors, utilities and strategic investors in all stages of structuring, financing, acquiring and disposing of energy projects and companies, including the negotiation and drafting of purchase and sale, joint development, shareholder, partnership and LLC operating, debt and equity financing, security and credit agreements. Over the last decade, Dahl has successfully closed transactions relating to projects totaling many thousands of megawatts and many billions of dollars in asset value.

Lisa Tonery Partner

New York

At the forefront of her field, Lisa helped a client obtain the first authorization from the DOE to export domestic natural gas as LNG to all trading partners, and represented the first bi-directional LNG terminals proposed in the United States in proceedings before FERC.

Lisa has been recognized both nationally and globally as a leading practitioner by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, and The Legal 500 for more than a decade.

“Lisa Tonery comes highly recommended for her considerable expertise in representing major clients in high-value LNG proceedings . . . Sources say: ‘She's an expert . . . she really understands the critical issues.’” (Chambers Global)

"Client-focused, business-minded and dogged in the pursuit of her clients' interests. Her depth of knowledge is best-in-class. She has extensive relationships with FERC at all levels and is very pleasant to work with." (Chambers USA)

Minako Wakabayashi Partner

Tokyo

Minako has significant experience advising international and domestic sponsors and developers on complex and innovative projects. She was called upon by the Japanese government in structuring the renewable Feed-in-Tariff scheme in Japan and prepared the government’s model contracts for specific contracts (power purchase contract/interconnection contract), which are a key component of the Feed-in-Tariff scheme in Japan. Recently, she has also been handling numerous corporate PPA projects.

She was appointed as Auditor of the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA) in May 2022.

Minako practiced at Orrick’s New York office in 2004-2005. She also worked as a public prosecutor in Japan for four years and served as a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Supervising Committee for Public Bidding (Tokyo-to Nyusatsu Kanshi Iinkai) for eight years. She is serving as Audit of Veritas In Silico Inc since March 2022.

Mark Weitzel Partner

San Francisco

Mark has a finance, tax and corporate background, and focuses on structuring complex equity and debt investments, and negotiating investment, shareholder and joint venture agreements. He has a particular focus on tax and cash equity financing of renewable energy projects, including in the solar and wind space.

Mark is a recognized leader in the field. He is the former co-chair of Orrick’s Energy & Infrastructure practice, and has been named by Chambers as one of “America’s leading energy lawyers”, described by clients as “a standout.” He is also highlighted in The Legal 500 USA as a leading individual in the areas of energy: renewable/alternative and is highlighted in the conventional power category. Euromoney has recognized Mark as one of the “world’s leading project finance lawyers” and one of the “world’s leading energy and natural resource lawyers.” He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for project finance law, by The Legal 500 as a leading project finance lawyer, and has been a Law360 Energy MVP. Mark is a frequent speaker on energy project and infrastructure investments.

Blake Winburne Partner

Houston

Blake is recognized both nationally and globally by Chambers (Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2008-2024), including in Band 1 for Projects: Power & Renewables: Transactional, Projects. Chambers sources report that he has "strong commercial acumen, executive presence and excellent, long-standing stature." Blake is also recognized in the "Hall of Fame" for Energy Transactions: Electric Power by Legal 500 and has been named one of the "world’s leading energy and natural resources lawyers" by Euromoney (2009-2020).

Blake advises clients on energy sector mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures, and on the development, structuring, and financing of large-scale energy projects in the United States and internationally. He regularly represents multinational energy companies, large private equity funds, project developers and sponsors, borrowers and debt issuers, investment banks, and other capital providers and investors in the energy industry.

Blake has significant experience in the electric power sector, including fossil fuel-fired, simple and combined-cycle and co-generation facilities, as well as wind, solar (central station and distributed), landfill gas, biomass and other renewable energy projects. He also represents clients in transactions involving oil, natural-gas and refined-products pipelines, gathering and processing systems and storage facilities (tank farms and underground), exploration and production investment platforms and operations, electric power and natural gas transmission and local distribution systems and alternative fuels production and marketing arrangements. 

Paul Zarnowiecki Partner

Washington, D.C.

Transactions on which Paul has advised include the development, financing, acquisition and divestiture of renewable and conventional power projects and other infrastructure assets in a broad range of commercial and corporate transactions. He has served as lead counsel on some of the most innovative and complex U.S. renewable energy transactions in recent years in both the wind and solar energy sectors.

He is recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global, where clients describe him as "highly committed to ensuring clients get excellent service" and "very commercially minded."