People

Katherine Kerrick Managing Associate

Boston

Katie's litigation experience includes reviewing documents, assisting with trial and witness preparation, drafting motions, oppositions, and replies, and preparing expert reports. Katie has also worked with appellate teams, assisting with briefs and preparing for oral argument before the Supreme Court. Her trademark prosecution and transactional experience includes trademark clearance, applications, oppositions, drafting cease and desist letters in both copyright and trademark matters, and representing parties on both sides of Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy disputes.

Katie is a graduate of the Franklin Pierce University of New Hampshire School of Law. While in law school, she externed for the Honorable Joseph Laplante of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. She also participated in the IP & Transactional Clinic and published a paper on trademark registrability for political slogans. She focused her studies on the Intellectual Property and Sports and Entertainment fields, obtaining specialization certificates in Intellectual Property Law, Sports Law, and Entertainment Law. Katie also received the Sports and Entertainment Institute's Entertainment Award in 2020.

Dr. Nicholas Kessler, LL.M., EMBA Partner

Düsseldorf

Nicholas has extensive experience with arbitral proceedings under the auspices of all of the major arbitral institutions and rules (e.g., ICC, DIS, SCC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, ICSID, ad hoc).

Nicholas graduated from law school in 2003 (University of Munster), earned a PhD in law and an Executive Master of Business Administration (M&A) in 2005 and was allowed to the German bar in 2007. In 2008 he received a Master of Laws diploma from the University of Cambridge (UK) and was entered on the roll as Solicitor of England & Wales in 2010.

Dr. Kessler is a visiting lecturer at the University of Münster and teaches the international arbitration and mediation in the university's post graduate program on mergers and acquisitions. He frequently publishes and holds speeches on arbitration and litigation-related topics.

Thomas Kidera Partner

New York

Tom represents Orrick's renewable energy and infrastructure clients in a vast array of commercial, warranty, and construction litigation matters throughout the U.S. and around the globe, previously having served as a member of the Orrick team that represented Hemlock Semiconductor (a leading producer of solar-grade polycrystalline silicon) in a host of litigations and proceedings arising from the breach of its long-term supply agreements by counterparties. His practice touches all types of renewable energy disputes from PPA litigation, to development and construction claims, to component supply and performance disputes, and everything in between.

In addition to representing his clients in courts and confidential arbitrations, Tom regularly provides pre-litigation counseling to Orrick's renewable energy and infrastructure clients, helping them manage their enterprise liability and pursue and defend claims through mediation and pre-dispute procedures, often resolving matters amicably before they devolve into full litigation or arbitration.

Tom also has litigated structured finance issues for his entire career, representing securitization sponsors and loan servicers in an array of litigations from securities fraud and loan repurchase disputes to ERISA and consumer class actions, also consulting and advising on the interpretation of securitization documents and events of default.

In addition, Tom represents audit firms and accountants in regulatory proceedings commenced by the SEC and the PCAOB along with related civil litigations. He has experience managing and conducting large scale internal investigations, liaising with regulators, remediating problems, and managing risk and liability in delicate circumstances.

Tom maintains an active pro bono practice representing asylum seekers and U.S. veterans seeking discharge status upgrades.

Betty Kim Managing Associate

Los Angeles

Daniel S. Kim Partner

Santa Monica; Los Angeles; Orange County

Dan has a general business and corporate law practice, representing both emerging and public companies in a variety of matters, including corporate and securities law, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, de-SPAC transactions, day-to-day general corporate matters, structured liquidity programs, public offerings, Securities and Exchange Commission reporting and compliance and corporate governance.

Dan began his legal career in Silicon Valley and works with a significant number of clients in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area and around the world.  Dan is also an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School. 

Dan’s current and former representations include:

• Beyond Meat
• Ceradyne
• Compellent Technologies
• GitHub
• Luminar Technologies
• Momentus
• Outward
• Pinterest
• Planet Labs
• Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
• ZestFinance

 Dan also has represented numerous venture capital and private equity investors including Founders Fund, Kapor Capital, Storm Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Wicklow Capital and many others.  

Brian Kim Senior Associate

Seattle

Brian is a Seattle-based lawyer in Orrick’s Technology Companies Group. He combines his corporate law experience with academic and personal background and interests in technology and life sciences to provide pragmatic advice to start-ups, founders and investors.

Brian also has extensive experience in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions advising sellers, targets, buyers and private equity sponsors across a wide array of industries, including software, healthcare, manufacturing, food and beverage, agribusiness, financial services and natural resources.

Sojin Lillian Kim Managing Associate

Orange County

Jae Kim Associate

New York

A member of the firm’s Litigation business unit, Jae is currently working with teams defending against claims brought by investors, trustees, and monoline insurance companies and state security actions for Orrick’s marquee clients. Jae has extensive experience supporting trial teams defending clients in bet-the-company complex litigation, mass torts, product liability matters, and financial services disputes, as well as working with teams guiding clients through government and agency regulations, compliance, investigations, and enforcement actions. Jae has worked with various global companies on their U.S. litigations, investigatory, and compliance matters. Jae also has experience working with a team in a high-profile white-collar matter and assisted manufacturers with various government filings.

Before attending law school, he served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps and worked at a South Korean government security agency.

Ernan Kiselica Managing Associate

Orange County

Before joining Orrick, Ernan served as a law clerk for the Honorable Mary H. Murguia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable David G. Campbell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Ernan earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where he served as Executive Editor on the California Law Review. He also earned a Masters in Advanced International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna (Austria) and a B.S. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University.

Alexandra Kleemann Managing Associate

San Francisco

Alex draws on her experience representing clients at all stages of development on a variety of matters, including litigating employment and contract disputes; conducting internal investigations; guiding clients through complex executive terminations and large-scale reductions-in-force; defending clients before state agencies in wage-and-hour, discrimination, and labor-related disputes; drafting internal policies; conducting due diligence for mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions; and advising clients on compliance with the complex web of federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations.

Melissa Klimkiewicz Senior Counsel

Washington, D.C.

She frequently assists Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgagees with their program approval efforts, annual recertifications, compliance with and understanding of program rules and self-reporting obligations, audits by the Quality Assurance Division (QAD), inquiries from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and enforcement actions by the Mortgagee Review Board (MRB). Melissa performs similar work related to the Ginnie Mae, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 184, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA Department) and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service loan programs. Her work also includes assisting clients with False Claims Act (FCA)-based risk assessments arising from participation in government lending programs. She represents both mortgage and reverse mortgage/Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) lenders and servicers.

In addition, Melissa’s practice focuses on the mandatory purchase of flood insurance requirements under the Flood Disaster Protection Act, which includes regularly advising lenders and servicers on the ins and outs of the federal banking agencies’, FHA’s and the government sponsored enterprises’ (GSE) flood insurance-related regulations and guidance. She also assists clients with satisfying Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other regulators’ expectations for providing assistance to consumers impacted by presidentially declared disasters.

Melissa frequently counsels clients in matters arising under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), Mortgage Acts and Practices Rule (MAP), the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE) and related state licensing laws, state regulation of real estate brokers and property managers, and a range of other federal and state consumer financial laws impacting lending and servicing.

Melissa has been recognized by The Legal 500 in the Financial Services: Litigation practice area. She is a former Co-Chair (2014-2017) and Co-Vice Chair (2011-2014) of the Housing Finance Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee. She also is an active member of the Mortgage Bankers Association and National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.

Prior to joining Orrick, Melissa was senior counsel and a former partner at Buckley LLP. Previously, she was an associate at Howrey LLP and was a law clerk at Buckley Kolar LLP while attending law school.

Sarah Koch Of Counsel

Washington, D.C.

Sarah serves as the head of policy matters for a coalition of major online gaming operators supporting gaming legislation across the country. She also helps clients structure products and business operations to comply with evolving gaming laws and regulations. She provides advocacy support for clients’ regulatory proposals and enforcement actions and develops responses to operational issues and incidents.

Before joining Orrick, Sarah led DraftKings’ legal regulatory team responsible for gaming regulatory matters and legal analysis of gaming products in development. She worked across business units to structure products and operations in compliance with gaming laws and regulations and to respond to regulatory inquiries and operational incidents.

Sarah also worked on the government affairs team at DraftKings, advocating for reasonable legal frameworks to govern sports betting, fantasy sports and igaming at a time of unprecedented industry change and growth. She drafted proposed laws, testified to legislators and met with regulators and policymakers as they considered and implemented these frameworks.

Sarah also has private practice experience advising online gaming and e-commerce clients in regulatory, transactional and litigation matters.