People

David M. Ruff Partner

New York

David advises private equity funds, their portfolio companies and a broad range of public and private technology, energy and life sciences companies in domestic and cross-border M&A, minority and majority investments, joint ventures and other complex transactions.

Paul F. Rugani Partner

Orange County; New York; Seattle

Legal 500 touts Paul as a recommended attorney for Securities Litigation, observing that he is “among the most creative and strategic lawyers” who always has “an eye on the end game.”  Paul achieved American Lawyer Litigator of the Week recognition as part of a team that achieved a ground-breaking New York Court of Appeals victory that substantially reduced financial exposure in RMBS repurchase litigation.

Leader of Orrick's Securities Litigation practice and deputy leader of the Firm's Financial Services Litigation practice, Paul has extensive experience representing clients in securities class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, commercial contractual disputes and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as in connection with internal, government and regulatory investigations. Paul also counsels domestic and foreign accounting firms on matters related to state CPA licensing and state board regulation.

Emily Sabo Senior Associate

New York

She represents a variety of market participants, including sponsors, issuers and underwriters, in public and private offerings of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

Formerly, an associate at Thacher Proffitt and Wood, LLP in New York City (also in the Structured Finance group), Emily left Manhattan in 2008 and founded and operated her law firm in the U.S. Virgin Islands, providing a wide variety of legal services, spanning from general civil litigation and bankruptcy litigation, to estate planning, probate, commercial contracts, and general business and transactional law. She also acted as a legislative consultant to a USVI Senator working to craft legislation in various fields, including without limitation, renewable energy law. As part of her diverse practice, and before she engaged in consulting work for the Senator, Emily gained invaluable experience in the field of renewable energy (including related policies and legislation) when she was hired by an off-island private power company to act as legal counsel for all transactional, regulatory and litigation work necessary to complete a ground breaking renewable energy project on the island of St. Thomas.

At Thacher Proffitt & Wood, LLP, Emily represented issuers, underwriters, sellers and servicers in mortgage-backed securities transactions (including public and private offerings of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities); she also represented banks and other financial institutions in their capacities as lenders, borrowers, issuers and purchasers in structured finance transactions and in connection with asset-based and other secured lending transactions and warehouse facilities with collateral spanning various asset classes.   Prior to her structured finance experience, Emily worked in Merrill Lynch’s State Regulation, Legislation and Government Affairs Department researching, state securities laws, drafting responses for securities litigation and compliance matters and participating in industry committee conferences regarding pending state legislation of industry-wide concern.

Chanani Sandler Of Counsel

New York

Chanani advises multinational companies across all industry lines on a variety of employment-related matters and implementation of global equity compensation programs. He globally manages large multi-country and large multi-function HR projects.

From an employment law perspective, Chanani advises his clients on a wide range of employment-related matters outside the United States, including global/local offer letters and employment contracts, rollout of HR policies and employee handbooks as well as termination and settlement agreements. His work also covers advising clients hiring, HR data privacy compliance, discrimination risks, as well as performance management and terminations. He also works with his clients to consider the employment-related impact of, and undertake due diligence for, cross-border corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and IPOs.

Chanani also counsels his clients on how to effectively design, implement, communicate and administer equity-based compensation programs and other long-term incentive awards to their employees and other service providers worldwide. His work covers securities law, foreign exchange, employment, tax and other compliance requirements related to these programs. He also provides services in the areas of corporate tax planning, cross-border tax planning, payroll support and employee education with respect to global equity programs, including in the context of corporate transactions.

He has presented at industry educational forums, such as the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) and Global Equity Organization (GEO), on topics related to tax compliance as well as effective design, implementation and administration of global equity-based awards and other long-term incentive plans.

Leah Sanzari Partner

New York

Having long represented issuers of asset backed securities and drawing on that experience, today, in addition to issuer representation, Leah’s practice includes a significant focus on investor-side representation. Leah represents both issuers and investors in complex deals of first impression and brings a unique, creative approach to securitization transactions, with deal execution as top priority.

Leah and her team have pioneered proved developed producing (PDP) oil & gas wellbore securitizations, acting as investor counsel on substantially all of the transactions that have been executed in the market to date. Also a pioneer of the C-PACE market, Leah regularly advises the top C-PACE issuers in both 144A and 4(a)(2) transactions, including Greenwork Lending’s first Rule 144A Commercial PACE securitization which was recognized as the 2022 Esoteric ABS Deal of the Year by GlobalCapital. Leah also advises on novel IP securitizations related to musical composition, sound recording copyrights, television and other royalties. Most recently, Leah represented the investors in the groundbreaking securitization by Syco Entertainment of intellectual property in the “Got Talent” franchise.

Leah’s experience further extends to a wide variety of other esoteric assets, including tax liens, diamond receivables, participations, tax credits, solar and wind ground leases and whole business operating company securitizations.

Recognized in Band 1 of Chambers USA Nationwide Securitization: PACE, Leah is described by clients as “one of the best lawyers that I have worked with” and someone who “fights tooth and nail for her clients.” Resources for the Legal 500 USA directory have called Leah “the best there is in esoteric financing products and bonds,” and note they are “incredibly impressed with the gender diversity on the team. Extremely ethical – name carries a lot of weight with investors.”

Al Sawyers Partner

New York

Al represents issuers and underwriters in the issuance of credit-linked notes, collateralized bond obligations, synthetic convertible bonds and synthetic money market eligible securities. He also works with clients entering into various swap agreements, such as interest rate, credit default, currency, and equity swaps, and has authored alerts on various financial industry-related topics, including the Dodd-Frank Act.

Al has been ranked by Chambers and Partners both globally and nationally in the structured products category. Legal500 has noted Al for his work in structured finance, quoting a client who stated that he has "impressive expertise in all facets of securitization in general, which is immensely helpful when we are working on complex transactions." The International Financial Law Review has also recognized Al for his work in structured finance and securitization. Euromoney notes him as an expert in Banking, Financial and Transactional Law: Structured Finance and Securitization.

Andrew Schmidt Associate

New York

He advises lenders and corporate borrowers on a wide range of secured lending facilities and other commercial finance transactions.

David Schwartz Partner

New York

David is recognized as a trusted advisor who delivers valued execution and results.

• Thomson Reuters has recognized David as a Stand-out Lawyer.
• BTI Consulting has ranked David as a Client Service All Star.
• Chambers has ranked David for his M&A work, with clients noting he is “on top of cutting-edge trends and ideas", "proactive, engaged and personable", and possesses a “depth of legal expertise” and “creative solutions to thorny problems” that “make him our go-to."
• Legal500's US M&A Powerlist has featured David, with clients noting he "is an incredible relationship partner. His dedication to understanding our business and our ways of working is complimented by his proactive approach to providing innovative solutions and ideas."

Naomi J. Scotten Partner

New York

This work begins in the trial court, briefing key motions and collaborating with trial teams to preserve appellate issues. Naomi works seamlessly across law firms, building collective knowledge and a unified approach.

On appeal, Naomi creates streamlined briefs that highlight a compelling narrative. She boils large records down to their core, making complex cases simple for busy courts. Naomi approaches appeals with a company’s entire docket in mind, generating wins that maximize the long-term value of her work. She has briefed and argued appeals involving product liability, consumer protection, employment, criminal, constitutional, and regulatory law issues.

Prior to joining Orrick, Naomi served as a law clerk for Judge Susan L. Carney of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Naomi graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served as the Executive Director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Peter Seel Senior Associate, Currently on client secondment

New York

His experience includes the representation of investment banks, asset managers and issuers in connection with collateralized loan obligations as well as other financial institutions in a variety of other structured financial products.

Rachel G. Shalev Senior Associate

New York

Rachel represents clients in high-stakes, complex litigation. She has argued successfully in federal and state appellate courts and has been the lead drafter of briefs and dispositive motions in both state and federal court and the U.S. Supreme Court. Rachel’s experience litigating and advising clients covers a wide range of substantive areas. She focuses in particular on tough questions of constitutional law, administrative law, and statutory interpretation. Rachel also maintains an active pro bono practice.

Prior to joining Orrick, Rachel served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard of the D.C. Circuit, and Judge William A. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit. Rachel received her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as a student director of the Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic and as Essays Editor of the Yale Law Journal. She graduated from Williams College and received master’s degrees from University College London and University of St. Andrews, which she attended as a Marshall Scholar.

Marc R. Shapiro Partner

New York

Marc represents clients in federal and state court at the trial and appellate levels with a particular focus on class actions, multi-district litigation, and mass joinders. Among Marc’s current engagements, he represents Johns Hopkins University and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America in over a dozen class actions arising out of a data breach of the MOVEit file transfer software; University of Washington in a pandemic-related class action seeking refunds of tuition and fees on behalf of students; ZoomInfo Technologies LLC in a data privacy class action alleging unlawful disclosure of personal information under federal and state laws; Goldman Sachs in a pay and promotion gender discrimination class action; NCAA in concussion and injury-related cases throughout the country; Marathon Oil Corporation in nationwide climate change litigation; and multiple foreign defendants in a class action arising out of allegedly defective drywall.

Recently, Marc successfully prevailed at trial before the Delaware Chancery Court and earned Litigator of the Week recognition by Law.com for defeating claims by Netflix star Julia Haart that she owns half the shares of Elite World Group; secured dismissal of a dozen class actions against the University of California and Santa Clara University brought by students seeking refunds of tuition and fees due to COVID-driven transition to remote instruction; and defeated class certification and secured affirmance on appeal by the Ninth Circuit in an employment discrimination class action against Microsoft.

Marc served as a law clerk to Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to joining Orrick, Marc worked as an appellate and post-conviction attorney for the Equal Justice Initiative. In that capacity, he engaged in trial level and appellate representation of clients in both state and federal court, including two cases that were briefed and argued before the United States Supreme Court.