People

Gaelyn Sharp Of Counsel

Los Angeles; New York

Gaelyn has represented a wide range of financial institutions including fund sponsors, issuers, underwriters, placement agents, investment advisers and investors in connection with a wide range of financing transactions including collateralized loan, bond and debt obligations; synthetic collateralized debt obligations; trade receivables; various derivative instruments and structured finance products; and private equity funds and hedge funds.

Matthew Shellenhamer Senior Associate

New York

Matthew assists major financial institutions, public and privately owned companies and direct and alternative lenders in effectively assessing legal risks in complex secured and unsecured commercial finance transactions. He advises on a wide variety of finance transactions, including corporate financings, acquisitions, dividend recapitalizations and project financings. 

Prior to joining Orrick, Matthew was an associate in the Project Finance group at Chadbourne & Parke LLP.

Andrew D. Silverman Partner

New York

Andrew is a skilled brief writer who works on significant motions in the trial court to prevent any need for appeal by winning the case first. Drawing on his years as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Andrew collaborates with the trial court team to serve as the point person for law-intensive brief-writing and strategy. Andrew is frequently retained to work on dispositive motions and preliminary-injunction briefing. If the case proceeds toward trial, Andrew leads strategizing and all manner of briefing from jury instructions to motions in limine to mid-trial objections to post-trial motions.

In addition, Andrew focuses on readying cases for appeal by perfecting critical appellate issues and teeing them up in the most favorable posture. Andrew has brought these special skills to bear for some of the world’s largest companies in their most important cases, including for Dow, Gilead Sciences, Oracle, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Basin Electric Power.

Andrew also has a strong record on appeals, including major wins for Oracle, Dow AgroSciences, Basin, KBC Bank, and the City and County of Los Angeles. In appellate cases, Andrew takes pride in collaborating with his client and the trial team to rethink the case from the bottom up, searching for ways to present even the most complicated arguments as plain common sense, and drafting a storytelling version of the case that hooks the reader from the first page. Andrew emphasizes oral argument, working tirelessly to develop themes specifically for oral argument that magnify -- not merely parrot -- the briefing.

Ariel Simmonds Associate

New York

Ariel represents clients at all stages of their life cycles as they innovate and scale. Ariel counsels clients in a variety of technology-driven industries, including artificial intelligence, SaaS and media. Ariel has experience drafting commercial, licensing and other intellectual property and technology agreements. She also assists clients with intellectual property issues in connection with mergers and acquisitions.

Ariel is active in pro bono matters, focusing on licensing and corporate matters for historically underrepresented clients. Through her law school clinic, Ariel filed trademark registrations for early-stage startup clients on a pro bono basis. 

Prior to joining Orrick, Ariel spent over two years interning with a property-tech startup and then a cruise line, supporting their respective marketing teams on CAN-SPAM and TCPA compliance. Ariel also draws on her experience in the business valuation and SBA 7(a) financing industry when advising on mergers and acquisitions.

Caroline Simons Partner

Boston; New York

Tech and consumer-facing clients – from early-stage startups to some of the most recognizable online companies – turn to Caroline to protect their IP, brand, and reputation in litigation. Her expertise includes the fast-evolving areas of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and online safety, cybersecurity & data privacy litigation. In the past year, she has litigated more than 60 cases related to platform immunity and she is currently lead counsel in dozens of cases for one of the world's largest tech companies on claims challenging myriad aspects of its online services, including content moderation and product design.

A partner to her clients in crisis management, Caroline also advises them in cyber incident response, government and internal investigations and enforcement actions. Her experience at the intersection of online safety, IP and white-collar litigation gives her breadth of perspective and allows her to work with her clients to problem-solve and effectively manage enterprise risk. Clients appreciate Caroline's ability to collaborate with witnesses, company stakeholders and factfinders – both inside and outside the courtroom – to achieve meaningful results.

Caroline maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in Hague proceedings as well as children and refugees in asylum proceedings in conjunction with the Political Asylum / Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project. She has drafted amicus briefs in cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals in the areas of technology, criminal justice, and reproductive rights.

Lisa T. Simpson Partner

New York

Lisa has been recognized as one of the "Top 250 Women in IP" by Managing Intellectual Property and has received accolades from American Lawyer, Benchmark Litigation, The Legal 500 USA and New York Times Magazine with World Trademark Review 1000 noting that Lisa “marries a rich comprehension of IP law with a gift for connecting with people, making full use of each advantage in the courtroom.” Lisa was recently named to Lawdragon's 500 Leading Litigators in America list.

Trial Experience

Lisa has served as trial counsel across a wide range of matters. She recently served as co-lead trial counsel in a case in Delaware Chancery Court in a dispute over corporate control and ownership. She is currently serving as lead trial counsel in an energy distribution contract and rate dispute in North Dakota. Lisa also served as trial counsel for Oracle in its dispute with Google over the Java APIs in Android phones in the Northern District of California and served as trial counsel in a matter involving the trade dress of a hip implant medical device in the District of Colorado. Lisa has also served as trial counsel in a number of product liability matters involving allegations concerning talc, analgesics and herbicides.

Intellectual Property

Lisa handles a variety of high-profile trademark, trade secret, and copyright matters. Lisa’s copyright experience includes some of the leading copyright cases of the past decade: she represented Oracle in its litigation with Google over the Java APIs, represented DISH Networks, LCC in its copyright litigation with the broadcast networks over various features offered by DISH’s Hopper DVR, including AutoHop and Sling and served as counsel to Supap Kirtsaeng before the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of the copyright first sale doctrine’s applicability to goods manufactured abroad.

Lisa’s trademark and trade secret litigation has spanned a variety of courts and industries: she successfully defended trademark infringement claims in the Northern District of California on behalf of Sony over its popular “Gran Turismo” racing video game and scored two separate wins in the Southern District of New York and then in the Second Circuit on behalf of client Sanei in trademark litigation brought by fashion designer Jill Stuart. Lisa also successful established secondary meaning and secured a preliminary injunction for the New York City Triathlon in S.D.N.Y. Lisa also represented a major pharmaceutical and healthcare company in trade secrets litigation concerning multi-payor coordination of prescription drug benefits loyalty cards.

Products Liability and Consumer Class Action

Lisa serves as counsel to Johnson & Johnson, Chanel, and Avon in cases asserting claims arising from the use of its talcum powder products, including claims of mesothelioma and ovarian cancer. She also represented Wyeth and Dow Agrosciences in a variety of complex products liability and consumer class action litigations. Lisa served as counsel in hundreds of product liability matters concerning injuries allegedly associated with childhood vaccines, handled litigations involving the labeling and advertising of Advil, and obtained the dismissal, prior to class certification, of a consumer class action in a matter concerning the calcium supplement Caltrate.

Current Pro Bono Representation

Lisa served as trial counsel for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, securing an important trial win invalidating as unconstitutional a statewide law that jeopardized access to safe and legal abortion services in Kentucky.
Lisa also has served in a variety of firm management roles, including on the Firm’s Management Committee, as Hiring Partner for the New York office as well as Partner-in-Charge of Firmwide Campus Recruiting and as a member of the Professional Development Committee.

Kayla Z. X. Southworth Senior Associate

New York

Kayla advises public and private life sciences, technology, and energy companies, and private equity funds and their portfolio companies, on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, minority and majority investments, joint ventures, licenses, collaborations, royalty and revenue-sharing financings, and other complex transactions. She also advises clients on New York and Delaware corporate, partnership, limited liability company, and non-profit law, including corporate governance and fiduciary duty matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, she was an Antitrust Associate at Davis Polk and a Litigation Associate at Sullivan & Cromwell.

Sky Stallbaumer Associate, Currently on client secondment

New York

Sky's practice focuses on general corporate representation, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, both buy side and sell side.

James Stengel Partner

New York

Jim is consistently recognized as a leading lawyer in legal publications such as Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation. Chambers notes Jim is "able to handle a wide range of mass torts and class actions, including particular strength in toxic tort-related mandates.” Clients told the publication that Jim “is extremely professional, with excellent brief writing and oral arguments,” calling him “a great guy and a great lawyer."  

Jim has served in a variety of management roles at Orrick, including Managing Director of Litigation, Member of the Executive Committee and Board, Lead Director, and as a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Jim has written and lectured on complex litigation and mass tort subjects at a variety of law schools and seminars.

Before joining Orrick, Jim was a partner at Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine LLP.

Damon Stewart Of Counsel

New York

Damon focuses his practice on state and locally based legislative and regulatory issues. He has experience inside of government, having served as Assistant Counsel to the New York Senate Majority. Subsequent to his time in the Senate, he served as a Vice President for the Parkside Group, a New York lobbying firm. He eventually transitioned to an in-house corporate position as Vice President for State Government Affairs for DIRECTV, with a national purview overseeing all aspects of state and local legislative matters for the company. Immediately prior to joining Orrick, he served as Vice President of Government Affairs and State Advocacy Coordinator at AT&T, maintaining national responsibility for satellite-related issues.

Laurie Strauch Weiss Partner

New York

Laurie advises companies on overall strategies, from pre-litigation assessments to the final resolution of matters, which often involve novel scientific issues. Her clients frequently enlist her to strategically address the scientific claims asserted by non-governmental organizations, the plaintiffs' bar and consumer advocacy groups which affect the reputation of their products both before and during litigation.

Laurie is a frequent lecturer, author and media source on topics concerning mass tort/class actions, complex scientific issues and expert witnesses.

Prior to joining Orrick, Laurie was an associate at Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine LLP, where she gained extensive experience in complex litigation including class actions based on product liability, securities RICO and fraud claims.

Anna Stuart Senior Associate

New York

Anna provides strategic cybersecurity compliance counseling and develops bespoke, forward-looking incident preparedness strategies. She also supports cybersecurity risk assessments and tabletop exercises designed to identify potential gaps.

She also counsels on incident response matters by directing incident investigations, analyzing claims and defenses, examining potential notification obligations and counseling on communications strategies. She provides guidance on the regulatory investigations, class actions and contract disputes that flow from the announcement of privacy and cybersecurity incidents. She has defended Fortune 500 companies in state and federal courts across the nation on cybersecurity and general business issues.

During law school, she was a Legal Intern at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Division.