People

Alison Epperson Senior Associate

New York

Alison represents individuals and corporations in a broad range of white collar criminal defense, anti-corruption, regulatory, and trade matters across the globe with a focus on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-corruption laws and regulations. Alison's practice involves conducting internal investigations, representing clients in matters before the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, and U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Controls, and enhancing corporate compliance programs. Alison has extensive experience responding to subpoenas and information requests from government entities and has trial and litigation experience in multiple federal district courts. She has also helped clients navigate shareholder books and records inspection demands and shareholder derivative lawsuits. Alison has represented companies around the world in the oil and gas, medical technology, digital entertainment, pharmaceutical, education, blockchain, technology, and financial industries.

Alison's practice also includes online safety issues, including advising companies on compliance with online safety-related obligations and best practices in the US and conducting online safety compliance risk assessments, especially as it relates to user safety on internet dating platforms. Alison's experience includes representing clients in connection with criminal and civil investigations conducted by state attorneys general related to state online safety legislation. 

Alison remains committed to serving her community through pro bono representation and has experience in reproductive rights cases and policies, immigration and asylum matters, death penalty cases, policing and racial justice cases and policies, and a range of other constitutional issues. Alison has represented clients on civil and criminal matters in federal court, including a domestic violence survivor in a Hague Convention proceeding. Most recently, Alison helped achieve a meaningful settlement on behalf of the family of a man killed by police officers in Greenville, Mississippi after convincing the district court to deny qualified immunity for the officers involved.

Prior to joining Orrick, Alison graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In addition, while pursuing her undergraduate degree from Centre College, Alison worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., specifically in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee. In 2016, Alison co-founded the non-profit, CTE Hope, an organization dedicated to addressing the issues and research of traumatic brain injures and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Jordan Fernandes Senior Associate

New York

Jordan has represented clients in an array of intellectual property disputes, including those involving patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and trademark infringement. He has also represented clients in disputes involving intellectual property licenses. Jordan has practiced in various federal district courts, as well as before the Federal Circuit, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the International Trade Commission, achieving successful outcomes for both plaintiffs and defendants at jury and bench trials alike.

In addition to his work in the life sciences sector, Jordan has substantial experience in the technology sector. He has litigated intellectual property disputes related to energy storage, OLED displays, base station antennas, fiber optics, and video game rendering. Jordan has also counseled clients on intellectual property licensing, patent prosecution and portfolio management, and intellectual property and information technology issues arising in commercial transactions.

Jordan maintains a robust pro bono practice and is currently involved in litigation concerning reproductive rights. He previously litigated claims of racial discrimination by police, which resulted in criminal justice reform within the police department. Jordan also helped exonerate a pro bono client, who had spent over 16 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit.

Alexander Fields Managing Associate

New York

Alex's practice focuses on drafting and negotiating offtake agreements, including power purchase agreements (PPAs), capacity sales agreements and tolling agreements for solar, wind, battery storage, and first-of-a-kind projects. Alex also advises on other project development and energy regulatory matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, Alex was an associate at another law firm where he focuses on advising domestic and international corporate buyers, developers, investors, lenders, and sponsors in the acquisition and sale, development, financing, and offtake of energy projects.

Brad Fischer Of Counsel

New York

Before joining Orrick, Brad worked as U.S. regulatory counsel for a major on-line gaming company, during which he facilitated expansion of the U.S. operations, negotiated multiple market-access agreements and oversaw licensing and compliance functions across multiple jurisdictions.

Prior to his private sector experience, Brad was a regulator with the New York State Gaming Commission, Deputy County Executive for Albany (N.Y.) County and Legislative Counsel to the Hon. Eric Adams and other elected officials in the New York State Senate. During his time at the New York State Gaming Commission, Brad was director of interactive fantasy sports and legal counsel on commercial gaming issues, after having served a key role in the selection and vetting of applicants for multiple “Las Vegas” style resort casinos licenses. While in the New York State Senate, Brad served as Counsel to the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and developed a depth of experience with legislative issues facing the gaming, equine industries and state-run lotteries.

Brad is a graduate of Indiana University-Bloomington School of Law and Union College, where he received a B.A. in Political Science.

William J. Foley Partner

New York

His practice focuses on the representation of financial institutions, investment advisors and other public and privately-held companies in corporate and securities litigation, and other complex business litigation matters. In particular, he has wide-ranging experience representing clients in stock-drop class actions, shareholder derivative actions, M&A and hostile takeover disputes, and complex contractual and business tort cases before federal and state courts and the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Sara Forden Managing Associate

New York

Her practice focuses on project development, acquisitions, and financing, including debt and tax equity financing, in the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.

Michaela Frai Managing Associate

New York

Michaela helps clients build global privacy programs and advises on United States (U.S.) state and federal consumer privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), and the Colorado Privacy Act. Her work also includes counseling on compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Mark Franke Of Counsel

New York; Boston

Recognized as a rising star by Super Lawyers and the Legal 500, the market has increasingly turned to Mark for advice on matters across a variety of industries, including aviation, shipping, oil & gas, chemicals, renewable energy, digital assets, agriculture & farming, construction & engineering, telecommunications, sports, commercial real estate, entertainment and leisure, and digital and traditional media.

Mark is highly practical, placing emphasis on commercial solutions to disputes while also at home in contentious litigation and contested motion practice. He thrives in contexts that require engineering creative approaches to problems involving multiple players with competing interests. In all things, he prioritizes relational and intellectual integrity with his colleagues and adversaries.

Robin L Freedman Senior Associate

New York

Her practice encompasses all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, equity investments and financings, joint ventures and leasing. She is skilled at drafting documents that bring complicated deal points to life.

Robin strongly believes in community engagement and is active in a local non-profit that provides shelter and services to the homeless in New York City.

David Fries Chief Financial Officer

New York

David presently serves as Orrick’s Chief Financial Officer, having previously served as Orrick’s Chief Profitability officer, Chief Pricing & Practice Management Officer and Chief Client Relationship Officer. Among other responsibilities, David is responsible for overseeing the firm’s accounting, financial planning, billing and collections, tax and other financial functions.

From 1998 through 2005, David served as a senior executive at NYSE-listed Prologis (formerly AMB Property Corporation) in San Francisco, Boston and Shanghai, ultimately as Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Corporate Affairs, and Chairman and CEO of AMB China, Ltd. During his tenure at AMB, David was a member of AMB’s Management and Investment Committees and was responsible for overseeing AMB’s human resource, information technology, legal, environmental, engineering and risk management departments, as well as its airport facilities group, venture capital investments and other strategic business initiatives and transactions. In 2004, in addition to his other responsibilities, he led AMB’s entry into the China market, including opening AMB’s first office in China in Shanghai.

Thomas Garvey Senior Associate

New York

Tom provides valuable complex litigation and class action litigation experience, including for clients like Goldman Sachs, UBS O’Connor, Jefferies, and Credit Suisse.

Prior to joining Orrick, he practiced at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and clerked for the Honorable Kevin C. Newsom in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and for the Honorable James B. Loken in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Tom received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

John Giansello Counsel

New York

Orrick’s Employment Law and Litigation group was recently named Labor & Employment Department of the Year in California by The Recorder, the premier source for legal news, in recognition of their significant wins on behalf of leading multinational companies on today’s most complex and challenging employment law matters.

He has considerable experience in and knowledge of litigation and counseling related to the hiring, firing, retention, management and promotion of employees.