People

Carsten Bernauer Partner

Düsseldorf; Munich

A special focus is on the comprehensive support of start-up technology companies and their investors. In this context, he accompanies his clients through all stages of growth with the aim of providing fast and efficient support in the implementation of their growth plans and investment strategies.

His clients benefit from his extensive experience in structuring, managing and coordinating complex transactions, including all other advisors involved in the transaction. In international transactions, he has access to Orrick's comprehensive technology, private equity and venture capital platform.

Carsten Bernauer also advises on national and international corporate transactions, in particular in the field of technology, as well as on corporate restructurings.

After many years working for an American and an English commercial law firm, Carsten Bernauer joined Orrick's Düsseldorf office in 2019.

Brian M. Blood Senior Associate

New York

His practice has focused on domestic and cross-border private company mergers and acquisitions. He has also advised on a variety of corporate transactions across industries, including de-SPAC transactions, joint ventures, company formations and dissolutions, public offerings, equity and debt financings from both the investor and issuer side, fund financings, and alternative energy transactions. He has assisted in drafting and reviewing filings with the SEC and CFIUS, and has experience in advising on all manner of New York and Delaware corporate, partnership, limited liability company and non-profit law.

Brian was a summer associate in the firm’s New York office in 2014.

Andy Bloom Senior Associate

Boston

Andy advises high growth technology companies, startup founders, private funds and other institutional investors on a broad range of corporate transactions across industries. He has extensive experience in a broad range of corporate and transactional matters, advising companies from formation to exit on formation, governance, and financing matters, and private funds and institutional investors on venture capital, growth equity and private equity investments. Andy works closely with clients to provide strategic insights and outside general counsel services, advising clients on day-to-day governance, equity compensation and general commercial matters.

Andy also has extensive experience advising sponsors of private investment funds on their formation, regulatory compliance, and fundraising activities, as well as institutional investors in connection with various aspects of their investment programs, including investments in private investment funds, co-investments and complex secondaries transactions.

Mel Bostwick Partner

Washington, D.C.

Mel’s practice capitalizes on two of her passions: technology and great writing. As an appellate lawyer, she has the opportunity to help companies protect their innovations and their intellectual property. She is adept at translating complex technology and intricate legal issues into a clear and simple presentation that judges of any background can understand. Mel brings these skills to bear in representing clients on appeal to the Federal Circuit and before the Supreme Court, and also in partnering with trial teams to address legal and strategic problems in district court, the ITC, and the PTAB. She also regularly advises technology clients on difficult IP and strategic issues facing their companies.

Mel also has the privilege of representing pro bono clients and is particularly passionate about using her Federal Circuit experience to help veterans in their appeals to the court.

Prior to joining Orrick, Mel was an associate at a litigation boutique in Washington, D.C., where she represented clients in trial and appellate litigation and before the Federal Communications Commission. Mel served as a law clerk to Judge Timothy B. Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Evan Brewer Senior Associate

Silicon Valley

Drawing on his education background in aeronautical engineering, computer science, economics, and international relations, Evan can translate the complex and constantly-evolving business realities of today’s technology companies into cohesive and powerful legal arguments. In his practice, Evan guides cutting-edge U.S. and European technology companies through patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret matters, and counsels companies on emerging cybersecurity and data privacy issues. Evan’s clients specialize in machine learning, autonomous driving, integrated circuits, consumer electronics, e-commerce, and medical device technology.

In his pro bono practice, Evan represents domestic violence survivors and counsels an international NGO on environmental law issues.

Before joining Orrick, Evan clerked for Judge Ronald M. Whyte at the Northern District of California.

Evan graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he also served as Executive Articles Editor of the Hastings Science and Technology Law Review. While in law school, he was an extern for Judge Lucy H. Koh at the Northern District of California.

Outside of work, Evan enjoys competitive ski racing and endurance cycling.

Marley Brison Career Associate

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Marley focuses primarily on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance issues, restructurings, private equity transactions, and advising on general corporate matters.

Marley also concentrates her practice on matters pertaining to private equity and alternative investment funds, representing both institutional investors and fund sponsors. On the sponsor side, Marley handles various aspects of fund formation, including communicating with investors, preparing regulatory analyses of investors, drafting fund documents, and preparing regulatory filings.

Marley was a Summer Associate with Orrick in 2016. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, cum laude, where she was the Lead Executive Editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. She received her undergraduate degree from Ohio University, summa cum laude, in Journalism/Pre-Law.

Prior to joining Orrick, Marley served as a judicial intern to the Honorable David Cercone of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Marley worked as a Legal Associate at rue21, inc., focusing on real estate and general corporate matters.

Max Cantor Partner

New York

Max has extensive experience in a broad range of domestic and cross-border corporate and transactional matters, including venture capital and growth equity financings, mergers & acquisitions, fund formation and SPAC transactions. He has represented both early and growth stage companies in hundreds of venture capital financings, growth equity investments and M&A transactions, and he regularly advises leading venture capital and private equity funds on their investments across the innovation ecosystem.

Max is also known for working closely with clients to provide strategic business insights and outside general counsel services, advising clients on corporate governance and boardroom matters, product development and design, fundraising strategy and general commercial matters.

In addition to representing US companies on domestic transactions, Max has substantial experience representing clients outside the US, including emerging companies and venture funds operating in Canada, Europe, Latin America, India, Japan, Singapore, China, Australia, Israel, the Cayman Islands and various other jurisdictions.

Christopher J. Cariello Partner

New York

Chris has represented major ISPs in high-stakes copyright litigation, tech titans pushing the cutting edge, national retailers with key trademarks on the line, and global manufacturers facing class action risk. He has authored dozens of appellate briefs, winning results in federal and state courts of appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. And he is a consummate team player when partnering with trial teams to craft winning legal strategies and themes, brief dispositive motions, win key legal and evidentiary rulings at trial, and construct a record with an eye towards appeal.

Chris is most passionate about the novel issues that arise at the intersection of tech and commerce, implicating the balance between creation, innovation, and competition. Whether it's the DMCA and copyright's intermediary liability doctrines, generative AI, data scraping, or trade secrets, he relishes litigating in the gray areas, presenting what the law ought to be as plain common sense. Chris also has a wealth of experience in class action defense in both trial and appellate courts, including several appellate victories defending the denial of class certification. And his broader experience includes bankruptcy, telecommunications, constitutional law, and various issues confronting Fintech companies.

Chris maintains an active pro bono practice. He led a team that prevailed in both federal district court and in the Second Circuit in one of the nation's most closely watched police transparency cases. The year before, he argued and won a precedent-setting parole appeal in New York’s Appellate Division on behalf of a former juvenile offender. And he has won victories for clients in immigration cases and cases presenting novel legal issues under freedom of information laws.

Prior to joining Orrick, Chris was a law clerk to Judge Robert D. Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Judge Carol B. Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Benjamin Cichostepski-Lesage Partner

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Ben is the founding partner of Orrick's French Tech Companies Group. For more than 15 years, he has been advising high-potential innovative companies as well as venture and tech growth investors on all their corporate private equity and M&A transactions in France and globally.

As such, he is involved in every stage of their development, from incubation and fundraising to external growth and industrial exits as well as public offerings (IPO, secondary).

Ben has significant experience advising French companies expanding into the United States, and assists them over the full lifecycle of their overseas growth. He also counts a number of American investors and buyers among his clients.

From his first venture deal in 2006, where he represented Lightspeed Venture Partners in Wikio’s Series A, which became Teads, a company he then accompanied for 11 years until its sale to Altice, Ben has led more than 320 corporate tech transactions. He has been involved in the main exit transactions in recent years, particularly those with a franco-american element such as Neolane/Adobe, La Fourchette/TripAdvisor, Stupeflix/GoPro, eNovance/Red Hat, Regaind/Apple, Zenly/Snap, Teads/Altice, Getaround/Drivy, Glose/Medium, Sqreen/Datadog, Lalilo/Renaissance Learning, Tempow/Google, Context/Integral Ad Science, Monk/ACV Auctions, Cajoo/Flink, Shipfix/Veson Nautical, Bereal/Voodoo.

Ben's leadership has contributed to placing Orrick as the #1 Venture Capital and Tech Growth practice in France (ranked #1 by Pitchbook in 2021, 2022, 2023 - CF News in 2022, 2023). 

Recognized as a key lawyer in the market in venture capital and tech growth, Ben was ranked No. 1 in the "Top 10 Influential French Venture Capital Lawyers in Private Equity 2023" by Business Today. He was named "Lawyer of the Year" in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers France in the Venture Capital category. He is also ranked as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 EMEA in Private Equity - Venture Capital/Growth Capital since 2020 and was voted as the most active tech lawyer in France in 2019 by transaction volume in CF News’ ranking.

Ben is the founder of Orrick Paris Tech Studio, a one of a kind office and working space created in June 2022 and located in the heart of the Paris Tech scene, which is the headquarters of Orrick's French Tech practice.

Harry Clark Partner

Washington, D.C.

Harry is experienced in areas such as CFIUS/Exon-Florio examinations of foreign investment, military and “dual use” export control regulations (ITAR/EAR), economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC), customs regulations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, anti-money laundering rules, anti-boycott requirements and defense industrial security requirements. He executes internal corporate investigations regarding trade and investment rules and advises on such rules in the context of corporate transactions.

Additionally, Harry has extensive experience with government contracting matters. His government contracting work has included, for example, design and implementation of U.S. Defense Department renewable energy projects. He also represents broad industry coalitions on major trade litigations and international negotiations. His experience in these areas includes a leading role in what is often considered the largest-ever international trade dispute: the controversy regarding unfair softwood lumber imports from Canada. It has involved myriad administrative proceedings before federal agencies, NAFTA panel appeals, WTO dispute proceedings, judicial proceedings and international settlement agreements.

Harry has represented a coalition of major U.S. oil companies in antidumping and countervailing duty litigation. As a related matter, he pursues policy issues with congressional and executive branch officials and advises on international trade rules (e.g., GATT, WTO agreements and NAFTA).

Chambers 2022 recognizes Harry as a leader in the field of export controls and economic sanctions (Chambers Global and Chambers USA), as well as CFIUS (Chambers USA). Previous editions have also recognized Harry’s achievements regarding his work related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Clients note that Harry provides “accurate, straightforward guidance incredibly efficiently” and “he has an ability to translate complex legal requirements and rules into business-friendly jargon.”

Spencer Cohen Partner

New York

Spencer represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies, as well as private and public companies in all aspects of their business.

Spencer regularly advises clients on a variety of strategic transitions, including domestic and cross-border M&A, debt and equity investments and joint ventures. He also counsels boards, investors and other key stakeholders on financing transactions and general corporate matters.

He works across a wide range of geographies and industries, including a primary focus in the tech, finance, life sciences, energy and infrastructure sectors.

Maria Theresa Coladonato Associate

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

She advises high-growth technology companies on general incorporation matters, venture capital financings and everyday corporate governance. Maria also represents venture capital firms in connection with their investments in private companies.