People

Olivier Vuillod Partner

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Olivier advises startups and high growth technology companies throughout their lifecycle, from formation to financings, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as venture and growth capital investors. He has significant cross-border and U.S. transaction experience in venture capital markets. Olivier also advises on complex cross-border M&A transactions in the tech sector. Outside his practice, he lectures on venture capital at the EDHEC Business School. Olivier has worked in Orrick’s Paris, San Francisco and Menlo Park offices.

Olivier’s company-side representations include Aledia, Alice & Bob, Another Brain, Bellman, Dataiku, Finary, Ganymed Robotics, Gatewatcher, Highlife, Murfy, Myr.ai, Payfit, SESAMm, SiPearl, Tehtris, Upowa, Volta Medical, Xelan, XXII, Yescapa.

In addition to his company-side representations, Olivier has represented leading venture capital firms and other strategic investors, including Airbus Ventures, Alven, Astanor, Bpifrance, ETF Partners, Felix Capital, NGP Capital, One Peak, Princeville Capital, Raise Capital, Seedcamp.

Before joining Orrick, Olivier worked in the Corporate department of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Paris.

Minako Wakabayashi Partner

Tokyo

Minako has significant experience advising international and domestic sponsors and developers on complex and innovative projects. She was called upon by the Japanese government in structuring the renewable Feed-in-Tariff scheme in Japan and prepared the government’s model contracts for specific contracts (power purchase contract/interconnection contract), which are a key component of the Feed-in-Tariff scheme in Japan. Recently, she has also been handling numerous corporate PPA projects.

She was appointed as Auditor of the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA) in May 2022.

Minako practiced at Orrick’s New York office in 2004-2005. She also worked as a public prosecutor in Japan for four years and served as a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Supervising Committee for Public Bidding (Tokyo-to Nyusatsu Kanshi Iinkai) for eight years. She is serving as Audit of Veritas In Silico Inc since March 2022.

Nicole Walsh Partner

Los Angeles

Nicole guides real estate investment funds, banks, developers and corporate clients through their most intricate real estate deals. With a strong background in corporate finance, she can bridge relevant viewpoints and offer distinct context across a wide range of real estate transactions, such as restructurings, workouts, foreclosures, mortgage and mezzanine financings, construction contracts, joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions.

She serves as the relationship co-lead for one of our largest real estate clients, Hackman Capital Partners. Nicole also works closely with Sagehall Partners, Westbrook Partners, Local Bounti and Walton Street Capital, and has deep relationships with CoreVest.

Alfred Weightman Partner

London

Alfred represents major corporate purchasers and developers in negotiating renewable energy PPAs. His advice helps buy-side clients to reduce their energy costs and meet their clean energy targets. He also advises developers in securing long-term project revenues by structuring and negotiating bankable PPAs. His experience covers all major European jurisdictions, including Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and the UK.

Alfred’s experience also extends to grid connection arrangements, energy storage, energy regulation and other energy transition matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, Alfred was a Senior Legal Director at a leading solar developer and, before that, was the EMEA Region Lead for Energy at Amazon Web Services, the world’s largest buyer of renewable energy. He also spent nearly a decade at an international law firm, assisting clients in meeting their net-zero climate targets.

Blake Winburne Partner

Houston

Blake is recognized both nationally and globally by Chambers (Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2008-2024), including in Band 1 for Projects: Power & Renewables: Transactional, Projects. Chambers sources report that he has "strong commercial acumen, executive presence and excellent, long-standing stature." Blake is also recognized in the "Hall of Fame" for Energy Transactions: Electric Power by Legal 500 and has been named one of the "world’s leading energy and natural resources lawyers" by Euromoney (2009-2020).

Blake advises clients on energy sector mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures, and on the development, structuring, and financing of large-scale energy projects in the United States and internationally. He regularly represents multinational energy companies, large private equity funds, project developers and sponsors, borrowers and debt issuers, investment banks, and other capital providers and investors in the energy industry.

Blake has significant experience in the electric power sector, including fossil fuel-fired, simple and combined-cycle and co-generation facilities, as well as wind, solar (central station and distributed), landfill gas, biomass and other renewable energy projects. He also represents clients in transactions involving oil, natural-gas and refined-products pipelines, gathering and processing systems and storage facilities (tank farms and underground), exploration and production investment platforms and operations, electric power and natural gas transmission and local distribution systems and alternative fuels production and marketing arrangements. 

Shannon Yavorsky Partner

San Francisco; London

She advises public and private companies across several sectors, including life sciences and health technology, financial services, private equity, insurance, social media and technology on a range of EU and U.S. federal and state privacy laws. Shannon’s strategic counseling advice includes, but is not limited to:

• Advertising and payment card processing self-regulatory frameworks
• Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM)
• Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)
• EU AI Act
• EU e-Privacy Directive (EPD)
• EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework (AIRMF)
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• U.S. state breach notification laws
• U.S. state privacy laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Virginia and other states
  

Shannon also helps clients undertake comprehensive privacy, cybersecurity and AI risk assessments, evaluates privacy, security and AI risks in corporate transactions and drafts and negotiates data-related contracts. She advises clients on cross-border data transfers, data breaches and developing global privacy and AI compliance programs.

Paul Zarnowiecki Partner

Washington, D.C.

Transactions on which Paul has advised include the development, financing, acquisition and divestiture of renewable and conventional power projects and other infrastructure assets in a broad range of commercial and corporate transactions. He has served as lead counsel on some of the most innovative and complex U.S. renewable energy transactions in recent years in both the wind and solar energy sectors.

He is recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global, where clients describe him as "highly committed to ensuring clients get excellent service" and "very commercially minded."