People

Ashley Halvorsen Senior Associate

Los Angeles

Ashley represents issuers, underwriters, servicers, lenders, and other market participants in connection with securitizations, asset financings and sales, and negotiation of lending facilities. Ashley's practice encompasses a variety of asset-backed securities, including residential mortgage-backed securities and credit and charge card receivables.

Joanna Hernandez Senior Associate

Los Angeles

Joanna’s practice focuses on a variety of asset-backed classes, including credit and charge card receivables, and consumer loans. She regularly works with fintech companies assisting these clients with their financing needs.

Among her experience, Joanna represents issuers, sponsors and underwriters in connection with public offerings and private placements of asset-backed securities. She also has experience with transactions relating to the sale and financing of residential mortgage loans, including residential mortgage-backed securitizations, repurchase facilities and servicer advance facilities.

Prior to joining the firm, Joanna worked as an associate at a municipal law firm and represented public agencies in litigation and public finance matters.

Kar Ho Of Counsel

New York

Martin Howard Partner

Los Angeles

Marty is a securities, finance and securitization lawyer advising sophisticated financial institutions in the financing, purchase and sale, and securitization of financial assets. Marty advises issuers, underwriters, dealers, placement agents, collateral managers, servicers and investment funds in domestic and offshore securities offerings, both public and private, involving the securitization of mortgage-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations, collateralized debt obligations, manufactured housing contracts, residual interests and credit card receivables.

Marty has extensive experience advising clients with respect to a broad array of mortgage products, including prime and non-prime, closed-end second lien, home equity loans, non-performing and re-performing loans, and seasoned loans. Marty also represents investment banks, bank holding companies and investment funds on warehouse financings, whole loan purchases and sales, sales and securitization of servicing advance receivables and the day-to-day operations of servicing mortgage loans.

During the last 31 years of practice in the global financial markets, Marty has been involved with several innovations in financial products and has lectured to domestic and international audiences on the workings of the securitization process, including the rules and regulations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

James Jenkins, III Managing Associate

Washington, D.C.

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

He joins Orrick from Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders in Washington, D.C. Prior to and during law school, James worked in the secondary market as a Performance Manager in the Credit Risk Management division at Freddie Mac, where he managed the performance of billions of dollars in MBS assets.  

James Jirtle Partner

London

James's experience includes advising:

• Arrangers and managers on over 40 EUR CLOs.
• Issuers and investors in connection with the warehousing and securitisation of various assets, including trade receivables, consumer loans, telco receivables and physical commodities.
• Issuers, arrangers and investors on compliance with European securitisation regulation requirements.
• Borrowers on corporate bonds and private debt transactions.

Aurélie Le Griel Managing Associate

Paris

Aurélie advises French and international financial institutions, corporates, sponsors, investors and asset managers on French and cross border transactions. She advises on banking, structured finance and securitization transactions.

Prior to joining Orrick, Aurélie was an associate for five years in the Securitization and Structured Finance teams of two leading international law firms in Paris.

Klaudia Mach Senior Associate

London

Klaudia practiced as a solicitor at another international law firm and completed a client secondment to a major investment bank before joining Orrick. She has also taught contract law at King’s College London and worked at a prime brokerage firm.

John MacKerron Senior Counsel

New York

Dora Mao Senior Counsel

San Francisco

In addition, she advises financial services clients regularly in connection with Dodd-Frank Act compliance, Regulation AB and other securities law and regulatory compliance matters, warehouse facilities, purchase and sale agreements and template development, servicing rights and repurchase facilities.  She has also advised nonprofits in connection with financing affordable housing and economic development.

In 2012, she was seconded part-time to a finance company client, where she assisted in drafting and implementing compliance policies and procedures and related training materials.

Dora is also experienced in a broad range of securities and commercial transactions, including private and public offerings of equity and debt, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial loan origination. She has represented both issuers and investors in a wide variety of equity and debt issuances.    

Dora was Partner-in-Charge of the San Francisco office of the firm from 2000 through 2003 and serves on the firm’s Opinion Committee and Professional Development Committee.   She served on the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Northern California from 2004 through 2012 and the Board of Trustees of San Francisco University High School from 2007 through 2014.

Nikiforos Mathews Partner

New York

His practice focuses on representing financial institutions, governmental and regulated entities, hedge funds and corporate end-users in developing, structuring and negotiating a broad range of fixed income, foreign exchange, commodity, energy and credit derivative products. Among other things, he has successfully negotiated numerous domestic and cross-border lien-secured hedging transactions relating to leveraged loans and infrastructure transactions, as well as deal-contingent hedges. In addition, Nik has significant experience in foreign exchange and fixed income prime brokerage issues, as well as various structured products. He also regularly advises clients in connection with derivatives regulation, including the application of the Dodd-Frank legislation and related regulations. Also, Nik provides counsel on close-out netting matters and UCC issues relating account control arrangements for collateral. Nik regularly advises on the structuring and negotiation of energy and commodity hedging transactions, as well as swap regulatory matters relating to VPPAs. Moreover, on a regular basis, Nik represents market participants on the termination and close-out of derivatives and other products, including providing advice on related bankruptcy matters.

Nik is lead editor of Orrick’s publication, Derivatives in Review, which periodically highlights important legal, regulatory and other newsworthy developments in the area of derivatives. He has also published articles in several journals, including on rating agency hedge criteria in connection with structured finance transactions.

Before joining Orrick, Nik was vice president and assistant general counsel at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and director and counsel at UBS AG. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Nicholas Tsoucalas of the United States Court of International Trade.

From 1999 to 2007, Nik held a commission as a Captain in the United States Army Reserve, where he was qualified to practice as a Judge Advocate. A veteran of both Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, he served as an Operational and Administrative Law attorney in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lorraine McGowen Partner

New York

Lorraine brings 30+ years of legal experience in bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, sovereign debt restructurings and creditors' rights controversies. She interfaces with auditors, government regulators, investment bankers and others, and develops and implements mediation and litigation strategies, and negotiates reorganization plans and complex corporate and finance documents. She also regularly provides commercial law and bankruptcy advice in connection with securitization, M&A, energy & infrastructure and general corporate transactions.

Lorraine has represented various stakeholders in bankruptcies, workouts, distressed debt transactions, sovereign debt restructurings, bankruptcy litigation, derivatives, and distressed acquisition matters such as Suriname, Belize, Puerto Rico, Takata Corporation, Windstream, GTT, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Lehman, MF Global, Indiana Toll Road, Chemtura Corporation, Tronox Incorporated, South Bay Expressway, American Dream School, Detroit, General Motors, and Stone & Webster.

Lorraine is a member of Orrick's Management Committee and is Partner in Charge of its global Inclusion & Belonging Initiatives. She previously served two terms on the firm’s 11-member Board of Directors and also previously chaired its Restructuring Group.

As a leading Inclusion & Belonging advocate, Lorraine creates programs for the legal profession and the community. She was selected as a 2019 Rainmaker by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and as one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers for 2022, 2018 and 2015 and received Legal Outreach’s Pipeline to Diversity 2017 Champion Award and the New York City Bar Association Diversity and Inclusion 2012 Champion Award. IFLR1000 Rankings named Lorraine a leading lawyer in the U.S. She was selected by Direct Women to be a 2016 Board Institute member. She is a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and insolvency and diversity and inclusion.

Among her community involvement, she is a former Vice President and Board Member of the New York City Bar Association and currently co-chairs the City Bar's Digital Assets Task Force. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where she is chair of the board, and on the Advisory Committees for Legal Outreach and the Vance Center for International Justice of the City Bar, where she serves as co-chair of the Advisory Committee of the Vance Center.