People

Mark Weitzel Partner

San Francisco

Mark has a finance, tax and corporate background, and focuses on structuring complex equity and debt investments, and negotiating investment, shareholder and joint venture agreements. He has a particular focus on tax and cash equity financing of renewable energy projects, including in the solar and wind space.

Mark is a recognized leader in the field. He is the former co-chair of Orrick’s Energy & Infrastructure practice, and has been named by Chambers as one of “America’s leading energy lawyers”, described by clients as “a standout.” He is also highlighted in The Legal 500 USA as a leading individual in the areas of energy: renewable/alternative and is highlighted in the conventional power category. Euromoney has recognized Mark as one of the “world’s leading project finance lawyers” and one of the “world’s leading energy and natural resource lawyers.” He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for project finance law, by The Legal 500 as a leading project finance lawyer, and has been a Law360 Energy MVP. Mark is a frequent speaker on energy project and infrastructure investments.

Steven G. White Senior Associate

Portland

Steven’s practice includes representing local and state government issuers, tribal governments, eligible borrowers and underwriters in connection with general obligation bond financings, revenue bond financings and lease financings.  Steven serves as bond counsel to the Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Housing and Community Services, the Oregon Facilities Authority and a number of Oregon municipalities.

Prior to joining Orrick, Steven worked in publishing in various roles including as a business publication editor, business-focused journalist and news reporter covering trends in various industries as well as municipal and state government, law enforcement and state and federal court matters.

Steven volunteers as a coach for the nationally-recognized We The People program, working with Portland high school students to explore historical and contemporary Constitutional issues in a team competition format sponsored by the Center for Civic Education and Oregon’s Classroom Law Project.

Wesley L. White Partner

New York

Wesley has guided clients through all stages of litigation, including conducting pre-suit diligence, fact and expert, claim construction, evidentiary and dispositive motions, and post-trial. He has handled complex disputes across a diverse range of technology sectors, including computer hardware and software, networking devices, virtualization and cloud computing, antennas, encryption and compression technology, VOIP telephony, flash memory, e-commerce platforms, video/media streaming, web and mobile applications, life sciences, and medical and surgical devices.

Wesley’s achievements have earned him recognition as a Super Lawyers and Managing IP “Rising Star” in intellectual property disputes, and he was named to Lawdragon’s 2023 Inaugural 500 X Next Generation Rising Stars list. Prior to beginning his legal career, Wesley worked as an analyst for five years with Goldman Sachs.

Nicola Whiteley Partner

London

Leading a “straightforward and solutions-focused” team in London who are “exceptionally good and very highly respected globally”, Nicola is listed and noted for her “business-oriented approach” in Lexology Index and recognised by Chambers and Partners as “an excellent lawyer” who is “extremely responsive, commercially astute and pragmatic” and “an absolute pleasure to work with”, with clients praising her “solution orientated” nature, “very good sense of customer service” and her ability to “get to the heart of a legal problem very quickly” and “simplify complex legal matters into understandable chunks”.

Nicola is also recognised as a Leading Partner by Legal 500 UK. Clients describe her as "responsive, quick, pragmatic, and a joy to work with," making in-house counsel's life "a lot easier." Her calm and sensible advice has been invaluable in stressful employment disputes, earning her the reputation of an "outstanding employment law practitioner." Nicola's strong technical expertise, deep understanding of her clients' businesses, and commercial pragmatism make her a "pleasure to work with."

Furthermore, Nicola is lauded as "superb – clever, technical, accessible, commercial, and a thoroughly decent lawyer and human being," with tremendous respect from peers and clients alike. Her broad range of experience and cost-effective solutions are highly valued, as is her ability to provide expert legal advice and counsel tailored to the practical needs of businesses. Nicola is also trusted for independent investigation work and legal ethics-related advice.

She is a member of the International Committee of the Employment Lawyer's Association.

Deska Widianto Senior Associate

Singapore

Leveraging more than 10 years of experience advising sponsors, investors, project companies, developers and financiers (including ECAs and commercial banks), Deska excels in getting complex projects across the renewable energy, conventional energy and infrastructure sectors over the line. She is experienced in advising on international cross border financings in Asia and the Middle East.

As a native Indonesian who spent over a decade of practicing law in Indonesia, Deska is adept at navigating Indonesia's intricate regulatory framework and possesses expertise in closing complicated projects for various stakeholders.

Prior to joining Orrick, Deska practiced law at a magic circle law firm in Jakarta and in Tokyo. Deska has also interned at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and worked as an associate at a boutique oil and gas law firm in Indonesia.

Michael Wiesner Partner

Silicon Valley

Michael’s practice covers executive agreements, cash and equity-based incentive programs, change in control and severance plans, 409A and other deferred compensation issues and 280G “golden parachute” compliance, as well as compensation and benefits structuring in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

Michael authors the chapter “Executive Compensation and Benefits Issues for Start-ups and Emerging Companies” within Bloomberg BNA’s Benefits Practice Resource Center treatise.

From 2005 to 2010, Michael was a statistician with a Stanford University School of Medicine research group.

James Wigginton Of Counsel

Sacramento; Silicon Valley

Blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies have caused business leaders to rethink the way we own, govern and share the benefits of enterprise. James advises entrepreneurs and investors as they pioneer new, more inclusive operating models in professional sports, finance, social media, gaming, agriculture and other industries.

To do this, James draws from two complementary sources of experience. The first is his practice assisting public companies, private equity funds and venture capitalists with registered and unregistered securities offerings; high-stakes M&A; corporate governance; and Exchange Act reporting. The second is his experience advising clients outside the Wall Street and Silicon Valley mainstream, including cooperatives, limited cooperative associations and nonprofit corporations. By combining these two worlds, James is able to offer unexpected legal solutions to blockchain-based companies as they seek venture financing, design and issue tokens, and select business entities for DAOs.

James also appreciates the inherently global reach of blockchain and cryptocurrency. After law school, he spent two years clerking for the US Court of International Trade in New York City. Before that, James lived for two years in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Mariupol. James is fluent in Russian and maintains ties with his friends in the war zone.

Jessica Wilkin Project Attorney

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

She also manages teams of skilled professionals performing document review, redaction, analysis, production and drafting privilege logs. Jessica assists the litigation team to prepare for trial, including drafting deposition summaries, factual memoranda and exhibit charts.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jessica practiced criminal law and family law in Pennsylvania.

Christine Willgoos Counsel

New York

Christine has litigated a wide range of subject matters relating to drug development, including humanized antibody technology, recombinant DNA vectors, nextgen DNA sequencing, complex chemistry and drugs for the treatment of cancer, HIV, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, depression and anxiety, immune disorders, and dermatologic conditions. Christine is experienced in other industries as well, including medical devices, semiconductors, telecommunications and electronics.

Christine’s recent successes include obtaining a trial win and injunction for a major pharmaceutical company’s blockbuster cancer drug, securing a consent judgment and recommendation for fees for two innovator companies’ treatment relating to rare cancers, and representing a biotech company in Patent Office proceedings against a major pharmaceutical company, securing a settlement of $1.25 billion.

Kelly A. Williams Senior Career Associate

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

This experience includes commercial litigation, product liability matters, toxic torts, intellectual property litigation, defamation, unfair competition, and insurance coverage litigation. She also has experience with putative class action matters, e-discovery, and jury and non-jury trials.

Kelly is also dedicated to pro bono representation and community service. She has participated in child custody conciliation programs, criminal records expungement projects, and most recently assisted the Center for Secure and Modern Elections with evaluating the impact of COVID-19 regulations on state elections. She has also engaged in community service by serving on the board of Sojourner House, a faith-based residential recovery program for mothers and children in the Pittsburgh, PA, area, and by volunteering for community service-based projects such as distributing backpacks and school supplies for children in need.

Kelly has also served in multiple leadership positions for local and national bar associations, including the Allegheny County Bar Association and DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar. Prior to joining Orrick, Kelly practiced as an associate in the Pittsburgh office of the global law firm McGuireWoods and as a Senior Attorney at Houston Harbaugh, P.C., in Pittsburgh.

Manley Williams Partner

Washington, D.C.

Manley has extensive experience working with clients to develop credit programs, simplify credit agreements, adapt procedures for online and mobile environments, and implement, improve and amend customer rewards programs. She also helps companies sell their products over time, whether traditional banks with credit cards, online lenders with installment loans, startups with charge cards or merchants with installment plans. She helps companies navigate the federal and state law governing credit, licensing, prohibitions on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) and limitations on lending to the military and compliance with antidiscrimination laws.

She helps institutions evaluate fair lending issues in judgmental underwriting, advises financial institutions where to locate their card issuing banks to benefit from state laws on the exportation of interest rates and assists merchants and emerging companies with implementing their credit programs. Manley assists lenders in revising and refining key operational processes, disclosures and customer agreements necessitated by changing legal standards. She also conducts training for in-house counsel on legal developments in the credit card industry, including compliance with emerging UDAAP standards.

Prior to joining Orrick, Manley was a partner at Buckley LLP. She was also counsel with Wilmer Cutler Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, and a staff attorney at the Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) Legal Division and Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, where she advised financial institutions on compliance with regulations including Regulations Z (Truth in Lending Act (TILA)), B (Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)), E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA)), and CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks).

Manley organizes and hosts card roundtables at which industry leaders discuss emerging issues in a congenial environment. She has a particular interest in financial literacy and is a frequent presenter at public schools in the greater Washington, D.C., area, instructing students and teachers in understanding and using credit and debit cards, mobile phone plans and other common consumer credit vehicles.

Ashleigh Williams Associate

Washington, D.C.