February.22.2022
“Nothing is more important to our future than recruiting, inspiring and promoting top talent. Our 2022 class is stellar in terms of their legal skills and deep sector experience and their commitment to innovation, collaboration and making a social impact. We’re extremely fortunate to have this group to lead our firm into the future,” said Orrick’s Chairman & CEO Mitch Zuklie.
OUR NEW PARTNERS
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE
FINANCE
LITIGATION & IP
In addition, the firm is pleased to name Mike Schrader as Senior Partner in our Public Finance practice in Portland.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Christina Catzoela helps startups and high growth tech companies raise capital and build their business from formation through exit, as well as counsels venture capital firms on their investments. Most recently, she was part of the Orrick team that advised Weave Communications on its IPO on the NYSE and Clover Health on its $3.7 billion SPAC merger with Social Capital Hedosophia. Prior to Orrick, Christina worked in-house at an online real estate marketplace company and T-Mobile.
Spencer Cohen advises private equity funds and their portfolio companies, as well as private and public companies in the tech, finance, life sciences, energy and infrastructure sectors. He advises clients on a variety of strategic transitions, including M&A, debt and equity investments and joint ventures. In addition to his practice, Spencer is one of the leaders for the firm’s U.S. summer program and serves on our Corporate Business Unit Hiring Committee.
Katie Cotton advises on cross-border M&A and private equity transactions in the tech sector, as well as advising founder-led and VC-backed companies on financings and exits. Recognized as a “Next Generation Partner” by Legal 500 and as a “Rising Star” by WeAreTheCity, Katie is involved in various pro bono projects supporting refugees and children with life-limiting conditions.
Sulina Gabale is a founding member of Orrick’s Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation practice. She advises on data privacy and consumer protection laws, data management and governance frameworks, and privacy and consumer protection investigations before the FTC. Sulina partners with companies across a broad range of sectors to devise creative privacy-by-design solutions empowering innovation through key compliance strategies.
David Gold advises clients on complex M&A transactions, joint ventures and other corporate matters in the technology, life sciences, energy and infrastructure sectors. He has represented clients in over $20 billion of M&A transactions. David serves on our Corporate Business Unit Hiring Committee and is a member of our Women’s Initiative Quarterly Newsletter Editorial Board.
Aria Kashefi is a strategic advisor and legal partner to emerging technology and life sciences companies, as well as venture capital and strategic investors. He combines his engineering background and years of legal experience to provide practical, business-focused advice to his clients. Aria works with companies throughout their life cycle, from incorporation to exit, and across various industries.
Laurent Olleon advises multinational companies on tax issues that arise in transactional and litigation matters. Prior to Orrick, Laurent served for over twenty years in various roles within the Conseil d'Etat, France’s highest administrative law court – most recently as a senior judge focused on tax and energy matters.
Zac Padgett advises public and private tech companies and private equity firms in M&A transactions and growth equity investments. He leads innovation efforts within the firm to improve the efficiency of legal services and competes in global legal hackathons to develop legal software tools.
Parag Patel advises clients on complex regulatory and transactional issues related to financial technology, including emerging payments, consumer and commercial lending, banking, and privacy matters. Earlier in his career, he worked in-house at Capital One and Funding Circle.
Christoph Rödter assists clients in the tech and life sciences sectors on cross-border M&A, growth equity fundraising and public offerings. He also helps fast growing technology companies scale up their governance and compliance. Most recently, Christoph advised Lilium on its $3.3 billion SPAC merger with Qell.
Joe Santiesteban guides companies through complex legal and business decisions resulting from cyber incidents and data breaches, as well as counsels on resulting litigation and government enforcement matters. He also uses this experience to provide clients practical advice regarding their data security and incident preparedness strategies. Joe was selected to participate in the 2021 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders program.
Ramy Shweiky advises global technology companies and their financial sponsors on domestic and cross-border M&A, joint ventures, and other strategic transactions. Active in his community, he serves on the advisory board of legal services nonprofit OneJustice.
Ramin Tohidi helps startups and high growth tech companies maximize their IP and technology portfolios. He also assists them on commercial and licensing matters and with IP issues in strategic corporate transactions, such as financings, mergers and acquisitions. Chambers and Legal 500 recognized Ramin as a 2021 Associate to Watch and Rising Star.
Michael Wiesner assists companies on compensation and benefits matters in M&A, private equity and capital markets transactions. He was part of the Orrick teams that advised Luminar, Fisker, SOC Telemed and Local Bounti on their SPAC mergers and the Orrick teams representing Warburg Pincus and Cisco in numerous acquisitions. Michael also assists asylum-seekers and others on international human rights issues.
E&I
A founding member of Orrick’s Houston office, Adam Kowis advises clients on complex transactions across the energy & infrastructure sector, including in the oil and gas, renewable energy, and core and core-plus infrastructure sectors. Adam also assists clients in navigating the opportunities and issues created by the energy transition. Well-connected in the industry, he is a member of the Institute for Energy Law and was previously named to their young energy professionals’ Leadership Class.
Matthew Neuringer advises on complex and innovative technology, social and transportation infrastructure projects, particularly PPPs and design-build projects. He has advised on over $34B of projects to date, most recently, advising Meridiam on closing Fresno State’s Energy Modernization P3, Skanska and Macquarie in the divestiture of their interests in the Elizabeth River Crossing P3 project and the City of New York on its $8B Borough Based Rikers Replacement Design-Build Program. Matthew also serves as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserves JAG Corps.
FINANCE
A founding member of Orrick’s Portland office, Mike Schrader serves as bond counsel on public finance and affordable housing projects in Oregon. In addition, he serves on the Boards of nonprofits Bridge Meadows and the Portland Housing Center.
SueAnn Yue counsels clients on residential mortgage-backed securitizations, re-securitizations and other complex financing facilities. Over the course of her career, she has established and grown the RMBS platforms of numerous key industry players. In addition to her practice, SueAnn is actively involved in the firm’s recruiting, mentoring and diversity efforts.
LITIGATION & IP
A securities litigator, Kevin Askew defends companies and their directors and officers in securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, and other complex business litigation matters.
An employment lawyer, Katie Briscoe is both a fierce litigator and trusted advisor. She defends employers against a wide range of disputes, from complex wage and hour class and PAGA actions to contentious discrimination and harassment claims. She also counsels employers on all aspects of the employment relationship.
Chris Cariello litigates key legal issues at every stage of a case—from trial court to the U.S. Supreme Court. He has represented leading companies in the tech and financial services sectors in a wide variety of subject matters. Chris is passionate about the cutting-edge issues arising at the intersection of technology, creativity, and commerce, ranging from intermediary liability in copyright and trademark law to the regulatory environment for fintech products. He has deep expertise in class action defense, helping clients avoid class certification and preserve the result on appeal. Prior to Orrick, Chris clerked for Judge Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Judge Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Bill Foley advises clients on high-stakes corporate and securities litigation matters, shareholder derivative litigation and white collar and regulatory compliance inquiries. Additionally, he maintains an active pro bono practice assisting clients in civil rights and immigration matters.
Libby Moulton uses her past experience as a Federal Circuit clerk, district court clerk and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner to advise clients on their most important patent trials and appeals. She specializes in the role of “appellate eyes at trial,” assisting trial teams with key legal strategy, briefing, jury instructions and appellate preservation issues. Libby embraces any technology and works on cases ranging from medical devices to cable connectors to pharmaceuticals to memory chips.
David Rhinesmith represents life sciences, health care, technology and energy companies in government investigations, enforcement actions, and related civil and regulatory proceedings, including False Claims Act litigation. He advises clients on a wide range of compliance matters, including risk assessments, transactional due diligence and monitorships. David also leads internal investigations into corruption, fraud and other issues, drawing on secondments to the legal and compliance teams at Microsoft and Zimmer Biomet.
Aaron Rubin advises on the business and legal issues that impact financial institutions in residential mortgage-backed securities, in particular, mortgage servicing and life settlement litigation matters. He also has an active pro bono practice working with veterans.
A technology litigator, Nathan Shaffer advises technology companies on high-stakes litigation, focused primarily on the issues at the intersection of high technology and IP law, including copyright, trademark and trade secret. Prior to joining Orrick, Nathan clerked for Judge Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Mendez of the Eastern District of California.
An employment litigator, Alex Stathopoulos defends employers in complex wage and hour class, collective and representative actions and high-stakes single plaintiff cases. She counsels on a wide range of employment issues including new and developing areas of the law. Active in the community, Alex is a member of the Executive Committee for the California Lawyers Association Labor and Employment Section, serves on the Executive Committee for the Bar Association of San Francisco, Labor and Employment Law Section and on the Board of Directors for Women Lawyers of Alameda County.