People

Sarah Amari Associate

Paris

From Orrick Paris Tech Studio, Sarah combines her strategic legal insight with a keen interest in technology, enabling startups and investors tackle complex legal challenges.

Sarah advises founders, tech companies, and venture capital investors throughout their growth lifecycle, covering areas such as corporate governance, employee incentive plans, and M&A transactions.

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.

Léa Fiorenza Managing Associate

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Léa assists startups and more mature technology companies in all stages of their development, from their creation to their fundraising operations and eventual sale.

Léa assists entrepreneurs in the development and implementation of governance strategies and employee incentive plans tailored to their needs.

She is particularly interested in the DeepTech and MedTech sectors.

Johann Jabes Managing Associate

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Johann advises startups and tech companies as well as VC funds in on their fundraising, external growth operations, and exits. He has been involved in more than 40 transactions with companies such as Mistral AI, Alan, BeReal, amo, Dust or Nabla, or investors such as Cathay Innovation, Highland Europe, RA Capital Management and Sequoia Capital.

Throughout the growth lifecycle of startups, Johann assists management teams in setting up employee incentive plans and providing practical advice on corporate governance.

As a dual-qualified lawyer admitted to the Paris and New-York bars, Johann supports companies in their cross-border operations and their establishment in the United States.

Prior to joining Orrick, Johann was an associate in the Paris office of an American law firm.

Manon Speich Senior Associate

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Manon advises startups and high growth technology companies in raising capital and building their businesses from formation through exit. She assists founders developing and implementing effective corporate governance strategies throughout the life of their startup and issuing customized equity instruments for their fundraising. 

Before joining Orrick, Manon worked as an M&A and Private Equity attorney at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel in Paris.

Baptiste Tanchoux Associate

Paris

From Orrick Paris Tech Studio, Baptiste blends a strategic legal mindset with deep enthusiasm for technology, empowering startups and investors to navigate complex legal landscapes.

Baptiste advises founders, tech companies and venture capital investors on various aspects of their growth journey, including fundraisings, corporate governance matters, employee incentive plans and M&A transactions.

Samuel Tazartes Senior Associate

Paris; Paris Tech Studio

Based in Orrick Paris Tech Studio, Sam combines a business-driven approach to legal work with a passion for innovation, helping high-growth companies raise capital and scale efficiently.

Sam advises founders, startups and investors on venture capital and tech growth financings, corporate governance, employee incentive plans, build-ups and exit/M&A transactions. His experience includes a wide range of financing rounds (more than 50 from Seed to Series F), external growth operations, and exits, with companies such as Mistral AI, Homa, BeReal, amo, Poolside, Payfit, etc…, and French and US VCs (Sequoia, Serena, Frst, Fabric), bringing a broad range of expertise to tech-focused transactions across the board.

With his French-US background and experience, Sam helps founders of French companies expand into the US market and supports US investors entering the French Tech ecosystem, by helping bridge the cultural gap.

As the co-founder of a legal tech startup (pome.gr), he applies a product-driven mindset to his legal work and helps startups streamline legal processes and improve efficiency with innovative solutions. Sam is a member of Orrick Digital Council’s Core Group and leads innovation initiatives within the Paris office.

Outside the office, Sam experiments with the latest tech gadgets, always searching for new ways to push the boundaries of innovation.

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.