People

Mark Parris Partner

Seattle

"An outstanding trial lawyer, very strategic, very responsive and very creative," according to Chambers USA's Guide to America's Leading Lawyers for Business.

His experience includes representing Fortune 500 and other clients from various industries (e.g. technology, financial services, chemical/manufacturing, energy, retail). The litigation has involved IP, Securities, Insurance, Employment, Products Liability, Class Actions and significant contract disputes in Federal and State courts and before arbitration panels throughout the United States. He has been a speaker nationally at various seminars on litigation, arbitration, mediation and trial techniques. Mark has tried dozens of cases – both jury and non-jury trials – and mediated and arbitrated 75-plus cases. He has argued numerous appeals in Federal Circuits across the country and has served as an expert witness on multiple occasions. Mark has also served as National Counsel to a number of clients involved in multi-state litigation. He has been recognized as one of America’s Top 100 Bet-The-Company Litigators, is one of two IP litigators in Washington selected as an Amazing Attorney by Washington CEO magazine and was recently recognized as one of the top 30 Trial Lawyers in Washington.

In addition, Mark is a member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group. He has been named as the leading policy-holder side attorney in Washington State. He has represented several Fortune 500 companies as well as the State of Washington, the Washington Association of Municipal Attorneys and several cities, counties and port authorities in insurance coverage disputes.

Prior to joining Orrick, Mark was a partner at Heller Ehrman.

Jeremy Peterman Senior Associate, Currently on a Racial Justice Fellowship

Seattle

Jeremy represents clients from a wide range of industries in high stakes appeals across numerous subject areas. He has helped major tech companies, biomedical manufacturers, universities, and state governments successfully resolve appeals with novel issues involving intellectual property, employment law, administrative law, class actions, criminal law, sovereign immunity, and securities law.

Jeremy is especially experienced in intellectual property appeals where he employs his generalist background to simplify complex technology for generalist judges. He helped develop the successful appellate strategy in what legal observers have dubbed “The World Series of Copyright Suits.” He also draws from his administrative law background to develop novel strategies for clients to challenge the PTO’s administration of the inter partes review process.

Jeremy has authored merits briefs, cert. petitions, and briefs in opposition in the U.S. Supreme Court, dozens of briefs in both federal and state courts of appeals, and dispositive motions in trial courts. He also maintains an active pro bono practice.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jeremy served as a law clerk to Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to Judge David Hamilton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Marissa Prieto Senior Associate

Seattle

Her experience includes representing borrowers, sponsors, investors and lenders in a variety of financing and equity arrangements, including project and portfolio M&A, development financing, equity investments and joint ventures with wind, solar and other alternative energy projects.

Jeff Quinn-Cane Partner

Seattle

With an emphasis on project development and tax-driven finance, Jeff advises developers, sponsors, lenders, investors and utilities across the renewable energy spectrum. He has extensive experience guiding clients on complex tax equity transactions to finance and develop utility-scale solar and wind, distributed solar, geothermal, fuel cell, biomass and other projects that promote a low carbon energy transition.

Previously, Jeff spent four years working as a litigation consultant, an experience that equipped him with a deep understanding of the factors that lead to litigation and effective ways to prevent it.

Christine Reynolds Partner

Portland; Seattle

Christine has more than two decades of experience in public infrastructure finance, advising on both traditional bond financings and innovative funding structures. She serves as a Vice-Chair of the Public Finance Group and on the leadership team for the Impact Finance Group.

Christine’s experience includes various general obligation and revenue bond financings, including those relating to transportation, education, healthcare, water and wastewater, economic development, urban renewal, public power and other complex and innovative social and infrastructure financings sometimes involving public-private partnerships (P3) for large transportation and utility issuers, state and local municipalities, and other for-profit and nonprofit corporations.

She has extensive knowledge and experience with disclosure requirements for municipal issuers under federal securities laws, including both initial and continuing disclosure issues, material events disclosure, public offerings, private placements and other municipal securities regulatory matters.

Christine is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars given by trade and professional organizations within the municipal finance industry, including serving as Chair for The Bond Buyer's 2022 Infrastructure Conference and Board of Directors to Women in Public Finance.

Paul F. Rugani Partner

Orange County; New York; Seattle

Legal 500 touts Paul as a recommended attorney for Securities Litigation, observing that he is “among the most creative and strategic lawyers” who always has “an eye on the end game.”  Paul achieved American Lawyer Litigator of the Week recognition as part of a team that achieved a ground-breaking New York Court of Appeals victory that substantially reduced financial exposure in RMBS repurchase litigation.

Leader of Orrick's Securities Litigation practice and deputy leader of the Firm's Financial Services Litigation practice, Paul has extensive experience representing clients in securities class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, commercial contractual disputes and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as in connection with internal, government and regulatory investigations. Paul also counsels domestic and foreign accounting firms on matters related to state CPA licensing and state board regulation.

Michael Ruiz Partner

Silicon Valley; Seattle

Michael advises his clients on a broad range of legal needs, including corporate formation and structure, venture capital financings, board and stockholder relationships and exit transactions. His current and former clients are concentrated in interactive media industries including game development, Esports, AR/VR tech, 3D animation, and artificial intelligence. Michael also advises companies in the cleantech and life sciences sectors.

His favorite video game is Final Fantasy (VII), favorite board game is Twilight Imperium (IV) and favorite science fiction book is Ender’s Game.

Eric Sanchez Chief Information Security Officer

Seattle

Eric brings to his role at Orrick extensive experience in the military, governmental and corporate sectors. He served for seven years in Intelligence in the U.S. Air Force and for twelve years as a Cyber Intelligence Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He has worked in the private sector, including in post-breach situations, both with leading cyber consultants and global enterprises in the U.S. and UK. Most recently, he was Global CISO at publicly traded global pharma group Kyowa Kirin.

Eric serves as an advisor to startups and venture capital firms dedicated to transforming cybersecurity, including Confidencial, Radiant Security, NDAY Security, NightDragon and Halcyon Inc.

Outside of work, Eric enjoys fishing, cruising, visiting Disney parks and traveling to historical sites.

Joseph C Santiesteban Partner

Seattle

He brings significant experience advising companies – from one of the largest telecommunications providers to leading entertainment companies to startups on the cutting-edge of AI and more – on the full cycle of an incident. He also advises companies and executives in connection to regulatory investigations, class actions, enforcement actions, and other disputes that frequently flow from privacy and cybersecurity incidents.

Joe helps clients respond quickly and with integrity to protect their brand, build trust and mitigate legal risk. He is highly skilled at directing incident investigations, analyzing potential claims and defenses, examining potential notification obligations and advising on effective communications strategies. He draws on this experience to help companies proactively prepare for an incident through creative strategies that foster engagement and collaboration between legal, security, communications and leadership teams. This includes building and improving incident response programs through response plans, simulated incidents, threat workshops, and training. In addition, Joe assists clients in practically evaluating the legal risk of security decisions in a variety of transactions and across the product lifecycle.

He also provides strategic advice to cybersecurity companies, including those looking to push technological and defense boundaries in cyber defense, incident response, and threat intelligence. This includes helping companies maximize their security offerings by navigating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and the Federal Wiretap Act, as well as state law analogs.

Joe serves on Orrick’s Finance and Audit and Pro Bono Committees. A leader and advocate for diversity and inclusion initiatives, Joe is the co-head of Orrick’s Latinx Inclusion Network and was selected as a 2024 Rising Star by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). He was also named to Lawdragon's 2024 500 X Next Generation Rising Stars List and an Rising Star by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). He is a member of the Washington Latino Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Audrey Schricker Senior Associate

Seattle

Audrey advises a broad range of companies and investors on: buyout mergers and acquisitions, growth equity investments, reorganizations, joint ventures, and governance matters. Audrey’s practice focuses on advising clients in the energy, technology, and healthcare sectors. Audrey brings client-focused innovation and creativity to M&A transactions, developing tailored solutions to clients operating within the transforming energy and healthcare ecosystem and emerging climate tech industry.

Aravind Swaminathan Partner

Seattle; Boston

A leading cybersecurity and online safety authority, Aravind is recognized by Chambers USA in Privacy and Data Security in both Litigation and Incident Response. Clients describe him as “a very talented lawyer experienced with incident responses” and “incredibly responsive and technically savvy.”

Aravind’s deep knowledge of his clients’ business objectives and technological capabilities distinguishes him as a strategic advisor and frontline crisis responder. He advises some of the world’s leading online platforms, public and private financial institutions, tech companies, higher education institutions, and critical infrastructure providers on cybersecurity, and their obligations to monitor and remove harmful or illegal content online and root out instances of child exploitation.

He is adept at guiding companies through cybersecurity incidents, having directed more than 500 data breach investigations, including enterprise-wide network intrusions to cyberattacks with national security implications. Aravind defends clients in an array of cybersecurity and privacy class actions and regulatory enforcement actions brought by the SEC, FTC, NY DFS and State AGs, and also represents individual C-level executives in criminal and civil regulatory enforcement matters.

As a former assistant United States attorney, he investigated and prosecuted a broad array of cybercrime, child exploitation cases, digital crimes, and white-collar crime cases. This first-hand knowledge of federal agencies allows him to navigate the system, partner with investigators and find creative solutions for clients.

Aravind is a member of Orrick’s Board of Directors, and he devotes much of his free time to advising independent schools on AI, online safety, and cybersecurity, and teaching and coaching.

Ashley Walter Partner & Chief Sustainability Officer

Seattle

As Orrick’s Chief Sustainability Officer, he also oversees Orrick's strategic sustainability initiatives. Ashley focuses on developing innovative methods of supporting clients in achieving ESG objectives, including designing novel systems to manage supply chain risk; forming and guiding management-level ESG Steering Committees; and helping clients address the ESG requirements of major customers by engaging with those customers on our clients’ behalf.

Ashley is a co-founder and past chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility Law Committee of the ABA Business Law Section, has co-chaired the Practising Law Institute's annual ESG program for the last four years, and is heavily involved in ESG initiatives at Stanford Law School, where has served as a moderator at the Stanford Directors' College, has lectured on ESG at business law courses, has taught the course “Corporate Social Responsibility,” and will be teaching the course “Law and Governance in ESG Strategy” in the spring of 2025. Prior to Orrick, Ashley founded the corporate social responsibility practice at a Silicon Valley-based law firm.

How I help clients:

• Customer ESG Engagement: Engaging with clients’ major customers in response to ESG inquiries or requirements
• Supply Chain Risk: Developing responsible sourcing systems for high-risk supply chains
• ESG Goal Management: Advice regarding retaining, modifying or withdrawing ESG goals
• ESG Steering Committees: Forming and guiding management-level ESG Steering Committees
• ESG Due Diligence: Conducting ESG due diligence with a focus on post-closing program building
• Quarterbacking Compliance: Creating and advancing a project plan for regulatory compliance, including working with third-party consultants