People

Michelle (McGann) MacGregor Senior Strategist

Washington, D.C.

Before joining Orrick, Michelle gained broad experience working with elected leadership at the federal and state government levels. Most recently as Executive Director of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, Michelle was responsible for advancing the Committee’s objectives of providing financial support, leadership development, and strategic assistance to lawmakers nationwide. In her previous leadership positions at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, Michelle reported directly to Senate and House leadership and was tasked with advancing their objectives by evaluating and managing the nexus of policy initiatives and political impact.

Michelle is a graduate of Amherst College, where she received a B.A. in Political Science.

Ali Abugheida Partner

San Francisco

Prior to joining Orrick, Ali was a partner at Buckley LLP. He began his career at WilmerHale, where his practice included litigation and government enforcement matters.

Daniel Alleva Managing Associate

Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining Orrick, Daniel was an associate at Buckley LLP.

Julia Apostle Partner

Paris

Julia counsels on compliance issues in relation to European and French tech and data regulations, including the GDPR, the Digital Services Act, the regulation of AI, the Data Act and other new and emerging legislation impacting online platforms, technology developers, and eCommerce businesses. She advises companies of all sizes on a wide range of compliance matters, ranging the drafting of internal policies, to assisting with regulatory investigations, and product counseling.

In the context of strategic transactions covering significant and complex technological issues, she is involved in the drafting and negotiation of agreements relating to data transfer, IT, software, content and brand licensing.

Qualified to practice in the UK and France, Julia is deeply familiar with the commercial considerations’ clients face, having practiced in-house at Twitter, Financial Times and CBS for more than a decade prior to joining Orrick.

Kristina Arianina Of Counsel

Washington, D.C.

As a member of Orrick’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution team, Kristina has extensive experience representing clients in challenging and high-stakes cases. She has a particular focus on trade secret misappropriation cases in the tech industry, where she has both prosecuted and defended claims.

Kristina’s commercial litigation experience includes litigating claims of false advertising, unfair competition, business fraud, negligence, breaches of contract and fiduciary duties. She also has substantial experience with the False Claims Act, both with and without the government’s involvement.

In addition to her litigation experience, Kristina has conducted numerous internal investigations and compliance assessments in the United States and abroad. She has also represented companies and individuals in matters before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

A first-generation immigrant from Russia to the United States, Kristina is passionate about her pro bono work. She played a leading role in the firm’s collaboration with Public International Law & Policy Group on the Ukraine Accountability Initiative and represented clients in reproductive rights and termination of parental rights cases.

Anna Aryankalayil Partner

Washington, D.C.

Having returned to private practice, Anna focuses on merger clearance and litigation, government conduct investigations, and antitrust counseling and compliance.

During her time at the FTC from March 2020 to September 2022, Anna advised on merger and anticompetitive conduct investigations and enforcement actions across a wide range of sectors, including tech, pharmaceutical and life sciences, healthcare, defense, oil & gas, retail, and consumer goods. She also advised on litigation and appellate strategy, the FTC’s advocacy through amicus briefs, and other cutting edge competition policy matters, such as, merger policy, digital platforms, intellectual property, and nascent competition in innovative industries.

Prior to joining the FTC, Anna was a senior associate in private practice where she focused on antitrust litigation, government conduct investigations and compliance, and the antitrust aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. In litigation, Anna has experience defending high-profile transactions against government challenge from the FTC and the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division.

Dr. Daniel Ashkar Counsel

Munich

Having concentrated on data privacy law since 2012, Daniel provides comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity advisory support to clients and has extensive experience in the areas of international data transfers (including on EU Standard Contractual Clauses and Binding Corporate Rules) as well as topics relating to the “Schrems II” judgment.

Daniel further drafts data privacy contracts (such as data processing agreements and joint controller agreements) as well as data privacy policies/notices and consent forms. On transactional matters, he supports clients with outsourcings and due diligences in the course of M&A transactions. Daniel also advises on data subject rights requests, data breaches and notification requirements related thereto, e-discovery requests, website tracking, marketing measures, privacy impact assessments as well as data privacy topics in the employment and reinsurance context.

He further advises on IT/IP and technology-related matters, including on contracts and matters relating to unfair and deceptive trade practices. Daniel also possesses years of experience regarding legal disputes and litigation matters and has represented clients in proceedings before different courts in Germany.

Prior to joining Orrick, Daniel was an in-house counsel for a German car maker and for one of the largest reinsurance corporations in the world. His in-house experiences at these large German multinationals allow him to understand the needs and requirements of globally operating clients.

Daniel started his career at another global law firm where he worked for several years with a focus on data privacy and litigation matters. He also wrote his doctoral thesis on data privacy law.

Allen Babajanian Senior Associate

Los Angeles

 Allen focuses on technology and intellectual property-related transactions, with a particular emphasis on drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements, including:

• hardware, software, content, and data licensing agreements;
• IT-focused services agreements, including consulting, development, hosting, and cloud computing agreements, including software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service arrangements; and
• technology and intellectual property development, acquisition, and disposition agreements.

In addition, Allen counsels clients on intellectual property issues in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and financing transactions.

Ameerah Banks Cooper Associate

Santa Monica

Prior to joining Orrick, Ameerah was an associate at Buckley LLP. Prior to Buckley, she was an Assistant Vice President for a national consumer financial services company, where she maintained compliance with all applicable Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB) and other federal and state regulatory guidelines.

Brian Bartholomay Counsel

Washington, D.C.

Brian’s experience includes matters initiated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as state attorneys general and other state regulators. In addition to his enforcement practice, Brian also represents financial services clients in individual and class actions arising under federal and state consumer protection statutes.

Prior to joining Orrick, Brian was counsel at Buckley LLP.

Heidi Bauer Partner

Washington, D.C.

Heidi represents mortgage lenders and servicers, banks, consumer finance companies, fintech companies, money transmitters, securities broker-dealers and private equity firms and other financial sponsors of such entities with regulatory, compliance, licensing and transactional matters.

She assists clients with matters before state regulatory agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In addition, Heidi advises financial and strategic purchasers of financial services firms and assets on regulatory matters, including due diligence of target companies and transactional structuring in light of federal and state licensing and regulatory requirements, and assists them in securing regulatory approvals for transactions.

Prior to joining Orrick, Heidi was a partner at Buckley LLP.

Patricia Beaubrun-Reese Project Attorney

Washington, D.C.

She provides litigation support and assists with large-scale document reviews and productions related to investigations and complex litigation.

Prior to joining Orrick, Patricia was a litigation attorney at Buckley LLP.