People

William Alderman Senior Counsel

San Francisco

Bill is additionally recognized for the results he has obtained in insurance coverage, employee benefits, and federal and state antitrust disputes. He commits a substantial part of his time to pro bono representation and to representation of the firm.

Representing clients in class and derivative actions, Bill's approach is to minimize his clients’ overall cost through careful strategic planning, dispositive motions and aggressive negotiation. Only three of the many securities class actions he has defended have resulted in any settlement payment by his client or its carrier. Of his nearly 100 motions to dismiss securities class, mass or derivative actions since 1996, more than 90 percent were granted in their entirety (most with prejudice), while others were granted in part or led to a successful motion for summary judgment.

Lauren Allen-Yang Managing Associate

New York

Lauren has experience representing individuals and large companies at all stages of complex civil litigation, from fact-finding to motion practice and everything in between. Lauren practices in federal and state courts nationwide.

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.

Kevin M. Askew Partner

Los Angeles

Kevin has extensive experience defending securities class actions, including on behalf of high-profile clients in the technology and finance sectors. He also regularly represents clients in shareholder derivative suits, including actions alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and failures of oversight.

Kevin has handled a wide range of other complex litigation matters, including contract disputes, civil RICO actions, and cases related to corporate breakups.

Clients also turn to Kevin when they face scrutiny from government regulators. Kevin represents companies, and their officers and directors, when they receive subpoenas in connection with investigations by the SEC and other agencies. And when necessary, Kevin defends his clients in regulatory enforcement actions, including cases brought by the SEC and state Attorneys General.

Kevin devotes significant time to pro bono matters. Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project awarded Kevin its annual Pro Bono Award in recognition of his representation of an asylum seeker in a long-running Immigration Court matter.

Kevin has authored articles on securities-related topics in numerous publications, including the Daily Journal, the National Law Journal, and Bloomberg BNA.

Mark Beeley Partner

London

Mark leads Orrick’s global international arbitration practice group, and acts as advocate and counsel whether in international arbitrations (both commercial and investor-state) or in litigation in the English and DIFC courts. He has particularly deep experience in energy disputes, but also regularly acts in construction, technology, insurance, shareholder and white-collar/civil fraud matters (including advising on sanctions and export controls).

Mark has acted in arbitrations under all the major arbitration rules in disputes seated around the globe involving a wide range of governing laws and sits as arbitrator (including both as chairman and sole arbitrator). He previously practiced in Dubai as a Registered Foreign Lawyer and maintains a practice as advocate (and solicitor) in both the English and DIFC Courts (along with supervising cross-border litigation in multiple other jurisdictions). He is recognised in the leading directories for arbitration, litigation and natural resources disputes (including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, GAR and Who’s Who). In addition, he has been recognised as a foreign expert in disputes in both the UAE and India by Chambers.

He has a particular interest in energy sector disputes, including those in the upstream and LNG areas  he knows “oil and gas inside out” and is “as knowledgeable as anyone about international arbitration in the energy sector, specifically oil, gas and renewables” (Chambers & Partners UK ) and is recognised in Who's Who Legal for Energy, Chambers UK for Energy & Natural Resource Disputes and Legal 500 for Oil & Gas), but has dealt with matters across the industry, running the gamut from seismic acquisition agreements through to IP disputes involving refined products, carbon trading agreements and the construction and licencing of renewable projects. He recently led the AIEN Model Form Revision sub-committee focusing on the dispute resolution aspects of the model form JOA.

As illustrated below, beyond energy, Mark has acted in the infrastructure/construction, technology, insurance, fintech, pharmaceutical, telecoms, insurance and finance sectors (amongst others) and also advises extensively (both in the advisory context and in leading investigations/claims) in relation to white-collar/fraud matters, including money laundering, bribery, sanctions and export control issues.

Originally called to the English Bar and now practicing as a solicitor-advocate, Mark frequently publishes and speaks on arbitration and energy matters, including on questions of sovereign immunity, res judicata, arbitration procedure, the award of interest and other questions on damages. Mark serves as a member of the ICC's Commission on Arbitration & ADR, as well as on the ICC UK's Arbitration & ADR Committee. He also leads Orrick's London Office.

Chiara Bettinzoli Associate

Milan

Chiara assists the team in advising companies and individuals in investigations in relation to white-collar crimes (such as anti-money laundering, financial crimes, corporate crimes, bankruptcy crimes, tax crimes, environmental crimes, occupational health and safety crimes).

Chiara participates in carrying out internal investigations aimed at strengthening the internal control systems of leading national and international companies.

Chiara also collaborates on an ongoing basis in advising major companies and corporate groups in managing potential compliance risks, in particular in relation to the Organisational, Management and Control Models adopted pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 231/2001.

Chiara has been appointed as member of Supervisory Body (Organismi di Vigilanza) of Italian companies.
Since November 2024, Chiara is a PhD student at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan (PhD in business, labour, institutions and criminal justice).

Since 2023, Chiara has been teaching assistant in Business and Corporate Criminal Law at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan.

Chiara graduated with honours from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan following a study period spent at the University of California - Berkeley.

Chiara is fluent in English, French and Spanish

Aaron Brecher Senior Associate

Seattle

Aaron has defended criminal and civil enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Washington Attorney General's Office, and other state and federal agencies. He has also represented defendants in False Claims Act litigation initiated by private parties, as well as a broad range of other civil litigation. And he has conducted internal investigations on matters ranging from data breaches to harassment to suspected environmental testing fraud. 

James E. Burns Jr. Senior Counsel

San Francisco

Jim conducts internal investigations for clients and represents them in regulatory investigations and proceedings before the SEC and state securities regulatory authorities. He has broad experience in jury and bench trial matters before federal, tax and state courts. He has handled numerous class actions and litigated multi-district cases involving claims under RICO and federal and state securities law, as well as professional services malpractice claims and various business torts.

Jim has extensive experience in commercial arbitrations before various arbitration and mediation tribunals, including the American Arbitration Association, the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers and privately chosen arbitrators. He acts on behalf of technology companies, venture capitalists, securities issuers, directors, brokers, underwriters, promoters and mutual funds.

Jim has represented Retek, Inc., Touch America Holdings, Inc., RS Investment Management, Inc., Cygnus, Inc., Everen Securities Inc., Chiron Corp., Intevac, Inc., Accel Partners, TA Associates, Kenetech, Pope & Talbot, Citrix Systems, Inc., Everex and The Photonics Fund.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jim was a partner and West Coast Managing Partner at Clifford Chance, a partner and managing partner at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and a partner at Chickering & Gregory.

Preston Burton Partner

Washington, D.C.

Over the course of his career, Preston has tried more than 50 criminal cases to verdict, representing individual and corporate clients in complex federal white collar criminal cases, governmental and civil proceedings and congressional and internal investigations. He also has handled more than 10 appeals before the D.C. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit and Fourth Circuit.

His work is punctuated by numerous front-page cases, representing such high-profile clients as Monica Lewinsky, former CIA intelligence agent Aldrich H. Ames and former FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen. He has represented business executives and companies in areas such as public corruption investigations, criminal antitrust matters, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and export control violations, False Claims Act (FCA) cases and procurement fraud. Many of his cases have involved cross-border investigations, including extradition requests and multi-jurisdictional enforcement actions. He has also handled congressional investigations, as well as numerous matters involving national security issues, including the representation of several intelligence agency officials and serving most recently as an amicus appointed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Since 2010, Preston has been ranked as a leading lawyer in White Collar Crime & Government Investigations by Chambers USA, which noted, “He is renowned throughout the legal community as someone with great trial skills and a great strategic sense." He has also been recognized for Corporate Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense by Legal 500, which noted that he “has a formidable reputation for individual representations and is known for strategic thinking and willingness to try cases.” Benchmark Litigation 2019 named him as a top practitioner in White Collar and Securities Litigation.

Before joining Orrick, Preston was a partner at Buckley LLP and a member of the firm’s partner board. He joined Buckley from Poe & Burton PLLC, a boutique litigation firm he co-founded in 2011. Prior to that, he led the litigation practice of Orrick’s Washington, D.C. office. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Boyce F. Martin Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

Ciarra Carr Managing Associate

San Francisco

Ciarra’s practice includes white collar criminal defense, global investigations across a broad range of industries, and developing anti-corruption compliance programs. She has extensive experience conducting internal investigations and representing companies against the U.S. government in response to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and sanctions compliance inquiries.

Ciarra's practice also includes online safety, including advising companies regarding statutory reporting and legal reporting in the data privacy space.  Her experience involves best practices with regard to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), cyber harassment, sexual exploitation, and terrorist/hate speech.  Ciarra's expertise includes providing strategic advice to clients with respect to quickly evolving online safety issues such as reporting obligations for social media and internet platforms as well as content moderation and identity verification controls.

Ciarra remains committed to serving her community through varied pro bono matters, including the Criminal Justice Act where she has experience advising individuals charged in large racketeering conspiracies and other federal criminal statues. Most recently, Ciarra served as one of Orrick's inaugural Racial Justice Fellows, working for fifteen months in Howard University School of Law's Civil Rights Clinic. During this time, she assisted the Clinic in filing five amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, achieved a meaningful settlement on behalf of the family of a man killed by police officers in Greenville, Mississippi (after convincing the district court to deny qualified immunity for the officers involved), and published an academic article about the genesis of Section 1983 and the Ku Klux Klan Hearings of 1871.

Prior to joining Orrick, Ciarra graduated from Brooklyn Law School where she received a distinction in criminal law. While there, she authored timely CLE materials as a Center for Criminal Justice Fellow. She also interned with various non-profit and government agencies, including the Bronx and Kings County district attorney’s offices in the child abuse and sex crimes bureau.

Jean-Paule Castagno Partner

Milan

Jean-Paule has more than 20 years of proven experience in white collar and corporate investigation, managing all phases of crisis management, such as internal investigations – including those of a cross-border nature –, the court defence in the context of criminal proceedings and the sanction proceedings before the Supervisory Authorities, in the interests of both individuals and legal entities (according to the D. Legislative Decree no. 231/2001). Jean-Paule advises clients in high-profile and complex cases with specific reference to anti-money laundering, financial crimes, false accounting, bankruptcy offenses, tax crimes, corruption and bribery in both the public and private sector, environmental crimes, occupational health and safety offenses, intellectual property crimes, data protection and privacy crimes/cybercrime, and import/export sanctions.

Thanks to her broad experience in conducting internal investigation and assisting individuals and legal entities in criminal and sanctions proceedings, she has been involved in advising Italian and foreign companies to address potential compliance risks, in performing due diligence focused on risk management and compliance risk in the context of extraordinary transactions and IPOs as well as in preparing and updating compliance programs (adopted under Law No. 231/2001) and in leading relative training to the board and to the employees.

She has also been appointed as member and chairwoman of the surveillance committees (Organismo di Vigilanza) of many Italian and foreign companies.

Harry Clark Partner

Washington, D.C.

Harry is experienced in areas such as CFIUS/Exon-Florio examinations of foreign investment, military and “dual use” export control regulations (ITAR/EAR), economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC), customs regulations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, anti-money laundering rules, anti-boycott requirements and defense industrial security requirements. He executes internal corporate investigations regarding trade and investment rules and advises on such rules in the context of corporate transactions.

Additionally, Harry has extensive experience with government contracting matters. His government contracting work has included, for example, design and implementation of U.S. Defense Department renewable energy projects. He also represents broad industry coalitions on major trade litigations and international negotiations. His experience in these areas includes a leading role in what is often considered the largest-ever international trade dispute: the controversy regarding unfair softwood lumber imports from Canada. It has involved myriad administrative proceedings before federal agencies, NAFTA panel appeals, WTO dispute proceedings, judicial proceedings and international settlement agreements.

Harry has represented a coalition of major U.S. oil companies in antidumping and countervailing duty litigation. As a related matter, he pursues policy issues with congressional and executive branch officials and advises on international trade rules (e.g., GATT, WTO agreements and NAFTA).

Chambers 2022 recognizes Harry as a leader in the field of export controls and economic sanctions (Chambers Global and Chambers USA), as well as CFIUS (Chambers USA). Previous editions have also recognized Harry’s achievements regarding his work related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Clients note that Harry provides “accurate, straightforward guidance incredibly efficiently” and “he has an ability to translate complex legal requirements and rules into business-friendly jargon.”