Evan Stergoulis Partner

London

Evan advises lenders, ECAs, institutional investors, renewable energy companies, investment firms and pension funds on financings, M&A, joint ventures and other strategic combinations. He brings considerable experience in wide range of renewable energy portfolio deals, as well as gas and power transmission and distribution projects and he has a market-leading offshore wind practice.

Chambers Global 2020 notes that clients say Evan is a “leading figure who has secured incredible and loyal clients because he does an excellent job.” He has also been named to The Lawyer’s Hot 100. and named to A Word About Wind's Top 100 Legal Power List.

David Benhamou Senior Associate

Santa Monica

David represents high growth technology companies and venture capital firms in many areas, including corporate and securities law, formation, ongoing corporate matters, and venture capital financings.

David began his legal career as a corporate associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. During his time at NYU School of Law, David worked with a number of startups.

Michael Mitchell Partner

Washington, D.C.

Described by Chambers USA as having “an in-depth understanding of securities regulations” and with clients commenting that “his knowledge base is superior,” Mike has extensive experience representing issuers and underwriters in consumer asset-backed securitization transactions. Mike has one of the top credit card securitization practices in the market and he also advises on a broad range of ABS, including transactions supported by consumer loans, motor vehicle loans and leases, dealer floorplan receivables, student loans, and residential and commercial mortgages.

Mike serves as counsel to financial institutions in capital markets and debt financing transactions and regularly advises clients on application of the federal securities laws and Dodd-Frank implementing regulations in the structured finance market.

Mike has served as outside counsel to the Structured Finance Association, and previously to the American Securitization Forum (ASF). He has drafted industry comment letters on Regulation AB (2004), Regulation AB2 (2010/2011), the Prohibition on Material Conflicts of Interest (2012), and Cybersecurity Risk and Incident Disclosure Rules (2022). Mike has also served as Chair of the Structured Finance Association's Revolving Master Trust Working Group in connection with its industry advocacy on Risk Retention.

Mike joined Orrick in 1997 and was a partner in Orrick’s Structured Finance Group until 2012. Prior to rejoining the firm in 2021, Mike was a partner in Chapman and Cutler’s Asset Securitization Department. He has also served as a Special Counsel with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Office of the Chief Counsel for the Division of Corporation Finance. At the SEC, Mike had extensive involvement in oversight of the structured finance market and worked on a proposal—a precursor to Regulation AB—to develop disclosure and reporting guidelines for asset-backed issuers.

Jessica Perry Partner

Silicon Valley

Jessica defends employers from discrimination and harassment claims on the basis of gender, race, religion, disability, age and other protected categories. She recently defeated class certification in cases alleging discrimination against women in technical roles for Microsoft and Twitter, earning her The American Lawyer’s "Litigator of the Week” award. She also won a complete defense verdict for Kleiner Perkins in the highly publicized gender discrimination and retaliation case Pao v. Kleiner Perkins, which the Daily Journal named the year’s ‘Top Verdict.’ Her trial victories also include winning defense judgments in cases involving claims of religious discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination. Jessica also specializes in pay equity matters, including in designing analyses and advising on compliance and risk mitigation. Clients interviewed by Chambers note, “She's very thorough and knows the details and procedure, without allowing anything to fall through the cracks."

Jessica has a winning record in beating back class certification in high stakes wage-and-hour actions in federal and state court, including those brought under the Private Attorney General Act. Having led over 150 high-stakes wage-and-hour class action matters, Jessica has broad experience on virtually every theory of relief. She also offers strategic guidance to help businesses avoid wage-and-hour litigation, particularly companies in the gig economy industry which can be significantly impacted by such matters.

In addition to litigation and counseling, Jessica has successfully guided clients through investigations and audits by the Department of Labor, California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and California Employment Development Department, and helped develop compensation policies and measures to reduce potential exposure.

Jessica is also an authority in generational workplace issues and frequently speaks on employment engagement in a multi-generational workforce.

Jonathan Guy Senior Counsel

Washington, D.C.

Chambers USA has variously described Mr. Guy as someone who is a "zealous advocate for his clients," is "valued for his quick and practical advice," "makes fantastically impressive presentations in court," is able to "listen to a large amount of information" in court and "reduce an argument to its essence," and is an "expert in commercial and bankruptcy-related litigation."

Mr. Guy is ranked in Chambers USA as a Senior Statesperson for District of Columbia Bankruptcy/Restructuring and in the Thomson Reuters Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers category for business litigation. He is the former Chair of the Community Responsibility Committee for the Washington, D.C. office and was long active in numerous pro bono cases.

William S. Haft Partner

New York

Bill regularly advises clients on cross-border matters, including transactions in the maritime, energy and infrastructure and technology sectors. He has particular experience in the maritime sector, having guided various market participants on numerous complex international shipping and offshore corporate and capital markets deals and restructurings.

Reflecting feedback from his clients, Bill was named a BTI “Client Service All-Star” and is described by an IFLR1000 client commentator as “extremely responsive” with a “deep spectrum of knowledge,” in Banking and Finance.

Allen Davis Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Allen assists businesses in identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks related to competition matters, collaborating closely with clients to develop tailored compliance strategies, guiding them through the complexities of antitrust laws at both domestic and international levels. He represents clients in a broad range of antitrust issues arising from mergers and acquisitions (including Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings and second requests), complex civil litigation, government investigations (including civil investigative demands (CID)) and general counseling. Allen represents clients across a diverse range of industries, including consumer technology, digital advertising, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, real estate, and energy.

Recent notable experience includes representing:

• A software company in a successful defense of Clayton Act § 7 litigation
• A large insurer in connection with allegations of price fixing in violation of Sherman Act § 1
• A technology company in connection with discovery in a number of enforcement actions against Google LLC
• A generic pharmaceutical manufacture in defense against Sherman Act §§ 1-2 claims

Taylor Raymond Senior Associate

Austin

Taylor’s practice focuses on public finance, which includes representing local governments, state agencies, institutions of higher education, special districts and school districts in connection with infrastructure, financings and related projects. Taylor also has extensive experience representing national and regional investment banks in the underwriting of municipal bonds.

Taylor successfully completed the Fullbridge Program in September 2017.

Tahiya Sultan Of Counsel

San Francisco

She has extensive experience working on regulatory compliance at the state level, advising on energy purchase and storage, resource adequacy, central procurement, renewables portfolio standard, integrated resource planning, reliability, distributed energy resources, energy efficiency, microgrid commercialization and offshore wind development.

She represents developers, power producers, community choice aggregators and utilities in bilateral negotiations for the purchase and sale of energy resources, including solar, wind and geothermal resources.

Megan Benton Managing Associate

Sacramento

Megan helps protect the interests of some of the world's most innovative public and private companies and their founders, officers, and directors. She has experience in a wide array of complex business litigation matters, including high-stakes securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, regulatory investigations, and multi-district litigation. Megan has worked on a diverse range of other complex litigation matters, including contract disputes, civil RICO actions, and insurance insolvency proceedings,

Megan also maintains a robust pro bono practice, and has assisted in representing clients in matters related to the compassionate release program for federal prisoners, drafting a petition for habeas corpus and clemency petition for a state prisoner, and in bringing a class action suit challenging agency violations of law and policy on behalf of disabled asylees. In 2022, she helped secure a client's release from prison after forty years behind bars based on proportionality concerns under the U.S. and California Constitutions.

Prior to joining Orrick, Megan graduated from University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law with great distinction. During law school, Megan served as the Managing Editor of The University of the Pacific Law Review, published articles relating to the commercialization of space and to sanctuary states and immigration policies, and was recognized for writing a Best Appellate Brief in the school-wide moot court competition. Megan also served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Allison Claire at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Megan earned a bachelor's degree in history from Boston University.

John Eliason Partner

Washington, D.C.

John advises major financial institutions (tax equity investors and infrastructure funds), lenders, developers, and sponsors, particularly those in the wind, solar, storage, biomass and energy tech space. He helps clients structure financings for their projects to take advantage of federal and state tax incentives, like the Federal production tax credit (PTC), energy investment tax credit (ITC) and accelerated depreciation (MACRS and “bonus”) using partnership flips, sale-leasebacks, public/private partnerships, and other structuring options. He has been particularly focused on providing clients with the latest guidance and opportunities relating to the Inflation Reduction Act, including with respect to Section 6418 tax credit transfers and Section 6417 direct pay opportunities.

Recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global in Band 2 for Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy, clients describe John as “extremely knowledgeable, flexible and can put technical jargon into plain terms.” Client sources also state “he knows the tax equity markets very well and is very commercial.”

Prior to law school, John founded an information management company based in Austin, Texas. He is also a veteran of the Texas Army National Guard.

Dr. Johannes Rüberg, EMBA Partner

Munich

This includes venture and growth financings in all stages and general corporate counseling. His practice further focuses on advising strategic and financial investors on mergers and acquisitions.

Germany's leading legal directory JUVE lists Johannes as frequently recommended for both corporate law and venture capital, including a competitor's testimonial "very good expertise, pleasant cooperation" (2024/2025). Legal 500 Deutschland lists Johannes as a "recommended lawyer" for venture capital (2024), including the testimonials "very supportive and a pleasure to work with", "extremely conscientious", and "quick response time" in its 2022 edition. Since 2021, he has been recognized by Germany's leading business daily Handelsblatt as a "Ones to Watch" lawyer for corporate law.

In addition to his work as a lawyer, Johannes has completed the joint Executive MBA program by U.S.-based Kellogg University and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany’s leading startup university.