Orrick Expands Bay Area Tech Companies Practice

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP announced today that Michael Sullivan has joined the firm as a partner in its Technology Companies Group, resident in the firm’s San Francisco office.

"Mike is an exceptional lawyer with a stellar record helping entrepreneurs achieve their goals," said Mitch Zuklie, Chairman and CEO of Orrick. "We are thrilled to welcome him as the eighth new partner in our Tech Companies team globally in the past 18 months."

Formerly with Pillsbury Winthrop, Mike focuses on the representation of emerging growth companies and their investors, from pre-incorporation counseling to general corporate representation, through angel and venture capital financings, to M&A and IPO liquidity events.  He has handled hundreds of venture capital financings and over 50 public offerings and has deep experience in the software, digital media, social media and games, consumer and healthcare spaces.

"We are excited to continue expanding our team with the addition of a top caliber partner like Mike. Our tech practice is extraordinarily busy with venture financings running at twice the pace of last year by value, 10 IPOs completed or in the pipeline, and 110 M&A and private equity transactions announced or closed already this year," said John Bautista, head of Orrick’s Technology Companies Group.

"I have long admired the Orrick team and am excited by the way they are keeping pace with the globalization of the tech market," Mike noted.

Top ranked by Chambers USA, Orrick’s practice is praised for its “notably well regarded reputation in the venture capital space.”  Over the past two years, the firm has helped tech clients across Asia, Europe and the U.S. complete nearly 600 venture capital-backed transactions raising over $7 billion and closed private technology company mergers and acquisitions valued at nearly $10 billion.  The firm was named Tech Group of the Year for 2014 by Law360. 

Mike is the most recent of several additions to Orrick's Technology Companies Group.  Others have included Shawn Atkinson, the former co-chair of Edwards Wildman's Venture Capital and Cross-Border Groups, in London; Pete Lamb from Davis Polk in Silicon Valley and Portland; and Christopher Austin, formerly of Goodwin Procter, in New York. Earlier this year, Orrick named as partners in its Technology Companies Group Ben Cichostepski in Paris, Amanda Galton in San Francisco and Joseph Perkins in Silicon Valley.

Mike is a faculty member of the Practising Law Institute’s Venture Capital series and a contributor to Venture Capital & Public Offering Negotiation (Aspen Law & Business). He earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. from Williams College.