People

Laurie Strauch Weiss Partner

New York

Laurie advises companies on overall strategies, from pre-litigation assessments to the final resolution of matters, which often involve novel scientific issues. Her clients frequently enlist her to strategically address the scientific claims asserted by non-governmental organizations, the plaintiffs' bar and consumer advocacy groups which affect the reputation of their products both before and during litigation.

Laurie is a frequent lecturer, author and media source on topics concerning mass tort/class actions, complex scientific issues and expert witnesses.

Prior to joining Orrick, Laurie was an associate at Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine LLP, where she gained extensive experience in complex litigation including class actions based on product liability, securities RICO and fraud claims.

Anna Stuart Senior Associate

New York

Anna provides strategic cybersecurity compliance counseling and develops bespoke, forward-looking incident preparedness strategies. She also supports cybersecurity risk assessments and tabletop exercises designed to identify potential gaps.

She also counsels on incident response matters by directing incident investigations, analyzing claims and defenses, examining potential notification obligations and counseling on communications strategies. She provides guidance on the regulatory investigations, class actions and contract disputes that flow from the announcement of privacy and cybersecurity incidents. She has defended Fortune 500 companies in state and federal courts across the nation on cybersecurity and general business issues.

During law school, she was a Legal Intern at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Division.

Kazuya Takeda Associate

Tokyo

He specializes in data protection and cybersecurity, including personal information protection. Additionally, he manages civil and commercial litigation and dispute resolution, cross-border and domestic M&A,  investigation, antitrust and competition, and labor and employment related matters. He also has experience in general corporate legal affairs.

Before joining Orrick, he worked for Kasame & Associates Co., Ltd. located in Thailand and provided Japanese corporate clients with a variety of legal services regarding Thai laws, including the Personal Data Protection Act, Labour Protection Act, Civil and Commercial Code, Trademark Act, Foreign Business Act, etc. for over two years. Prior to working in Thailand, he was an associate at Okamura Law Office and mainly handled civil litigations, general corporate cases, and trade competition law cases for about three years.

Alex Talarides Partner

San Francisco

Alex is recognized by Chambers and Legal 500 as an "Up and Coming" and "Rising Star" in securities litigation. He has extensive experience representing public and private companies and their D&Os, as well as investment banks and underwriters, in securities and corporate governance-related litigation and other complex commercial litigation. He also regularly advises companies and their boards on corporate governance best practices and fiduciary and disclosure duties, frequently presents and publishes on these topics, and teaches a full-semester course on transactional and shareholder litigation at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Alex earned his Juris Doctor degree, with Honors, Order of the Coif, from the University of Chicago Law School, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis.

Guido Testa Partner

Milan

Guido's practice focuses mainly on M&A, private equity, venture capital and joint venture transactions, as well as on corporate law and commercial contracts. In these areas, he represents primary enterprises, merchant banks, private equity and venture capital funds, as well as investment holding companies and family offices, both in domestic and cross-border transactions.

Erin Carter Tison Senior Discovery Attorney

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Erin has experience with all aspects of litigation, from filing the complaint up to serving as trial counsel, and everything in between. Erin has first-chaired 5 federal trials to verdict, and participated in an additional 10 federal and state trials in an advisory, strategic, or supporting role. In addition to trial work, she has substantial experience taking and defending both fact and expert depositions, drafting and arguing complex dispositive briefing, managing the preservation, collection, analysis, and production of paper and electronic documents, conducting custodian and witness interviews, and briefing complex and technical discovery and privilege issues.

Erin is part of a national counsel team for a luxury consumer goods company, defending cases pending across the country, including some of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. Erin serves as regional counsel, where she shares responsibility in developing and coordinating trial defense strategy on a daily basis. She collaborates with local, regional, and national counsel throughout the country to develop strategic decisions in all phases of litigation.    

In addition to this role, Erin’s practice has been focused on responding to government regulatory, civil, and criminal investigations, as well as government litigation. Erin advises clients on strategy for responding to government subpoenas and information requests, and provides strategic guidance on complex legal and privilege issues. Her practice also involves conducting internal investigations of companies around the world, including interviewing corporate executives and employees, defending those same witnesses in front of federal agencies, and analyzing complex documents, data, and other information. Erin also advises clients on strategy in general commercial litigation matters relating to complex discovery issues and beyond.

Also while at Orrick, Erin served an extended secondment with The Dow Chemical Company as a Case Manager in Dow's Asbestos, Products Liability & Insurance Litigation Group. In this capacity, she managed the asbestos and premises litigation dockets for Union Carbide and Dow throughout the western and northeastern United States. This involved overseeing hundreds of ongoing product liability cases, including advising the litigation management team on case evaluation, resolution, and business strategies, as well as directing outside counsel and trial counsel teams.

Immediately prior to joining Orrick, Erin served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia in Wheeling, WV. At the United States Attorney's Office, Erin focused on both defensive and affirmative civil matters on behalf of the United States, its agencies, and employees. In this role, Erin practiced in a variety of areas of the law, including but not limited to, constitutional claims, torts, statutory and administrative claims, environmental matters, tax and bankruptcy matters, and fraud investigations and litigation. While at the United States Attorney's Office, Erin served as the e-discovery office coordinator for the District, and was the chair of the diversity committee. Prior to her government service, Erin was a member of the Trial Practice group at Duane Morris LLP, where she focused on commercial litigation and corporate internal investigations.

Sarah Jane Ungeheuer Managing Associate

New York

Prior to joining Orrick, Sarah worked as a pro bono fellow at New York Legal Assistance Group. At Orrick, Sarah has broad experience representing financial institutions in claims brought by investors and trustees and extensive trial experience advising clients in all stages of litigation.  Sarah has supported trial teams in various matters through the discovery process, expert witness preparation, summary judgment motions, extensive trial preparation and trial.  Sarah also continues to contribute to the pro bono practice at Orrick and is a member of New York Legal Assistance Group's Pro Bono Associate Advisory Board.

Christopher Vejnoska Senior Counsel to the Office of General Counsel

San Francisco

In his practice, Chris has been a first chair trial lawyer with more than 30 years of experience handling high stakes, precedent-setting cases, particularly in the products liability arena. His most recent products liability engagements included serving as trial counsel for a large talc company, including trying to conclusion one of the very first mesothelioma cases against it, and leading a cross-office international and national team defending multiple Chinese companies in a historic MDL. At times, a client asked Chris to lead five or more trial teams in products cases in a single year.

Chris also has acted as national counsel for companies facing thousands of mass tort product liability claims and complex, multiparty class action litigation, and has counseled multinational companies entangled in lengthy, enterprise-threatening litigation and negotiated legal and business solutions involving billions of dollars. He has extensive experience in complex and commercial litigation, ranging from insurance recovery disputes to trade secrets issues, and has significant experience in assisting foreign aerospace companies with international arbitration disputes with first-tier aircraft manufacturers.

Earlier in his career, Chris represented large public companies in mergers, acquisitions, strategic investments and private financings; private companies in initial public offerings; and emerging growth companies in general corporate matters. Chris' transactional experience also offers clients a unique perspective on risk mitigation strategies to avoid costly litigation in the future.

Chris also chaired Orrick’s Risk Management Committee and served on its Operations Team.  Prior to joining the firm, Chris was a partner at Clifford Chance and a partner at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, where he was a member of the Policy Committee, a member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Risk Management Committee and Chair of the Hiring Committee.

Michelle Visser Partner

San Francisco

Michelle’s dedication to these cutting-edge areas of the law and technology over the past 20 years has earned her recognition from Chambers for Privacy & Data Security Litigation and as an up-and-coming lawyer in Privacy & Data generally – where she is described as “equally capable in both compliance and enforcement elements of privacy regulation.”

As a litigator, Michelle is adept at developing novel legal arguments to protect clients in a world where innovation is outpacing regulation. She brings deep experience representing companies in regulatory investigations, data breach and privacy litigation involving the increasing web of statutes that pose statutory damages exposure to companies, such as the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA), the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), and the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and other complex commercial claims. As a crisis manager, she also represents companies in incident response and enjoys working with diverse groups of stakeholders to mitigate business and reputational risks and achieve positive outcomes.

Michelle resides in California with her three children.

Amanda Voss Partner

London

Amanda frequently acts for clients in the professional services, financial services, technology and energy sectors in connection with disputes in the English courts and abroad, arbitration and regulatory investigations. Amanda regularly acts for "Big 4" clients in connection with both litigation and regulatory investigations.   

She was named as a Rising Star for both Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration in Legal 500 UK for 2021. She was described as "clever and tenacious", and "a fabulous senior associate! She’ll stop at nothing to produce an excellent document, and her contributions on every aspect of a case are invaluable. She someone you can depend upon with total confidence. Terrific.”

Amanda originally qualified in New Zealand, and relocated to the United Kingdom in 2010.

Kelli Ward Associate

San Francisco

Kelli's current practice consists of securities, employment, antitrust, and complex litigation.

She comes to the legal field with extensive experience in team management and film and television, having worked at the top-tier Hollywood talent agency - WME - for a decade before practice.  

Kelli maintains a robust pro bono practice, which includes reproductive rights and immigration work.

Brian Wegrzyn Counsel

New York

Prior to joining Orrick, Brian was counsel at Buckley LLP, where he served as a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. He also previously worked as a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, clerked for the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and was an associate with Winston & Strawn LLP. Brian also has served as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University Law School.