People

Kelly A. Williams Senior Career Associate

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

This experience includes commercial litigation, product liability matters, toxic torts, intellectual property litigation, defamation, unfair competition, and insurance coverage litigation. She also has experience with putative class action matters, e-discovery, and jury and non-jury trials.

Kelly is also dedicated to pro bono representation and community service. She has participated in child custody conciliation programs, criminal records expungement projects, and most recently assisted the Center for Secure and Modern Elections with evaluating the impact of COVID-19 regulations on state elections. She has also engaged in community service by serving on the board of Sojourner House, a faith-based residential recovery program for mothers and children in the Pittsburgh, PA, area, and by volunteering for community service-based projects such as distributing backpacks and school supplies for children in need.

Kelly has also served in multiple leadership positions for local and national bar associations, including the Allegheny County Bar Association and DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar. Prior to joining Orrick, Kelly practiced as an associate in the Pittsburgh office of the global law firm McGuireWoods and as a Senior Attorney at Houston Harbaugh, P.C., in Pittsburgh.

Simon Willis Partner

Londra

Simon has wide experience of acting for major financial institutions, companies and professional firms in complex litigation, investigations and proceedings by domestic and overseas regulators, professional disciplinary proceedings, ad hoc governmental inquiries and internal investigations. In particular he has acted for those subject to investigations by a wide range of regulatory bodies including the Financial Reporting Council, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority, the Serious Fraud Office, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and others. He has considerable experience of advising clients on risk management and reputational risk arising from contentious matters.

Simon has been recognised in the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners as: “an outstanding litigation solicitor”, who is “highly experienced in conducting heavy litigation”, and “one of the best lawyers operating in the Accountant’s liability space”. His clients describe him as “tactically astute and painstaking" and “tough, hardworking, well informed and highly tactical in his thinking.” with a “winning combination of legal knowledge and practicality”.

Julia Wilson Associate

Londra

Julia often works on cases with a multijurisdictional focus and has represented clients from the UK, Italy, Canada and Mexico in disputes seated around the world. She has worked on arbitrations overseen by most of the major arbitral forums including ICC, LCIA and UNCITRAL and governed by the laws of numerous countries, including England and Wales, US (New York) and Mozambique. She also acts for sovereign states in actions brought against them by private investors. Her practice represents clients in all stages of disputes – from pleadings to trial including advising in relation to alternative dispute resolution methods.

Julia has published articles on arbitration matters, including the upcoming reform to the English Arbitration Act 1996.

Ariel Winawer Senior Associate

San Francisco

In addition to representing clients in state and federal courts nationwide and in arbitration, Ariel also counsels public and private companies and their directors and officers on a wide range of issues relating to corporate governance and litigation risk and strategy. On the regulatory side, Ariel represents institutions and individuals in connection with investigations by the DOJ, SEC, FINRA, and other state and federal agencies. She also has defended clients in several high-profile SEC and DOJ enforcement actions.

Ariel additionally maintains an active pro bono practice focused on immigration and civil rights matters.

Kristopher R. Wood Senior Associate

Orange County

Mr. Wood's experience spans multiple industries, practice areas, and jurisdictions. Through his work, Mr. Wood has developed a strong sense of the importance of each client's unique industry and circumstances to the matters he undertakes, and he thoroughly enjoys each chance to learn about his clients and their work. Although Mr. Wood's focus is on trade secret misappropriation and business torts, he prizes variety in his practice and relishes the chance to take on new challenges in different areas of law.

Mr. Wood is known for developing a deep understanding of the facts and law in each case. In most of his cases, he serves as the point person for fact discovery, and through this experience he has created highly efficient and effective methods of identifying, tracking, organizing and synthesizing key facts in even the most complex matters. He excels at identifying patters and drawing meaning from large data sets, and his methods have led to breakthroughs in his cases on more than on occasion.

Mr. Wood's interest in efficiency extends beyond the specific matters he works on. Mr. Wood enjoys identifying tasks in his practice that can be automated and developing tools to do so. This redounds to his clients' benefit--in one case Mr. Wood's automation tool led to nearly a 50% reduction in the total time required for a given matter.

Beyond his paid work, Mr. Wood is also an active participant in pro bono activities and organizations. Mr. Wood serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Law Center of Orange County, and previously served two terms as Co-Chair of the PLC Advocates. He also regularly takes on pro bono clients, primarily representing clients in removal proceedings before the immigration courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ryan Wooten Partner

Houston; Austin

Serving two of Texas’s major markets, Ryan’s versatility sets him apart. He has deep industry knowledge of the energy, technology, and financial services sectors, and understands where his clients' business and legal strategies intersect. Ryan regularly represents clients across the United States in federal and state courts and in front of arbitration panels. Ryan’s energy representations include hydrocarbon producers, explorers, transporters, and refiners. Ryan’s financial services experience includes representation of institutional banks and mortgage servicers. In addition, Ryan represents and counsels leading tech companies, including SAAS and cybersecurity providers.

Ryan seeks efficient outcomes for his clients and has a track record of prevailing at the summary judgment stage. In other cases, Ryan has efficiently negotiated with opposing counsel to reach early, favorable settlements. In the event a case is not fit for early resolution, Ryan is also a seasoned trial lawyer with experience trying cases to juries, the bench, and arbitration panels.

Ryan also maintains an active pro bono practice and works closely with the Houston Bar Association, including as a former chairman and member of its Habitat for Humanity Committee.

Ke Zhu Associate

Seattle