People

Anna Suh Partner

Sacramento

For years, Anna has worked with companies at all stages of their life cycles to find legal solutions that advance the goals of their business. With a particular passion for helping early to mid-stage technology and life sciences companies, Anna deeply knows the challenges these companies face and is able to provide practical solutions on a wide variety of day-to-day employment law issues, including leave and other accommodations, worker classifications, onboarding, performance management and terminations. Disruptors and innovators in the tech space face unique challenges and require advisors who are willing to jump in and immerse themselves in the company as a whole, and Anna happily works to understand her clients’ company culture and long-term goals while helping them effectively meet short-term legal challenges.

Anna also guides companies through the employment challenges that can accompany financings, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings. Her litigation background, defending companies in employment litigation matters involving co-founder disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information, employee mobility, discrimination/harassment, wage and hour, equity and token grants, and other compensation related issues, informs her approach to counseling and allows her to identify and address issues before a problem becomes contentious. In the event of threatened or actual litigation, Anna is prepared to aggressively litigate disputes to achieve the best outcomes for her clients.

Mark Thompson Senior Associate

New York

Orrick’s Employment Law and Litigation group was recently named Labor & Employment Department of the Year in California by The Recorder, the premier source for legal news, in recognition of their significant wins on behalf of leading multinational companies on today’s most complex and challenging employment law matters.

In addition to his litigation practice, Mark advises clients regarding a broad range of employment issues, including human resource policies and procedures, severance agreements and employee terminations.

Prior to joining Orrick, Mark was a judicial law clerk and gained experience litigating a wide range of civil and criminal cases.

Julie Totten Partner

Sacramento; San Francisco

In doing so, Julie closely collaborates with each client, gathering an in-depth understanding of their specific tensions, challenges and objectives. Legal 500 noted she “truly understands corporate politics and works with in-house counsel to understand the intersections of legal advice and business objectives.” Julie then draws upon nearly three decades of experience to guide clients towards the best possible resolution. Her client-focused approach is one of many reasons she was selected to lead Orrick’s global employment practice, which Chambers ranks as one of the country’s foremost practices and describes Julie as “a big thinker and a thought leader.”

Julie has experience defending both class actions and individual plaintiff cases. She has successfully defended clients in trial and arbitration and helps clients with all types of employment matters, including complex wage-and-hour class, collective and representative actions; pay equity and promotion cases; whistleblower retaliation actions, discrimination, harassment and retaliation litigation and trade secret and non-compete matters. She also guides clients through systemic government investigations and audits. Julie is proactive in helping clients avoid litigation by assisting them with the development of policies and practices designed to minimize exposure, including advice and counselling work in the areas of AI and DEI in selection and recruiting.

Julie is honored to be a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment and a member of the American Employment Law Council. She also served as a Council Member of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section.

Marianna Urban Senior Associate

Düsseldorf

Sie berät Unternehmen in allen Wachstumsphasen, von Pre-IPO-Startups über Unicorns und Investoren bis hin zu internationalen Konzernen in einem breiten Spektrum von arbeitsrechtlichen Angelegenheiten. Dazu gehört neben der arbeitsrechtlichen Beratung im Tagesgeschäft die Begleitung von Unternehmen bei komplexen Transaktionen, Umstrukturierungen sowie beim Personalabbau.

Ihr Tätigkeitsschwerpunkt umfasst auch arbeitsrechtliche Fragen wie die Arbeitnehmerüberlassung, Dienstverträge von Geschäftsführern und Vorständen oder die Beratung beim Abschluss und der Verhandlung von Betriebsvereinbarungen.

Zuletzt hat sie führende globale Technologieunternehmen wie Pinterest oder Snap in verschiedenen arbeitsrechtlichen Fragen beraten und ist wichtige Ansprechpartnerin für viele junge Technologieunternehmen seit ihrer Neugründung.

Marianna Urban verstärkt Orrick seit 2019.

Annie Prasad Vadillo Senior Associate

Silicon Valley

As a trial lawyer, trusted counselor, and advocate, Annie finds creative solutions - whether that means tackling challenging issues with current employees, resolving a matter pre-litigation, or winning decisively at trial.  Having amassed significant courtroom and trial experience, she knows how to deliver the best results for her client. She has won trials and arbitrations and defended several companies against high-profile, highly publicized claims.  Representative clients include Apple, Carta, Lyft, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Unity Technologies, Instabase, TaskRabbit, and Next Insurance. 

Annie also has expertise in gig economy and independent contractor classification issues, workplace best practices and policies, defending companies in government audits including unemployment insurance audits, investigating internal employee complaints, and counseling on issues throughout the entire employee life cycle. 

When she is not in her office in Menlo Park, Annie chases after her two dogs Clifford and Jude and her toddler.  

Luciano Vella Senior Associate

Mailand

Luciano Vella has extensive experience in advising Italian and international clients on employment law and industrial relations, both in contentious and non-contentious matters.

He assists companies across a wide range of industries with the day-to-day management of employment relationships, providing strategic and operational advice on all aspects of HR management — from employment contracts and hiring practices to the termination of employment relationships. His practice includes advising on disciplinary procedures, the implementation of compensation and benefits policies, employee transfers and secondments, and the negotiation of various types of workplace agreements.

Luciano has gained significant experience in managing workforce restructuring processes and extraordinary corporate transactions, supporting clients in the design and implementation of individual and collective incentive plans, as well as in related disputes.

He has developed specific expertise in health and safety at work, both in terms of regulatory compliance and in managing employer liability and litigation, with a particular focus on the implementation of health and safety governance structures, delegation of functions, and their alignment with organizational models under Legislative Decree 231/2001, as well as in dealings with labor and safety authorities.

Luciano is the author of numerous articles on employment law, published in specialized journals and on industry platforms, and regularly speaks at conferences and webinars.

He graduated with top marks from the University of Pisa in 2015 and has been a member of the Milan Bar Association since 2018.

He is fluent in Italian and English.

L. Mark Weeks Senior Counsel

New York

He concentrates his practice on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, clean technology, life sciences, IT and telecommunications asset transfers, strategic investments, and general corporate representation for U.S., Japanese and other Asian companies.

Mark speaks, reads and writes fluent Japanese.

Nicola Whiteley Partner

London

Leading a “straightforward and solutions-focused” team in London who are “exceptionally good and very highly respected globally”, Nicola is listed and noted for her “business-oriented approach” in Lexology Index and recognised by Chambers and Partners as “an excellent lawyer” who is “extremely responsive, commercially astute and pragmatic” and “an absolute pleasure to work with”, with clients praising her “solution orientated” nature, “very good sense of customer service” and her ability to “get to the heart of a legal problem very quickly” and “simplify complex legal matters into understandable chunks”.

Nicola is also recognised as a Leading Partner by Legal 500 UK. Clients describe her as "responsive, quick, pragmatic, and a joy to work with," making in-house counsel's life "a lot easier." Her calm and sensible advice has been invaluable in stressful employment disputes, earning her the reputation of an "outstanding employment law practitioner." Nicola's strong technical expertise, deep understanding of her clients' businesses, and commercial pragmatism make her a "pleasure to work with."

Furthermore, Nicola is lauded as "superb – clever, technical, accessible, commercial, and a thoroughly decent lawyer and human being," with tremendous respect from peers and clients alike. Her broad range of experience and cost-effective solutions are highly valued, as is her ability to provide expert legal advice and counsel tailored to the practical needs of businesses. Nicola is also trusted for independent investigation work and legal ethics-related advice.

She is a member of the International Committee of the Employment Lawyer's Association.

Frank Nicholas Zalom Senior Associate

Sacramento

In doing so, Frank represents companies in all aspects of employment law including whistleblower, discrimination, harassment, disability, employee mobility, classification, and wage and hour issues. He provides aggressive, yet practical and client-focused advocacy, and brings to the table experience trying cases to verdict in state and federal court and litigating cases in AAA and JAMS arbitration. In addition to litigation, Frank collaborates with companies to review and revise their policies and procedures, and assists them in making management decisions. Frank’s clients range from household names to startups and span all industries, with an emphasis in technology, finance, and retail companies.

Prior to joining Orrick, Frank clerked for the Honorable Edward G. Smith in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The teamwork and commitment which Frank applies to representing his clients he honed in the United States Navy. Prior to practicing law, he served as a surface warfare officer, where he led sailors on multiple overseas deployments and taught leadership at the United States Naval Academy. Frank continues to support the armed forces community as a member of the Congressional Service Academy Nominating Committee for California’s 7th District and by volunteering his time as a representative of the Naval Academy to mentor and interview high school students seeking an appointment to the Academy.

Emma Zarb Partner

London

Recommended by Legal 500 UK, Emma is described as having “masses of gravitas and great client skills.” Her dedication and hard work are consistently highlighted by clients and peers alike.

Emma has experience in drafting and negotiating employment contracts, consultancy agreements and settlement agreements, as well as staff handbooks and policies. She has extensive experiences in conducting and resolving employment litigation in both the Employment Tribunal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the High Court. In addition, she frequently advises a mix of high-growth startups and leading global corporations on high-value corporate transactions. She also advises on compliance issues such as the employment aspects of data protection matters and the drafting of Modern Slavery Act statements.

Emma is part of a “very responsive” team, who are “exceptionally good and very highly respected globally.”

Dr. André Zimmermann, LL.M. Partner

Düsseldorf; München

André Zimmermann berät Unternehmen in allen Wachstumsphasen, von Pre-IPO-Startups und Scaleups über Unicorns bis hin zu internationalen Konzernen, in sämtlichen arbeitsrechtlichen Angelegenheiten, von der Begleitung im arbeitsrechtlichen Day-to-Day bis hin zu komplexen Transaktionen, von der strategischen Planung bis zur Post-Merger-Integration. Mit seinen umfangreichen Erfahrungen in Verhandlungen mit Betriebsräten und Gewerkschaften bei Restrukturierungsmaßnahmen aller Art liegt ein besonderer Schwerpunkt seiner Tätigkeit auf Restrukturierungen und Personalabbau.

Er hat bei über 300 M&A-Transaktionen und Finanzierungsrunden in verschiedenen Branchen zu arbeitsrechtlichen Fragen beraten. Seine Beratung umfasst dabei insbesondere die arbeitsrechtliche Begleitung bei komplexen, internationalen Technologietransaktionen, M&A-Projekten sowie Private Equity und Venture Capital Investitionen, von der Due Diligence bis zur Integration.

André Zimmermann hat besondere Erfahrung in der Technologiebranche. In den vergangenen Jahren ist er zu einem wichtigen Ansprechpartner für mehrere marktführende und wachstumsstarke Technologieunternehmen aus der Bay Area geworden. Zuletzt hat er führende globale Technologieunternehmen wie GoPro, Pinterest, GitHub, Nvidia, Sabre, Snap und Splunk in verschiedenen arbeitsrechtlichen Fragen beraten.

André Zimmermann wurde für seine Arbeit mehrfach ausgezeichnet, unter anderem:

• Deutschlands führender Brancheninformationsdienst JUVE zeichnet André seit 2017 als "häufig empfohlenen" Arbeitsrechtsexperten aus;
• Best Lawyers und Handelsblatt haben André 2020 und 2021 als einen der besten Anwälte Deutschlands im Arbeitsrecht empfohlen;
• WirtschaftsWoche hat André 2019 als einen der Top-Anwälte für Arbeitsrecht in Deutschland ausgezeichnet;
• IEL Elite, ein Ranking weltweit führender Anwälte für Arbeistrecht, empfiehlt André im Ranking 2022 als "Key Lawyer".

Unsere Mandanten empfehlen ihn gegenüber JUVE als "immer erfrischend ehrlich" und betonen seine "unkomplizierte Art". Sie loben seinen "kreativen und effizienten Arbeitsstil" und seinen "sehr effizienten und praxisorientierten Beratungsstil". Sie bezeichnen ihn als "extrem reaktionsschnell und immer erreichbar" und als "ausgezeichneten Anwalt bei Gerichtsverhandlungen". Unsere Mandanten schätzen besonders seine "klare, fundierte und pragmatische praxisnahe Beratung" und seine "besonderen Kenntnisse der Technologiebranche".