Paris
He focuses on project finance transactions and advises sponsors, debt providers and governments on the structuring and financing of various energy and infrastructure transactions across Europe, Africa and Latin America.
His experience includes a wide range of debt financing transactions (senior, junior, mezzanine, loans, bonds, multilateral development financings, export financings, etc.). He has also been involved in infrastructure M&A/private equity and restructuring transactions in connection with strategic assets.
Ahmed has gained substantial experience working on high-profile energy and infrastructure deals, including public-private, transport, telecom, energy transition and IPP projects.
Prior to joining Orrick, Ahmed practised several years within the Energy & Infrastructure teams of major international law firms in Paris.
Austin
Julie has served as bond counsel to various state agencies and local governmental entities, including, special districts, cities, counties and public facility corporations; as underwriter and bank counsel to financial institutions that underwrite and purchase tax-exempt and taxable governmental obligations; and as outside counsel to a public facility corporation that owns and operates a convention center hotel and to professional sports teams that lease bond financed sports venue facilities. Julie also has experience representing domestic banks that provide credit and liquidity facilities for tax-exempt financings. Prior to entering private law practice, Julie served as an assistant attorney general in the Public Finance Division of the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas.
San Francisco
San Francisco
He also has legal experience relating to both charter schools and the federal income tax classification of governmental and quasi-governmental entities. He has consulted on thousands of tax-exempt, build America and tax credit bond issues and has developed deep knowledge in almost every tax aspect of municipal finance. Private activity bonds for multifamily housing, solid waste, charter schools and independent schools are areas of particular focus in his practice, as are higher education, short-term and long-term working capital and the various forms of pooled financings. Chas also has advised numerous clients experiencing financial distress or bankruptcy in tax matters relating to their municipal bonds. Representative active clients include the State of California, the University of California, the Bay Area Toll Authority, and Charter School Capital.
As a legal and policy advocate, Chas represents both government and non-government clients in federal tax rulemaking matters and in IRS proceedings, including the various types of tax-exempt bond audits, voluntary compliance (VCAP) requests and requests for private letter rulings. He has successfully closed IRS examinations relating to solid waste, water and wastewater, working capital, healthcare, pooled, multifamily housing, and industrial development bond financings. He has obtained multiple private letter rulings and technical advice memoranda and has been integrally involved in numerous regulation and legislative projects. He has found that a close working relationship with IRS and Treasury Department personnel often is critical to obtaining good results for clients.
Düsseldorf
Carsten berät Mandaten aus dem Industriesektor, Finanzinstitute und Private Equity-Fonds in allen möglichen deutschen Steuer- und Buchhaltungsfragen. Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf Unternehmens- und Immobilientransaktionen sowie Restrukturierungen. Er berät und vertritt Mandanten auch bei steuerlichen Außenprüfungen und in Steuerstreitigkeiten gegen die Finanzverwaltung sowie vor deutschen Finanz- und Zivilgerichten. Vor seinem Eintritt bei Orrick absolvierte Carsten sein Referendariat in nationalen und internationalen Anwaltskanzleien.
San Francisco
Robyn regularly works with both established borrowers and first-time borrowers to assist with structuring and restructuring debt programs that encompass a wide variety of debt and derivative products. In 2015, Robyn led the team that represented a private fund in connection with financing the management transfer of a multi-hospital nonprofit healthcare system to a subsidiary of the private fund, including negotiations with existing creditors. The financing involved an innovative bond structure that balanced current and future committed liquidity needs and debt burden. Robyn is also continually recognized for her excellent and sound judgment with respect to disclosure issues, including the difficult disclosure decisions caused by financial pressures from healthcare reform, affiliation activities, pension liabilities, governmental inquiries and investigations, labor disputes and qualified audit opinions.
In 2013, Robyn was elected a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel. She is one of the founding members of the Northern California Chapter of Women in Public Finance and currently serves on its advisory board. As a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, Robyn has been a panelist on the Health Care Financing Panel at the annual conference in 2003, 2004 and 2006. She is also a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.
New York
Neil has spent the bulk of his career working on both tax-exempt and taxable financings for public power clients including joint action agencies, municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives. He has had many roles in these financings including bond counsel, counsel to the underwriters and counsel to credit enhancers.
Over his career, Neil has worked on financings for joint action agencies and municipal utilities such as Gainesville (Florida) Regional Utilities, Intermountain Power Agency, JEA, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power), Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and WPPI Energy. The transactions in which Neil has participated have included public offerings, private placements, system and project financings, tax-exempt and taxable financings, secured and unsecured debt, senior and subordinated debt, fixed rate and variable rate debt and derivatives and he has had extensive experience in drafting documents for all of these types of financings. In addition, he has considerable experience with all types of disclosure issues encountered by electric utilities.
Neil also has been involved in a number of transactions involving the acquisition of utility companies and/or utility properties.
Recently, Neil represented MEAG Power in the financing of its undivided ownership interest in the first new nuclear generating facilities constructed on U.S. soil in over 30 years, which involved both taxable and tax-exempt capital markets debt, along with U.S. Department of Energy-guaranteed debt, and which was selected by The Financial Times as one of the most Innovative Deals of 2011.
Before joining Orrick, Neil was a partner at Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon in New York.
New York
Renee has successfully defended employers in federal and state court litigations as well as administrative proceedings and arbitrations involving claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, trade secret misappropriation and other employment-related claims. She regularly counsels employers on a variety of employment-related issues and assists clients in creating and implementing human resources policies, whistleblower policies, negotiating and drafting executive contracts, restrictive covenants and other employment agreements, and conducting internal investigations.
Renee is the co-author of the PLI treatise, Corporate Whistleblowing in the Sarbanes-Oxley/Dodd-Frank Era. She regularly writes and speaks on whistleblower and other employment topics.
Los Angeles; Houston
Los Angeles; Houston
As both bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel, he has been responsible for
structuring and analyzing the tax aspects of many tax-exempt financings
throughout the country.
Larry has extensive experience in handling IRS
audits of bond transactions. He has represented issuers in dozens of audits all
of which have ended favorably either with the IRS issuing a “no change” letter
or by negotiating a reasonable settlement when needed. Larry also has handled a
number of submissions under the IRS’ Voluntary Closing Agreement Program (or
VCAP). The two most recent VCAP submissions represented cases of first
impression for the IRS; one involving an issue of qualified energy conservation
bonds relating to determining the amount of those bonds eligible for the federal
subsidy; the other involved the plan to convert a “new money” bond issue into an
advance refunding (which did not meet all of the requirements for a tax-exempt
advance refunding). Both cases ultimately were resolved on the original terms
proposed to the IRS.
Larry has also been instrumental in developing new
financing techniques and structures. He first devised the tax structure and
analysis for, and has served as tax counsel on, Orrick’s tax exempt tobacco
revenue securitizations. He has developed the tax structure on numerous
tax-exempt prepayments for natural gas for municipal utilities both within and
outside of California.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Winnie has addressed the Bond Attorneys' Workshop for the National Association of Bond Lawyers relating to various topics, including arbitrage and rebate, refundings, working capital financings, and 501c3 financings. Winnie earned a J.D. in 1994 from the University of California, Davis School of the Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif and was a member of Law Review. She received her B.A. from Pitzer College.
Los Angeles
Ashley represents issuers, underwriters, servicers, lenders, and other market participants in connection with securitizations, asset financings and sales, and negotiation of lending facilities. Ashley's practice encompasses a variety of asset-backed securities, including residential mortgage-backed securities and credit and charge card receivables.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
His public finance practice includes representation of issuers or underwriters in long-term and short-term general obligation and revenue bond financings for municipalities, charter schools, educational facilities, and water and power authorities and advising clients on economic development incentives.
Before joining Orrick, Darrin was counsel within the Public Finance Group at Hunton & Williams LLP. He also has served as chairman, director or member of several boards and commissions including:
Los Angeles
She advises opportunity, investment and private equity funds, institutional investors and developers on commercial real estate transactions including joint venture structuring, financing, development, acquisitions, sales, lease agreements, and other corporate real estate activities. Taylor is familiar with structuring and drafting corporate organizational agreements, financing, acquisition and disposition documents. She has experience with a variety of asset types, including commercial, mixed-use and residential properties. Further, she regularly advises startups, growth stage companies and not-for-profit organizations on their leasing transactions.