August 2025
Orrick alum Allison Frisbee (2010-2014) recently took on the role of SVP of Legal at Orca Bio, a pioneering venture-backed biotechnology company developing next-generation, high-precision cell therapies for blood cancers and autoimmune diseases. It’s her fourth in-house experience, as Allison builds a career as an operator. She took a few minutes to talk with Orrick’s Caroline Simons about her career path and to reminisce about her time at the firm—including how her Orrick experience has influenced her leadership style.
Q: Congratulations on your new role at Orca Bio! What’s been your approach the first three months on the job?
A: Thank you! One of the things I’ve learned about joining a company is that you were likely brought in to help out on something that’s going on, like, right now: it could be a deal, or an IPO, or some big regulatory submission that you’re picking up midway. So, you’re walking right into the fire! And while I’m running from meeting to meeting weighing in on the legal side and helping with that immediate work, I’m also trying to do a lot of listening and learning. Not just the science and the business—both of which are critical, of course—but as a new GC, you are inheriting structures and processes that reflect the perspectives and approaches of your colleagues and your predecessors. It’s so important to figure out and understand what those are, so that you can then evaluate—for this phase of the company and for what its current priorities are—what should stay, what perhaps needs to change, and what you need to build yourself. I also have to prioritize building relationships if I’m to do my job well, whether it's with the CEO or the Board or the truly unbelievable scientists who are right on the cutting edge of innovation. It’s a tremendous education.
Q: Before Orca Bio, you were in-house at Bristol Myers Squibb and Jazz Pharmaceuticals—both global, publicly traded, biopharmaceutical leaders, and then went to an emerging, VC-backed life sciences start-up Kronos Bio. At Kronos, you also served as Chief Administrative Officer after first joining them in a purely legal role (AGC). In addition to the infrastructure and processes you referenced, can you talk a little bit more about how your experience as in-house counsel varied in those different environments and roles?
A: There’s certainly more freedom to operate in start-up mode, before the company scales up and roles are more defined. But regardless of scale, when you’re the in-house lawyer, the businesspeople are looking to you, the lawyer, to assess risk and spot problems and ultimately either fix things or say “yes, go ahead.” Now when I was serving as CAO at Kronos, I can say that being so deeply involved in the business side made me a better lawyer. When you’re in the trenches and you’re personally responsible for these business milestones and metrics, you gain a real sense of what it takes to build something. At Kronos, I had business, IT, and facilities and operations responsibilities, which meant working with a huge range of people with different skillsets, solving diverse problems.
Q: How do you see AI intersecting with the life sciences?
A: There are two lanes where I see AI at play. The first is in how we work. I’m always on the lookout for good AI tools that make my work more efficient—I’m sure Orrick is doing the same [ed. Note: Indeed! And we’re happy to compare notes with anyone who is interested.] I don’t believe AI is coming for our jobs (yet), and it’s certainly not a substitute for careful thinking, but for things like standard contract terms, presentations, operational efficiencies—it’s changing how we approach problems because AI has instant access to a far greater dataset than my head can possibly hold at any given time.
And then there’s the role of AI in the life sciences industry itself, particularly in drug discovery. It’s probably not quite there yet in the biologics space (though that might change between the time I say this and when this goes to print, given the pace of innovation), but in the small molecule space, in areas of protein synthesis and molecular design, it’s potentially transformative.
Q: Now that you’ve spent meaningful time in both private practice and in-house at life sciences companies, what do you wish outside counsel understood about working with in-house lawyers and teams?
A: For me personally, I just love working with good outside counsel. I am so happy to pick up the phone and think through problems with people who are not only smart, but also knowledgeable, and most importantly great educators—that’s what I prize. As in-house counsel, I feel like I know enough about various areas—just enough to be dangerous! —but there’s always something new that pops up that I’m unfamiliar with, and of course I always worry that I have tunnel vision. Outside counsel have so many more reps and have such a broad panorama of the industry—it’s invaluable. When I get off the phone after noodling through a problem with good outside counsel, the feeling I get is that all the threads come together, and I have the right context to make a recommendation or a decision.
I don’t think this will catch anyone by surprise, but it really bears repeating: the more outside counsel can learn about our business—our mission, our science, our people, how we do our work—the more valuable and actionable their advice. I acknowledge it’s easier said than done. At a firm—and I found this myself when I was at Orrick—you’re not immersed in the day-to-day operations of any one client. So doing things like reading company filings and materials, reading the trade press, talking regularly with the people who work at your client is all crucial. Spending time onsite is invaluable, though budget sensitivities are obviously top of mind, today more than ever before. But if you make that investment in time, it will pay off: both in your knowledge and in your working relationship with the in-house folks. And I think you’ll find it immensely gratifying too. I am constantly blown away by the science we’re doing and how smart everyone is; it’s a genuine pleasure and excitement to learn every day from my colleagues and I love sharing it with the outside counsel I work with.
Q: Who has been a significant mentor in your career, and how has that shaped your approach to mentoring others?
A: Rob Reznick. He was an incredible mentor to me. His door was open whenever I had a quick question I wanted to run by him, and so many “quick questions” turned into hour-long discussions and tutorials—I joke that it was me, Orrick Counsel Amisha Patel, and [GC of Strike] Ross Paolino (2011-2016) who grew up as lawyers learning at the feet of Rob all those years. He was so generous with his time. He taught me not only substantive skills but also the so-called “soft skills,” which were so important, and he always handled everything with a ton of grace and good humor. Even now, when I write something I’m proud of, I want to send it along to Rob for his feedback. I credit him with shaping how I approach problems, and I try to pass that mentorship onward in my work today, to pay it forward. It’s such a privilege to be able to mentor those who are coming up in their careers and doing what I can to help.
Q: Outside of work, what do you love to do; what excites you?
A: I do the classic mountain-biking / skiing combo. I really do love cycling in general: all kinds of bikes. When I was at Orrick, I rode my bike to work—it’s a passion that’s followed me through every job. When it comes to reading, I mostly like escaping into fiction. My son recently recommended the Red Rising series to me; it’s sci-fi and long and has a ton of books in the series—I loved it. Of course, I love spending time with my two great kids; they were both born during my time at Orrick. I’ll be forever grateful to the firm; it’s an incredibly supportive place for new parents.
Q: I think that’s a wrap. Loved catching up with you, Allison. Thank you for taking the time!
A: Thank you! We have to hang out again soon.
[This Q&A has been edited for flow, length, and clarity.]