WGCN Conference

Conference | October.16.2023 - October.18.2023

Aria Resort

Orrick is proud to be the premier sponsor for the WGCN’s inaugural conference at the Aria Las Vegas on October 16-18.

Orrick's Annette Hurst and Sarah Schaedler will host the headliner plenary program, Just Say Yes! How GCs can lead their organization to harness the promise and avoid the perils of AI, from 9-10 am on Tuesday, October 17. They will be joined by Casetext's Laura Safdie, TED Conference's Nishat Ruiter, Mainsail Partner's Erin Sedloff, and Holly Grochmal. We will also host an Orrick Cafe for WGCN attendees all day on Tuesday, featuring a room full of coffee and connections.

Our People

Annette Hurst Partner, Intellectual Property, Trademark, Copyright & Media

San Francisco

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D:+1 415 773 4585
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology & Innovation Sector
Intellectual Property
Trademark, Copyright & Media
Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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Annette Hurst Partner

San Francisco

Annette is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried copyright, trade secret, trademark, patent and business tort claims. As a risk analyst and problem solver with deep proficiency in the software industry, Annette is a go-to counselor and speaker regarding the legal issues surrounding access and use of datasets in the development of machine learning algorithms. She was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer for her work as co-lead counsel on the Mattel/MGA case. Chambers USA ranks her in Band 1 for Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets, with clients reporting that she is “smart, creative and terrific at oral argument” and “a very well-known authority in copyright law, a great advocate and a great trial lawyer.” Chambers reports: “Clients agree that Annette Hurst is ‘a very powerful and experienced trial lawyer for copyright cases, and a good team leader who is reliable before judges,” and “Peers consider Annette Hurst a ‘remarkably intuitive’ lawyer who ‘brings unique perspectives to soft IP cases.” Since 2018, The Legal 500 has recognized Annette as a “Leading Lawyer” in copyright law, and she was named “Female Litigator of the Year West” by Benchmark Litigation in 2013. Annette has been repeatedly named one of the top 75 IP litigators in California by The Daily Journal.

Annette’s community and professional activities include past service on the Northern District of California Patent Local Rules Committee, President of the Lafayette Elementary School PTA, and past membership on the Board of Directors of the Volunteer Legal Services Program and Board of Directors of the Bar Association of San Francisco for which she was chair of the Finance and Investments Committee. She also is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco and the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Northern California Chapter, as well as a past president of the Barristers Club.

Sarah Schaedler Partner, Technology & Innovation, Technology Transactions

San Francisco

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D:+1 415 773 5474
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology & Innovation Sector
Technology & Innovation
Technology Transactions
Intellectual Property
Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

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Sarah Schaedler Partner

San Francisco

Sarah’s practice focuses on structuring and negotiating the intellectual property aspects of complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, business divestitures and commercial transactions where software and technology are the principal assets. Sarah also advises on intellectual property and technology contracts related questions in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Sarah routinely advises on carve-outs and business separation transactions and helps clients with structuring and implementing their intellectual property and technology separation roadmap.

Sarah has counseled several companies in their preparation for a divestiture and understands the issues a buyer is focused on in the context of intellectual property matters. She regularly helps companies implement remediation steps around their intellectual property assets to help them to a successful closing.

She has significant experience advising private equity funds on investments involving companies that are driven by technology & innovation, as well as intellectual property reliant consumer product companies and companies that are stepping into digitalization.

Sarah is also a member of Orrick’s AI leadership group and involved in thought leadership projects related to AI matters on corporate transactions.

Educated and trained in Germany, France and the United States, Sarah’s international experience provides her with additional knowledge on cross-border transactions and international matters.

Laura Rose Barr Partner, Technology Companies Group, Fintech

Seattle

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D:+1 206 839 4322
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Finance Sector
Technology & Innovation Sector
Technology Companies Group
Fintech
Corporate Governance

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Laura Rose Barr Partner

Seattle

Laura co-leads Orrick's Artificial Intelligence initiative and is a founding member of Orrick’s technology companies practice in the Pacific Northwest. She is passionate about working with women founders, other underrepresented entrepreneurs, and double bottom line companies. People who think differently, and set out to create impact, inspire her.

She represents companies and their investors in a variety of verticals, including AI & Machine Learning (Anthropic), consumer applications (AppSheet, Life360, Mylio), education technology (Go1), financial technology (SoFi), information security (Stairwell) and life sciences (Cortexyme, Inmedix), among others.

Prior to joining Orrick, Laura worked in New York as a leveraged finance attorney at Milbank, and in-house at Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange. In addition to start-up representation, she regularly provides pro bono legal advice to charitable organizations regarding non-profit incorporation and tax exemption applications.

Laura Lariu Partner, Technology Companies Group, Space and Defense Tech Law

Santa Monica

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D:+1 310 633 2847
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology Companies Group
Space and Defense Tech Law

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Laura Lariu Partner

Santa Monica

She is primarily focused on space & defense transactions, venture capital financings and providing external general counsel guidance. Before joining Orrick, Laura led companies through transformational growth as general counsel and practiced ECVC law.

Laura was an early employee of rocket manufacturer Relativity Space and guided the company's legal strategy through the company's (and world's) first launch of a predominantly 3D-printed full-scale rocket. Throughout that period, Laura helped negotiate $1.3 billion in private funding. She helped secure millions of square feet of physical infrastructure, including a former Boeing C-17 factory and facilities at NASA's Stennis Space Center. She also negotiated customer contracts of over $1 billion with major global satellite operators, and laid the foundation for complying within a national security framework and developing an innovative IP portfolio.

Prior to Relativity Space, Laura was general counsel at Virgin Hyperloop. Before that, Laura was as a corporate attorney with Gunderson Dettmer in New York and worked on innovative deals (venture financings, M&A, IPO) throughout the city's tech boom of 2011-2016. She also applied her fluency in 5 languages to work on a wide array of international deals.

Laura is a founding member of the L Suite, formerly TechGC, a platform of over 2,000 in-house legal leaders at leading tech companies and venture capital funds. She previously served on its Executive Board and Steering Committee and co-led the Los Angeles chapter. She is also on the Steering Committee of Space Beach Law Lab, the leading platform for legal leaders and policymakers to shape the future of the space industry.

Jessica Perry Partner, Employment Law & Litigation, Wage and Hour

Silicon Valley

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D:+1 650 614 7350
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology & Innovation Sector
Employment Law & Litigation
Wage and Hour
Class Action Defense
Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation
Pay Equity

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Jessica Perry Partner

Silicon Valley

Jessica defends employers from discrimination and harassment claims on the basis of gender, race, religion, disability, age and other protected categories. She recently defeated class certification in cases alleging discrimination against women in technical roles for Microsoft and Twitter, earning her The American Lawyer’s "Litigator of the Week” award. She also won a complete defense verdict for Kleiner Perkins in the highly publicized gender discrimination and retaliation case Pao v. Kleiner Perkins, which the Daily Journal named the year’s ‘Top Verdict.’ Her trial victories also include winning defense judgments in cases involving claims of religious discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination. Jessica also specializes in pay equity matters, including in designing analyses and advising on compliance and risk mitigation. Clients interviewed by Chambers note, “She's very thorough and knows the details and procedure, without allowing anything to fall through the cracks."

Jessica has a winning record in beating back class certification in high stakes wage-and-hour actions in federal and state court, including those brought under the Private Attorney General Act. Having led over 150 high-stakes wage-and-hour class action matters, Jessica has broad experience on virtually every theory of relief. She also offers strategic guidance to help businesses avoid wage-and-hour litigation, particularly companies in the gig economy industry which can be significantly impacted by such matters.

In addition to litigation and counseling, Jessica has successfully guided clients through investigations and audits by the Department of Labor, California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and California Employment Development Department, and helped develop compensation policies and measures to reduce potential exposure.

Jessica is also an authority in generational workplace issues and frequently speaks on employment engagement in a multi-generational workforce.

Leah Recht Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity

San Francisco

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D:+1 415 773 5651
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Mergers & Acquisitions
Private Equity
Technology & Innovation
Corporate Governance
Technology Companies Group

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Leah Recht Partner

San Francisco

Her experience includes structuring and negotiating various strategic and leveraged acquisitions of public and private targets, divestitures, carveouts, mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, minority and growth investments, restructurings, employment and executive compensation, corporate governance and other general corporate counseling matters.

She advises clients across a wide range of industries, including tech, AI, software, fintech, women’s health, life sciences and healthtech, mobility tech, insurance, consumer and retail, consulting services, education, manufacturing and transportation.

Leah also serves as Board Chair for National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the largest nonprofit organization devoted to finding a cure for brain cancer and providing support for patients, survivors, caregivers and their families.

Julia C. Riechert Partner, Employment Law & Litigation, Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation

Silicon Valley

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D:+1 650 614 7482
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Employment Law & Litigation
Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation
Wage and Hour

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Julia C. Riechert Partner

Silicon Valley

Julia helps companies navigate and resolve challenging workplace issues and has extensive experience in:

Litigating and defeating harassment, discrimination, equal pay, disability and retaliation claims, including #MeToo and whistleblower allegations.
Successfully resolving pre-litigation disputes and employment claims.
The gig economy, independent contractor classification and agency temps, including the ABC test and California's Prop 22.
Wage & hour class and PAGA actions, including defeating class certification for technology and retail companies.
Arbitration agreements, employment policies, anti-harassment training and workplace compliance best practices.
Defending companies against government charges and audits, including unemployment insurance matters.
Employee complaints, workplace investigations, layoffs and employment terminations.
Providing advice and counsel on a wide variety of employment issues for small, medium and large companies.

Julia's clients include Lyft, PayPal, Airbnb, Instacart, Visa, Cisco, TaskRabbit, Beyond Meat, Unity Technologies, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Dropbox and Gensler. Julia and her Orrick partner Lynne Hermle won the 2017 California Lawyer of the Year award in Labor and Employment from California Lawyer for their defense verdict for SpaceX in a high profile sex harassment, discrimination, retaliation and disability case. The Daily Journal also named their two jury trial wins for SpaceX as top verdicts in 2016 and 2017, both affirmed on appeal. Orrick was named Employment Group of the Year in 2018, 2019 and 2020 by Law360 and The Recorder has named Orrick the "Litigation Department of the Year: Labor and Employment" in California four times.

Side note: Julia also loves animal rescue and drinks lots of coffee.