2025 Global Corporate Venturing and Innovation Summit

Samir R. Bakhru Partner

New York

Samir has advised on venture financings totaling over $10 billion for both early and late-stage companies, and he has provided guidance on M&A transactions exceeding $5 billion.  He has experience in advising founders on structuring their companies to maintain control and frequently counsels executive teams in maintaining and managing a successful board of directors.  Samir also works closely with boards to guide them through complex crisis management situations, helping to navigate and overcome challenges.  

Samir’s notable company-side representations include Betterment, Beacon Platform, K Health, Dataiku, Chime, Merama, Warby Parker (until IPO), Codecademy (until sold), Maisonette, Capchase, GlossGenius, Inspiren and ResearchGate, among many others.

In addition to his company-side representations, Samir has represented leading venture capital firms and other strategic investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners, Eight Roads Venture Capital, AE Industrial Partners, Charles River Ventures, Coatue Management, Krealo VC, Heavybit Industries, TPG Growth, Vista Equity Partners, Walden Venture Capital, Warburg Pincus, and Y Combinator Continuity Fund.

Before joining Orrick, Samir was an Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in the General Corporate and M&A group.

Ellen Ehrenpreis Partner

Silicon Valley

In her practice, Ellen focuses on advising emerging companies and investors in the tech ecosystem. On the company side, Ellen’s clients range from early startups to mature private companies. She advises companies and founders on formation, venture financings, governance, M&A transactions, corporate and securities matters, commercial transactions and litigation strategy. Ellen’s approach is holistic and strategic. Her unique skill set and business-driven approach derive from more than twenty years as a Silicon Valley lawyer and her broad experiences earlier in her career as both a successful litigator and business owner.

Over her career, Ellen has represented both private and public companies and has worked with both small startups and large multinational enterprises, as well as the executives, investors and advisors involved in those businesses. As a result, Ellen draws upon a deep knowledge base and set of experiences and insights that allow her to offer practical and seasoned advice to her clients. Ellen’s clients have represented a broad swath of the technology ecosystem, including both hardware and software, and, as a result, her industry experience is wide-ranging. Her clients have included companies in the artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, climate-tech, renewables, fintech, SAAS, aerospace, digital retail, online sharing, biotech/biopharma, media, design and data analytics fields, among others.

Ellen has a passion for working with companies making an impact in the world. She is committed to helping her community and has devoted substantial time and effort over many years serving on boards of directors and in pivotal roles for nonprofit organizations. Ellen is a former competitive figure skater, a devoted wife and the mother of three (wonderful) children.

Gregory Heibel Partner

Silicon Valley

Greg's practice focuses on the formation, financing and strategic guidance of rapidly growing technology companies, the representation of venture capital firms and other investors in private and public offerings, as well as other complex transactions related to high growth companies.

Greg has completed many hundreds of financings, mergers, acquisitions and intellectual property transactions for young companies in the networking, wireless, Internet, software, life sciences and consumer sectors. He regularly advises some of the largest technology companies in the world, including a Fortune 10 technology leader, in their global strategic investments into innovative startups. Additionally, Greg has represented numerous publicly traded companies in their public offering, mergers and acquisitions and ongoing corporate governance needs, including Life360 (ASX:360), Foundry Networks, Virage Networks, Adeza, Laserscope, Intellisync and Preview Systems.

Greg also was an Assistant Investment Manager for Genevest, a venture capital firm based in Geneva, Switzerland, where he participated in the first organizational meeting of the European Union World Wide Web Consortium. Prior to practicing law, Greg worked with a number of venture capital backed technology companies in operational and advisory roles, including Intellimeter, eT Communications and Metering Technology Corporation. 

Zac Padgett Partner

Austin

Zac advises clients on:

• buyout acquisitions and mergers
• venture capital investments
• growth equity transactions
  
• exits
• take-private deals
• management buyouts
• joint ventures
• private placements
• debt-like preferred equity and project finance investments

Zac, who serves as leader of Orrick's Austin office, is passionate about legal tech and implementing AI tools to enhance legal services. He helps lead the firm’s MAPE 2.0 project team, a platform that transforms M&A execution, which won the Financial Times' Reinventing the Legal Practice category.

Zac also co-leads the firm’s Energy Tech Team and focuses on supporting companies and investors developing technologies like hyperscale data centers, alternative fuels, carbon capture, eVTOL aircraft, agtech and digital infrastructure. Zac is a key member of Orrick's energy transition practice, which is recognized as Band 1 in Energy Transition by Chambers USA (2025).

Yael Perl Partner

Silicon Valley

Yael has extensive experience with advising founders, investors and boards of tech and life sciences companies at all stages and advises on cutting edge deals and complex transactions, with a focus on venture capital financings, debt financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. She practices across a variety of industries, including software and technology, energy, gaming, healthcare and life sciences. Yael’s practice also includes advising venture capital firms and strategic corporate investors in their investments into technology and life sciences companies.

Yael’s broad-based domestic and international experience also includes advising Israeli venture capital funds, high-tech firms and startups while practicing at some of the top-rated firms in Tel Aviv.

Kristin Seeger Partner

San Francisco

Her experience spans projects across the United States and Canada and includes award-winning transactions. She is recognized nationally as Chambers USA Band 2 for Projects: Power & Renewables: Transactional (2025) and as a Leading Lawyer: Energy-Renewable/Alternative Power by Legal 500. Clients describe her main qualities as "responsiveness, thoroughness and her understanding of the market" and as "bringing such experience to deals, it's very hard to fault her on anything." She "knows where the market is and makes strong deal points."

Kristin is a key member of Orrick's energy transition practice, which was recognized as Band 1 in Energy Transition by Chambers USA (2025). She also serves on Orrick's Board.

Shannon Yavorsky Partner

San Francisco; London

Shannon is uniquely qualified in California, England and Wales and helps global companies navigate the increasingly complex global privacy, cybersecurity and AI regulatory landscape.

Shannon also advises public and private companies across sectors such as life sciences, health technology, financial services, private equity, insurance, social media and technology on a wide range of EU and U.S. federal and state privacy, security and AI laws. Her strategic counseling covers compliance with key regulations and frameworks including the EU AI Act, GDPR, EPD, NIST AI Risk Management Framework, HIPAA, GLBA, FCRA, ECPA, CAN-SPAM, TCPA, advertising and payment card processing standards as well as U.S. state privacy and breach notification laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Virginia and other jurisdictions.

Shannon helps clients undertake comprehensive privacy, cybersecurity and AI risk assessments, evaluates privacy, security and AI risks in corporate transactions and drafts and negotiates data-related contracts. She advises clients on cross-border data transfers, data breaches and developing global privacy and AI compliance programs.

Shannon advises clients across diverse industries on designing tailored AI use policies and compliance frameworks, including innovative tools such as Gen AI Policy Builder and Privacy in a Box. She supports global companies with AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity and quantum computing, from negotiating agreements for AI-enabled features, and navigating technology integrations and ensuring compliance with rapidly evolving regulations. Her work includes counseling on responsible AI innovation, algorithm development, quantum computing and enterprise privacy programs leading technology, healthcare and cybersecurity organizations. She also helps clients build robust incident preparedness and response strategies and provides ongoing guidance to strengthen privacy and AI governance across their operations.

Additionally, Shannon is recognized for her thought leadership in the AI space, regularly speaking game at industry events and training corporate legal departments on AI regulatory developments, emerging risks and opportunities.