People

Kenneth Herzinger Partner White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance, Government Investigations and Enforcement Actions

San Francisco

Ken Herzinger is a partner in the White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance Group in the San Francisco office. Ken was an attorney in the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission prior to joining private practice. His practice focuses on SEC investigations and enforcement actions, internal investigations, securities class actions, and ERISA class actions.

Ken has 20 years of experience as a securities litigator and has handled every type of SEC investigation and securities case, including new and developing areas like cybersecurity, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and SEC BSA/AML enforcement, and more traditional matters such as accounting and financial statement fraud, internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), disclosure controls and procedures, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), insider trading, and Dodd-Frank and SOX whistleblower retaliation claims.

SEC and Regulatory: As a former SEC Enforcement attorney, Ken has successfully represented corporations, officers and directors, financial institutions, broker-dealers, auditors, and government municipalities in dozens of high profile investigations and enforcement proceedings by the SEC, U.S. Attorney's Office, PCAOB, and self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA.

Internal Investigations: Ken has conducted numerous global and domestic internal investigations for public and private companies and audit committees regarding a myriad of issues including accounting fraud, ICFR, disclosure controls and procedures, the FCPA, insider trading, and whistleblower retaliation claims.

Securities Class Actions:  Ken has also represented officers and directors and public companies in many high stakes securities class actions. He has tried cases in federal and state court and in arbitration proceedings, and was a member of the trial team which obtained a defense verdict in one of only several securities class action jury trials in the country to be tried to verdict.

ERISA Class Actions:  Ken has successfully defended companies and ERISA plan fiduciaries in ERISA class actions and has a strong track record of defeating the cases at the motion to dismiss stage.  Representative cases include: In re Chesapeake Energy Corp. 2012 ERISA Class Litigation, 2013 WL 5596908 (W.D. Okla. 2013)(Won a motion to dismiss an ERISA class action on behalf of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and its 401(k) Plan fiduciaries); Tomassini v. Oracle Corporation ERISA Class Action, Case No. 3:16-cv-03583-EMC (N.D. Cal. 2016)(Obtained a voluntary dismissal of an ERISA class action on behalf of Oracle Corporation and its 401(k) Plan fiduciaries.); Scholl v. Chesapeake Energy Corporation, et al. ERISA Litigation, Case No. civ-17-279-R (W.D. Okla. 2017)(Obtained a voluntary dismissal of an ERISA class action on behalf of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and its 401(k) Plan fiduciaries in an ERISA class action.); Gernandt v. SandRidge Energy Corporation, Case No. civ-15-834-D (W.D. Okla. 2018)(Obtained a dismissal with prejudice on behalf of SandRidge Energy Corporation and its 401(k) Plan fiduciaries in an ERISA class action).

Ken frequently lectures on and provides training for publicly traded companies and directors and officers on regulatory matters, corporate governance, and compliance.

His clients include: Broadcom Corporation, Charles Schwab, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, McAfee, Oracle Corporation, SandRidge Energy, Walmart, and Western Union.

Colleen B. Hespeler Associate Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation

Boston

Colleen Hespeler in an Associate in Orrick’s internationally recognized Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation practice group. Her practice focuses on the intersection of privacy, security and data management.

Colleen partners with clients to navigate through the patchwork of global laws impacting privacy and cybersecurity. She also helps clients reduce the risk of privacy and security incidents.

Colleen has experience with assisting financial institutions with their compliance obligations under the SEC's privacy regulations, as well as the privacy regulations of other federal and state regulators. During law school, Colleen worked as an intern at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Christopher Higgins Partner 3D Printing, Intellectual Property

Washington, D.C.

Chris Higgins is a patent litigator and co-leader of the 3D Printing Group at Orrick. Chris is a trial lawyer with an electrical engineering degree, giving him a unique set of skills to represent clients in disputes involving complex technologies such as 3D printing and 3D scanning, graphics processing, semiconductors, medical devices, LCD displays, and data encryption.

Chris has developed a global reputation as an authoritative source on legal issues in 3D printing, and has been a featured speaker at 3D printing events around the world. His 3D printing practice includes advising startups and established 3D printing companies on all aspects of intellectual property law, cybersecurity, and technology transactions. Chris helps 3D printing clients grow their businesses and capitalize on market opportunities and represents them in court to defend or enforce IP rights.  Chris' 3D printing work extends beyond the courtroom; he teaches a course at Penn State University as part of its Masters of Engineering in Additive Manufacturing and Design program.

Chris' patent litigation and IPR practice also covers a wide range of other technologies including graphics processing, digital image processing and printing, semiconductor devices and semiconductor manufacturing, data encryption, high-definition television, digital content recognition, and medical devices. Chris has also assisted clients with licensing and patent prosecution related to 3D printing, digital imaging, wireless technology, mobile communication devices, encryption, high-definition television and medical devices.

Prior to law school, Chris worked in the patent department of a medical device company and as an engineer designing electronic components for missiles, projectiles, and bombs.

Ahalya Sri Hildreth Managing Associate Corporate

San Francisco

Ahalya Sri Hildreth is an associate in the San Francisco office where she practices in the area of corporate and securities law.

Ahalya received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law where she served as an Executive Editor for the Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property and participated in the Bluhm Legal Clinic's International Human Rights Center.

Norman Hile Senior Counsel Antitrust & Competition, Intellectual Property

Sacramento

Norman C. Hile focuses his practice in business and government litigation with an emphasis on complex litigation and counseling.

Norm, who has extensive experience in government, intellectual property, securities, antitrust and environmental litigation, practices at all levels of the civil litigation process and has litigated complex cases in state and federal court before arbitration panels and under the judicial arbitration provisions of California’s Code of Civil Procedure. Norm has prosecuted appeals successfully through the California appellate process to the Supreme Court of California and through the federal appellate process to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Nikki Hill Managing Associate Public Finance

Houston

Nikki Hill is an associate with the Public Finance group in our Houston office.

Nikki serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, disclosure counsel and bank counsel on a variety of transactions including general obligation bond financings and revenue bond financings for cities, counties, transportation authorities, school districts and junior college districts. Nikki also works with governmental clients on general public finance matters, including elections.

Colin Hinds Managing Associate Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation, Technology Companies Group

London

Colin is a Managing Associate in our Cyber, Privacy and Data Innovation practice, based in London.

Working with clients particularly in the technology and data-rich sectors, Colin advises on data privacy and cybersecurity matters including cross-border transfers; data breach, cyber-incident response and regulatory investigations; privacy impact assessments and audits; global compliance strategies; and data governance matters.

In particular, Colin regularly advises clients with their commercial activities which involve utilizing and exploiting data, and personal data, on a large scale. This includes drafting and negotiating agreements, including data processing and data sharing agreements and identifying and advising on legal and regulatory risks.

Colin helps clients address their privacy and consumer protection obligations as they relate to direct marketing activities, profiling, online behavioural advertising and the use of cookies and similar technologies.

Colin also has experience in M&A and capital markets transactions, assisting deal teams by advising on privacy, data protection and other deal-related requirements.

Prior to joining Orrick, Colin worked for a U.S. regulatory consulting firm, supporting clients with regulatory issues relating to data privacy, cybersecurity and antifraud.

Lynne T. Hirata Of Counsel Equity Capital Markets, Debt Capital Markets

San Francisco

Lynne Hirata is an of counsel in the San Francisco office and a member of the Capital Markets Group with more than 12 years of experience with representing public company issuers in equity and debt financings.  Her practice also  covers Rule 144A offerings for public and private companies, issuer tender offers, and public and private company mergers and acquisitions.  She also advises clients on corporate governance matters, proxy statements and annual and quarterly report filings. 

She also has extensive experience in public finance transactions as company counsel and bond counsel.

Jacob Hirsch Career Associate Technology Companies Group

San Francisco

Jacob Hirsch is a Career Associate in the San Francisco office and a member of the firm's Technology Companies Group.

Ned Hirschfeld Managing Associate Supreme Court & Appellate

New York

Ned Hirschfeld is a Managing Associate in the firm's Litigation Group and Supreme Court and Appellate Practice.  He provides strategic advice to clients facing cutting-edge legal issues in federal and state courts, with a focus on high-stakes appeals.

Ned specializes in appellate litigation.  He has authored successful merits briefs and petitions for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as dozens of briefs in federal and state appellate courts.  Ned's work has covered a wide range of subject areas, including intellectual property, constitutional law, and complex commercial litigation.  He has also counseled Fintech clients on novel issues confronting the industry.

Ned maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on immigration and criminal justice matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, Ned served as a law clerk to Judge Robert Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  During law school, he served as an Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal.

Kar Ho Of Counsel

New York

J. T. Ho Senior Associate Compensation & Benefits

San Francisco

Justin Ho is a senior associate in Orrick's Compensation and Benefits Group. He is based in the San Francisco office.

Mr. Ho is an experienced advisor on a wide range of employee benefits and compensation matters. In particular, his practice focuses on advising clients in connection with initial public offerings, Form 10-Ks, annual proxy statements and other periodic SEC reports, public and private company acquisitions and designing public and private equity incentive plans. Mr. Ho also has experience with the sale of restricted securities and the sale of securities by insiders, disclosure issues and corporate governance issues.