People

John Bautista Partner

San Francisco; Santa Monica; Silicon Valley

John focuses his practice on advising emerging companies and investors, and represents both public and private high-tech and life sciences companies in many areas, including corporate and securities law, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, public company representation and technology licensing.

The Recorder named John the “2019 Innovator of the Year” for his work as the chief lawyer on the Long-Term Stock Exchange, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-approved exchange designed to change the paradigm of traditional stock markets by rewarding entrepreneurs and investors committed to long-term business strategies. Financial Times recognized John as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Individuals of the Year in 2017, calling him “one of the most influential lawyers in the technology ecosystem of Silicon Valley.” He is ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA California, for Venture Capital and Chambers USA Nationwide, ranked him Band 2 for Startups & Emerging Companies.

John is a Board member and co-founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, which is creating a new stock exchange for public companies supporting long-term investors, as well as an advisor and co-founder of Clerky.com, a company automating legal work for early-stage companies. He is also recognized for his work with Y Combinator companies.

At Orrick, John serves as Lead Partner for Transactions and Lead Partner for Innovation & Technology.

Prior to joining Orrick, John was a founding attorney of Venture Law Group and served on the Executive Committee. John previously practiced at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati. John also served as Mayor of the City of Cupertino, California and a council member from 1993-1997, where he helped build important public partnerships, including with Apple Computer, the Mid-Peninsula Open Space Preserve, and San Jose and California Water Companies.

James Chou Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining Orrick, James was an associate at Buckley LLP. Previously, he spent nearly 10 years as a Defense Analyst and a Senior Operations Research Analyst for the U.S. Army, where he focused on cybersecurity, defense policy, and program analysis. He also spent more than three years in the defense industrial base as an IT Project Manager and Policy Analyst.

James is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), and a Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE). He is conversational in Mandarin.

Nick Feldman Partner

Los Angeles; Santa Monica

For more than a decade, Nick has guided high-growth companies from inception to exit, advising on formation, financings, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs while serving as outside general counsel on day-to-day legal matters as they scale.

Leveraging Orrick’s sector-focused approach and legal innovation tools, Nick works with companies across a range of industries, with a focus on disruptive technologies—including fintech, Web3 and blockchain, artificial intelligence, healthcare and biotech, digital media, and consumer products. He also represents top venture capital firms investing in these sectors across equity, debt, and token financings.

Prior to joining Orrick, Nick was a senior counsel at Gunderson Dettmer.

Nick earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review and received the Otto Kaus Award for Excellence in Legal Scholarship.

Before law school, he built a career as a journalist, photographer, and publicist covering music, food, and the arts. A proud Husky, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington.

Amanda Galton Partner

San Francisco

As Deputy Chair of our Corporate Business unit, Amanda uses her legal experience, business acumen, professional network and industry knowledge to resolve anticipated and unforeseen obstacles and developments. She advises at material stages of the corporate life cycle (formation, financings, and exits, including SPACs, direct listings and IPOs); and provides guidance and trusted governance advice on board, advisor, employment, separation, and other commercial matters. To further help companies thrive, Amanda keeps clients informed about recent developments in their space and helps connect entrepreneurs and investors with one another.

Amanda started her post-undergraduate professional career in West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer – a place where she got to deploy her French and Arabic language skills. Though the focus of her service was health education and community development, she also spent time in a village with Liberian refugees who were interested in implementing windmill technology. Her time in the Peace Corps remains a foundational experience for how she approaches her work today — as she continues to be inspired by the impact of technology and those who are tenacious in solving problems.

Now, Amanda works with companies and entrepreneurs in a number of industries including financial services, food and agriculture, mobility and energy infrastructure, clean tech, and health and professional services.

A portion of her work is also in representing certain investors and venture funds in their investments.

In addition to her practice, Amanda also dedicates time to advancing women in leadership in the U.S. and abroad. She has served as a cultural and professional resource for emerging women leaders from the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa through Tech Women, a U.S. State Department initiative dedicated to empowering women technology leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and has served on the Board of CodeChix, a non-profit corporation which recruits, retains and inspires women engineers.

True to her professional roots in Peace Corps service, Amanda remains actively committed to advancing global economic development. As a member of Orrick’s Impact Finance and Investment group, she supports investors and entrepreneurs who make social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns.

Prior to joining Orrick, Amanda was a corporate associate at the Menlo Park, California office of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP.

Samantha Goldberg-Seder Senior Associate

Silicon Valley; San Francisco

Samantha advises financial services and technology companies on a variety of regulatory and compliance matters with a focus on money transmission, payment systems, payroll processing, lending, payment cards, cryptocurrency and banking. Her practice includes guiding clients through product development and outlining regulatory expectations and requirements. She also advises technology companies and financial institutions regarding the applicability of federal and state money services business licensing requirements, provides licensing strategy guidance, and assists with application preparation, submission and regulator communications.

Prior to joining Orrick, Samantha was an associate at Buckley LLP.

Dr. Sven Greulich, LL.M. (Cantuar), EMBA Partner

Düsseldorf

Sven advises technology companies on complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital as well as growth investments, and provides general corporate counseling.

His clients include technology companies of all stages and their investors. Supported by a global and cross-practice team, he also counsels major corporations and scale-ups on international expansion and growth projects and has a special focus on in- and outbound German/US investments and joint ventures.

Sven is passionate about building a bridge for his clients from Germany to the US and other international technology hubs and to help them succeed in the international market. With a dual background in business and law, an entrepreneurial spirit, and experience in over 300 M&A transactions and financing rounds across many industries, Sven has a unique perspective, which inspires him to find the best strategic and commercially viable solution for his clients.

Sven volunteers with entrepreneur groups at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management and the RWTH Aachen and regularly lectures at the WHU and the RWTH incubation and innovation centers on venture capital financings, start-up growth and corporate venture capital.

Sven's work has been repeatedly awarded, inter alia

• Chambers ranks him as one of the top 3 venture capital lawyers in Germany (2025);
• the leading German market publication JUVE lists him as "frequently recommended" for M&A, private equity, as well as corporate advice and - since 2019 - ranks Sven as one of Germany's top 15 attorneys for venture capital, the highest recognition for this category awarded by JUVE (2024/2025);
• Legal500 Deutschland includes Sven as "frequently recommended" for M&A (mid-sized deals) as well as private equity (mid-sized deals) and ranks him as a "leading individual" for venture capital (2025); and
• in the 2017 edition of its Innovative Lawyers Report Europe, the Financial Times named Sven's work to connect start-ups with Germany's Mittelstand (mid-sized companies) a standout “for making bridges between Silicon Valley and Germany”.

Jacob M. Heath Partner

Silicon Valley

With a focus on the intersection of cybersecurity, privacy, online safety and intellectual property, Jake is a trusted advisor to one of the largest technology companies in the world and a major cloud-based communication product and service provider. His recent experience includes representing a major social media platform in litigation related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Jake is adept at helping clients develop cutting-edge legal strategies and connect with judges and juries to support their online services, platforms or products while threading the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. As he sees it, every battle—whether it involves cybercrime, fraud, brand violations, IP infringement, trade secrets or a cybersecurity breach—is an opportunity to help clients problem-solve and future-proof their business. Jake brings a breadth of experience defending clients in a wide range of matters, including commercial and tech transaction litigation, in state and federal court and regulatory investigations.

Dolph Hellman Partner

San Francisco

Dolph concentrates his sophisticated practice on private equity investor representation and fund formation as well as representing financial institutions and corporations in privately negotiated debt transactions. Dolph counsels some of the largest public pension plans in the United States and other institutional investors and helps them achieve their business goals with respect to various U.S.-based and international alternative investments (including funds focused on real estate, buy-out, venture capital and mezzanine investment opportunities) as well as sponsors in fund formation.

In addition, Dolph has a broad range of experience in commercial lending transactions, including secured financings, unsecured and asset-based financings, vendor and customer financings, subscription credit facilities, project financing, venture debt financings, letters of credit, receivables purchase financings and leasing. Dolph's clients include various financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies and numerous start-up companies (the latter group of which he represents in dozens of venture debt financing transactions each year for which he is recognized as one of the leading company-side counsel in the San Francisco Bay Area).

Benjamin Hutten Partner

New York

Ben has a deep understanding of sanctions and AML regulations and enforcement. In addition to his client work, he has participated in numerous financial industry group regulatory initiatives related to sanctions and AML issues, including The Clearing House Guiding Principles for Anti-Money Laundering Policies and Procedures in Correspondent Banking, initiatives to address “de-risking” and related to BSA information sharing. Ben also conducts international trainings in AML and sanctions issues for the Financial Services Volunteer Corps.

He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America as "One to Watch" and by Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star." Prior to joining Orrick, Ben was counsel at Buckley LLP and an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Rebecca James Managing Associate

London

Rebecca has worked with regulated companies and financial institutions on, among other things, authorisation, outsourcing, systems and controls, payment services, e-money, consumer credit and anti-money laundering regulations. Her clients include retail and wholesale businesses across the financial services sector.

Rebecca has a passion for Fintech and has experience working with clients in the Fintech space. In particular, she has provided advice on crypto assets to e-money platforms, exchanges and firms looking to launch token offerings, including initial coin offerings, security token offerings, initial exchange offerings and NFTs.

Larry Kane Partner

San Francisco

Larry's typical representations range from  formation and early stage corporate counseling, angel and venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships to angel and venture fund formations and lending and other commercial transactions.   Larry's practice focus on a range of technology companies focused on education technology and education services, software and SAAS based businesses, consumer products to semiconductor businesses.  

Daniel S. Kim Partner

Santa Monica; Los Angeles; Orange County

Dan has a general business and corporate law practice, representing both emerging and public companies in a variety of matters, including corporate and securities law, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, de-SPAC transactions, day-to-day general corporate matters, structured liquidity programs, public offerings, Securities and Exchange Commission reporting and compliance and corporate governance.

Dan began his legal career in Silicon Valley and works with a significant number of clients in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area and around the world.  Dan is also an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School. 

Dan’s current and former representations include:

• Beyond Meat
• Ceradyne
• Compellent Technologies
• GitHub
• Luminar Technologies
• Momentus
• Outward
• Pinterest
• Planet Labs
• Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
• ZestFinance

 Dan also has represented numerous venture capital and private equity investors including Founders Fund, Kapor Capital, Storm Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Wicklow Capital and many others.