People

Eric Wall Partner

San Francisco

Eric counsels private and public companies, including private equity funds, on the tax aspects of their most important business transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, and restructurings. In particular, Eric has significant experience with the tax matters most critical to clients in the technology and life science sectors. Eric also has significant experience advising clients on equity and other compensation tax matters, real estate tax matters and tax controversy matters.

Eric began his career at the firm as a summer associate in 2001.

John Wang Partner

San Francisco

John advises issuers, borrowers and underwriters on financings for higher education, solid waste disposal (including waste-to-energy facilities), and utilities (including water, wastewater and energy facilities).  He actively advises clients in such financings on a national basis, including in California, Hawaii, Guam, Nevada and Texas.

John has been recognized as a leading lawyer by multiple organizations, including as a Chambers USA, Band 2 attorney for California Public Finance, and as one of California's top 50 development lawyers by The Daily Journal.

Kelli Ward Associate

San Francisco

Kelli's current practice consists of securities, employment, antitrust, and complex litigation.

Mark Weitzel Partner

San Francisco

Mark has a finance, tax and corporate background, and focuses on structuring complex equity and debt investments, and negotiating investment, shareholder and joint venture agreements. He has a particular focus on tax and cash equity financing of renewable energy projects, including in the solar and wind space.

Mark is a recognized leader in the field. He is the former co-chair of Orrick’s Energy & Infrastructure practice, and has been named by Chambers as one of “America’s leading energy lawyers”, described by clients as “a standout.” He is also highlighted in The Legal 500 USA as a leading individual in the areas of energy: renewable/alternative and is highlighted in the conventional power category. Euromoney has recognized Mark as one of the “world’s leading project finance lawyers” and one of the “world’s leading energy and natural resource lawyers.” He has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for project finance law, by The Legal 500 as a leading project finance lawyer, and has been a Law360 Energy MVP. Mark is a frequent speaker on energy project and infrastructure investments.

Michael Wiesner Partner

Silicon Valley

Michael’s practice covers executive agreements, cash and equity-based incentive programs, change in control and severance plans, 409A and other deferred compensation issues and 280G “golden parachute” compliance, as well as compensation and benefits structuring in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

Michael authors the chapter “Executive Compensation and Benefits Issues for Start-ups and Emerging Companies” within Bloomberg BNA’s Benefits Practice Resource Center treatise.

From 2005 to 2010, Michael was a statistician with a Stanford University School of Medicine research group.

James Wigginton Of Counsel

Sacramento; Silicon Valley

Blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies have caused business leaders to rethink the way we own, govern and share the benefits of enterprise. James advises entrepreneurs and investors as they pioneer new, more inclusive operating models in professional sports, finance, social media, gaming, agriculture and other industries.

To do this, James draws from two complementary sources of experience. The first is his practice assisting public companies, private equity funds and venture capitalists with registered and unregistered securities offerings; high-stakes M&A; corporate governance; and Exchange Act reporting. The second is his experience advising clients outside the Wall Street and Silicon Valley mainstream, including cooperatives, limited cooperative associations and nonprofit corporations. By combining these two worlds, James is able to offer unexpected legal solutions to blockchain-based companies as they seek venture financing, design and issue tokens, and select business entities for DAOs.

James also appreciates the inherently global reach of blockchain and cryptocurrency. After law school, he spent two years clerking for the US Court of International Trade in New York City. Before that, James lived for two years in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Mariupol. James is fluent in Russian and maintains ties with his friends in the war zone.

Dan Williams Senior Associate

San Francisco

Dan is experienced in Hatch-Waxman litigation, including disputes involving drug treatments for cancer and HIV. Dan is also experienced in biologics litigation and counseling, representing clients on matters involving expression vectors, antibodies, gene therapies, and CAR T-cell therapies. Dan’s experience includes litigating patents directed to recombinant DNA technology, complex manufacturing processes, small molecule compounds, crystalline forms, methods of treatment, oral dosage formulations, injectable formulations, and fixed dose combination products.

Dan has contributed to numerous victories on behalf of our life science clients, including a complete win in a multi-patent Hatch-Waxman trial for a client’s blockbuster cancer therapy, favorable claim constructions in numerous cases, and obtaining a special master’s report and recommendation for attorneys’ fees for the opposing parties’ exceptional discovery misconduct. Dan has courtroom advocacy experience, including presenting to the district court for Markman proceedings.

Ariel Winawer Senior Associate

San Francisco

Ariel represents companies and individuals in a broad range of civil and criminal matters, including government enforcement and regulatory investigations, internal investigations, securities class actions, and shareholder derivative actions.

Ariel also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on immigration and civil rights matters.

George Wolf Senior Counsel

San Francisco

George is also a long-time member of the Public Finance Tax Group, specializing in public power and health care, and is the leading national authority on municipal derivative products. He is principal tax advisor to several major municipal electric utilities and nonprofit healthcare organizations. He also has extensive experience in working with leading banks in creating new financial products, including secondary market synthetic instruments, contingent payment debt instruments, financing strategies for energy, as well as defending the taxation of financial transactions before taxing authorities.

George also has substantial experience defending the tax integrity of financing arrangements in particular as well as tax litigation in general.

Alexandra Wood Partner

Austin; San Francisco

Alex’s work encompasses a broad range of industries and corporate matters, including formations, compensation, venture capital financings, debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, strategic transactions, IPOs and corporate governance.

Alex’s prior company-side representations include Carta, Docker, GitLab, 6Sense, Branch Metrics, LTK (fka rewardStyle), Quizlet, Niantic, Gen Digital (fka Symantec) and Streamlit, among others.

Alex also has represented leading venture capital firms and strategic investors, including GGV Capital, Menlo Ventures, GV, NEA, Insight Venture Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners, Merck Research Venture Labs, Trinity Ventures and Comcast Ventures.

Alex started her practice in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices of Fenwick & West LLP and another major national law firm. Prior to her career in law, Alex managed international development programs in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Jake Wyrick Of Counsel

San Francisco

Jake counsels companies throughout their lifecycles on matters including incorporation, debt and equity financings, corporate governance, securities law compliance, secondary sales, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. He also advises venture capital and strategic corporate investors on a range of direct and secondary investments.

Mr. Wyrick also has experience advising companies on complex technology transactions involving the creation and commercialization of technology, including licensing, joint development, manufacturing and distribution. While seconded to a venture-backed networking company, he negotiated key licensing agreements and oversaw commercial contract matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jake worked as an attorney at prominent Silicon Valley law firms, and he was also a legal intern at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where he focused on technology-related appellate litigation and policy. He began advising early-stage companies during law school while working as a summer associate at a law firm in Tokyo and as a student attorney at Duke University School of Law’s Startup Ventures Clinic.

Sean Yates Senior Associate

San Francisco; Sacramento

Sean serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, and underwriter's counsel on a variety of public finance transactions, including general obligation and revenue bond financings.  Sean's experience includes counseling large public transportation agencies, and assisting in the financing of affordable housing, charter schools and higher education institutions throughout California.

Sean earned his J.D. from the University of California, Davis in 2018, and his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2013.