People

Bas de Blank Partner

Silicon Valley

In addition to his ITC practice, Bas also heads Orrick’s contentious prosecution practice. He has led more than 30 IPRs and first-chaired more than a dozen trials before the United States Patent Office, as well as represented clients in dozens of trials in district courts, and before PTAB.

As someone with degrees in both engineering and English literature, Bas is uniquely suited to present complicated topics to non-technical audiences. He has represented clients in fields as diverse as semiconductor processing and structure, GPS and geosynchronous satellites, image texture and graphics processing, Internet switches and communications, and various consumer products.

Karen Dempsey Senior Advisor

San Francisco

Karen is involved in a full range of corporate legal projects for high growth technology companies including venture financings, public offerings, public company securities law compliance matters and mergers and acquisitions. She also regularly advises public companies and board of directors on corporate governance issues. Karen's clients include private and public companies in the biotechnology, real estate, finance and Internet related industries. She also represents underwriters in initial public offerings and follow-on offerings and venture capital firms in investment transactions.

Karen is a frequent speaker on corporate and securities law topics including Initial Public Offerings, Corporate Governance and Sarbanes-Oxley matters. She is also Co-Editor of Part III of Venture Capital & Public Offering Negotiation, published by Aspen Law & Business.

Before joining Orrick, Karen was a shareholder at Heller Ehrman LLP and was chair of their firmwide corporate governance practice group.

Stanley Dirks Senior Counsel

San Francisco

He represents issuers and underwriters of tax-exempt bonds to finance a variety of public facilities and programs, including water and power systems, airports, schools, rental housing loan programs and homeownership loan programs.

Stan has served as a lecturer and panelist on a variety of programs concerning state and local government debt issuance. He also served for ten years as one of the original members of the Technical Advisory Committee of the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission.

Stan also has a long history of involvement in the governance of nonprofit education, arts and other charitable organizations.

ThuyMy Do Associate

San Francisco

T provides guidance to developers and investors in the renewable energy sector—with a focus on solar, wind, biomass, and carbon sequestration projects—in structuring corporate transactions and debt and equity financing to maximize tax credits and other tax incentives.

Ashley Docherty Associate

San Francisco

Ashley’s practice focuses on representing corporations and individuals in a variety of industries in complex business litigation and disputes. Ashley represents financial institutions, technology corporations, and other entities in a range of civil disputes.

Noa Dreymann Senior Associate

Silicon Valley

Noa regularly partners with her clients on the contracts that drive their businesses, including:

• software, data, and content licensing agreements;
• master services agreements;
• professional services and development agreements;
• research collaboration agreements;
• influencer and sponsorship agreements;
• reseller and referral agreements; and
• end-user license agreements and terms of service.

Noa’s additional experience in venture capital financings and mergers and acquisitions informs her commercial work and enables her to advise her clients on what potential investors and acquirors are looking for in their targets’ commercial and intellectual property strategies, as well as on what they consider red flags.

Nathan Dullum Claims Counsel

San Francisco

Nathan represents and advises the firm on all issues regarding claims and is responsible for managing the firm’s complex litigation strategies. He retains and supervises outside defense counsel, coordinates coverage and related issues with the firm’s insurance carriers, and ensures the effective and efficient defense of claims against the firm. Nathan is also a member of Orrick’s Risk Management Committee, responsible for promoting risk awareness and prevention through risk management training, internal firm publications, and risk management audits.

Prior to taking on his current role, Nathan was a member of Orrick's Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution group. With over two decades of litigation and trial experience, Nathan has practiced before state and federal courts and has arbitrated matters before The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the International Center for Dispute Resolution.

Nathan joined Orrick as a summer associate in 2001. In 2007, he took a brief leave of absence to work as a prosecutor in the San Francisco County District Attorney’s Office.

Ellen Ehrenpreis Partner

Silicon Valley

Ellen has spent more than twenty years in the tech and venture ecosystem and leverages her broad network and deep understanding of both the tech sector and legal landscape to effectively and strategically advise emerging companies and investors on a wide range of critical needs.

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 pragmatic. Her unique skill set and business-driven approach derive from her decades-long career 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 also works closely with some of the leading venture capital and growth equity firms, whose principals she advises in connection with financings, equity structuring and corporate governance. Ellen’s company 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 semiconductor, SAAS, renewables, fintech, 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.

Lois Emmanuel Associate

Silicon Valley

Niki Fang Partner

San Francisco

Niki concentrates her corporate practice on representing issuers and underwriters in public offerings and capital markets transactions.  Niki also regularly counsels public and late-stage private companies on securities law compliance, disclosure matters, SEC reporting obligations, corporate governance and stock exchange listing obligations. In addition, Niki’s practice includes venture capital financings and advising start-up companies on general corporate matters. She represents a wide range of technology and life sciences companies, from privately held start-ups to publicly traded corporations.

Prior to joining Orrick, Niki was at Fenwick & West LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

Ian Faucher Associate

San Francisco

He advises clients on a wide variety of matters, including power purchase agreements, project financings, project acquisitions and sales, and energy regulatory issues.

Before practicing law, Ian helped leading companies and governments navigate their sustainability goals as a management consultant. As a law student, he served as a law clerk at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and at the California Public Utilities Commission.

Patrick Ferguson Partner

San Francisco

Patrick is described by Chambers USA as “an excellent writer”, an “expert on the California power market", and “experienced across a range of assets including solar and geothermal power plants and transmission lines.” He works on commercial and regulatory challenges involving the transition of the electric power grid to renewable resources, and represents some of the country’s largest power producers in wholesale and retail energy and capacity market transactions.

Patrick advises solar, wind, geothermal, and energy storage project sponsors on site acquisition, transmission, and power purchase agreement negotiations. He also assists producers of new technologies that combat climate change, including renewable fuels, carbon capture, and carbon offset credits, in structuring novel commercial transactions.