People

Stacy W. Harrison Partner

Los Angeles

Stacy represents numerous clients in consumer class actions and multi-district litigation involving products liability and unfair competition claims. She has represented several retailers in putative class actions asserting claims under California Business and Professions Code Section 17200 and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Most recently, she was lead trial counsel for a consumer products company in which the plaintiff alleged that exposure to asbestos in the client’s products caused their mesothelioma; that settled favorably for the client shortly before opening statements. She also represented Naturex, Inc., a manufacturer of a Green Coffee Bean extract that was advertised on the Dr. Oz Show, in a putative class action alleging unfair competition and false advertising claims, which settled favorably for the client. She also successfully represented Johnson & Johnson in two putative class actions, one in the Southern District of California and the other in the complex court of the Los Angeles Superior Court, which alleged unfair competition and Proposition 65 violations.

Her work for clients in the commercial and residential real estate, banking, and financial services industries focuses on partnership disputes and representing secured creditors in judicial and non-judicial foreclosure actions and bankruptcy proceedings. She has represented numerous real estate developers and property owners, including Ronald A. Simms and the Simms/Mann Institute for Education and Community Development in connection with various disputes. She also has represented financial institutions in bankruptcy proceedings, including adversary proceedings, regarding priority lien disputes and other business issues.

Stacy also represents several energy companies in connection with investigations by and hearings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In addition, she has represented numerous producers and high-profile artists and talent in accounting and profit-participation, licensing, and other disputes involving the television and motion picture industries. This included a film production company, defeating a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit filed by an individual claiming to have co-written screenplay; well-known artists prosecuting a copyright infringement and right to publicity action for defendants' improper use of performance sound recordings; and a film financier regarding investments in several independent films.

Stacy regularly presents at on-line webinars on a variety of topics affecting litigators worldwide.

While she is always prepared to try any case, Stacy firmly believes that resolution of certain matters outside of court sometimes are in the best interests of her client. As such, she is highly skilled in representing clients in alternative dispute resolution through mediations and arbitrations and was elected an Alternative Dispute Resolution Neutral for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2006.

In keeping with her commitment to philanthropy, Stacy currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library and the Board of the Jewish Graduate Students Initiative.

Ian Hawkes Managing Associate

Washington, D.C.

Ian's practice focuses on defending against class action litigation, mass torts, and environmental litigation. He has also represented leading consumer goods companies in confidential arbitrations involving multiple appellate arbitral tribunals and confirmation proceedings in federal courts nationwide. Ian also has an active pro bono practice, where he has assisted clients fleeing gang violence in petitioning for asylum to the U.S.

Meg Hennessey Of Counsel

San Francisco; Orange County

Meg helps online service providers comply with online safety and consumer protection laws by marrying her knowledge of the data-driven environment with a decade of experience in white-collar and regulatory investigations. She also advises her clients on developing Trust & Safety compliance programs to manage the risks of misleading or harmful content online such as child exploitation or hate speech that could lead to investigations or litigation.

As a crisis responder, Meg assists clients at every stage, from starting a dialogue with regulators to responding to formal inquiries to managing investigations. She has led diverse teams of lawyers and consultants in conducting investigations, including those initiated by the DOJ, SEC, FTC, OIG, State AGs, and Congress. She has also acted on both sides of corporate Monitorships, serving on two Monitorship teams, and representing two international companies undergoing years-long scrutiny of an external Monitor. This experience provides her with unique insight into best practices in the assessment and development of ethics, integrity, and online safety trust and compliance programs.

Meg co-leads Orrick’s Orange County women’s inclusion network. Early in her career, she worked with LGBTQ+ youth at the National Center for Lesbian Rights and in the Juvenile Unit at the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender. She works pro bono for immigration and women's health organizations. She lives in California with her spouse and kids.

Kara Iskenderian Career Associate

Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining Orrick, Kara served as a Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force. In that capacity, she served as both a Prosecutor and Defense Counsel, developing extensive litigation experience through 27 federal trials. Kara excels under pressure, having previously advised General Officers on Air Force operations, internal investigations, and administrative law. She draws from her military service, applying her discipline, organization, and leadership skills to enhance her litigation practice and advocacy for her clients.

Richard Jacobsen Partner

New York

Rich and his Orrick team bring to each representation a combination of deep market knowledge, holistic litigation strategy and a problem-solving mentality. In an industry where many cases are settled, he has established a formidable record at trial and on appeal, while achieving regulatory settlements at a small fraction of the industry benchmarks.

Rich’s precedent-setting results in residential mortgage-backed securities cases have changed the course of this area of litigation for the entire industry and earned him American Lawyer Litigator of the Week honors for a win before the New York Court of Appeals. He serves as lead counsel for Credit Suisse’s entire RMBS docket in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Rich is lead counsel for Goldman Sachs in two RMBS cases in the Southern District of New York. For nearly a decade, he has been lead counsel for Ocwen Financial Services in all matters concerning its market-leading business servicing loans in residential mortgage-backed securitizations.

His financial sector work extends to a wide range of other commercial disputes. Rich is lead counsel for Nationstar Mortgage LLC d/b/a Mr. Cooper in a breach of contract action pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery. He has frequently litigated disputes involving the distressed debt trading market, including on behalf of Jefferies and Citibank, and has tried nine-figure disputes in the most important bankruptcy jurisdictions in the United States for clients such as UBS and Blackstone. For example, Rich earned American Lawyer Litigator of the Week honors for a win for UBS in a lengthy battle with renowned energy tycoon Charif Souki, convincing a Texas bankruptcy judge to wipe out Souki’s $100 million claim and order him to pay $100 million in damages.

Rich’s work on these cases has captured the finance sector’s attention, helping to tell his clients’ stories to the market. For example, Financial Times quoted extensively from Rich’s briefs on behalf of Raistone Capital in connection with the First Brands bankruptcy. His deposition of Aspiration Capital co-founder Joseph Sanberg was reenacted on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast in his breaking coverage of the Aspiration bankruptcy.

Rich also has a strong record of winning high-stakes consumer class actions for innovators. For PayPal, he is defending a string of high-profile cases involving its Honey browser extensions in California federal court, recently securing a series of dismissals, with one of his wins recognized in American Lawyer’s Litigator of the Week column and reported by The Recorder. For Caesars Entertainment, he is defending claims relating to its mobile sports betting app. 

He has litigated commercial, securities and product liability disputes for clients in many other industries in venues across the United States. Additional clients have included: Amazon, The Dow Chemical Company, Microsoft, DISH Network, Acer and Wyeth. Rich has argued numerous appeals at the state and federal levels and frequently represents clients before state and federal regulators. He has argued multiple times before seven of the eight current justices in the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court, New York County, and has arbitrated before the American Arbitration Association and London Court of International Arbitration.

Rich’s commitment to winning is matched only by his focus on client service.

Clients tell Chambers, “He makes my job easier by deploying a combination of impeccable legal skill, excellent judgment and a knowledge of the financial services industry.” (2022) One client reported: "For the stickiest matters where we know we need a fighter, he is the first call." (2025) “I would recommend Rich to anyone.” (2024) "He makes my job easier by deploying a combination of strengths - impeccable legal skills, excellent judgment, knowledge of the finance sector and a formidable reputation." (2022) Echoing that praise, clients say “I would recommend Richard Jacobsen in the highest terms,” (2021) and he is “an exceptional litigator” and “a master of navigating commercial disputes.” (2020) Chambers also reports that clients regard Rich as “a commercial disputes wizard,” noting that he is "very knowledgeable in all areas of commercial litigation." (2025)

Clients tell Legal 500 Rich’s commercial disputes team is “brilliant,” (2021) while the publication calls out his “business critical disputes” work for Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs. Clients further endorse Rich when speaking to Legal 500, noting he “is always available and willing to do what is necessary in any situation. His knowledge of the industry and more importantly where we fit in the industry has paid tremendous dividends from a legal representation perspective. I have not dealt with an attorney from any other firm that had the combination of knowledge, ability, reputation and judgment that Rich has.” (2020) Another client called out Rich’s “razor sharp intellect” which sets him apart from other disputes and trial lawyers.

Jordan Jekel Associate

New York

Karen G. Johnson-McKewan Senior Counsel

San Francisco

Karen focuses on litigation that crosses the boundaries between traditional legal practices, and therefore requires inventive and strategic approaches. These solutions, tucked in the creases between law and industry, are why leading technology and Fortune 500 companies hire Karen to resolve their most complex litigation matters.

Over the past 36 years, Karen has first-chaired state and federal trials, and arbitrated more than a dozen disputes. She has managed intellectual property and commercial disputes for companies such as Oracle, NVIDIA, Netflix and VMWare.

In addition to her legal background, Karen’s relationship management skills give her clients a significant advantage. She knows how to pull together and lead the best team, from multiple disciplines within Orrick, and often involving multiple law firms. Able to unite what were, and will be, competing firms into a single powerful unit takes a special type of leadership, one which Karen has demonstrated time and again.

Jennifer Jones Sr Practice Mgr of Lit & IP

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Jen is the Senior Practice Manager for the Litigation and Intellectual Property (IP) Business Units at Orrick. With 20 years of complex litigation practice experience, Jen plays a pivotal role in supporting the business and operational needs of Litigation and IP attorneys.

Jen works closely with Leadership and various teams, including Talent, Marketing, Recruiting, and Finance, to drive and achieve key goals at the Business Unit, Practice Group, Partner, and Associate levels. She successfully implements strategies aimed at improving utilization, performance, professional development, efficiency, and profitability.

Joseph Jung Associate

Orange County

Konstantin Kasyan Special Legal Consultant

Washington, D.C.

Alexandra Keenan Managing Associate

London

She is also a member of the firm's AI & Privacy Committee which focuses on researching and writing about various legal issues in the field of artificial intelligence.

Alexandra joined the firm as a trainee in 2018.

Dr. Nicholas Kessler, LL.M. (University of Cambridge), EMBA Partner

Düsseldorf

Nicholas has extensive experience with arbitral proceedings under the auspices of all of the major arbitral institutions and rules (e.g., ICC, DIS, SCC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, ICSID, ad hoc).

Nicholas graduated from law school in 2003 (University of Munster), earned a PhD in law and an Executive Master of Business Administration (M&A) in 2005 and was allowed to the German bar in 2007. In 2008 he received a Master of Laws diploma from the University of Cambridge (UK) and was entered on the roll as Solicitor of England & Wales in 2010.

Dr. Kessler is a visiting lecturer at the University of Münster and teaches the international arbitration and mediation in the university's post graduate program on mergers and acquisitions. He frequently publishes and holds speeches on arbitration and litigation-related topics.