New York
Orrick’s Employment Law and Litigation group was recently named Labor & Employment Department of the Year in California by The Recorder, the premier source for legal news, in recognition of their significant wins on behalf of leading multinational companies on today’s most complex and challenging employment law matters.
In addition to his litigation practice, Mark advises clients regarding a broad range of employment issues, including human resource policies and procedures, severance agreements and employee terminations.
Prior to joining Orrick, Mark was a judicial law clerk and gained experience litigating a wide range of civil and criminal cases.
Washington, D.C.
Sacramento
Lina M. Thoreson is of counsel in the Sacramento office and a member of the firm's nationally recognized Public Finance Department. She has broad experience acting as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter's counsel in tax-exempt financings for healthcare borrowers include large and small healthcare providers, healthcare systems and stand-alone healthcare facilities. She also acts as bond counsel or underwriter's counsel for other 501(c)(3) borrowers.Lina has experience working on many types of public finance transactions, including fixed and variable, tax-exempt and taxable, liquidity supported bonds, conversions, reofferings and direct purchases.
London
In addition to drafting and negotiating FIDIC, BIMCO, LOGIC and other standard form agreements, Jon also advises on highly bespoke construction management and fully "wrapped" EPC agreements.
Jon advises sponsors, lenders and contractors on the construction and operation of wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy projects in Asia, Europe, the UK and the U.S.
Jon's recent experience includes performing the role of Commercial Director for the Formosa II offshore wind project in Taiwan.
Before returning to the UK in 2024, Jon was based in Singapore for a number of years where he advised on some of the most complex and innovative offshore wind projects in South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia, including the Changfang and Xidao project developed by CIP and its partners, which remains one of the largest offshore wind project financings in Asia. Although based in London, Jon continues to advise on projects in various stages of development, construction and operation in Asia and the U.S.
Jon began his career as a disputes lawyer and continues to advise on contentious matters.
New York
Serena also represents investors and venture capital firms on their investments in early and high-growth technology companies.
San Francisco
His practice focuses on the representation of both public and private companies in connection with employee benefits and compensation-related aspects of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and initial public offerings.
Keith also advises on the design, administration and implementation of executive compensation and equity compensation arrangements, including severance arrangements and executive employment agreements.
Prior to joining Orrick, Keith was an attorney-advisor to the Honorable Joseph R. Goeke on the United States Tax Court in Washington, D.C.
Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)
Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)
Erin has experience with all aspects of litigation, from filing the complaint up to serving as trial counsel, and everything in between. Erin has first-chaired 5 federal trials to verdict, and participated in an additional 10 federal and state trials in an advisory, strategic, or supporting role. In addition to trial work, she has substantial experience taking and defending both fact and expert depositions, drafting and arguing complex dispositive briefing, managing the preservation, collection, analysis, and production of paper and electronic documents, conducting custodian and witness interviews, and briefing complex and technical discovery and privilege issues.
Erin is part of a national counsel team for a luxury consumer goods company, defending cases pending across the country, including some of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions. Erin serves as regional counsel, where she shares responsibility in developing and coordinating trial defense strategy on a daily basis. She collaborates with local, regional, and national counsel throughout the country to develop strategic decisions in all phases of litigation.
In addition to this role, Erin’s practice has been focused on responding to government regulatory, civil, and criminal investigations, as well as government litigation. Erin advises clients on strategy for responding to government subpoenas and information requests, and provides strategic guidance on complex legal and privilege issues. Her practice also involves conducting internal investigations of companies around the world, including interviewing corporate executives and employees, defending those same witnesses in front of federal agencies, and analyzing complex documents, data, and other information. Erin also advises clients on strategy in general commercial litigation matters relating to complex discovery issues and beyond.
Also while at Orrick, Erin served an extended secondment with The Dow Chemical Company as a Case Manager in Dow's Asbestos, Products Liability & Insurance Litigation Group. In this capacity, she managed the asbestos and premises litigation dockets for Union Carbide and Dow throughout the western and northeastern United States. This involved overseeing hundreds of ongoing product liability cases, including advising the litigation management team on case evaluation, resolution, and business strategies, as well as directing outside counsel and trial counsel teams.
Immediately prior to joining Orrick, Erin served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia in Wheeling, WV. At the United States Attorney's Office, Erin focused on both defensive and affirmative civil matters on behalf of the United States, its agencies, and employees. In this role, Erin practiced in a variety of areas of the law, including but not limited to, constitutional claims, torts, statutory and administrative claims, environmental matters, tax and bankruptcy matters, and fraud investigations and litigation. While at the United States Attorney's Office, Erin served as the e-discovery office coordinator for the District, and was the chair of the diversity committee. Prior to her government service, Erin was a member of the Trial Practice group at Duane Morris LLP, where she focused on commercial litigation and corporate internal investigations.
Silicon Valley
Ramin helps clients maximize their intellectual property and technology portfolios in a variety of ways, including drafting, negotiating, and advising on development, production, supply, procurement, and other technology licensing arrangements. He represents both mature and emerging companies in a variety of industries, including in SaaS, software, AI, hardware, information technology, business process outsourcing, enterprise resource planning, and data intelligence.
Ramin also counsels companies in developing artificial intelligence (AI) policies and deploying AI tools, and he also advises clients on open-source licensing and intellectual property issues in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and financing transactions.
According to Chambers USA, Ramin is “an excellent, practical, client- and business-oriented tech transactions attorney”, and “someone clients can work with as a tech expert, a business confidant and, of course, a legal expert." Chambers USA ranked him as an Up and Coming Partner, and Legal 500 ranks him as a Rising Star in 2021 and 2022 for Technology: Transactions.
San Francisco
Paul's practice includes bond and issuer counsel work for tax-exempt and taxable financings, with a focus on revenue bonds, particularly multifamily housing revenue bonds issued by cities, counties, public authorities and joint powers agencies.
Paul also serves as special counsel for the California Statewide Communities Development Authority for its conduit housing financings.
New York
At the forefront of her field, Lisa helped a client obtain the first authorization from the DOE to export domestic natural gas as LNG to all trading partners, and represented the first bi-directional LNG terminals proposed in the United States in proceedings before FERC.
Lisa has been recognized both nationally and globally as a leading practitioner by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, and The Legal 500 for more than a decade.
“Lisa Tonery comes highly recommended for her considerable expertise in representing major clients in high-value LNG proceedings . . . Sources say: ‘She's an expert . . . she really understands the critical issues.’” (Chambers Global)
"Client-focused, business-minded and dogged in the pursuit of her clients' interests. Her depth of knowledge is best-in-class. She has extensive relationships with FERC at all levels and is very pleasant to work with." (Chambers USA)
Düsseldorf
He advises start-ups and scale-ups from inception through early-stage financing rounds and in their growth phases, as well as on internationalization projects. In addition, he advises institutional and corporate investors on venture capital investments.
Kjell also advises on national and international M&A and private equity transactions with a focus on technology.
Prior to joining Orrick, he had been a lawyer with one of the big 4 firms in Düsseldorf, where he focused on venture capital. During his studies, Kjell had been a research associate with a Berlin-based venture capital boutique for several years.
Houston
Guy Topaz is a versatile litigator whose practice spans complex commercial and financial services disputes in federal and state courts, domestic arbitration, white-collar investigations, and regulatory enforcement actions.
Guy counsels and represents individual and corporate clients including technology companies, global asset managers, Fortune 500 corporations, and private-equity sponsors in high-stakes matters in courts throughout the country. Guy draws upon his federal and state clerkship experiences, and his diverse international background in China, Europe, and the Middle East, to provide practical solutions that safeguard client objectives and reputation. Prior to joining Orrick, Guy practiced in the New York and Washington, D.C. offices of an international law firm.