People

Al Sawyers Partner

New York

Al represents issuers and underwriters in the issuance of credit-linked notes, collateralized bond obligations, synthetic convertible bonds and synthetic money market eligible securities. He also works with clients entering into various swap agreements, such as interest rate, credit default, currency, and equity swaps, and has authored alerts on various financial industry-related topics, including the Dodd-Frank Act.

Al has been ranked by Chambers and Partners both globally and nationally in the structured products category. Legal500 has noted Al for his work in structured finance, quoting a client who stated that he has "impressive expertise in all facets of securitization in general, which is immensely helpful when we are working on complex transactions." The International Financial Law Review has also recognized Al for his work in structured finance and securitization. Euromoney notes him as an expert in Banking, Financial and Transactional Law: Structured Finance and Securitization.

Chapin Scaggs Managing Associate

Boston

Chapin focuses on representing high-growth technology companies of all sizes throughout their life-cycles-- from general formation and corporate governance through to venture capital and private equity financings.  He also advises investors and venture capital firms in their investments in early and high growth technology companies.

Sarah Schaedler Partner

San Francisco

Sarah’s practice focuses on structuring and negotiating the intellectual property aspects of complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, business divestitures and commercial transactions where software and technology are the principal assets. Sarah also advises on intellectual property and technology contracts related questions in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Sarah routinely advises on carve-outs and business separation transactions and helps clients with structuring and implementing their intellectual property and technology separation roadmap.

Sarah has counseled several companies in their preparation for a divestiture and understands the issues a buyer is focused on in the context of intellectual property matters. She regularly helps companies implement remediation steps around their intellectual property assets to help them to a successful closing.

She has significant experience advising private equity funds on investments involving companies that are driven by technology & innovation, as well as intellectual property reliant consumer product companies and companies that are stepping into digitalization.

Sarah is also a member of Orrick’s AI leadership group and involved in thought leadership projects related to AI matters on corporate transactions.

Educated and trained in Germany, France and the United States, Sarah’s international experience provides her with additional knowledge on cross-border transactions and international matters.

Jay Wilder Schau Senior Associate

San Francisco

Jay represents high growth technology companies in several areas, including corporate and securities law, formation, and venture capital financings.

Jay received his JD from the University of Michigan in 2017. He is also a 2014 graduate of the University of Alabama where he double majored in Economics and Finance.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jay worked as a Bates Fellow at The Silicon Cape Initiative in Cape Town, South Africa, where he worked to grow the tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem in and around the Western Cape.

Asalia Melanie Scheibner, LL.M. (UCLA) Associate

Düsseldorf

Prior to joining Orrick, Asalia Melanie Scheibner gained experience at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a leading global French consumer goods company, and several international law firms.

Andrew Schmidt Associate

New York

He advises lenders and corporate borrowers on a wide range of secured lending facilities and other commercial finance transactions.

Benjamin Schnier Project Attorney

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Benjamin uses a process-driven approach and machine learning technology to review contracts, amendments, company charters, board and shareholder materials, corporate filings, investor materials, and related documents to prepare detailed analyses for a variety of client needs. Examples of this work include due diligence matrices tracking red flag provisions; corporate audits identifying potential issues for acquisitions, sales, or flips; financing packages; and drafting documents. He also assists privacy and data security teams to manage privacy law programs, including drafting privacy policies and data subject request protocols, coordinating personal data inventory reviews, and reviewing data privacy agreements.

Prior to joining Orrick, Benjamin worked as a Corporate and Discovery Attorney for WilmerHale.

Michael E. Schrader Partner

Portland

Mike also represents banks and underwriters in connection with the purchase and sale of bonds and other financing and credit-related matters.

A significant portion of Mike’s practice is devoted to private activity bond financings. This includes representing Oregon Housing and Community Services and Oregon Facilities Authority in connection with their conduit revenue bond programs. Over the course of his more than 20 years as a bond attorney in Oregon, he has competed dozens of project financings throughout the State with a variety of public and private sponsors, developers and funders.

Mike received the Firm's Community Responsibility Award in 2011 in recognition of his community service and pro bono work. He currently serves on the Boards of Bridge Meadows, a developer, owner and operator of affordable intergenerational housing communities, and the Portland Housing Center, an organization providing educational and financial services to promote homeownership in underserved communities. He also serves as special counsel (pro bono) to Mercy Corps in connection with its Community Investment Trust (CIT) Program.

Before joining Orrick, Mike was a partner at Ater Wynne LLP in Portland. Prior to that, Mike was an associate at Ice Miller in Indianapolis, Indiana.

J.P. Schreiber Senior Associate

San Francisco

Clients count on J.P.’s versatility to guide them through all types of employment litigation ranging from thorny single-plaintiff disputes to large-scale class and representative actions. J.P.’s strategic mindset draws from his experience across all phases of litigation in state and federal courts, arbitration, and before government agencies. His experience spans a breadth of issues including those related to wage-and-hour laws, the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), trade secret theft, restrictive covenants, contract disputes, pay equity, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, disability accommodation, leaves of absence, and wrongful termination.

Additionally, J.P. regularly counsels employers on best practices to meet their business goals in a way that minimizes legal risk. He partners with clients to address employment issues such as wage-and-hour compliance, high-risk personnel decisions, mass workforce changes, the development of compliant policies, the drafting of complex employment agreements, and recent changes in employment laws.

Andrew Schreiber Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Andrew has represented innovative, multinational companies—both offensively and defensively—in patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret disputes. He has handled an array of technologies in the semiconductor, artificial intelligence, electrical, medical device, materials science, communications, and software spaces.

Prior to joining Orrick, Andrew served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Schroeder III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He was also an intellectual property litigation associate at a large international law firm in New York.

Andrew graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center where he founded and served as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Law Technology Review. He also externed for the Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Prior to law school, Andrew worked for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee as they considered sweeping reforms to domestic patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws.

Audrey Schricker Senior Associate

Seattle

Audrey advises a broad range of companies and investors on: buyout mergers and acquisitions, growth equity investments, reorganizations, joint ventures, and governance matters. Audrey’s practice focuses on advising clients in the energy, technology, and healthcare sectors. Audrey brings client-focused innovation and creativity to M&A transactions, developing tailored solutions to clients operating within the transforming energy and healthcare ecosystem and emerging climate tech industry.

Dr. Christian Schröder Partner

Düsseldorf

Christian helps clients consider the privacy and artificial intelligence implications of new technology, supports their compliance programs, and helps them stay ahead of enforcement trends. One particular focus of his work deals with internal data transfer agreements, external data transfers with external providers, and product launches that comply with international data protection standards, as well as privacy requirements for connected cars. Furthermore, Christian provides guidance on privacy and data protection considerations for developing, acquiring, using, licensing and selling technology, data and intellectual property, including M&A transactions and IP focused joint ventures. He supports companies on the set-up of webshops, outsourcings, license agreements, in cases of trademark or unfair and deceptive trade practice issues, as well as on hard and software license and information technology (IT) project agreements.

Christian maintains strong working relationships with German data protection authorities and EU regulatory authorities with jurisdiction over privacy and data security matters. He effectively defends companies in cybersecurity and privacy-related investigations initiated by EU regulatory authorities. He also engages with authorities on behalf of clients and helps clients avoid proceedings and possible litigation. When litigation can't be avoided, Christian vigorously defends his clients.

For companies facing global cybersecurity incidents, Christian helps with crisis mitigation, including counseling on notification requirements, coordinating media strategies, and representing clients before data protection authorities in related regulatory investigations.

Christian regularly contributes practical thought leadership to global privacy industry publications and German privacy books and journals. Christian authors the Chapter V (international data transfers) of Germany’s leading GDPR commentary Kühling/Buchner (4th ed.) and is co-author to the Corporate Privacy Handbook (Betrieblicher Datenschutz). As an active member of the Sedona Conference, Christian drives the development and understanding of cross border privacy. He also participates in, hosts and moderates speaking programs with fellow private practitioners, EU data protection authorities, and academics focused on privacy and data security. Legal 500 Germany named Christian one of the top 15 practitioners in 2023 and noted that he is "a pioneer in the legal field, a data protection guru." They also recognized Christian and Orrick as "truly global" and how that it is "vital as they require the various leaders of each region to participate and bring issues to the table as a forum".

Prior to working in private practice, Christian interned with the German Federal Data Protection Commissioner and www.epic.org.