People

Marcus Deitz Partner

Houston

Marcus’ experience includes the representation of school districts, municipalities, counties, junior colleges, universities, special authorities and other political subdivisions in a variety of roles, including bond counsel, disclosure counsel and issuer’s counsel. In addition, he regularly represents underwriters and purchasers of both public and privately placed debt, regularly serving as underwriters’ counsel and bank counsel.

Complementary to his core practice, Marcus is also able to provide his clients guidance on derivative transactions and liquidity facilities, election law matters, and municipal and school law issues.

Before joining Orrick, Marcus clerked for the Colorado Court of Appeals and subsequently practiced as an associate and then a partner with several international law firms.

Jerry V. Kyle, Jr. Partner

Austin

Jerry has been active in traditional bond financings for governmental entities such as school districts, cities, counties and special-purpose districts, advising them on general obligation, ad valorem tax-secured financings and special or limited obligation financings, such as utility system revenue-secured financings, conduit financings, financings for state agencies and financings for entities authorized to act on behalf of the State of Texas and its political subdivisions, including tax and revenue anticipation and general obligation and special-purpose facility revenue financings.

Erica Montague Associate

Washington, D.C.

Erica has experience as general counsel representing special districts and developers, specifically assisting a variety of clients and developers with their real estate and land use needs, focusing on commercial and residential project development and related infrastructure and finance matters.

Amanda Stephens Partner

Austin; Houston

Amanda has advised on more than $5 billion of both publicly-offered and privately-placed charter school financings. Her work on these financings extends across the country, including Texas, Florida, Tennessee, California, Arizona and New York, among many others. Amanda works with a first-of-its-kind nonprofit social impact fund that leverages private charter loans to the public market. Since their creation in 2018, Amanda has worked on documenting more than $1.7 billion in loans to high-performing charter schools who do not otherwise have access to long term, low cost financing. Amanda and team are tasked with working with the local borrower’s counsel for each new borrower and each new state to create a financing structure that meets the long term needs of the borrower, while conforming with state charter law and the clients lending requirements. Amanda has also created structures to help with taxable refundings, to finance around existing new market tax credit structures and many other needs of the borrowers. 

Amanda also represents banks and other financial institutions in connection with direct purchases of tax-exempt bonds and the issuance of letters of credit and other liquidity facilities in connection with tax-exempt transactions. 

Over the course of her career, Amanda has prepared, negotiated and reviewed contracts, loan documents, amendments, closing documents, default letters, demand letters, payoff and buyout agreements, intercreditor subordination agreements, and federal tax lien subordinations. She also has reviewed client contracts and MSA agreements in the oil and gas, construction, medical, retail and transportation industries, and she has addressed regulatory and compliance issues for the finance industry and oil and gas industry. Amanda previously served as an in-house attorney for a national financial services company. She also has served as a staff attorney for Judge Jaclanel McFarland of the 133rd Civil District Court in Harris County, Texas, and as assistant district attorney for the Harris County District Attorney’s office.

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.

Sasha Leonhardt Partner

Washington, D.C.

Sasha also has substantial experience advising clients on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Military Lending Act (MLA), Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Fair Housing Act (FHA), and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). He advises companies, non-profits and industry associations with consumer privacy issues arising from the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Regulation P, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and its Affiliate Marketing Rule and state and federal laws that address data privacy and information security.

In addition to representing clients, Sasha has published numerous articles on various aspects of consumer financial services law and practice, including data privacy, class action litigation, white collar litigation, whistleblower lawsuits and recent trends in regulation and enforcement. He also maintains an active pro bono practice and serves as a member of the Legal Counsel for the Elderly’s Young Lawyers Alliance. A frequent speaker on a variety of legal topics, Sasha has taught at Duke University School of Law and American University Washington College of Law, and was previously a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School.

Prior to joining Orrick, Sasha was a partner at Buckley LLP. He also previously served as Deputy Press Secretary to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. He is accredited as a Privacy Law Specialist, a Fellow of Information Privacy, a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM/US), and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Jeremiah Buckley Partner

Washington, D.C.

Jerry is a thought leader in the field of financial services regulation. He co-hosts RegFi, a weekly podcast series, that explores how financial regulation will change more in the next 10 years than in the last 50: https://www.orrick.com/en/Podcasts/RegFi.

Early in his career, Jerry served as Minority Staff Director of the United States Senate Banking Committee, and he played an important role in drafting many of the laws that impact the consumer financial services industry today. Since entering private practice, he has guided clients in developing compliance programs, dealing with regulatory and enforcement challenges and helping shape public policy.

Throughout his career, he has focused on promoting enhanced delivery of financial services. He was a leader in advocating the passage of the federal ESign Act, which authorized use of electronic records in financial services and other transactions. He served as counsel to the Drafting Committee for Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures (SPeRS). He co-authored The Law of Electronic Records and Signatures (West Publishing Company) as well as Introduction to Mortgage Banking (American Bankers Association).

He has also taken a lead in promoting national data protection standards. His American Banker article, “Congress needs to hurry up on data protection,” lays out the case for national standards as an alternative to a patchwork of state privacy laws. He serves as advisor to the Financial Services Trade Associations Data Protection Working Group, an informal alliance of national financial trade associations responding to fast changing legislative and regulatory developments related to privacy and data security. He is also an advisor to the Association for Data and Cyber Governance (ADCG) and the Alliance for Innovation in Regulation (AIR).

His clients include banks, mortgage companies, credit card issuers, insurance companies, broker dealers, fintech companies, investment banks and private equity investors. Jerry provides strategic counsel and advice on business formations and acquisitions, licensing and chartering, risk management and enforcement matters involving federal and state regulators.

He has defended companies that are targets of inquiries or enforcement actions by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Congressional Committees and state attorneys general.

Jerry has promoted a modernized approach to financial regulation (regtech). He led Buckley LLP's effort to publish a widely read white paper titled “Financial Regulators’ Dilemma: Administrative and Regulatory Hurdles to Innovation.” The paper is based on interviews with Heads of Innovation at the principle financial agency regulators, and lays out legal and administrative stumbling blocks identified by regulators themselves impeding regtech advances.

Jerry's opinion pieces regularly appear in financial service publications. He has advocated for development of “dynamic disclosures” to offer more useful information to consumers than is provided under the often cumbersome and voluminous static disclosures currently provided.

An article he wrote in the American Banker in 2016, “The Compliance Officer Bill of Rights,” focused attention on the growing risks faced by compliance officers. This led to a symposium on “Rights and Responsibilities of Today’s Chief Compliance Officers — Their Evolving Role,” which was chaired by Jerry and sponsored by American University Washington College of Law. Chief compliance officers from the nation’s leading companies participated in this seminal discussion about how to define and make safe the job of a chief compliance officer.

He has acted as counsel for a number of national financial services trade associations on matters before regulatory agencies and Congress, and in filing amicus briefs related to the interpretation of banking and consumer finance laws in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and appellate courts.

He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Law at American University's Washington College of Law. In 2007, he founded a national financial services consulting company known as Treliant Risk Advisors.

In 2015 he was awarded the Senator William Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.

Dr. Sven Greulich, LL.M. (Cantuar), EMBA Partner

Düsseldorf

Sven advises technology companies on complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital as well as growth investments, and provides general corporate counseling.

His clients include technology companies of all stages and their investors. Supported by a global and cross-practice team, he also counsels major corporations and scale-ups on international expansion and growth projects and has a special focus on in- and outbound German/US investments and joint ventures.

Sven is passionate about building a bridge for his clients from Germany to the US and other international technology hubs and to help them succeed in the international market. With a dual background in business and law, an entrepreneurial spirit, and experience in over 300 M&A transactions and financing rounds across many industries, Sven has a unique perspective, which inspires him to find the best strategic and commercially viable solution for his clients.

Sven volunteers with entrepreneur groups at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management and the RWTH Aachen and regularly lectures at the WHU and the RWTH incubation and innovation centers on venture capital financings, start-up growth and corporate venture capital.

Sven's work has been repeatedly awarded, inter alia

• Chambers ranks him as one of the top 3 venture capital lawyers in Germany (2025);
• the leading German market publication JUVE lists him as "frequently recommended" for M&A, private equity, as well as corporate advice and - since 2019 - ranks Sven as one of Germany's top 15 attorneys for venture capital, the highest recognition for this category awarded by JUVE (2024/2025);
• Legal500 Deutschland includes Sven as "frequently recommended" for M&A (mid-sized deals) as well as private equity (mid-sized deals) and ranks him as a "leading individual" for venture capital (2025); and
• in the 2017 edition of its Innovative Lawyers Report Europe, the Financial Times named Sven's work to connect start-ups with Germany's Mittelstand (mid-sized companies) a standout “for making bridges between Silicon Valley and Germany”.

Carsten Bernauer Partner

Düsseldorf; Munich

A special focus is on the comprehensive support of start-up technology companies and their investors. In this context, he accompanies his clients through all stages of growth with the aim of providing fast and efficient support in the implementation of their growth plans and investment strategies.

His clients benefit from his extensive experience in structuring, managing and coordinating complex transactions, including all other advisors involved in the transaction. In international transactions, he has access to Orrick's comprehensive technology, private equity and venture capital platform.

Carsten Bernauer also advises on national and international corporate transactions, in particular in the field of technology, as well as on corporate restructurings.

After many years working for an American and an English commercial law firm, Carsten Bernauer joined Orrick's Düsseldorf office in 2019.

Onur Öztürk Counsel

Munich

He regularly advises founder teams on the establishment of a two-tier U.S./German holding structures, be it in connection with their admission to a U.S. accelerator or be it for better access to early-stage financing opportunities in the richer U.S. funding ecosystem.

During his legal training, Onur had been with the M&A practice of a Big Four accounting firm and the legal department of a major German technology company in Germany and Canada. In 2022, Onur worked from our San Francisco and Menlo Park offices for three months to take a deep-dive into the Silicon Valley's start-up ecosystem.

Carl Oldenbourg Associate

Munich

He advises start-ups and scale-ups on their foundation, financing rounds and growth phases as well as on internationalization projects. He also advises VCs and corporate VCs on their investments.

Before starting his legal practice, he also worked as a trainee lawyer for a U.S. law firm in its San Francisco office.

Dr. Johannes Rüberg, EMBA Partner

Munich

This includes venture and growth financings in all stages and general corporate counseling. His practice further focuses on advising strategic and financial investors on mergers and acquisitions.

Germany's leading legal directory JUVE lists Johannes as frequently recommended for both corporate law and venture capital, including a competitor's testimonial "very good expertise, pleasant cooperation" (2024/2025). Legal 500 Deutschland lists Johannes as a "recommended lawyer" for venture capital (2024), including the testimonials "very supportive and a pleasure to work with", "extremely conscientious", and "quick response time" in its 2022 edition. Since 2021, he has been recognized by Germany's leading business daily Handelsblatt as a "Ones to Watch" lawyer for corporate law.

In addition to his work as a lawyer, Johannes has completed the joint Executive MBA program by U.S.-based Kellogg University and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany’s leading startup university.