People

Guido Testa Partner

Milan

Guido's practice focuses mainly on M&A, private equity, venture capital and joint venture transactions, as well as on corporate law and commercial contracts. In these areas, he represents primary enterprises, merchant banks, private equity and venture capital funds, as well as investment holding companies and family offices, both in domestic and cross-border transactions.

Stephen Thau Partner

New York; Silicon Valley

Stephen’s practice focuses on the representation of life science, medical device, health IT, and other technology companies in transactional matters, including public and private financings, licensing, collaborations and strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions. He also represents venture capital firms in public and private financing transactions.

Stephen is recognized as a Leading Life Sciences Lawyer by LMG Life Sciences in their 2021/2022 rankings and short-listed as Venture Capital Attorney of the Year. He has served as a member of the Board of Tech Council of Maryland, the leading technology and life science association in that state, and of BayBio, Northern California’s leading life sciences association. Stephen is a frequent speaker on venture capital financings and served on the faculty at the 2005 and 2007 Emerging Entrepreneurs workshops at Stanford University.

Prior to joining Orrick, Stephen was a partner at Morrison & Foerster, Venture Law Group and Heller Ehrman. He began his legal practice as a litigator, focusing on securities and intellectual property. He also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Vaughn R. Walker in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California. Stephen graduated Order of the Coif from Stanford Law School, where he was managing editor of the Stanford Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in Biology.

Darrell Thomas Senior Counsel

Houston

Darrell has experience in a wide range of traditional real estate matters, including drafting and negotiating development agreements, construction contracts, restrictions agreements, purchase and sale agreements, ground leases, facility and office leases, and construction and permanent loan documents. He has also formed commercial and residential condominium regimes, including for mixed uses. He represents developers and users in acquisition and development matters, including requirements for access, utilities, detention, drainage, use restrictions and economic incentive arrangements. He also represents lenders in commercial mortgage loan originations, workouts and foreclosures.

Darrell also works on all aspects of real property requirements for energy and other projects, including drafting and negotiating leases, easements and other real property agreements, satisfying title insurance requirements, reviewing and revising property tax abatement agreements and resolving conflicts between mineral and surface development. connection with renewable energy projects, including the development, construction, financing, acquisition and disposition of projects.

Dahl Thompson Partner

Houston

Dahl represents project sponsors/developers, private equity investors, utilities and strategic investors in all stages of structuring, financing, acquiring and disposing of energy projects and companies, including the negotiation and drafting of purchase and sale, joint development, shareholder, partnership and LLC operating, debt and equity financing, security and credit agreements. Over the last decade, Dahl has successfully closed transactions relating to projects totaling many thousands of megawatts and many billions of dollars in asset value.

Julie Thompson Managing Associate

Washington, D.C.

Julie represents early to late-stage companies as well as leading investors in venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate formation and governance matters and ongoing corporate matters. She advises companies throughout their lifecycle and represents leading venture firms in connection with their investments in private companies, in all cases across industries.

Mark Thompson Senior Associate

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.

 

John F. Thomson Counsel

Washington, D.C.

John currently advises borrowers, sponsors, contractors and other market participants on complex project finance, project development, capital market and corporate transactions, primarily in the energy and infrastructure sectors.  

Lina Thoreson Of Counsel

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.

Jon Thursby Partner

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.

Serena Tibrewala Managing Associate

New York

Serena also represents investors and venture capital firms on their investments in early and high-growth technology companies.

Keith A. Tidwell Of Counsel

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.

Erin Carter Tison Senior Discovery Attorney

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.