People

Paul F. Rugani Partner

Orange County; New York; Seattle

Legal 500 touts Paul as a recommended attorney for Securities Litigation, observing that he is “among the most creative and strategic lawyers” who always has “an eye on the end game.”  Paul achieved American Lawyer Litigator of the Week recognition as part of a team that achieved a ground-breaking New York Court of Appeals victory that substantially reduced financial exposure in RMBS repurchase litigation.

Leader of Orrick's Securities Litigation practice and deputy leader of the Firm's Financial Services Litigation practice, Paul has extensive experience representing clients in securities class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, commercial contractual disputes and other complex litigation matters at both the trial and appellate levels, as well as in connection with internal, government and regulatory investigations. Paul also counsels domestic and foreign accounting firms on matters related to state CPA licensing and state board regulation.

Lauren Seaton Innovation Attorney Litigation

Orange County

Lauren supports and leads projects aimed at optimizing client service delivery and increasing efficiencies. Based in Orange County, she collaborates across offices, practice groups, and departments to streamline legal processes through the integration of technology, automation, and data-driven solutions. Her responsibilities include developing best practices, supporting the firm’s data strategy, and spearheading the rollout and adoption of legal technology within the business units.

Prior to moving into this role, Lauren was a Senior Associate in Orrick’s Securities Litigation group, where she represented and advocated for clients in complex litigation, government regulatory matters, and internal investigations. These experiences have made Lauren well-suited to design and improve client-facing solutions, create tailored workflows, and enhance collaboration with clients and third parties. Her familiarity with legal technology and enthusiasm for leveraging AI in legal services align perfectly with Orrick’s commitment to innovation.

Her diverse legal experience, combined with her proactive and innovative approach, positions her as a key player in Orrick’s ongoing efforts to lead the industry in delivering high-quality, efficient legal services.

Sarah Shyy Managing Associate

Orange County

Sarah has broad experience representing investment banks, corporations, and other private and public companies in the financial services and technology industry.  She has advised clients in all stages of litigation from receipt of pre-litigation demands through discovery, expert work, summary judgment, trial preparation, and trial.  She is also active in pro bono matters.

Sarah graduated cum laude from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.  While in law school, Sarah participated in the Ninth Circuit Appellate Clinic, where she drafted various briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  She also externed for the Honorable Stephen V. Wilson in the Central District of California. 

Davin M. Stockwell Of Counsel

Orange County

Davin has experience in litigating and prosecuting patents in a wide variety of technology fields, including in-flight entertainment systems, semiconductors, semiconductor fabrication, design verification, computer software and hardware, power systems, financial services, e-business, business methods, medical and dental devices, and biotechnology.

Davin's experience includes preparing petitions for inter partes review and requests for inter partes and ex parte reexamination, and he is lead counsel in several inter partes review proceedings. Davin also counsels clients with regard to intellectual property strategies and has experience with prosecution of trademark applications, registration of copyrights, and protection of trade secrets. He further provides counseling and opinion services with regard to a diverse range of intellectual property matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, Davin was an associate at Lyon & Lyon LLP. Before and during law school, he was employed as an electrical engineer, developing peripheral devices for portable computer applications. Davin further has over a decade of electrical and mechanical design experience with commercial and military systems.

Kristopher R. Wood Senior Associate

Orange County

Mr. Wood's experience spans multiple industries, practice areas, and jurisdictions. Through his work, Mr. Wood has developed a strong sense of the importance of each client's unique industry and circumstances to the matters he undertakes, and he thoroughly enjoys each chance to learn about his clients and their work. Although Mr. Wood's focus is on trade secret misappropriation and business torts, he prizes variety in his practice and relishes the chance to take on new challenges in different areas of law.

Mr. Wood is known for developing a deep understanding of the facts and law in each case. In most of his cases, he serves as the point person for fact discovery, and through this experience he has created highly efficient and effective methods of identifying, tracking, organizing and synthesizing key facts in even the most complex matters. He excels at identifying patters and drawing meaning from large data sets, and his methods have led to breakthroughs in his cases on more than on occasion.

Mr. Wood's interest in efficiency extends beyond the specific matters he works on. Mr. Wood enjoys identifying tasks in his practice that can be automated and developing tools to do so. This redounds to his clients' benefit--in one case Mr. Wood's automation tool led to nearly a 50% reduction in the total time required for a given matter.

Beyond his paid work, Mr. Wood is also an active participant in pro bono activities and organizations. Mr. Wood serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Law Center of Orange County, and previously served two terms as Co-Chair of the PLC Advocates. He also regularly takes on pro bono clients, primarily representing clients in removal proceedings before the immigration courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.