People

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.

Ramin Tohidi Partner

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.

Paul A. Toland Of Counsel

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. 

Lisa Tonery Partner

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)

Kjell Tönjes Associate

Dusseldorf

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.

Michael Torpey Senior Counsel

San Francisco; New York

Mike was Orrick's Securities Litigation practice leader from 2004 to 2012.

He has the unique ability to look at corporate governance problems from a business perspective, to carefully navigate or avoid collateral consequences, and strategically win legal problems. He is frequently recognized for his exemplary work by Chambers, Super Lawyers and The Daily Journal.

Mike focuses on litigation involving the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, The Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Act of 1934, the Uniform Standards Act and proceedings initiated by the Securities Exchange Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers and other self-regulatory organizations.

Mike has extensive experience in litigation involving breaches of fiduciary duty and conducting various types of corporate investigations.

Julie Totten Partner

Sacramento; San Francisco

In doing so, Julie closely collaborates with each client, gathering an in-depth understanding of their specific tensions, challenges and objectives. Legal 500 noted she “truly understands corporate politics and works with in-house counsel to understand the intersections of legal advice and business objectives.” Julie then draws upon nearly three decades of experience to guide clients towards the best possible resolution. Her client-focused approach is one of many reasons she was selected to lead Orrick’s global employment practice, which Chambers ranks as one of the country’s foremost practices and describes Julie as “a big thinker and a thought leader.”

Julie has experience defending both class actions and individual plaintiff cases. She has successfully defended clients in trial and arbitration and helps clients with all types of employment matters, including complex wage-and-hour class, collective and representative actions; pay equity and promotion cases; whistleblower retaliation actions, discrimination, harassment and retaliation litigation and trade secret and non-compete matters. She also guides clients through systemic government investigations and audits. Julie is proactive in helping clients avoid litigation by assisting them with the development of policies and practices designed to minimize exposure, including advice and counselling work in the areas of AI and DEI in selection and recruiting.

Julie is honored to be a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment and a member of the American Employment Law Council. She also served as a Council Member of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section.

Hervé Touraine Partner

Genève; Paris

Hervé accompagne des institutions nationales comme internationales, des sociétés, des sponsors, des investisseurs, des compagnies d’assurance, des gérants de fonds et d’autres types d’investisseurs dans leurs transactions françaises et transfrontalières. Il intervient notamment sur des opérations bancaires, de financement structuré, de titrisation et de marchés de capitaux.

Hervé a travaillé sur de nombreuses transactions complexes, stratégiques et/ou innovantes (dont des opérations pionnières en France et en Europe) telles que des opérations de titrisation internationales, des émissions d’obligations sécurisées et d’obligations structurées émises par les entreprises ou lors de projets, des fonds de dette ainsi que la mise en place de plates-formes dédiées à la structuration et au refinancement. Il est également intervenu lors d’opérations de financement et de refinancement (y compris de liquidité), ainsi que pour des opérations visant le hors-bilan et toutes questions liées aux contraintes réglementaires de fonds propres. Il a ainsi développé une expertise particulière dans la gestion de dossiers multi juridictionnels et transverses.

Il dispose d’une solide expertise dans le domaine de l’énergie et de l’infrastructure dans le cadre d’opérations de financement et de refinancement, en recourant à des structures de prêts bancaires usuelles, mais également aux placements privés, aux émissions obligataires, aux institutions financières spécialisées et aux fonds de dettes spécialisés.

Hervé est considéré par ses clients comme une “personne incontournable” en financements structurés « sur qui on peut toujours compter ». Ces derniers le décrivent comme « un expert dédié et innovant dans son domaine » et le considèrent plus comme « un vrai partenaire stratégique de nos opérations, plutôt que comme notre avocat ».

Hervé participe activement à la rédaction de lois et de règlementations concernant la titrisation et le financement structuré en France.

Hervé publie et anime régulièrement des conférences sur les financements structurés.

Avant de rejoindre Orrick en 2016, Hervé était associé chez Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP pendant 18 ans.

Warren Traiger Senior Counsel

New York

He argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Lee v. Board of Governors, a benchmark case regarding the rights of community organizations to challenge Federal Reserve Board (FRB) determinations on merger applications. He has testified before Congress and the federal banking agencies on fair lending and CRA reform, served as Special Counsel to the New York banking regulator on CRA, and advised the regulator on predatory lending regulation.

Warren regularly helps banks and bank holding companies prepare the community convenience and needs portion of their regulatory applications to merge or acquire, and he helps clients respond to public comment regarding CRA and fair lending compliance. He represented a bank in its acquisition and integration of the finance arm of major automaker, directing pre-acquisition fair lending due diligence and updating the combined entity’s policies, procedures and regulatory relations strategy. Warren also served as an independent consultant for the New York Attorney General, overseeing compliance with that office’s settlement with a company that provides criminal background checks on prospective employees.

A prolific writer and researcher, Warren’s research and statistical analysis of mortgage lending data has been cited in publications of the Federal Reserve Banks of San Francisco, Boston and Dallas; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); and in testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Prior to joining Orrick, Warren was senior counsel at Buckley LLP. He also served as Co-Chairman of Traiger & Hinckley LLP. Prior to entering private practice in 1990, Warren was vice president, counsel and director of government relations for the New York Bankers Association, the trade group for New York commercial banks. He also served as director of legislation and research and special counsel for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and as a New York State Consumer Protection Board official.

Warren is entrenched in the New York legal and financial services community. He has served on the Banking Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association, as a member of the Banking Law and Consumer Law Committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and has taught as adjunct professor of economics at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Nige Tranter Chief Digital Officer

Londres

Specifically, Nige and his Orrick team are focused on four questions:

• How can we continually improve our use of data, providing sophisticated analytics, insights and data-driven decision making?
• How can we use AI to support the business?
• How do we adapt to the digital workplace, continuing to evolve and embed emerging digital capabilities in conjunction with increasing digital skills for our team?
• How can we reimagine existing business processes, ensuring they are optimized and fit for purpose?

He collaborates closely with Orrick’s Chief Innovation Officer Wendy Curtis, Chief Technology Officer Justin Graham and the firm’s leadership to answer these questions and deploy solutions.

Nige is a seasoned technology and innovation leader. He draws on extensive experience in the financial sector, including serving for four years as Chief Information Officer at Gulf Bank in Kuwait and for 10 years as the Chief Architect for EMEA at Barclays. He also served as Chief Technology Officer at Pinsent Masons.

Nige serves on several legal technology advisory boards and is a judge for the British Legal Technology Awards, an accredited One Million Mentor and an ambassador for Stemnet in the UK.

During time off, you’ll find Nige usually on a cycle or trekking with his dog. He has also been known on occasion to take part in Sportives and playing cricket.