People

Zac Padgett Partner

Austin

Zac advises clients on:

• growth equity transactions
• buyout acquisitions and mergers
• venture capital investments
• exit transactions
• take-private deals
• management buyouts
• joint ventures
• private placements
• debt-like preferred equity and project finance investments

As co-lead of the firm’s Energy Tech Team, Zac focuses on supporting companies and investors developing technologies like hyperscale data centers, alternative fuels, carbon capture, eVTOL aircraft, agtech and digital infrastructure. Zac is a key member of Orrick's energy transition practice, which was recognized as Band 1 in Energy Transition by Chambers USA (2023).

Zac is passionate about legal tech and implementing AI tools to enhance legal services. He helps lead the firm’s MAPE 2.0 project team, a platform that transforms M&A execution, which won the Financial Times' Reinventing the Legal Practice category.

Taylor Raymond Senior Associate

Austin

Taylor’s practice focuses on public finance, which includes representing local governments, state agencies, institutions of higher education, special districts and school districts in connection with infrastructure, financings and related projects. Taylor also has extensive experience representing national and regional investment banks in the underwriting of municipal bonds.

Taylor successfully completed the Fullbridge Program in September 2017.

Justin B. Rosas Managing Associate

Austin

Justin’s practice focuses on public finance, which includes the representation of local government entities, including: state agencies, municipalities, school districts, and special districts; non-profit organizations; and financial institutions that serve as underwriters to municipal bonds. Prior to joining Orrick, Justin represented and counseled government entities and private corporations in litigation matters. 

Nikita Shah Partner

Austin; San Francisco

Niki advises entrepreneurs, senior in-house leadership, and investors of technology companies at all stages and across a broad range of industries, including consumer internet, enterprise software, AI, fintech, edtech, delivery, healthcare, retail, digital media and sharing economy.

Leveraging a unique professional background, Niki is a trusted advisor to founders and provides strategic insights as outside general counsel to startups, from pre-seed to exit.

Niki has advised companies and venture capital firms on over 150 transactions, including venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and secondary offerings, with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $20 billion.

Niki’s prior company-side representations include Yelp, DocuSign (IPO team), Blue Nile, Origin Materials, Orbus Therapeutics, Singularity Education Group, SmartRecruiters, and TravelBank, among others.

Niki has also represented leading venture capital firms and strategic investors, including a16z, Battery Ventures, General Catalyst, Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital, SVB Capital, Temasek and Founders Fund, among others.

Before joining Orrick, Niki served as the Associate General Counsel at MasterClass, where she provided legal and strategic counsel on corporate and equity matters, BD and strategic partnerships, product development, content and production, marketing, IP, and data privacy. Niki started her emerging companies and venture practice at Cooley LLP and advised startup companies in-house at Techstars.

Greg Shields Of Counsel

Austin

Greg’s experience in bond financing includes traditional issuers such as school districts, institutions of higher education, cities, counties, municipal utility districts and state agenciesadvising the issuers on both general obligation and revenue financings. In addition, Greg has represented numerous national and regional investment banks in the underwriting of municipal bonds.

Montana Ware Senior Associate

Austin

Montana primarily represents emerging growth companies, venture capital funds and other strategic investors in a wide array of corporate matters, including early and late-stage venture funding rounds, formation and corporate governance, securities issuances and mergers and acquisitions.

Select engagements Montana has advised on include:

• Represented Stripe in its $6.5 billion Series I round
• Represented Solugen in its $350 million Series C and $200 million Series D financings
• Represented Merama in its $225 million Series B and $80 million Series B follow-on financings
• Represented Next Insurance in its $250 million Series C financing, $250 million Series D financing and $250 million Series E financing
• Represented Coatue Management in its investment in the $100 million Series B financing of Mercury Technologies
• Represented D1 Capital Partners in its investment in the $450 million Series D financing of Andruil
• Represented Inspire Semiconductor in its $2.5 million Series A financing and acquisition of Greenfield Acquisition (TSX:GAC.P), a publicly-traded SPAC, by way of a reverse merger
• Represented Codecademy in its $525 million acquisition by SkillSoft (NYS: SKIL), a New Hampshire based provider of educational software
• Represented Envisics in its $50 million Series C financing
• Represented Supabase in its $30 million Series A and $80 million Series B financings
• Represented Coatue Management in its $17 million investment in LiveControl
• Represented a Brazilian digital entrepreneurship platform in its Series A financing
• Represented a cloud software company in its Series C investment in an enterprise blockchain company
• Represented a talent management software provider in multiple financings
• Represented a cloud software company in its $30 million Series B investment in an open source SQL database
• Represented the investment arm of a global financial services company in its Series A investment in an intelligence platform using AI and predictive modeling
• Represented the venture financing division of a large insurance company in its participation in the $29 million Series E financing of an insurance claims technology provider
• Represented a voice-controlled mobile platform in its $20 million Series C financing
• Represented the venture financing division of a large technology company in its Series C investment in an application traffic manager
• Represented Calibrate Ventures in its investment in the $20 million Series A financing of GrayMatter
• Represented Coatue Management in its investment in the $35 million Series B financing of Crivello Technologies
• Represented Fintual, a Chile based company that provides savings and investment options through an online platform, in its $39 million Series B financing
• Represented Flex Capital in its investment in the $23 million Series A financing of GoFreight Inc.
• Represented InsideSherpa in its $25 million Series B financing
• Represented Gym Class in its $8 million Series Seed financing
• Represented Keen Technologies, an AI startup, in its financing
• Represented Radiant in its $12.6 million Series A financing
• Represented Red Sea Ventures in its investment in the $25 million Series A financing of Accrue Savings, Inc.

*Please note: Montana’s experience includes that prior to joining Orrick.

Alexandra Wood Partner

Austin; San Francisco

Alex’s work encompasses a broad range of industries and corporate matters, including formations, compensation, venture capital financings, debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, strategic transactions, IPOs and corporate governance.

Alex’s prior company-side representations include Carta, Docker, GitLab, 6Sense, Branch Metrics, LTK (fka rewardStyle), Quizlet, Niantic, Gen Digital (fka Symantec) and Streamlit, among others.

Alex also has represented leading venture capital firms and strategic investors, including GGV Capital, Menlo Ventures, GV, NEA, Insight Venture Partners, Fidelity Growth Partners, Merck Research Venture Labs, Trinity Ventures and Comcast Ventures.

Alex started her practice in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices of Fenwick & West LLP and another major national law firm. Prior to her career in law, Alex managed international development programs in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Ryan Wooten Partner

Houston; Austin

Serving two of Texas’s major markets, Ryan’s versatility sets him apart. He has deep industry knowledge of the energy, technology, and financial services sectors, and understands where his clients' business and legal strategies intersect. Ryan regularly represents clients across the United States in federal and state courts and in front of arbitration panels. Ryan’s energy representations include hydrocarbon producers, explorers, transporters, and refiners. Ryan’s financial services experience includes representation of institutional banks and mortgage servicers. In addition, Ryan represents and counsels leading tech companies, including SAAS and cybersecurity providers.

Ryan seeks efficient outcomes for his clients and has a track record of prevailing at the summary judgment stage. In other cases, Ryan has efficiently negotiated with opposing counsel to reach early, favorable settlements. In the event a case is not fit for early resolution, Ryan is also a seasoned trial lawyer with experience trying cases to juries, the bench, and arbitration panels.

Ryan also maintains an active pro bono practice and works closely with the Houston Bar Association, including as a former chairman and member of its Habitat for Humanity Committee.

Of Counsel

Austin

Experience matters.  Lawyers must help generalist judges and lay juries quickly grasp intricate topics in unfamiliar areas.  Jeff has written software, managed engineers, run a business, and helped judges at all levels decide cases and draft opinions.  He uses this diverse background to translate complex technical, commercial, and legal concepts into simple and persuasive language that courts, juries, and clients can comprehend.

Jeff's practice focuses on appeals of all stripes, intellectual property litigation, and complex commercial litigation. He has represented clients in industries ranging from computer hardware and software, to cellular telephony, oil and gas, real estate, construction, and many others. In the process, he has assisted clients on matters involving alleged breach of contract, negligence, patent infringement, and trade secrets, as well as in federal appeals on a variety of issues.  Jeff also has represented clients before the International Trade Commission in product exclusion investigations, and before the Patent and Trademark Office in the prosecution of patent applications and inter partes review proceedings. 

Prior to joining Orrick, Jeff served as a law clerk for Justice Neil M. Gorsuch on the U.S. Supreme Court and, several years earlier, for then-Judge Gorsuch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.  Between his clerkships, Jeff worked as an associate at two major national law firms, where he engaged in a mixture of commercial litigation, patent litigation, patent prosecution, and appeals. Before law school, Jeff designed and wrote software in Silicon Valley, managed engineering teams at a high-technology startup company that later went public, and founded his own real estate investment and brokerage practice.