People

Will Davis Managing Associate

Los Angeles

Will’s clients include developers, investors, lenders and contractors engaged in transactions related to energy transition and infrastructure decarbonization projects across the U.S. Their experience includes diverse financing structures such as joint ventures, tax equity and cash equity investments, direct lending and mezzanine debt financing, as well as drafting and negotiating project development, equipment purchase and sale, and power purchase agreements.

Tyler Davis Senior Associate

Houston

Tyler advises energy industry sponsors, developers, issuers and investors in a broad range of financing matters, including construction financings, bridge loans, back leverage financings, and tax equity. Tyler's experience includes project financings and related corporate matters involving utility-scale solar, distributed solar, wind, hydroelectric power, and upstream and midstream oil and gas projects.

Allen Davis Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Allen assists businesses in identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks related to competition matters, collaborating closely with clients to develop tailored compliance strategies, guiding them through the complexities of antitrust laws at both domestic and international levels. He represents clients in a broad range of antitrust issues arising from mergers and acquisitions (including Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings and second requests), complex civil litigation, government investigations (including civil investigative demands (CID)) and general counseling. Allen represents clients across a diverse range of industries, including consumer technology, digital advertising, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, real estate, and energy.

Recent notable experience includes representing:

• A software company in a successful defense of Clayton Act § 7 litigation
• A large insurer in connection with allegations of price fixing in violation of Sherman Act § 1
• A technology company in connection with discovery in a number of enforcement actions against Google LLC
• A generic pharmaceutical manufacture in defense against Sherman Act §§ 1-2 claims

Roger Davis Partner

San Francisco

Among the attributes that contributed to his Hall of Fame selection were:

• Recognized and sought out for his ability to apply his unusually extensive and diverse experience to solve problems as they arise and develop new programs or financial structures, and for his expertise and judgment in securities laws and disclosure.
• Dedicated to helping bring about projects and programs (whether sponsored by public entities, nonprofit corporations or for-profit enterprises) that provide a public benefit and make people’s lives better.
• Having led the development of the housing and healthcare practices at Orrick, his recent focus has been on governmental transactions, all manner of non-profit corporations, public private partnerships (P3), portfolio sales, securitizations, energy and water efficiency programs, student, senior and workforce housing, pool programs, new financial structures and programs and applications of Public Finance Authority (created in Wisconsin to finance any type of project or program in any state or territory).
• Some of those new financial structures and programs have included pension obligation bonds, variable rate lease financing, and, more recently, joint powers authority ownership structure (turning private activity projects or projects not generally eligible for tax-exempt financing into tax-exempt governmental purpose bonds; for example, for middle income workforce housing), and energy and other infrastructure as a service (P3, simplifying procurement, off balance sheet).
• Responsibility for legislation crucial to the scope and operation of California public finance, including California Health Facility Financing Authority, California School Finance Authority, changes to joint power authority law that helped propel California Statewide Communities Development Authority and California Municipal Finance Authority into two of the most prolific issuers in the country, local agency refunding law, authorizations for swaps, investment agreements and other derivative products, creation of security interests, streamlining validation actions, and in several other states including Hawaii and creation of Public Finance Authority in Wisconsin.
• Chair of Orrick’s Public finance department for several decades through 2020, during which he presided over the growth of the department from one office with 12 lawyers in San Francisco to 10 offices and over 100 lawyers and paralegals around the country, consistently ranked (for more than 2 decades now) as number one bond counsel and disclosure counsel, and within the top four underwriter counsel, for bonds issued by state and local governments throughout the United States. During this period, he also held a number of other leadership positions at Orrick, including several terms on its Executive Committee and on the Management Committee of Orrick’s wholly owned subsidiary, BLX Group, LLC (providing the public finance community with a variety of non-legal services).

In addition to his selection by The Bond Buyer for its Public Finance Hall of Fame, Roger is ranked Band 1 by Chambers, and as Acritas Star Lawyer by Acritas, as Dealmaker of the Year (twice) by American Lawyer, as “best,” “super,” “most honored,” “preeminent” or “lawyer of the year” by several other publications, and declared “the Bond King” in a cover article by California Lawyer.

Meredith Dawson Partner

New York

Meredith joined the firm as a summer associate in the New York office in 2016. Through years of hands-on experience and collaborative client relationships, she has developed a multifaceted understanding of financing structures in credit and lending. Meredith’s transactional experience includes acquisition and leveraged finance facilities; direct lending transactions; first lien, second lien and first-out/last-out unitranche facilities; recurring revenue loans; and asset-based and other specialty financings across a variety of industries.

Behnam Dayanim Partner

Washington, D.C.

Behn advises gaming and gambling providers, large media companies, Fintech, blockchain and more traditional financial services participants, and other technology and consumer-focused companies on issues at the intersection of gaming, financial services, data privacy and governance and related regulatory areas. Clients turn to him for his ability to advise on the whole frame of issues they may encounter, and he is equally comfortable guiding emerging companies in the early stages of their lifecycles and mature, multinational public companies. Behn is at home in the courtroom – representing clients in cutting-edge gaming litigations, before regulatory bodies – helping the crypto industry address growing sanctions and other financial services obligations, and in the boardroom – assisting in the formation of significant commercial partnerships, brand licenses, acquisitions and other combinations.

Bas de Blank Partner

Silicon Valley

In addition to his ITC practice, Bas also heads Orrick’s contentious prosecution practice. He has led more than 30 IPRs and first-chaired more than a dozen trials before the United States Patent Office, as well as represented clients in dozens of trials in district courts, and before PTAB.

As someone with degrees in both engineering and English literature, Bas is uniquely suited to present complicated topics to non-technical audiences. He has represented clients in fields as diverse as semiconductor processing and structure, GPS and geosynchronous satellites, image texture and graphics processing, Internet switches and communications, and various consumer products.

Christopher De Los Reyes Senior Associate

New York

Chris focuses in a variety of cross-border employment matters, including corporate immigration and workforce mobility strategies for multinational organizations. From startup ventures to large Fortune 500 companies and international conglomerates, he has represented clients across a diverse range of industries, including technology, banking and financial services, energy, manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, insurance, logistics and transportation, and academic institutions, among others. 

As a member of Orrick's Global Employment Team, Chris focuses on international comparative employment law and assists clients on matters such as compliance, HR policies, global offer letters/employment contracts, separation agreements, etc. 

Having practiced U.S. immigration and nationality law for many years prior to joining the Firm, Chris bolsters Orrick's capabilities and subject matter experience in the ever-changing corporate immigration space. To this end, he routinely advises HR and management teams on I-9 compliance, procurement of work authorization for foreign national talent, and the immigration-related impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other types of corporate restructuring. Chris has successfully assisted companies with obtaining nonimmigrant visas for H-1B Specialty Occupation Professionals, L-1 Intracompany Transferees, E-1/E-2 Treaty Traders and Investors, TN NAFTA professionals, F-1 Students, J-1 Exchange Visitors, B-1/B-2 Temporary Visitors, and O-1 Extraordinary Ability Individuals. He also has extensive experience with the PERM labor certification process, immigrant visas, legal permanent residency (green card) applications, and naturalization/citizenship applications. 

Kathryn "Katy" de Visscher Managing Associate

Boston

Katy assists clients in their data breach investigations and cybersecurity incident response, including advising clients on data breach notification responsibilities and providing strategic advice on how to manage cybersecurity risks. She advises on enhancing existing privacy and information security policies and procedures, such as online privacy notices.

Her work includes counseling on compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for day-to-day business operations and the development of new products.

Katy graduated from Boston College Law School. During that time, she externed in the Data Privacy & Security Unit at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office where she supported consumer protection enforcement actions. She also interned with The Future of Privacy Forum and in-house with a leading cloud-based software company.

Tamir Jonathan Debbi Senior Associate

New York

Tamir’s practice focuses on a range of transactional matters involving intellectual property and innovative technologies, with an emphasis on advanced software applications as well as life sciences. Tamir has significant experience and counsels clients on structuring and negotiating complex technology commercialization agreements, such as SaaS and other software agreements, medical device and pharmaceutical royalty arrangements, and other general corporate and technology dealings.

Prior to joining Orrick, Tamir was an associate in the Technology Transactions Group at Morrison & Foerster in Silicon Valley, where he maintained a technology practice focused on cross-border transactions involving emerging-growth companies and venture capital, and advising startups on their operations, acquisition and exit strategies.

Benjamin Degoul Associate

Parigi

Benjamin advises financial institutions, corporations and funds on a wide range of domestic and cross-border financial transactions.

Benjamin's practice focuses on private debt and debt capital markets transactions, in particular acquisition finance (including syndicated and leveraged financings), distressed debt financing, Euro Private Placements and venture debt financing.

Prior to joining Orrick, Benjamin worked at another leading U.S. law firm.

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.