People

Vertis McMillan Associate

New York

Vertis counsels clients on the implementation of global privacy programs and privacy-related contracts. He advises on United States (U.S.) state privacy laws and the impact of international laws from a U.S. perspective, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Artificial Intelligence Act.

Vertis also helps clients design and operationalize AI governance programs. He advises clients on the responsible use of AI by employees, the risks presented by AI tools, the sourcing and use of AI training data, and the development of consumer-facing AI systems.

During law school, Vertis served as an extern with the New Jersey Division of Law’s Section of Data Privacy & Cybersecurity and interned with the United Nations Office of Strategic Planning. He also participated in his law school’s Intellectual Property Law Journal.

Prior to law school, Vertis worked as a Data Research Analyst at Bloomberg LP.

Ryann Rae McMurry Managing Associate

Los Angeles

Ryann's practice focuses on representing foreign and domestic individuals and companies in a broad range of industries in anti-corruption compliance, government investigations, and white collar criminal defense matters. Her experiences include conducting internal investigations and representing companies in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and working with companies to develop and enhance their corporate compliance programs. She also represents clients in matters involving complex civil and criminal litigation matters. Ryann joined Orrick after completing a one-year fellowship as an Orrick Fellow at ACLU of Northern California.

James McQuade Partner

New York

Jim's practice focuses on matters involving trade secret misappropriation and the enforcement of post-employment restrictions. Jim has conducted numerous temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction hearings in connection with these types of cases. Jim also has extensive experience defending employers on a broad range of employment matters, including whistleblowing, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination matters. 

In recognition of his career trade secrets and restrictive covenant work, Jim has been inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for Trade Secrets Litigation.

Bill Medaille Of Counsel

Austin

Bill’s experience in public finance includes representing issuers such as state agencies, local governments, public utilities, and public improvement districts on both general obligation and revenue financings, as well as representing the underwriters for various municipal bonds.

Prior to joining the firm, Bill served as in-house counsel at both the City of Austin and the Lower Colorado River Authority (Austin, Texas).

David R. Medina Senior Associate

Los Angeles

David develops strategies to protect his client’s bold innovations, whether assisting one of the world's leading technology companies, or a mobile gaming start-up. He offers intellectual property counseling and litigation, including patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret matters.

Before joining Orrick, David served as a law clerk to the Honorable Nora Barry Fischer in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Prior to his clerkship, David served as a full-time extern to the Honorable Kathleen O'Malley at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

David also spent a year working in-house for Panasonic Corporation, stationed near Panasonic's Osaka, Japan headquarters.

Sarah Meehan Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Sarah has an active pro bono practice that includes assisting federal inmates with post-conviction relief and parole, as well as assisting residents with housing-related eviction matters in housing court.

Sarah received her J.D. from the University of Richmond (summa cum laude, Order of the Coif) in 2018. During law school she served as the Manuscripts Editor for the University of Richmond Law Review and was awarded the J. Westwood Smithers Award and the Phillip Cudlipp Medal. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2015.

Prior to joining Orrick, Sarah was an associate at Buckley LLP. Prior to joining Buckley, Ms. Meehan clerked for the Honorable Judge Roderick C. Young (then-Magistrate Judge) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Vinny Mei Managing Associate

Silicon Valley

Vinny Mei is an Associate in Orrick’s Technology Companies Group. Vinny advises technology companies across the software, financial technology, artificial intelligence, consumer internet, and enterprise software industries on matters ranging from general formation to venture capital financings to technology transactions, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to practicing law, Vinny co-founded Marq Vision, a Y Combinator-backed startup on a mission to eliminate counterfeits from online retail. He is passionate about access to justice, gamification in education, and empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Vinny received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was the Bluebook Business Chair of the Harvard Law Review and Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. He earned his B.A.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Will Melehani Partner

San Francisco

By delving into each case’s complexities and elegantly connecting those details to a broader technical perspective, Will creatively unravels his opposition’s argument.

Will uses this approach to defend cutting edge computer, Internet, software companies and life sciences companies with great success, having prevailed in numerous subject matter eligibility challenges. Will's mastery of patent law also allows him to ensure his strategy will withstand appeal, where Will has frequently played a key role in writing and arguing the appellate briefs. Whether handling patent, trademark or trade secrets matters, Will’s creative methodology gives his clients a unique advantage.

Will is also an enthusiastic participant in Orrick's pro bono efforts, and has obtained successful results for several disadvantaged and low-income pro bono clients.

Ana Mendez-Villamil Managing Associate

San Francisco

Ana represents companies in the technology, energy, and financial sectors in a wide range of civil disputes including claims of trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract.  Her practice also includes defending companies under investigation by states Attorneys General. 

Prior to law school, Ana was a member of the legal team at Lyft supporting the Litigation, IP, Employment, Product/Commercial, and Corporate practice groups.

Leslie Meredith Partner

Washington, D.C.

Leslie is an effective communicator who is able to distill complex facts and legal concepts, and turn them into simple, compelling, and persuasive stories. She is passionate about partnering with her clients to understand their priorities and find innovative and cost-effective strategies to resolve disputes favorably and manage compliance risk effectively.

In addition to representing clients in federal and state courts around the country, she has helped clients navigate and resolve enforcement actions by state and federal regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Department of Justice (DOJ), and state attorneys general, relating to a wide range of subject matter areas, involving both traditional and alternative financial services.

Drawing on the breadth of her experience in the financial services industry, Leslie also counsels clients on compliance with consumer protection laws and supervision preparedness. Her areas of focus include:

• Prohibitions on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAP and UDAAP)
• 50-state consumer lending compliance
• Federal preemption of state consumer and commercial credit laws, including rate exportation/most favored lender issues
• Customer complaints management
• Legal order response, including levies and garnishments
• Codes of conduct and business ethics, including policies related to outside business interests and the Bank Bribery Act

Leslie's recent work on behalf of financial services providers includes:

• Conducting internal investigations of suspected misconduct or violations of law and/or regulatory requirements
• Representing institution affiliated parties (IAPs) in enforcement actions brought under 12 USC 1818(e), including actions seeking orders of prohibition
• Assisting numerous banks, non-banks, and fintech companies in responding to examination requests, civil investigative demands, and subpoenas relating to a wide range of subject matter areas, including mortgage lending and servicing, securities based lending, ancillary credit products, and deposit accounts
• Conducting compliance risk assessments regarding various issues arising under federal and state consumer protection statutes and consumer lending laws
• Advising banks and non-bank financial institutions in connection with examinations by federal and state regulators, including responding to exam findings, Matters Requiring Attention (MRA/MRIA) and enforcement referrals

Prior to joining Orrick, Leslie was counsel at Buckley LLP. She also completed a six-month secondment at a large financial institution, working as a member of the private banking legal advisory group and the litigation department. Leslie is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School, and maintains an active pro bono practice focused on criminal justice and immigration matters.

Dr. Lars Mesenbrink Partner

Düsseldorf

His background in economics, Chinese language skills and extensive international experience add to his excellent legal knowledge and allow him to advise his clients on a comprehensive basis.

Lars has represented clients before the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office in all areas of competition law, inter alia including mergers, compliance, cartels, litigation and abuse of dominance.

In these areas, he provides companies with innovative solutions on high-profile complex matters including private damages actions and cartel investigations, often involving multiple jurisdictions.

Lars also pursues international trade and compliance matters, including matters involving foreign investment filings in Germany.

Laura Metzger Partner

New York

She regularly represents financial institutions, direct lenders, funds, and investors involved in bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, foreclosures, distressed sales and acquisitions, loan and claims trading, bankruptcy litigation and refinancing involving syndicated loan facilities, debtor-in-possession financing and exit financing. She also represents start-up and later stage venture companies (with a focus on technology, blockchain and crypto) and venture capital investors in connection with liquidity crunches, rescue financing, wind-downs and negotiated resolutions with key stakeholders and investments or claims against insolvent counterparties.

Recognized as “outstanding” by The Legal 500 US, Laura was also named a Recognized Practitioner by Chambers USA, which praised her “very commercial and solution oriented” approach. She is “a very capable lawyer who gives great advice,” according to clients. Her clients include Royal Bank of Canada, UBS O’Connor, Red Rock Biofuels, Jade Mountain Partners, ECN Capital Corporation, Equinor, Portigon AG, Macquarie, PwC,Transurban, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and Erste Abwicklungsanstalt among others.

Laura has been involved in many prominent bankruptcy and out-of-court restructuring cases, including FTX, Talen Energy, Celsius Networks, Three Arrows Capital, restructurings related to the collapse of Tera and Luna, Mt. Gox, Legacy Reserves, White Eagle, Cobalt, Chesapeake Energy, Shopko, The Weinstein Company, Lily Robotics, Seadrill, Chaparral, CHC Helicopters, Erickson, GT Advanced Technologies, Hostess, Pocahontas Parkway, Indiana Toll Road, Eagle Bulk, Fresh & Easy, American Airlines, Chemtura Corporation, Lazare Kaplan, Hawker Beechcraft, Metro Fuel, Claim Jumper Restaurants, Abitibibowater, Nortel, Fabrikant, Scotia Pacific, VICORP, Sea Containers, Lyondell, Foxwoods, Delta, US Air, Northwest, Star Diamond, and Ritchie Risk-Linked Strategies Trading (Ireland) Limited. She handles cross-border restructuring matters in major international jurisdictions such as Canada, Europe, Cayman Islands and B.V.I.

Laura also has expertise in the esoteric asset class, life settlements. She represents clients in the life settlement and premium finance markets, acting for buyers, sellers and owners of life settlements and premium finance loans, and has extensive experience with the various legal issues impacting such assets.