People

Amanda Stephens Partner

Austin; Houston

Amanda has advised on more than $5 billion of both publicly-offered and privately-placed charter school financings. Her work on these financings extends across the country, including Texas, Florida, Tennessee, California, Arizona and New York, among many others. Amanda works with a first-of-its-kind nonprofit social impact fund that leverages private charter loans to the public market. Since their creation in 2018, Amanda has worked on documenting more than $1.7 billion in loans to high-performing charter schools who do not otherwise have access to long term, low cost financing. Amanda and team are tasked with working with the local borrower’s counsel for each new borrower and each new state to create a financing structure that meets the long term needs of the borrower, while conforming with state charter law and the clients lending requirements. Amanda has also created structures to help with taxable refundings, to finance around existing new market tax credit structures and many other needs of the borrowers. 

Amanda also represents banks and other financial institutions in connection with direct purchases of tax-exempt bonds and the issuance of letters of credit and other liquidity facilities in connection with tax-exempt transactions. 

Over the course of her career, Amanda has prepared, negotiated and reviewed contracts, loan documents, amendments, closing documents, default letters, demand letters, payoff and buyout agreements, intercreditor subordination agreements, and federal tax lien subordinations. She also has reviewed client contracts and MSA agreements in the oil and gas, construction, medical, retail and transportation industries, and she has addressed regulatory and compliance issues for the finance industry and oil and gas industry. Amanda previously served as an in-house attorney for a national financial services company. She also has served as a staff attorney for Judge Jaclanel McFarland of the 133rd Civil District Court in Harris County, Texas, and as assistant district attorney for the Harris County District Attorney’s office.

Alexa Steranko Project Attorney

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Alexa works with corporate teams across practice groups to increase efficiency of client services by utilizing new technologies and data analytics. She applies a process-driven approach and machine learning technology to review information from contracts, amendments, company charters, board and shareholder materials, corporate filings, investor materials, and related documents to prepare detailed analyses for a variety of client needs. Examples of this work include due diligence matrices tracking red flag provisions; corporate audits identifying potential issues for acquisitions, sales, or flips; financing packages; and draft documents. Alexa also works with litigation attorneys and third party vendors to manage the review and production of documents relevant to investigations and litigation. This work includes using early case assessment technology to analyze, categorize, and cull data. She manages teams of skilled professionals performing document review, redaction, analysis, production, and privilege log drafting. She assists the litigation team to prepare for trial, including drafting deposition summaries, factual memoranda, and exhibit charts.

Evan Stergoulis Partner

Londra

Evan advises lenders, ECAs, institutional investors, renewable energy companies, investment firms and pension funds on financings, M&A, joint ventures and other strategic combinations. He brings considerable experience in wide range of renewable energy portfolio deals, as well as gas and power transmission and distribution projects and he has a market-leading offshore wind practice.

Chambers Global 2020 notes that clients say Evan is a “leading figure who has secured incredible and loyal clients because he does an excellent job.” He has also been named to The Lawyer’s Hot 100. and named to A Word About Wind's Top 100 Legal Power List.

Jessica Stern Associate

San Francisco

Her experience also includes providing clients with IP diligence and patent portfolio management advice, including preparing competitive landscapes, patentability assessments, and freedom to operate analyses. She is a graduate of University of San Francisco School of Law and has a master’s degree in Biochemistry from the George Washington University.

Prior to pursuit of a career in law, Jessica worked in industry on the development of novel cancer and autoimmune disease therapeutics and biomarkers in both early discovery and clinical laboratory settings.

Guy Stevenson Senior Associate

Londra

In addition to advising established financial services firms, Guy advises new innovative Fintech businesses on UK regulation including whether their activities will require authorisation and how best to launch their business in the UK. He has significant experience advising firms on regulatory issues connected to the selling of financial services products through apps and online journeys.

Guy frequently advises clients on financial crime issues, including AML controls, reporting obligations, failure to prevent offences, anti-corruption and market abuse.

He has a deep knowledge of consumer credit law and excels in providing practical advice on how the law/regulation should be interpreted and applied.

He also advises on contentious matters including regulatory investigations and conduct issues.

Damon Stewart Of Counsel

New York

Damon focuses his practice on state and locally based legislative and regulatory issues. He has experience inside of government, having served as Assistant Counsel to the New York Senate Majority. Subsequent to his time in the Senate, he served as a Vice President for the Parkside Group, a New York lobbying firm. He eventually transitioned to an in-house corporate position as Vice President for State Government Affairs for DIRECTV, with a national purview overseeing all aspects of state and local legislative matters for the company. Immediately prior to joining Orrick, he served as Vice President of Government Affairs and State Advocacy Coordinator at AT&T, maintaining national responsibility for satellite-related issues.

Andrea Alfonso Stigliano Of Counsel

Milano

Andrea vanta una solida esperienza su tematiche di anti-riciclaggio e export sanctions, crimini finanziari, reati societari, reati di bancarotta, reati ambientali, salute e sicurezza sul lavoro, reati a tutela della proprietà intellettuale e della privacy e crimini informatici.

Prima di far parte di Orrick, Andrea ha lavorato nella sede di Milano di Clifford Chance per 8 anni e, nel 2017, ha trascorso sei mesi nella sede di Londra lavorando su pratiche sia domestiche sia transnazionali.

Sarah Stockley Partner

Londra

Sarah resolves disputes for clients in a variety of forums including international arbitration (both commercial under ICC, LCIA, SIAC and HKIAC Rules etc. seated in various jurisdictions and investor state, under ICSID, and UNCITRAL Rules and ad hoc proceedings) and sits as arbitrator. Sarah appears before the English High Court and the DIFC Court, is adept at supervising and managing cross-border litigations in many other jurisdictions, including the Middle East, West Africa (Nigeria, Ivory Coast) India, Asia and South America and works under both common and civil law regimes.

In addition to acting in traditional onshore and offshore energy disputes both upstream and downstream, Sarah has a keen interest in the renewables and alternatives sectors, combining her experience of infrastructure disputes, including those relating to power and energy transmission, with the changing environments in which our clients operate during the Energy Transition. Sarah has conducted cases in the renewables sector, and also frequently represents clients in mediation and uses ADR techniques to achieve favourable settlements.

Sarah is recognised for International Arbitration by Legal 500 UK, as well as being noted as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

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.

Laurie Strauch Weiss Partner

New York

Laurie advises companies on overall strategies, from pre-litigation assessments to the final resolution of matters, which often involve novel scientific issues. Her clients frequently enlist her to strategically address the scientific claims asserted by non-governmental organizations, the plaintiffs' bar and consumer advocacy groups which affect the reputation of their products both before and during litigation.

Laurie is a frequent lecturer, author and media source on topics concerning mass tort/class actions, complex scientific issues and expert witnesses.

Prior to joining Orrick, Laurie was an associate at Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine LLP, where she gained extensive experience in complex litigation including class actions based on product liability, securities RICO and fraud claims.

Alex Straughn Patent Agent

Houston

Alex has authored scientific papers in peer-reviewed publications examining the molecular basis of regenerative myogenesis and cancer-induced cachexia. His doctoral work in Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology from the University of Louisville focused on transgenic animal studies and in vitro paradigms to discern critical signaling pathways necessary for the repair of skeletal muscle. He has extensive experience in molecular biology, including the generation of viral vectors and CRISPR/Cas9 constructs, and in performing electrophysiological recording of skeletal muscle in situ. In his postdoctoral studies, he focused his research efforts on interrogating the molecular basis for the induction the skeletal muscle wasting disorder “cachexia” in a novel model of ovarian cancer-induced cachexia.

Anna Stuart Senior Associate

New York

Anna provides strategic cybersecurity compliance counseling and develops bespoke, forward-looking incident preparedness strategies. She also supports cybersecurity risk assessments and tabletop exercises designed to identify potential gaps.

She also counsels on incident response matters by directing incident investigations, analyzing claims and defenses, examining potential notification obligations and counseling on communications strategies. She provides guidance on the regulatory investigations, class actions and contract disputes that flow from the announcement of privacy and cybersecurity incidents. She has defended Fortune 500 companies in state and federal courts across the nation on cybersecurity and general business issues.

During law school, she was a Legal Intern at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Division.