People

Baptiste Tanchoux Associate

Parigi; Paris Tech Studio

From Orrick Paris Tech Studio, Baptiste blends a strategic legal mindset with deep enthusiasm for technology, empowering startups and investors to navigate complex legal landscapes.

Baptiste advises founders, tech companies and venture capital investors on various aspects of their growth journey, including fundraisings, corporate governance matters, employee incentive plans and M&A transactions.

Elodie Tancray Managing Associate

Parigi

Elodie’s practice focuses on restructuring and insolvency advising all the stakeholders (alternative investors, lenders, creditors, debtors, buyers etc.) whether in an amicable or judicial context. whether in an amicable or judicial context.

Elodie has worked as a trainee in leading French law firms.

Prior to joining Orrick, she was an associate at a UK law firm.

Palak Taneja Managing Associate

San Francisco

Palak has served as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriters’ counsel and issuer’s counsel on various types of financing structures including general obligation financings, tax and revenue anticipation financings, current and advance refundings, lease revenue financings, certificates of participation, and special tax financings for Mello Roos community facilities districts, school districts, community college districts, local government and state agency clients. Palak also represents investment banking institutions in governmental and qualified private activity bond transactions across industry segments.

Palak is a dual qualified attorney, licensed to practice law in California and India. Prior to joining Orrick, Palak worked with a law firm in New Delhi, India and represented governmental entities and private parties in international commercial arbitration and business disputes.

Michael Tardif Partner

Singapore

Michael’s practice services a broad range of industry sectors, including conventional power, renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric), infrastructure, oil & gas and mining across Asia, Australia and the US. His project finance experience covers the complete toolkit of complex transactions from corporate and acquisition financing, structured/leveraged finance transactions and derivatives, including hedging arrangements.

Michael has notable experience in transactions involving multilateral lenders and export-credit agencies which are often crucial supporters of project financings in developing countries in the region.

Ranked in Band 1 in the Chambers Asia Pacific guide for Indonesia Projects & Energy lawyer for seven years in a row, Michael is also recognized as a “Leading Individual” by Legal 500 Asia Pacific.

Patrick Tardivy Partner

Parigi

An M&A and private equity lawyer, Patrick advises French and international companies and investors on all aspects of corporate law in the context of acquisitions, disposals, mergers, reorganizations, including business carveouts and strategic alliances.

Patrick is particularly active in the energy and infrastructure fields as well as the tech sectors, working alongside investment funds, French and foreign groups, on both domestic and cross border transactions. Patrick also has significant experience in M&A projects with a focus in the real estate sector where he acts as lead counsel on high-profile transactions.

Recognized by the major international ranking guides, Patrick is described by his clients as as "[ ] very smart and has a constructive approach and a deep knowledge of the law", "highly business-oriented with strong commercial awareness" and “always able to find solutions.”  (Chambers Global 2025 – Corporate/M&A: High-end Capability).

Patrick formerly served as co-chair of Orrick's global M&A and Private Equity practice.

Prior to joining Orrick in 2016, Patrick was a partner in a Magic Circle law firm.

Dixie Tauber Senior Associate

Sacramento

Dixie guides clients through their most complicated and high-stakes legal challenges involving their workforces. She has experience representing clients in the technology, professional services, and retail industries in a broad range of employment and commercial litigation disputes, ranging from whistleblower, discrimination, harassment, disability, employee mobility, breach of contract, trade secret, and business tort claims. She brings to the table experience trying cases to verdict in state and federal court, litigating cases in AAA and JAMS arbitration, and mediating with private mediators and the EEOC. 

Dixie maintains an active pro bono case load and volunteers with a number of non-profit organizations focused on children's rights and education.

Prior to joining Orrick, Dixie worked as a litigation associate in Latham & Watkins' Los Angeles office. Before that, Dixie was a law clerk for the Honorable William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School where she graduated cum laude.

Robert Taylor Counsel

New York

A veteran antitrust litigator, Rob has litigated and counseled on high-profile antitrust matters on behalf of leading companies in a wide range of sectors, including litigated merger challenges, putative antitrust class actions, government antitrust investigations, and private actions against competitors. He has successfully litigated cutting-edge competition matters, including defending against allegations of algorithmic collusion and price-fixing through the use of software.

From late 2018 through early 2019, Rob completed a secondment at the litigation department of a major media company.

Rob maintains an active pro bono practice, where his work has focused primarily on benefits applications and appeals for low-income disabled veterans.

Prior to joining Orrick, Rob was an active-duty Army JAG officer, where he served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, an administrative law attorney, and a special victims counsel, among other roles. As a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, he first-chaired more than 10 trials in federal court, including two jury trials.

Maria Teodorescu Associate

Monaco

She acts on corporate transactions including leveraged buy-outs, management buy-outs, minority participations and expansion or growth financings as well as M&A transactions, often with cross-border aspects.

Before joining Orrick, she had been an associate in the private equity group of a U.S. headquartered law firm. As part of her legal clerkship, Maria worked for another U.S. law firm and a leading German law firm, among others.

Guido Testa Partner

Milano

Guido Testa opera principalmente nel campo delle operazioni di M&A, di private equity, di venture capital e di joint venture tra imprese, nonché nel campo del diritto societario e della contrattualistica commerciale.  In tali settori di attività, egli rappresenta imprese di primaria importanza, merchant banks, fondi di private equity e di venture capital, nonché  holding di investimento e family offices, in relazione sia ad operazioni nazionali, sia transnazionali.

Stephen Thau Partner

New York; Silicon Valley

Stephen’s practice focuses on the representation of life science, medical device, health IT, and other technology companies in transactional matters, including public and private financings, licensing, collaborations and strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions. He also represents venture capital firms in public and private financing transactions.

Stephen is recognized as a Leading Life Sciences Lawyer by LMG Life Sciences in their 2021/2022 rankings and short-listed as Venture Capital Attorney of the Year. He has served as a member of the Board of Tech Council of Maryland, the leading technology and life science association in that state, and of BayBio, Northern California’s leading life sciences association. Stephen is a frequent speaker on venture capital financings and served on the faculty at the 2005 and 2007 Emerging Entrepreneurs workshops at Stanford University.

Prior to joining Orrick, Stephen was a partner at Morrison & Foerster, Venture Law Group and Heller Ehrman. He began his legal practice as a litigator, focusing on securities and intellectual property. He also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Vaughn R. Walker in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California. Stephen graduated Order of the Coif from Stanford Law School, where he was managing editor of the Stanford Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in Biology.

Darrell Thomas Senior Counsel

Houston

Darrell has experience in a wide range of traditional real estate matters, including drafting and negotiating development agreements, construction contracts, restrictions agreements, purchase and sale agreements, ground leases, facility and office leases, and construction and permanent loan documents. He has also formed commercial and residential condominium regimes, including for mixed uses. He represents developers and users in acquisition and development matters, including requirements for access, utilities, detention, drainage, use restrictions and economic incentive arrangements. He also represents lenders in commercial mortgage loan originations, workouts and foreclosures.

Darrell also works on all aspects of real property requirements for energy and other projects, including drafting and negotiating leases, easements and other real property agreements, satisfying title insurance requirements, reviewing and revising property tax abatement agreements and resolving conflicts between mineral and surface development. connection with renewable energy projects, including the development, construction, financing, acquisition and disposition of projects.