He advises sponsors, debt providers and equity investors in financings and acquisitions of renewable power, conventional power, telecom and other infrastructure assets.
As a 2021 Orrick Racial Justice Fellow, he served as in-house financing counsel for non-profit Common Future, helping structure the non-profit's novel Character-Based Lending Fund to provide capital to entrepreneurs in diverse communities. He has also counseled on a pro-bono basis social impact startups focused on healthcare and energy efficiency.
Prior to joining Orrick, Walter was a reporter for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire and The Hill in Washington, D.C., and an editorial page contributor for The Boston Globe. He collaborated with authors on two books, “The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era,” by Michael Grunwald (Simon & Schuster, 2012), a New York Times bestseller and an Economist book of the year, and “Long Mile Home: Boston Under Attack, the City’s Courageous Recovery, and the Epic Hunt for Justice,” by Scott Helman and Jenna Russell (Penguin, 2014).
Lauren has experience representing individuals and large companies at all stages of complex civil litigation, from fact-finding to motion practice and everything in between. Lauren practices in federal and state courts nationwide.
Colby has deep experience
in financial services, asset-backed security and mortgage-related litigation,
and has been at the forefront of litigation arising out of the financial
crisis.
Prior
to joining Orrick, he was a Director and senior litigation counsel at Credit
Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, where he chaired the firm's Mortgage Securities
Litigation Task Force and helped direct the bank's litigation response to the
mortgage crisis. He previously practiced law in the New York offices of King
& Spalding and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
Margaret represents companies and individuals in high-stakes litigation in federal and state courts nationwide. She has extensive experience in all stages of litigation, from pre-suit demands through the conclusion of the appellate process.
John litigates a wide range of commercial disputes, including financial services litigations involving RMBS, disputes in the wind and solar power industries across a host of contractual issues, construction disputes, long-term take-or-pay and liquidated damages disputes, force majeure, bankruptcy litigation, insurance recovery, and commercial real estate foreclosure. He was also an arbitrator on an ICC International Court of Arbitration panel in a cross-border industrial contract dispute.
COVID-19’s unprecedented global market impact has clients across an array of industries seeking John’s counsel on force majeure and related breach of contract disputes. These include force majeure matters across jurisdictions and industries, including Energy & Infrastructure, Pharmaceuticals, Financial Services, Real Estate, Hospitality, and Retail.
John litigates significant, high stakes matters. For example, in 2017 on behalf of his client Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., in a case of first impression in Michigan, on appeal John won the dismissal of an attempt by a Japanese conglomerate to avoid $1.4 billion in purchase obligations on the theory that alleged acts by the Chinese Government constituted an “act of government” under the parties’ force majeure provision. The Michigan Bar Journal declared it one of the top 10 business cases of 2010-2019. In 2019, one of the very few RMBS actions to be tried, John was trial counsel for Credit Suisse Securities USA in a $700 million dispute in the Supreme Court of New York. At trial he handled the defense expert in the critical area of loan underwriting.
Prior to joining Orrick, John was a Litigation Associate at Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine LLP.
Her experience encompasses a wide variety of asset classes, including residential mortgage loans, consumer loans, auto loans, commercial mortgages and credit card receivables.
Marie has negotiated innovative transactions in the fintech industry. She has also represented financial institutions in connection with whole loan purchases and sales and advised loan servicers in connection with servicing operations.
Previously, Marie worked at an AI marketplace lending platform as senior legal counsel to the capital markets team.
John Azzopardi is a Managing Associate in the Energy and Infrastructure team in Orrick’s New York office. His practice focuses on project finance and development transactions, with a focus on renewable energy. Since joining Orrick, John has advised sponsors on the financing of greenfield solar energy projects, navigating complex legal and commercial issues to achieve successful outcomes.
With a career spanning global law firms and senior in-house roles, John has developed deep expertise in drafting and negotiating finance documents and structuring cross-border transactions. His experience includes acting for both sponsors and lenders across a range of sectors.
John earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Business from Monash University and is admitted to practice in New York and Victoria, Australia.
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