People

Giulio Asquini 顾问律师

米兰; 罗马

Giulio has developed strong experience in all types of acquisition financings and leveraged buyouts transactions both in the syndicated and in the take-and-hold space, including senior debt, unitranche financings, high yield debt and mezzanine capital, structured as loan facilities as well as bonds issuances.

Giulio has also gained significant experience in refinancings, corporate financings (including revolving and capex facilities) and real estate finance transactions.

Prior to joining Orrick, Giulio was an associate in a leading Italian law firm, where he also gained experience on M&A and private equity deals, assisting Italian and foreign companies and private equity investment vehicles in acquisition and investment transactions.

Counsel

New York

In addition, Marie has experience in credit risk transfer securities, re-securitizations and complex securitizations of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Assessments, commercial mortgage loans, credit card receivables and utility receivables. She has represented financial institutions in connection with whole loan purchases and sales and advised mortgage loan servicers in connection with servicing operations and servicing rights transfers.

Shawn Atkinson 合伙人

伦敦

In addition to sheer volume of deals, Shawn's incomparable market insight stems from his leadership roles at Orrick, the only global firm focused on technology, and his experience working throughout the UK & Europe, North America and Asia. Shawn serves as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and leads Orrick's London Corporate practice. These leadership roles complement his practice serving public and private companies in UK multi-jurisdictional and complex corporate transactions, including countless acquisitions and disposals, cross-border mergers, bankruptcy infused asset sales, recapitalisations and reorganisations.

He is also a recognised leader in late stage venture transactions and in early stage private equity transactions in Europe and the emerging markets. Shawn has been recognised as a leading individual in several legal directories, including Chambers and Legal 500, for his expertise and excellence in venture capital, M&A, emerging markets, and fintech. In addition, he has been ranked as a top 5 (by volume) UK M&A lawyer in each of 2017, 2020-2024 by Mergermarket, including a #1 ranking in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

Shawn also advises early stage businesses across a number of sectors – including insurtech, Fintech, Crypto, SaaS, EdTech, HRTech, Marketplace and EnergyTech. He assists them from incorporation through to M&A exit, initial public offerings and other growth opportunities. His participation in the private equity and venture capital sector spans his entire career - with time spent in private practice, in-house and advising investors as well as investor-backed businesses-and affords him a deep knowledge and understanding of the industry and client needs and expectations.

Among the leading investment funds he has represented are ABN Amro Ventures, Acton Capital Partners, ABRY Partners, Accel Partners, Apax Partners, Bain Capital, Balderton Capital, Battery Ventures, Beringea, Bessemer Venture Partners, Black Pearls VC, Black Sheep Ventures, BMWi Ventures, Coatue Management, Columbia Capital, CommerzVentures, Evolvence, FTV Capital, Golden Gate Capital, Stepstone Group, Headway Capital Partners, Innova Capital, Kinnevik, KPS Capital Partners, Marlin Equity Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, M/C Partners, One Peak, Oxx, Pearson Ventures, Piper Private Equity, Piton Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sprints Capital, Summit Partners, Updata Partners, VNV Global and VEF.

Ben Au 合伙人

Santa Monica

Ben’s diverse practice focuses on disputes where an understanding of technology and business is essential. Ben’s civil litigation practice includes trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and funder / founder disputes, through arbitration and trial and on appeal. Ben also has extensive experience in government enforcement actions before the SEC and FTC, as well as federal criminal matters ranging from fraud to FCPA to export controls. He has also conducted numerous internal investigations on behalf of corporate clients. Clients praise Ben’s understanding of the tech ecosystem, responsiveness, and practical, solutions-oriented business judgment.

Ben is committed to impacting his community and maintains an active pro bono practice, including representation and collaboration with the ACLU, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Equality California, on issues ranging from religious freedom, school integration, reproductive rights, privacy from government surveillance, and the right for same-sex couples to marry.

Ben currently serves on the Board of Directors of 826LA, a non-profit organization providing literacy and writing programs for children in underserved areas of Los Angeles. Since 2018, Ben has served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He currently co-chairs its White-Collar Crime Committee and is the vice-chair of its Ninth Circuit Amicus Committee. Ben previously served on the Yale Law School Association Executive Committee, representing Northern and Southern California. The judges of the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit appointed Ben to serve as an appellate lawyer representative to the court.

Jonathan Ayre 合伙人

休斯敦

Jonathan represents companies driving the energy transition, including representing project developers in connection with engineering, procurement and construction agreements, solar module purchase agreements, transformer purchase agreements, and operation and maintenance agreements. He co-leads Orrick's nuclear power practice and has represented the purchaser in the first high-assay low-enriched uranium purchase agreement, as well as in numerous joint venture, engineering, procurement, and construction, and commercial agreements in the nuclear power industry. Chambers Global has reported, "He knows the industry very well and takes a commercial approach to help resolve differences with the counterparty. He has a good bedside manner and cooperates well with others,” and ”he's very resourceful and he approaches the energy and corporate sector with a true business sense." Jonathan was recognized in 2020 by Law 360 as an Energy Rising Star.

Jonathan is a recognized leader in cutting-edge transactions in oil and gas securitizations, representing the investors in the first oil and gas securitization, in the first operated property transaction, in the first transaction involving properties owned by the Bureau of Land Management, and in the first transaction using a master trust structure. He has worked on over $20 billion of oil and gas securitizations.

Jonathan is an active supporter of the Houston Symphony, serving as Chairman of the Houston Symphony's Finance Committee, as a Governing Director on the Houston Symphony Society's Board of Trustees, and as chair of the 2021 Houston Symphony's Wine Dinner and Collector's Auction. He serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the Houston Men of Distinction Annual Awards Luncheon, an organization that recognizes Houston men who have distinguished themselves through excellence in community achievement, thereby providing support in superior biomedical research, education, and patient care in the Texas Medical Center.

John Azzopardi 主理律师

New York

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.

Allen Babajanian 高级律师

Los Angeles

 Allen focuses on technology and intellectual property-related transactions, with a particular emphasis on drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements, including:

• hardware, software, content, and data licensing agreements;
• IT-focused services agreements, including consulting, development, hosting, and cloud computing agreements, including software-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service arrangements; and
• technology and intellectual property development, acquisition, and disposition agreements.

In addition, Allen counsels clients on intellectual property issues in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and financing transactions.