People

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.

Pia Baci 高级律师

Santa Monica

Pia advises high-growth technology companies and venture capital firms in many areas, including venture financings, secondary transactions, corporate and securities law, governance matters, corporate formations, and day-to-day legal needs of executive teams. Pia represents companies and their investors across a variety of industries, including software, financial technology, consumer goods, aerospace, and life sciences.

While at Harvard Law School, Pia worked with a number of technology startups affiliated with the Harvard Innovation Lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Badalich 主理律师

Los Angeles

John represents clients in complex litigation matters in both federal and state courts. In the span of less than 10 months across 2022 and 2023, John was a member of the team on three separate high-profile jury trial wins for the NCAA - including the first to take on claims the NCAA is responsible for concussions and CTE in college football. With significant experience in high-stakes litigation matters, John litigates cases on behalf of technology companies, sports associations, investment firms, retailers, colleges and universities, and individuals. John is also active in pro bono matters, primarily focusing his practice on representing veterans before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

James Badge 主理律师

伦敦

Regularly acting for early through to late-stage companies, as well as leading investors, operating within the technology and media sectors, James' practice primarily focuses on equity financings, secondary transactions, M&A, private equity and general corporate advisory work.

James was previously seconded to a leading global start-up accelerator, venture studio and early-stage investor for six months where he sat as Legal Counsel, advising some of the over 300 portfolio companies and acting on cross-border joint venture and partnership arrangements and transactions with prominent corporate investors.

Passionate about working with innovators and investors, James is motivated to provide commercially pragmatic advice and to deliver innovative solutions to aid the growth and success of his clients within the ecosystem.