People

Sarah Schaedler Partner

San Francisco

Sarah’s practice focuses on structuring and negotiating the intellectual property aspects of complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, business divestitures and commercial transactions where software and technology are the principal assets. Sarah also advises on intellectual property and technology contracts related questions in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Sarah routinely advises on carve-outs and business separation transactions and helps clients with structuring and implementing their intellectual property and technology separation roadmap.

Sarah has counseled several companies in their preparation for a divestiture and understands the issues a buyer is focused on in the context of intellectual property matters. She regularly helps companies implement remediation steps around their intellectual property assets to help them to a successful closing.

She has significant experience advising private equity funds on investments involving companies that are driven by technology & innovation, as well as intellectual property reliant consumer product companies and companies that are stepping into digitalization.

Sarah is also a member of Orrick’s AI leadership group and involved in thought leadership projects related to AI matters on corporate transactions.

Educated and trained in Germany, France and the United States, Sarah’s international experience provides her with additional knowledge on cross-border transactions and international matters.

Amanda Schwartz Managing Associate

San Francisco

Amanda works on matters involving trademark and patent infringement, as well as trade secret disputes in both state and federal court. In her commercial practice, she works with technology companies on contract disputes and issues arising under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Amanda also has a robust pro bono practice and has earned High Honors through the DC Courts' Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll.

Amanda graduated with honors from The George Washington University Law School. While in law school, she externed with the Department of Justice Civil Division's IP Litigation Section.

Prior to law school, Amanda worked as a paralegal and investment management analyst at another large international firm, where she worked on regulatory and transactional matters involving mutual funds and registered investment advisers.

Nathan Shaffer Partner

San Francisco

Nathan represents leading technology companies and achieves results in cases where their most valuable assets are on the line. Nathan’s practice includes federal and state court litigation with an equal split between plaintiff and defense-side representations. He has obtained multiple preliminary injunctions for his clients, won dispositive motions, and represented his clients on appeal.

Nathan focuses on issues at the intersection of high technology and intellectual property law. He regularly represents and counsels clients in disputes involving software licensing, emerging aspects of trademark and copyright law, IP ownership, disputes involving technology products and IP, and open-source licensing.

As a trade secret litigator, Nathan has protected his clients’ intellectual property in fast-paced scenarios involving emergency forensic investigations followed closely by obtaining temporary restraining orders and injunctions.

Prior to joining Orrick, Nathan served as a law clerk to Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge John A. Mendez of the Eastern District of California.

Robert Shwarts Partner

San Francisco

He represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex trade secret misappropriation cases and has conducted numerous TRO and preliminary injunction hearings in aid of these cases. His practice also includes counseling relating to trade secrets misappropriation and non-compete/non-solicitation agreements.

Rob has broad experience in commercial litigation, having litigated claims of securities fraud, lender liability, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of warranties, claims arising from securitization transactions and other business fraud.

Rob's experience in employment-related litigation includes defending claims of discrimination, wrongful discharge, retaliation, sexual harassment and breach of contract. His practice also includes counseling relating to trade secret misappropriation and non-compete/non-solicitation agreements.

U.S. and international clients with significant California presence turn to Rob to represent them in complex matters, including numerous financial services companies. He handles both jury and bench trials, as well as AAA, JAMS and FINRA (formerly NASD and NYSE) arbitration hearings.

Rob serves as the chair of the Firm’s Practice Management Committee, and is a member of the firm’s Risk Management Committee. Rob previously served as head of the San Francisco office. Rob contributes pro bono hours to the Humane Society and Point Blue Conservation Science each year.

Gargi Talukder Partner

San Francisco

Gargi’s work in protein therapeutics includes patent estate development for antibody and fusion protein therapeutics and utilizes her knowledge of the patent landscape in this area to inform strategic portfolio management. In the fields of genomics and proteomics, she has conducted diligence and developed portfolios related to the biochemistry of sequencing technologies, as well as to the associated devices and machine learning methods utilized in sequencing methods. In the field of cancer immunotherapies (immuno-oncology), she has developed portfolios related to cell-based immunotherapy approaches, including targeted immune cell therapies and immunological pathway interventions.

In addition, Gargi assists clients in providing intellectual property support for transactional matters, including diligence for mergers and acquisitions as well as financing rounds. Her technical experience is routinely called upon in helping to develop litigation strategies for complex and high-stakes trials.

Gargi has authored scientific papers in peer-reviewed publications, as well as articles discussing medical and biological research in general-interest newspapers and periodicals. Her doctoral work in Neuroscience from Stanford University focused on structure-function studies in ion channels, with an emphasis on using genetic engineering and electrophysiology to identify structural elements of potassium channels that lead to their voltage and chemical sensitivity.

Dan Williams Senior Associate

San Francisco

Dan is experienced in Hatch-Waxman litigation, including disputes involving drug treatments for cancer and HIV. Dan is also experienced in biologics litigation and counseling, representing clients on matters involving expression vectors, antibodies, gene therapies, and CAR T-cell therapies. Dan’s experience includes litigating patents directed to recombinant DNA technology, complex manufacturing processes, small molecule compounds, crystalline forms, methods of treatment, oral dosage formulations, injectable formulations, and fixed dose combination products.

Dan has contributed to numerous victories on behalf of our life science clients, including a complete win in a multi-patent Hatch-Waxman trial for a client’s blockbuster cancer therapy, favorable claim constructions in numerous cases, and obtaining a special master’s report and recommendation for attorneys’ fees for the opposing parties’ exceptional discovery misconduct. Dan has courtroom advocacy experience, including presenting to the district court for Markman proceedings.