People

Esther Lander Partner

Washington, D.C.

Esther also regularly advises on diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as pay equity studies, intentional recruiting and lawful affirmative action plans and goals.

In addition to her litigation practice, she counsels clients on all areas of federal, state and local employment law, including executive terminations; severance agreements; workforce reductions; and compliance with federal and state obligations such as the WARN Act and the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act.

She also provides advice regarding the proper validation of employment selection procedures to ensure compliance with Title VII and other applicable employment laws. Esther has specific expertise in testing validation and she routinely reviews validation and adverse impact studies to provide clients with strategic advice regarding the defensibility of selection devices, including algorithmic decision-making tools used to assess applicants and employees.

She previously served as the principal deputy chief of the Employment Litigation Section within the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ.

Jason Lang Partner

Silicon Valley

Mr. Lang has litigated cases before district courts, state courts, and the International Trade Commission. He has an extensive practice in patent office proceedings, including ex parte reexaminations and inter partes reviews. He has been a top-filer in inter partes reviews. Recent matters include work with memories (DRAM, Flash and hard drives), semiconductor tools, semiconductor packaging, and design software.

His counseling work includes developing defensive and offensive intellectual property strategies in view of potential competitor litigation. He also assists clients in indemnity disputes, product launches, patent acquisition, licensing and portfolio management.

Before focusing on intellectual property litigation and counseling, Mr. Lang spent a year working for the District Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia, where he had considerable exposure to numerous trials.

Mr. Lang’s public service commitments include steady work for housing clinics. Mr. Lang recently first-chaired a four-day trial, led a successful mediation, and obtained a favorable settlement for clients of different local clinics.

Jon Langlois Partner

Washington, D.C.

He represents banks, nonbanks, fintechs, private equity and other financial services companies in a variety of corporate and transactional matters, particularly those involving residential mortgage and consumer loans, mortgage servicing rights, and servicing and subservicing relationships. He combines practical strategic advice with a deep knowledge of consumer lending and servicing to provide efficient, successful results.

In addition to his transaction practice, Jon assists clients on a wide range of regulatory issues, including compliance with key consumer financial laws, such as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices (UDAAP), and other consumer protection issues.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jon was a partner at Buckley LLP. While in law school, he was a Legislative Analyst with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, and a Government Affairs Representative with the American Financial Services Association.

A. Cory Lankford Partner

Washington, D.C.

Recognized by Chambers USA, Legal 500, and Best Lawyers, clients praise his sophisticated regulatory expertise and ability to navigate complex challenges.

Cory's practice focuses on advising developers of renewable energy and battery storage projects, electric utilities, financial institutions, and corporations pursuing renewable energy goals.  He advises clients on their rights and responsibilities under the Federal Power Act, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, and the Public Utility Holding Company Act.  In addition, he frequently represents clients in proceedings before FERC to obtain and maintain authorization to sell energy, capacity and ancillary services at negotiated or market-based rates and to purchase and sell direct or indirect ownership interests in energy projects.  Drawing from his broad energy regulatory experience, Cory also helps clients develop and implement compliance programs for FERC and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) requirements .

Before joining Orrick, Cory served in FERC's Office of the General Counsel, where he led numerous multidisciplinary teams in developing Commission orders addressing Regional Transmission Organizations, open access requirements, transmission, generator interconnection and qualifying facility certification.  His notable achievements include providing legal counsel on rulemakings to revise FERC's pro forma Open Access Transmission Tariff and in evaluating mandatory reliability standards proposed by NERC and its regional entities.  Cory also collaborated with staff at the U.S. Department of Energy to create the National Action Plan on Demand Response and its Implementation Proposal to Congress. 

Laura Lariu Partner

Santa Monica

She is primarily focused on space & defense transactions, venture capital financings and providing external general counsel guidance. Before joining Orrick, Laura led companies through transformational growth as general counsel and practiced ECVC law.

Laura was an early employee of rocket manufacturer Relativity Space and guided the company's legal strategy through the company's (and world's) first launch of a predominantly 3D-printed full-scale rocket. Throughout that period, Laura helped negotiate $1.3 billion in private funding. She helped secure millions of square feet of physical infrastructure, including a former Boeing C-17 factory and facilities at NASA's Stennis Space Center. She also negotiated customer contracts of over $1 billion with major global satellite operators, and laid the foundation for complying within a national security framework and developing an innovative IP portfolio.

Prior to Relativity Space, Laura was general counsel at Virgin Hyperloop. Before that, Laura was as a corporate attorney with Gunderson Dettmer in New York and worked on innovative deals (venture financings, M&A, IPO) throughout the city's tech boom of 2011-2016. She also applied her fluency in 5 languages to work on a wide array of international deals.

Laura is a founding member of the L Suite, formerly TechGC, a platform of over 2,000 in-house legal leaders at leading tech companies and venture capital funds. She previously served on its Executive Board and Steering Committee and co-led the Los Angeles chapter. She is also on the Steering Committee of Space Beach Law Lab, the leading platform for legal leaders and policymakers to shape the future of the space industry.

James Larkin Partner

New York

Jamie concentrates on a broad range of federal income tax matters, including tax issues related to cross-border stock and asset acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, collateralizations, reorganizations, cross-border financings and transfer pricing.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jamie was an associate at White & Case LLP.