People

Deska Widianto Senior Associate

Singapore

Leveraging more than 10 years of experience advising sponsors, investors, project companies, developers and financiers (including ECAs and commercial banks), Deska excels in getting complex projects across the renewable energy, conventional energy and infrastructure sectors over the line. She is experienced in advising on international cross border financings in Asia and the Middle East.

As a native Indonesian who spent over a decade of practicing law in Indonesia, Deska is adept at navigating Indonesia's intricate regulatory framework and possesses expertise in closing complicated projects for various stakeholders.

Prior to joining Orrick, Deska practiced law at a magic circle law firm in Jakarta and in Tokyo. Deska has also interned at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and worked as an associate at a boutique oil and gas law firm in Indonesia.

Michael Wiesner Partner

Silicon Valley

Michael’s practice covers executive agreements, cash and equity-based incentive programs, change in control and severance plans, 409A and other deferred compensation issues and 280G “golden parachute” compliance, as well as compensation and benefits structuring in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

Michael authors the chapter “Executive Compensation and Benefits Issues for Start-ups and Emerging Companies” within Bloomberg BNA’s Benefits Practice Resource Center treatise.

From 2005 to 2010, Michael was a statistician with a Stanford University School of Medicine research group.

Ken Wiggins Partner

Miami

Ken is recognized as a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500 and named “Lawyer of the Year” in Miami for Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law by Best Lawyers.

James Wigginton Of Counsel

Sacramento; Silicon Valley

Blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies have caused business leaders to rethink the way we own, govern and share the benefits of enterprise. James advises entrepreneurs and investors as they pioneer new, more inclusive operating models in professional sports, finance, social media, gaming, agriculture and other industries.

To do this, James draws from two complementary sources of experience. The first is his practice assisting public companies, private equity funds and venture capitalists with registered and unregistered securities offerings; high-stakes M&A; corporate governance; and Exchange Act reporting. The second is his experience advising clients outside the Wall Street and Silicon Valley mainstream, including cooperatives, limited cooperative associations and nonprofit corporations. By combining these two worlds, James is able to offer unexpected legal solutions to blockchain-based companies as they seek venture financing, design and issue tokens, and select business entities for DAOs.

James also appreciates the inherently global reach of blockchain and cryptocurrency. After law school, he spent two years clerking for the US Court of International Trade in New York City. Before that, James lived for two years in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Mariupol. James is fluent in Russian and maintains ties with his friends in the war zone.

Jessica Wilkin Project Attorney

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

She also manages teams of skilled professionals performing document review, redaction, analysis, production and drafting privilege logs. Jessica assists the litigation team to prepare for trial, including drafting deposition summaries, factual memoranda and exhibit charts.

Prior to joining Orrick, Jessica practiced criminal law and family law in Pennsylvania.

Christine Willgoos Counsel

New York

Christine has litigated a wide range of subject matters relating to drug development, including humanized antibody technology, recombinant DNA vectors, nextgen DNA sequencing, complex chemistry and drugs for the treatment of cancer, HIV, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, depression and anxiety, immune disorders, and dermatologic conditions. Christine is experienced in other industries as well, including medical devices, semiconductors, telecommunications and electronics.

Christine’s recent successes include obtaining a trial win and injunction for a major pharmaceutical company’s blockbuster cancer drug, securing a consent judgment and recommendation for fees for two innovator companies’ treatment relating to rare cancers, and representing a biotech company in Patent Office proceedings against a major pharmaceutical company, securing a settlement of $1.25 billion.

Manley Williams Partner

Washington, D.C.

Manley has extensive experience working with clients to develop credit programs, simplify credit agreements, adapt procedures for online and mobile environments, and implement, improve and amend customer rewards programs. She also helps companies sell their products over time, whether traditional banks with credit cards, online lenders with installment loans, startups with charge cards or merchants with installment plans. She helps companies navigate the federal and state law governing credit, licensing, prohibitions on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) and limitations on lending to the military and compliance with antidiscrimination laws.

She helps institutions evaluate fair lending issues in judgmental underwriting, advises financial institutions where to locate their card issuing banks to benefit from state laws on the exportation of interest rates and assists merchants and emerging companies with implementing their credit programs. Manley assists lenders in revising and refining key operational processes, disclosures and customer agreements necessitated by changing legal standards. She also conducts training for in-house counsel on legal developments in the credit card industry, including compliance with emerging UDAAP standards.

Prior to joining Orrick, Manley was a partner at Buckley LLP. She was also counsel with Wilmer Cutler Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, and a staff attorney at the Federal Reserve Board’s (FRB) Legal Division and Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, where she advised financial institutions on compliance with regulations including Regulations Z (Truth in Lending Act (TILA)), B (Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)), E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA)), and CC (Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks).

Manley organizes and hosts card roundtables at which industry leaders discuss emerging issues in a congenial environment. She has a particular interest in financial literacy and is a frequent presenter at public schools in the greater Washington, D.C., area, instructing students and teachers in understanding and using credit and debit cards, mobile phone plans and other common consumer credit vehicles.