People

Mike Heath Partner

Los Angeles; Santa Monica

Mike has spent over 15 years helping founders and boards navigate the full company lifecycle—from formation and fundraising to scaling, acquisitions, and IPOs. He also serves as outside general counsel, advising on the legal and strategic challenges that come with growth.

Mike is all about efficiency, assembling legal teams that scale with his clients—from an early-stage founder sketching an idea on a napkin to executives leading multibillion-dollar companies through major transactions. His approach is rooted in trust and candid advice, particularly when navigating the complex and uncertain situations that inevitably arise in high-growth companies.

Leveraging Orrick’s sector-focused approach and legal innovation tools, Mike advises startups and high-growth companies on financing rounds, IPOs, and M&A deals. He also works closely with top venture capital and growth equity funds, guiding them through investments.

Prior to joining Orrick, Mike was a partner and co-founder of Gunderson Dettmer’s Los Angeles office.

Recognized as a “Next Generation Partner” by The Legal 500, Mike’s clients praise him as “incredibly knowledgeable, responsive, and always helpful,” with one calling him their “favorite external counsel.” Super Lawyers also named him a Rising Star in 2022 and 2023.

Mike earned both his law degree and bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, just a short walk from each other down Bancroft Avenue. A lifelong Cal Bears fan, he still holds out hope for a Rose Bowl appearance—ACC realignment and all.

Curtis D. Heckman Senior Discovery Attorney

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Curtis has been seconded for long-term eDiscovery engagements at national and international clients to work directly with internal client IT teams and outside counsel on discovery issues. He has extensive experience with preserving and collecting structured data from client cloud and on-premise applications, including meeting and conferring with opposing parties on structured data concerns.

Gregory Heibel Partner

Silicon Valley

Greg's practice focuses on the formation, financing and strategic guidance of rapidly growing technology companies, the representation of venture capital firms and other investors in private and public offerings, as well as other complex transactions related to high growth companies.

Greg has completed many hundreds of financings, mergers, acquisitions and intellectual property transactions for young companies in the networking, wireless, Internet, software, life sciences and consumer sectors. He regularly advises some of the largest technology companies in the world, including a Fortune 10 technology leader, in their global strategic investments into innovative startups. Additionally, Greg has represented numerous publicly traded companies in their public offering, mergers and acquisitions and ongoing corporate governance needs, including Life360 (ASX:360), Foundry Networks, Virage Networks, Adeza, Laserscope, Intellisync and Preview Systems.

Greg also was an Assistant Investment Manager for Genevest, a venture capital firm based in Geneva, Switzerland, where he participated in the first organizational meeting of the European Union World Wide Web Consortium. Prior to practicing law, Greg worked with a number of venture capital backed technology companies in operational and advisory roles, including Intellimeter, eT Communications and Metering Technology Corporation. 

Eileen Heitzler Partner

New York

As bond counsel, underwriters’ counsel, borrower’s counsel and credit enhancer’s counsel, Eileen has worked on deals ranging from a few million dollars in value to more than $1 billion. She has broad experience with all types of financing structures including fixed rate, variable rate, flexible rate and optional tender bonds; tax-exempt and taxable debt; general obligation and revenue bond financings; unsecured obligations, mortgage-secured and project-based security; synthetic structures involving derivative products; and master trust indenture structures. Marketing alternatives have included public offerings by governmental issuers or conduit issuers, taxable bonds issued directly by non-profit organizations, direct placements with banks and financial institutions, and private placements. She was ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA New York for Public Finance in 2022.

While Eileen's practice encompasses all types of financings, her areas of concentration are financings for not-for-profit organizations, affordable housing, governmental purposes and public power projects. She has also participated in helping to structure and develop special financing programs.

Museums and Cultural Institutions: Referred to as the “bond artist” by the American Lawyer in connection with her work on the Museum of Modern Art expansion financing through the Trust for Cultural Resources, Eileen has been involved in transactions for most of the cultural institutions in New York City.

Educational Institutions and Other Non-Profit Organizations: Eileen has served as institution counsel, bond counsel or underwriter’s counsel on transactions to finance projects for a multitude of colleges, universities, health care organizations, private schools and other not-for-profit corporations, often in connection with their initial financings.

Affordable Housing: Financing the construction or preservation of thousands of affordable housing units has been an important facet of Eileen’s practice. In addition to serving as bond counsel or underwriters’ counsel on 80-20 developments, she is involved with the pooled open resolution programs established by the New York City Housing Development Corporation and the New York State Housing Finance Agency (two of the largest housing bond issuers in the country).

Governmental Purpose Bonds: As special counsel to the Office of the State Comptroller, Eileen provides advice concerning the issuance of the State’s general obligation bonds as well as other issues. She has also participated in the issuance of State-supported bonds by several public benefit corporations including the Dormitory Authority and Empire State Development.

Public Power: Eileen has worked with the Bonneville Power Administration for over 25 years on a range of financing programs, including on power purchases (including nuclear power), lease-purchase financings, energy prepayments, and conservation.

Dolph Hellman Partner

San Francisco

Dolph concentrates his sophisticated practice on private equity investor representation and fund formation as well as representing financial institutions and corporations in privately negotiated debt transactions. Dolph counsels some of the largest public pension plans in the United States and other institutional investors and helps them achieve their business goals with respect to various U.S.-based and international alternative investments (including funds focused on real estate, buy-out, venture capital and mezzanine investment opportunities) as well as sponsors in fund formation.

In addition, Dolph has a broad range of experience in commercial lending transactions, including secured financings, unsecured and asset-based financings, vendor and customer financings, subscription credit facilities, project financing, venture debt financings, letters of credit, receivables purchase financings and leasing. Dolph's clients include various financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies and numerous start-up companies (the latter group of which he represents in dozens of venture debt financing transactions each year for which he is recognized as one of the leading company-side counsel in the San Francisco Bay Area).

Robyn L Helmlinger Partner

San Francisco

Robyn regularly works with both established borrowers and first-time borrowers to assist with structuring and restructuring debt programs that encompass a wide variety of debt and derivative products. In 2015, Robyn led the team that represented a private fund in connection with financing the management transfer of a multi-hospital nonprofit healthcare system to a subsidiary of the private fund, including negotiations with existing creditors. The financing involved an innovative bond structure that balanced current and future committed liquidity needs and debt burden. Robyn is also continually recognized for her excellent and sound judgment with respect to disclosure issues, including the difficult disclosure decisions caused by financial pressures from healthcare reform, affiliation activities, pension liabilities, governmental inquiries and investigations, labor disputes and qualified audit opinions.

In 2013, Robyn was elected a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel. She is one of the founding members of the Northern California Chapter of Women in Public Finance and currently serves on its advisory board. As a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, Robyn has been a panelist on the Health Care Financing Panel at the annual conference in 2003, 2004 and 2006. She is also a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.