People

Dr. André Zimmermann, LL.M. Partner

Düsseldorf; Munich

André advises companies of all stages, pre-IPO startups, scaleups, unicorns and international corporations on a wide range of matters, having handled everything from day-to-day practical advice tailored to his clients’ needs, to complex multi-jurisdictional transactions from strategic planning through post-merger integration. Having long-standing experience in negotiating with works councils and unions in restructuring measures of all kind, a special focus of André's practice is on restructurings and headcount reductions.

He has advised on the employment law aspects in over 300 M&A transactions and financing rounds across various industries. Transactional advice includes employment law advice in complex, international technology transactions, M&A projects as well as private equity and venture capital investments, from due diligence to post-closing integration.

André has thorough knowledge of and a genuine passion for the tech industry. Over the last years, André has become the go-to-advisor of several Bay Area tech-companies, leaders in their market and high-growth tech companies. Most recently, he has advised leading global technology companies such as GoPro, Pinterest, GitHub, Nvidia, Sabre, Snap and Splunk on various employment matters.

André has received several awards for his work, inter alia:

• Germany's leading lawyer ranking JUVE recognizes André as "frequently recommended" employment law expert since 2017;
• Best Lawyers and Handelsblatt have listed André as one of Germany's best lawyers in employment law since 2020;
• Germany's leading business weekly WirtschaftsWoche ranked André as one of the top employment lawyers in Germany in 2019;
• IEL Elite, an in-house guide to the world’s leading employment and labour teams, recognized André as a "Key Lawyer" in 2022.

Clients recommend André to JUVE as “straight shooter" and "always refreshingly honest". Our clients praise his "creative and efficient style of working" and "a very practical and efficient style of providing advice", referring to him as "extremely responsive and always accessible" and as "an excellent advocate in court hearings". Clients appreciate André's "clear, sound and pragmatic real-world advice" and his "in-depth knowledge of the tech employment world".

Mitchell Zuklie Orrick Chairman

Silicon Valley

Under Mitch’s leadership, the firm has pursued a strategy to be a leading advisor globally to four sectors: Technology, Energy & Infrastructure, Life Sciences and Financial Services – with a particular focus on how AI and other technologies are transforming these ecosystems. He has led the firm’s emphasis on legal innovation, including AI adoption, the launch of Orrick Labs to develop customized solutions and partnerships with leading legal tech companies and investors. Financial Times has chosen Orrick among the top 3 Most Innovative Law Firm in North America for the past eight years. In addition, Mitch is an active participant in the legal profession dialog about how to retain and inspire top talent.  Fortune has selected the firm among the 100 Best Companies to Work For nine years in a row.

Mitch serves on the Boards of the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity, the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, the Silicon Valley Law Foundation and the Advisory Boards of the Stanford Law School Center on the Legal Profession and the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession. Mitch is also a Trustee of Bowdoin College, Chairman of the Board of the Wild Salmon Center and a Director of CalTrout.

He and his wife, Holly, have been married for more than 30 years. They have two adult children. Mitch posts regularly on social media about Orrick, innovation and other interests. Follow him on LinkedIn, X and Instagram.

Eugenio Zupo Senior Associate

Milan

Eugenio has experience in a broad range of corporate law matters, including complex group reorganizations across multiple jurisdictions and joint ventures. Eugenio has advised on deals for strategic investors and private equity houses in a variety of sectors including, energy, oil& gas, industrials, automotive, composite materials, food and technology.

Robert Owen Sr Litigation Career Associate

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Prior to joining Orrick, Robert was a Senior Associate in the Pittsburgh, PA office of the global law firm Reed Smith LLP and a Senior Attorney at Houston Harbaugh, P.C., also in Pittsburgh.  At Reed Smith and Houston Harbaugh, Robert represented clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation, with a focus on product liability, mass/toxic tort defense, and commercial contract disputes, including insurance coverage matters.  Robert has represented numerous companies in environmental, toxic tort, and asbestos litigation on a national level.  Robert also has represented both policyholders and insurers in insurance contract litigation.  He has extensive experience litigating complex matters in state and federal courts, as well as alternative dispute resolution.

Partner

Geneva; Paris

Hervé represents French and international financial institutions, corporates, sponsors, investors, insurance companies, asset managers and alternative capital providers on French and cross border transactions. He advises on banking, structured finance, securitization, and capital markets transactions.

Hervé has worked on numerous complex, strategic and/or innovative transactions (including many firsts in France and Europe) such as international securitization transactions, covered bonds, corporate structured bonds, project bonds, debt funds and the establishment of dedicated origination and refinancing platforms. He also acted on transactions for financing or refinancing purposes (including liquidity), and for off-balance sheet or regulatory capital purposes. As such, he has developed particular skills in handling multi-jurisdictions and multi-practices transactions.

He has developed a substantial experience in the energy and infrastructure sector in the context of financing and refinancing transactions, using classical bank structures as well as Euro PP, bond and project bond structures, specialized credit institutions and dedicated debt funds.

Hervé is described by his clients as a “key person” for structured finance deals, noting: “when we've got a problem, he's there. We know we can count on him”. Clients further comment: “He is dedicated and innovative, and an expert in is field. We see him as a business partner of ours, rather than a lawyer”.

Hervé is an active participant in drafting securitization and structured finance legislation and regulations in France. Hervé regularly publishes and speaks in relation to structure finance markets and related points of interest and deals.

Before joining Orrick in 2016, Hervé was a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP where he worked for 20 years, including 18 years as a partner.

Yali Hu Senior Associate

Beijing

Yali assists local- and foreign-based multinational companies with all aspects of their intellectual property rights in China, Europe and the United States, including Section 337 U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation. Yali has extensional experience in patent, trademark, domain name, copyright and trade secret.

Yali’s intellectual property-related services include patent filing and subsequent maintenance affairs for her clients.

Managing Associate

San Francisco

Ashley works on single plaintiff and class action cases, defending against discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage claims. She also advises employers on employment policies and practices, including compliance with evolving pay transparency laws.

Before becoming a lawyer, Ashley worked in education. She was also a 2020 Pro Bono Orrick Fellow at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, where she practiced eviction defense and special education law.

Neil Wolk Senior Counsel

New York

Neil has spent the bulk of his career working on both tax-exempt and taxable financings for public power clients including joint action agencies, municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives. He has had many roles in these financings including bond counsel, counsel to the underwriters and counsel to credit enhancers.

Over his career, Neil has worked on financings for joint action agencies and municipal utilities such as Gainesville (Florida) Regional Utilities, Intermountain Power Agency, JEA, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power), Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and WPPI Energy. The transactions in which Neil has participated have included public offerings, private placements, system and project financings, tax-exempt and taxable financings, secured and unsecured debt, senior and subordinated debt, fixed rate and variable rate debt and derivatives and he has had extensive experience in drafting documents for all of these types of financings. In addition, he has considerable experience with all types of disclosure issues encountered by electric utilities.

Neil also has been involved in a number of transactions involving the acquisition of utility companies and/or utility properties.

Recently, Neil represented MEAG Power in the financing of its undivided ownership interest in the first new nuclear generating facilities constructed on U.S. soil in over 30 years, which involved both taxable and tax-exempt capital markets debt, along with U.S. Department of Energy-guaranteed debt, and which was selected by The Financial Times as one of the most Innovative Deals of 2011.

Before joining Orrick, Neil was a partner at Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon in New York.

Chris R. Ottenweller Senior Counsel

Silicon Valley

Chris has served as first-chair counsel in more than 75 cases, successfully resolving virtually every one of them; and has tried many cases to judgment, in all types of forums, including jury trials, bench trials, the ITC and arbitrations. His cases involve cutting-edge legal issues and run the full gamut of technologies, including data storage, mobile devices, semiconductors, computers, graphical user interfaces, flash memory and many other technologies.

Chris has been recognized by clients, peers, and multiple publications as a leading lawyer in the IP field. He has been honored by The National Law Journal as one of "50 Intellectual Property Trailblazers and Pioneers," by IP Law360 as an Intellectual Property MVP, by Managing Intellectual Property as an "IP Star," by Chambers USA as a Leading Attorney in Intellectual Property, and by The Daily Journal as one of the "Top 75 IP Litigators" in California. A number of his victories have been profiled by The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal and National Public Radio.