People

Stephen Venuto Partner

Silicon Valley; San Francisco

The Daily Journal has named Stephen one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California (chosen regardless of specialty). Stephen was Facebook’s first lawyer and has advised many other leading companies at critical stages of their lifecycles including Asana, Instagram, Pinterest, Warby Parker and WETA Digital.

Stephen cares about the teams he counsels and thrives on providing practical business advice. When The American Lawyer named Stephen “Dealmaker of the Year”, it recognized his corporate work and representation of Instagram in its sale to Facebook and quoted a prominent Instagram board member as saying that he “is an outstanding lawyer, but he’s also an outstanding business partner . . . someone who cares about everybody [who's] involved in a company.” In addition to naming Stephen to its list of Top 100 Lawyers in California, The Daily Journal has named him to its Top Emerging Companies Lawyers list, and Chambers and Partners has recognized and ranked Stephen in two separate categories for several consecutive years.

Numerous standout technology companies and their founders have turned to Stephen for corporate representation at all stages of their life-cycles. Most of his counseling is with technology disruptive clients in fast-growth fields such as information technology, artificial intelligence, web3, metaverse, fin-tech, SaaS, gaming, media and entertainment. His recent prominent counseling includes companies in the artificial intelligence, web3, metaverse and gaming spaces. For example he recently advised WETA Digital in its metaverse and gaming related asset sale to Unity Software (for $1.6 billion), has advised Anthropic AI from formation, and works closely with a variety of web3 related new startups.

Kathleen M.K. Owen Of Counsel

Wheeling, W.V. (GOIC)

Kate leads Orrick’s national state legislative campaign to criminalize sexual extortion on behalf of our pro bono client, Legal Momentum. She collaborates with Legal Momentum to identify the gaps in state laws that have failed to keep pace with the use of technology by perpetrators to commit sexual extortion and to advocate for updates to those laws in various states across the country, working in coordination with state attorneys general, lawmakers, and advocates. Her leadership on behalf of Legal Momentum has included attending meetings with countless legislators, testifying in multiple state legislative committees in support of bills, and assisting with the drafting of bill language. 

Kate is also a key member of the Orrick team working alongside the government affairs teams at DISH Network and DIRECTV. She enthusiastically advocates for DISH and DIRECTV in multiple states around the country, which included helping them pass bills in three states in 2022. She manages multiple state legislative relationships, advises on state legislative issues, monitors legislation, and coordinates and attends legislative meetings and conferences. 

Kate’s experience in the Public Policy Group also includes the representation of clients in connection with insurance regulatory matters, including attending meetings with insurance regulators and staff from various states.

Previously, Kate was a Senior Associate at Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh. She was a member of the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group and an affiliate member of the Commercial Litigation Group, where she began her practice. At Reed Smith, Kate represented clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters. She also represented policyholders in insurance coverage disputes, including counseling, negotiation, litigation, and dispute resolution related to a variety of insurance policy forms. 

After practicing law at Reed Smith and prior to joining Orrick, Kate taught two semesters of an online “Business and Organizational Writing” course for Chatham University as an adjunct instructor.

Spencer Cohen Partner

New York

Spencer represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies, as well as private and public companies in all aspects of their business.

Spencer regularly advises clients on a variety of strategic transitions, including domestic and cross-border M&A, debt and equity investments and joint ventures. He also counsels boards, investors and other key stakeholders on financing transactions and general corporate matters.

He works across a wide range of geographies and industries, including a primary focus in the tech, finance, life sciences, energy and infrastructure sectors.

In addition to his practice, Spencer serves on our Corporate Business Unit Hiring Committee and is one of the leaders for the firm’s U.S. summer associate program.

Lauren Allen-Yang Managing Associate

New York

Lauren has experience representing individuals and large companies at all stages of complex civil litigation, from fact-finding to motion practice and everything in between. Lauren practices in federal and state courts nationwide.

Carsten Engelings Senior Associate

Düsseldorf

Carsten advises on all sorts of German tax and accounting issues arising for industry clients, financial institutions and private equity funds. Mainly focusing on corporate and real estate transactions and restructurings. He also advises and represents clients with respect to tax field audits and in tax litigation against the fiscal administration and before German fiscal and civil courts. Prior to joining Orrick Carsten completed his legal traineeship in both national and international law firms.

 

Ellen Ehrenpreis Partner

Silicon Valley

On the company side, Ellen’s clients range from early startups to mature private companies. She advises companies and founders on formation, venture financings, governance, M&A transactions, corporate and securities matters, commercial transactions and litigation strategy. Ellen’s approach is holistic and pragmatic. Her unique skill set and business-driven approach derive from her decades-long career as a Silicon Valley lawyer and her broad experiences earlier in her career as both a successful litigator and business owner. Over her career, Ellen has represented both private and public companies and has worked with both small startups and large multinational enterprises, as well as the executives, investors and advisors involved in those businesses. As a result, Ellen draws upon a deep knowledge base and set of experiences and insights that allow her to offer practical and seasoned advice to her clients. Ellen also works closely with some of the leading venture capital and growth equity firms, whose principals she advises in connection with financings, equity structuring and corporate governance. Ellen’s company clients have represented a broad swath of the technology ecosystem, including both hardware and software, and, as a result, her industry experience is wide-ranging. Her clients have included companies in the semiconductor, SAAS, renewables, fintech, aerospace, digital retail, online sharing, biotech/biopharma, media, design and data analytics fields, among others. Ellen has a passion for working with companies making an impact in the world.

Sten Jensen Senior Counsel

Washington, D.C.

Sten routinely guides clients such as FUJIFILM and Panasonic through the minefields of the ITC. Sten also has long-standing relationships with attorneys in the ITC’s Office of Unfair Import Investigations, developed when he served on the Executive Committee of the ITC Trial Lawyers' Association. Sten’s credibility with this group, combined with his thorough knowledge of the ITC’s speed and complexity, gives his clients a distinct advantage.

Sten has also represented clients in more than 50 federal patent cases, including cases in the top five venues for patent infringement filings. He has particular experience in Delaware, where he served as a judicial clerk for former District Court Judge Roderick McKelvie. Sten has defended numerous corporations against claims filed by aggressive patent trolls, and his cases have protected a wide range of technologies, including integrated circuits, semiconductors, optical disk drives, digital cameras, printers, and other consumer electronics products.

Sten has frequently lectured on intellectual property issues facing companies in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. He is widely praised by clients for his dedication, knowledge, and skill in guiding them through discovery, merits, and settlement issues. Sten is listed as a recommended lawyer by The Legal 500 USA for patent litigation, and he is ranked by Chambers USA for IP Litigation with clients commenting that “he gave us great ideas and advice, and negotiated very hard for us.”

Benjamin Hutten Partner

New York

Ben has a deep understanding of sanctions and AML regulations and enforcement. In addition to his client work, he has participated in numerous financial industry group regulatory initiatives related to sanctions and AML issues, including The Clearing House Guiding Principles for Anti-Money Laundering Policies and Procedures in Correspondent Banking, initiatives to address “de-risking” and related to BSA information sharing. Ben also conducts international trainings in AML and sanctions issues for the Financial Services Volunteer Corps.

He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America as "One to Watch" and by Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star." Prior to joining Orrick, Ben was counsel at Buckley LLP and an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Jessica Eng Managing Associate

New York

Jessica has experience representing a variety of market participants, including sponsors, issuers and underwriters, in public and private offerings of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).

Prior to joining Orrick, Jessica was Vice President and Counsel at the Bank of New York Mellon. Following law school, she was a Securities Investigator at the New Jersey Bureau of Securities where she was responsible for administrating and enforcing the New Jersey Uniform Securities Law and regulations thereunder.

Naomi Pen Associate

New York

Naomi provides clients guidance on implementing global privacy programs and advises on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) and the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA). She assists clients in breach investigations and cybersecurity incident response, including advising on breach notification, regulatory investigations and managing cybersecurity policies and procedures.

Naomi draws on her experience in fixed income trading technology when advising on cybersecurity and compliance risks within business operations. During law school she externed at the Center for Reproductive Rights focusing on privacy in the context of international human rights.

Ben Chagnon Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Ben's practice focuses on appeals. He has worked on certiorari-stage and merits-stage briefing in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as briefs in federal and state appellate courts. Ben has experience in a wide range of subject matter areas, including class action, antitrust and unfair competition, false advertising, administrative law, intellectual property, and constitutional law. Ben also maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on immigration and veteran issues.

Before joining Orrick, Ben served as a law clerk for Judge Judith Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Judge David Hamilton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Ben graduated from Stanford Law School, where he worked on certiorari and merits stage briefing in two Fourth Amendment cases as a member of the school's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.

Ben Hayes Project Attorney

Washington, D.C.

Ben works with litigation attorneys and third party vendors to manage the review and production of documents relevant to investigations and litigation. This work includes using early case assessment technology to analyze, categorize and cull data. He also manages teams of skilled professionals performing document review, redaction, analysis, production and drafting privilege logs.

Ben has coordinated matters involving large-scale international data collections, reviews, and productions to multiple parties and governmental institutions. Ben is Relativity Certified Administrator (RCA), and holds a J.D. from the University of Oregon and an LL.M. in International Trade and Commercial Law from Durham University in the U.K. (with distinction).