2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE PREMIUM SPONSOR Orrick

Orrick is a global firm of more than 1,100 attorneys that is fiercely committed to teamwork and innovation. The firm has offices across the globe, including in California, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.

It All Began with a Breakup

In the late 1800s, W.S. Goodfellow and his partners, John J. Jarboe and Ralph C. Harrison, walked away from their San Francisco firm, Jarboe, Harrison & Goodfellow. Goodfellow then teamed up with Charles Eells to form Goodfellow & Eells. The firm helped organize the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company after San Francisco’s catastrophic earthquake and fire in 1906 and also worked on water rights matters. In 1910, William H. Orrick joined the firm, and over the years, George Herrington and Eric Sutcliffe—who became managing partner in 1947—jumped aboard too. One of the firm’s earliest successes was its involvement in the financing of the Golden Gate Bridge—a matter that set the firm’s stage for big things to come.

Not to Brag, But . . .

Today, Orrick focuses on serving clients in four sectors: technology and innovation, life sciences, energy and infrastructure, and finance. Its practice spans transactional, regulatory, and litigation work. The firm has counseled more than 4,500 venture-backed companies, including Pinterest, Stripe, and SoFi, guiding startups through successful IPOs or acquisitions. The team is on the cutting edge of areas like AI, fintech, and blockchain.

The firm is particularly well-known for its energy work, holding the No. 1 spot in Vault’s Clean Tech & Renewable Energy ranking. The firm represents the leading players in solar and wind, and it advises clients globally on innovative energy sources such as green hydrogen and biofuels and on carbon capture and other emerging energy technologies. In the past several years, the firm has worked on more than 150 bids for new renewables projects.

Orrick also boasts one of the strongest intellectual property teams in the country, representing many of the most successful global tech brands in headline-making cases. The firm’s IP lawyers handle cases involving copyright, inter partes review, IP counseling, patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and even the legal implications of 3D printing. The firm also offers some of the most active cyber, privacy, and data innovation practices. 

The firm represents more than 700 fintech clients. It is a market leader in securitization and public finance and has strong teams in restructuring and real estate. Orrick also defends banks and funds in complex litigation.

Innovation Time

Innovation is just another part of life at Orrick. Associates can spend up to 100 billable hours on innovation-related projects to help the firm and its clients. Associates have engaged in innovation “sprints,” which incorporate principles of design thinking to challenge assumptions and brainstorm new solutions. Other associates have created tools to enhance the efficiency of delivering legal services, apps to target client needs, and other projects. It’s unsurprising that The Financial Times has regularly ranked Orrick among the top three most innovative law firms in North America. 

• Litigating some of the most important questions related to AI, including defending GitHub and Microsoft in a generative AI copyright case and Workday in a case alleging discrimination by its AI-powered employment screening tools. We’re also creating AI regulatory, IP, data ethics, and privacy solutions for public and private companies deploying and developing AI technology and supporting 400+ AI companies on firmwide matters.
• Advising Microsoft on the most innovative decarbonization transactions in the market, including a first-of-its kind 24/7 renewable energy PPA for a data center – recognized in the 2023 Financial Times Innovative Lawyers report; first fusion energy purchase agreement; and one of the largest permanent CO2 removal deals.
• On the forefront of fintech transactional and regulatory advice, including counseling payment processing company Stripe on a $6.5 billion Series I financing.

• #16 Best Companies to Work For, 2024—Fortune

• Top 3 for Most Innovative Law Firm for 8 Years in a Row and 2-Time Most Digital Law Firm in North America, 2023—Financial Times

• Top Firm for Agency & Flexibility, 2022 and 2023—Yale Law Women

• A-List Top 5 for 6 Years in a Row, 2023—The American Lawyer

• Top 5 for Pro Bono in the U.S. for 5 Years in a Row, 2023—The American Lawyer