Nick Harper is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn, where he practices in the firm’s Litigation Department. A member of the Appellate and Constitutional Law and Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Groups, Nick has argued cases at every level of the federal judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court, which appointed him as amicus curiae in Erlinger v. United States to defend the judgment below.

Nick’s practice spans appellate, regulatory, and complex litigation. He also has expertise in the cryptocurrency and digital-asset space. He has represented clients in high-stakes litigation and advised on cutting-edge regulatory developments in the industry. He also has significant experience litigating against federal, state, and foreign governments.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Nick clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as for then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Representative litigation matters include:

• Appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court to brief and argue the case as an amicus curiae in defense of the judgment below in Erlinger v. United States, No. 23-370, involving the constitutional right to a criminal jury trial.
• Represented Coinbase in successfully challenging the SEC’s denial of Coinbase’s petition for a digital-asset-related rulemaking in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
• Represented Coinbase and History Associates Incorporated in FOIA litigation that compelled the FDIC to disclose documents related to the debanking of crypto companies.
• Represented bondholders in securing and enforcing judgments against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

Nick earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 2015 and received his B.A. in Economics and Classics from the University of Notre Dame in 2009.

Nick is a member of the bars of Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Shannon Errico is of counsel in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and a member of Gibson Dunn’s Investment Funds Practice Group.

She counsels sponsors and limited partners on the organization and operation of private investment funds across a range of investment strategies. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Shannon was a Director at Brookfield Property Group, focused on the operation of Brookfield’s real estate funds, and an associate of a large international law firm, where she was a member of the fund formation practice group.

Most recently, Shannon has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America ® as “One to Watch” in the area of Banking and Finance Law for 2023.

She received her Juris Doctor in 2013 from the University of Michigan School of Law, where she was a member of the Michigan Journal Private Equity and Venture Capital Law. Shannon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Portuguese from Yale University, where she was awarded the Bildner Prize for excellence in Portuguese language and the Parker Huang fellowship to conduct original research in the Brazilian Amazon.

Shannon is admitted to practice in the State of New York and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Portuguese. She is the chairman of the Board of AIESEC at Yale University, a student-run exchange organization, the Vice President and Secretary of the Exeter Association of Greater New York, and a Trustee of the Yale Club of Northern New Jersey.

Publications:

• “Regulation of Private Equity in Brazil: Policy Questions Presented and Critique,” Michigan Journal Private Equity and Venture Capital Law, 2013.
• “Private Equity in Brazil: Industry Overview and Regulatory Environment,” Michigan Journal Private Equity and Venture Capital Law, 2012.

Tiaunia N. Henry is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office where she is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department with a diverse practice that focuses primarily on complex business litigation, including antitrust, breach of contract and transnational cases. As an experienced litigator and trial attorney, she has represented clients in various industries including the oil and gas, medical device, media and entertainment, semiconductor, paper manufacturing and information technology consulting industries. Tiaunia has extensive experience representing multinational corporations, both foreign and domestic, in disputes that involve litigation pending in multiple jurisdictions, including the development of legal strategies to avoid inconsistent rulings, preclusion of claims, and/or waiver of defenses in subsequent litigation.

Representative matters in which Tiaunia has been involved include:

• Representation of a multinational engineering firm before a JAMS tripartite arbitration panel to resolve a contract dispute that arose in connection with a long-term joint venture, resulting in a favorable arbitral ruling that the terms of the joint venture agreement entitled her client to substantial present and future compensation.
• Representation of San Diego Gas & Electric Company in its successful challenge of the City of Laguna Beach’s ordinance requiring the undergrounding of its utilities as violative of the Contracts Clauses of the United States and California Constitutions and California state law.
• Defended a city in a lengthy bench trial alleging a violation of the California Voting Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause.
• Representation of an automobile manufacturer in a putative class action alleging breach of implied warranty, breach of contract, fraudulent concealment and violations of various California consumer protection laws, including California’s Unfair Competition Law, resulting in an early dismissal of all claims with prejudice.
• Defended Motorcar Parts of America in disputes pending in multiple jurisdictions arising out of the bankruptcy of its Canadian subsidiary and alleging negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference, conspiracy, conversion and unjust enrichment, resulting in the favorable settlement of all claims.
• Representation of Chevron Corporation in defense against the recognition and enforcement of a fraudulently obtained multibillion dollar environmental judgment in Ecuador. Henry was a member of the trial team in Chevron’s RICO suit against the co-conspirators who participated in a conspiracy seeking to extort billions of dollars from Chevron. Chevron Corp. v. Donziger, 974 F.Supp.2d 362 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).
• Representation of Vivendi S.A., a French multinational media company, and several affiliated directors in a civil shareholder class action and derivative litigation in Delaware’s Court of Chancery relating to a more than $8 billion stock repurchase transaction with Activision Blizzard, Inc., a California-based software and gaming company.
• Representation of Intel Corporation in antitrust cases asserting violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act challenging various business practices resulting in settlement of all claims.
• Representation of a multinational healthcare product manufacturer in an antitrust suit brought by a putative class of purchasers of pulse oximetry products resulting in victory on summary judgment.
• Representation of Deloitte Consulting LLP in a breach of contract case alleging failure to properly perform under an information-technology agreement governing the design and configuration of a software system resulting in settlement of all claims.

In 2023, Tiaunia was recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal, which named her to their “Thriving in their 40s: LA’s Leaders of Influence” list. She was also recognized as a finalist for the Community Impact Award (Large Company) at the 2023 Los Angeles Business Journal Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Awards.

Tiaunia received her Juris Doctor degree and a Master of Laws in Comparative and International Law from Duke University School of Law. While earning her degrees, she was also a member of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law. In 2003, Tiaunia graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Tiaunia is co-chair of the firm’s Los Angeles-Area Diversity Committee (2012 to present). In addition, she is a member of the firm’s Hiring Committee, Well-Being Committee and Los Angeles Community Affairs Committee, and previously served on the firm’s Associates Committee. Tiaunia currently serves on the Leadership Council of Public Counsel (2012 to present) and formerly served on the Law Alumni Association Board of Directors of Duke University School of Law (2014 to 2020). She is a member of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the John M. Langston Bar Association, and the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

Irene Polieri is an associate in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s International Trade and White Collar Defense and Investigations practice groups.  Irene is also a fellow in the War Studies Department at King’s College, London.

Irene advises on compliance with UK, EU and U.S. sanctions and export control regulations, trade policy, as well as other aspects of international trade at the intersection of foreign policy and national security.  Irene has substantive experience advising companies across different sectors including  energy, manufacturing, banking and financial institutions.  Irene’s acts on matters before His Majesty’s Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Department for Business & Trade’s Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and her practice ranges from regulatory and compliance advisory, advice in the context of transactions, to investigations and voluntary self-disclosures. 

Irene is recognized by The Legal 500 UK 2024 for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime, and is recognized by The Legal 500 UK 2026 as the firm’s key contact for EU and UK sanctions and export controls.  

Irene is a qualified attorney in New York and England & Wales, and is registered on the Roll of Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland.

Representative Engagements 

• Regularly advising a European oil and gas supermajor on compliance with EU, UK and U.S. sanctions, including on sensitive matters subject to executive committee review.
• Led a team advising a French multinational manufacturing corporation in relation to a UK and U.S. export controls investigation due to a regulatory disclosure mandated by HMRC and successfully negotiating a 75% reduction in penalty.
• Advised a global industrial manufacturing corporation with European operations on all aspects of its divestment from Russia, including obtaining licenses in various European Member States.
• Regularly advise a bulge bracket investment bank on compliance with EU, UK and U.S. sanctions, including frequent engagement with government agencies in various jurisdictions, including OFAC and OFSI. 
• Regularly advise a S&P 100 technology and media conglomerate on EU and UK sanctions and export controls. 
• Advised a non-profit organization on the implications of U.S. sanctions on the International Criminal Court.
• Conducting and internal investigation and responding to an OFAC subpoena related to compliance gaps for a U.S.-based financial institution.
• Regularly advise a global healthcare manufacturer on compliance with EU, UK and U.S. trade sanctions and export controls, obtaining licenses in France and Luxembourg. 
• Advised a S&P 100 financial services and payment processing corporation on an internal review of its UK export controls and customs compliance processes. 

Qi Yue is the Chief Representative and Partner in Charge of the Beijing office. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Private Equity Practice Groups. Qi has extensive experience in China-related public and private M&A and Private Equity transactions, including complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, business combinations and carve-outs, strategic and private equity buyouts, minority investments and venture capital transactions, offshore and onshore joint ventures and other strategic cooperation. He has also represented diverse participants in going private transactions involving Chinese companies listed in the United States, including special committees, buyer consortiums, founders, co-investors and other financing sources. Qi also advises top Chinese technology companies in cross-border compliance, regulatory, and investigation matters.

Qi is regularly recognized and listed as an expert in his field by publications such as Chambers Global, Chambers Greater China Region, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, China Business Law Journal, IFLR1000 and Asian Legal Business. In the Chambers Greater China Region guide, a client noted that Qi “has rock-solid M&A training and expertise. He is very practical and knows exactly how we think about risk. He is good at bridging the Chinese attitude with the Western.” He was also named by China Business Law Journal as a Rising Star in 2022, by IFLR1000 as a Rising Star Partner in 2022, and by Asian Legal Business in its 2021 China Top 15 Rising Lawyers list which showcases the most accomplished lawyers in China under the age of 40. He recently advised the Special Committee of Chindata, one of China’s largest data center providers, on its US$3.2 billion take-private transaction by a buyer consortium led by Bain Capital. His work in CPE’s sale of a majority stake in Acotec, a Chinese medical technology company publicly listed in Hong Kong, to Boston Scientific was nominated as a finalist in the M&A Deal of the Year at the ALB China Law Awards 2023, and at the IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024. His work in the Chindata Take Private transaction has also been named Best Private Equity Deal of the Year at the 2023 FinanceAsia Achievement Awards, and is shortlisted for Private Equity Deal of the Year at the upcoming IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards 2024 and Asia Legal Awards 2024.

Qi’s strategic clients include Alibaba, Ant International, Bona Film, Bosch, Chindata, Danone, Guazi, Kuke Music, Montage Technology, Naura Technology, NetEase, Ningbo Joyson, Phoenix New Media, and Trina Solar, among others, where Qi advises these clients on cross-border M&A, joint venture, investment, financing, compliance, regulatory, and investigation matters.

His private equity, asset management and sovereign wealth funds clients include Advent International, Affinity Equity Partners, AGIC Capital, Anchor Equity, Apax Partners, Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, CITIC Capital, CPE, CITIC Securities Investment, Davidson Kempner Asia, Goldman Sachs, Hillhouse Capital, I Squared Capital, JPMorgan Asset Management, KKR, Kuwait Investment Authority, Macquarie, Primavera Capital, and Silver Lake Partners, among others.

Qi has worked on a number of landmark transactions. His recent and most significant experience includes advising:

• The Special Committee of Chindata, one of China’s largest data center providers, on its US$3.2 billion take-private transaction by a buyer consortium led by Bain Capital
• CPE in its sale of a majority stake in Acotec, a Chinese medical technology company publicly listed in Hong Kong, to Boston Scientific, through a US$520 million partial offer
• CPE in the US$4.8 billion going private transaction of China Biologic Products Holdings
• The Special Committee of Sina Corporation in the Company’s US$2.6 billion going private transaction
• NetEase in the sale of its cross-border e-commerce platform Kaola to Alibaba for US$2 billion
• Beijing NAURA Technology in the acquisition of Akrion Systems, a leading supplier of advanced wafer surface preparation solutions in the U.S.
• Tsinghua Unigroup in the acquisition of a majority stake in Hewlett-Packard’s China-based server, storage and technology services businesses for US$2.5 billion and the related joint venture
• Danone in the formation of chilled yogurt joint ventures with Mengniu and the strategic investment in Mengniu’s Hong Kong Listco for approximately US$420 million

Prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in 2015, Qi worked at a large international law firm where he spent two years in their New York office and three years in their Beijing office. Qi received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2010, his Master of Science from the University of Washington in 2007, and his Bachelor of Science from Peking University in 2002. He is admitted to practice in the state of New York and is fluent in Mandarin and English.

Michael Collins is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn and the senior member of the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice Group. His practice focuses on all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation. His practice runs the full gamut of tax, ERISA, accounting, corporate, and securities law aspects of stock option, SAR, restricted stock, and employee stock purchase plans; tax-qualified retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation; SERPs; executive employment agreements, golden parachutes and other change in control arrangements; severance, confidentiality, and noncompete contracts; performance bonus and incentive plans; director’s pay; rabbi trusts; split dollar life insurance; excess benefit and top hat plans; and the like. He represents both executives and companies in drafting and negotiating employment arrangements.

For over ten consecutive years, Michael has been ranked by Chambers & Partners USA as a leading lawyer in the area of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation in the District of Columbia. He is also recognized for Executive Compensation & Benefits in the Lawdragon 500: Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers 2023 and 2022 guides, which features “the nation’s top advisors to businesses, universities, nonprofits and other organizations dealing with the mind-bending matrix of today’s global workforce.” In addition, The Best Lawyers in America® lists Michael under the category of Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and has been recognized in this publication since 2012.

Michael graduated with high honors from the University of Notre Dame in 1991. On the May 1991 CPA examination, he received the highest score in Indiana and one of the top five scores in the United States. Prior to attending law school, Michael was an auditor with Ernst & Young.

In addition to his employee benefits practice, Michael has taught at different law schools including Conflicts of Law at Catholic University Law School and Tax Research and Qualified Plans at the University of Denver Law School. He has published numerous articles on employee benefits and executive compensation topics, including articles in the Labor Lawyer, the Virginia Tax Review, the Journal of Accountancy, New York University Tax Institute Proceedings, and the ABA Preview of Supreme Court Cases.

Michael graduated summa cum laude and second in his class from Notre Dame Law School in 1995. While at Notre Dame, he received six American Jurisprudence awards for best performance in a class, was editor of the Notre Dame Law Review, and received the Dean O’Meara Award for distinctive academic performance.

Colin B. Davis is a partner in the Orange County office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he practices in the firm’s Litigation Department. Colin’s practice focuses on complex business and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on merger and acquisition and securities litigation. Colin represents public and private companies and their officers and directors in stockholder class actions, stockholder derivative actions, and appraisal actions, as well as related litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country. Colin also represents clients in a wide variety of other types of business litigation, including merger and acquisition disputes involving earnout provisions, fraud, and other contractual breaches. Additionally, Colin has represented clients in connection with governmental investigations and enforcement actions brought by the SEC, the Department of Justice, and other regulatory and enforcement agencies.

Colin’s outstanding contributions led to his recognition as one of Law360‘s Rising Stars of 2024 in Securities. The Legal 500 US 2025 guide has distinguished Colin as a “Recommended Lawyer” in Securities Litigation: Defense. He has also been honored on Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under list, showcasing the top emerging talent in litigation. And his exceptional work in Mergers and Acquisitions Law has earned him recognition in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™.

Colin’s representative matters include:

• Lead trial counsel to The Nielsen Company in three expedited litigations before the Delaware Court of Chancery related to Nielsen’s divestiture of two businesses. Secured permanent injunction prohibiting data provider from terminating services to acquirer following the transactions’ closing.
• Successfully represented Star America Rail Holdco in an expedited trial before the Delaware Court of Chancery seeking a declaration that Star America had validly terminated its portfolio company’s CEO. In addition to granting judgment in Star America’s favor, the court awarded fee shifting for the CEO’s bad faith.
• Represented four members of the board of directors of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings in an expedited trial before the Delaware Court of Chancery arising from a proxy contest initiated by the company’s executive chairman. Gibson Dunn’s clients prevailed in the proxy contest after the court issued its post-trial opinion.
• Successfully represented China Housing and Land Development in a dissenters’ rights trial before the Eighth Judicial District Court for Clark County, Nevada, resulting in a favorable judgment that the company’s fair value was less than 10% of the amount sought by the dissenting stockholder.
• Represented Pivotal Software in a statutory appraisal trial and related stockholder litigation before the Delaware Court of Chancery.
• Defending Energy Transfer, a Fortune 100 owner-operator of diversified energy assets, in multiple securities class actions arising from pipeline projects in Pennsylvania and Ohio.  Secured summary judgment ruling substantially narrowing the claims that could be litigated in one action and reducing potential damages exposure by over 90%, resulting in a highly favorable settlement.
• Won summary judgment on behalf of the members of the board of directors of Newport Corporation in a stockholder class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty claims arising from the company’s merger with MKS Instruments. The Nevada Supreme Court fully affirmed the trial court’s rulings on appeal.
• Won dismissal of a stockholder derivative action arising from a financial technology company’s acquisition of a popular music streaming platform. The Delaware Supreme Court fully affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision on appeal.
• Won dismissal of a Delaware Court of Chancery action challenging enhanced voting rights provisions in Carvana’s certificate of incorporation.
• Secured dismissal of a securities class action alleging that a major title insurance provider made false and misleading statements about its cybersecurity practices, resulting in voluntary dismissal of parallel stockholder derivative litigation.
• Successfully opposed a preliminary injunction motion that sought to enjoin a merger of two public gaming companies, resulting in voluntary dismissal of all claims.

Colin also is an editor of Lexology Panoramic: M&A Litigation, a comparison tool that provides local insights into the legal and regulatory frameworks governing M&A litigation across multiple jurisdictions.

Prior to joining the firm, Colin served as a law clerk to The Honorable Janis L. Sammartino of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Colin earned his Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude in 2010 from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he served as a Lead Articles Editor and Symposium Coordinator of the San Diego Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. In 2006, Colin received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Santa Clara University.

Colin is a member of the California bar, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California.

Katherine V.A. Smith is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Katherine serves as co-chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. Katherine represents employers in high stakes employment lawsuits and government investigations and advises employers on all aspects of employment law.

In 2024, the Los Angeles Business Journal named Katherine to its annual list of the “Top 100 Lawyers,” which recognizes the “top law professionals in the Los Angeles region for their ongoing efforts as outstanding legal stewards.” She is recognized by Chambers USA as a top Labor & Employment lawyer in California, by Legal 500 US as a “Leading Partner” for Labor and Employment Disputes nationwide, by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers” (2024-2026), and by Benchmark Litigation as a Labor & Employment Star (2023-2024). She is also recognized as a “Top Labor and Employment Lawyer” by the Daily Journal (2023-2025), by The Los Angeles Business Journal as a “Leader of Influence” for Labor & Employment (2022-2024), and was noted on its “Thriving in Their 40’s: LA’s Leaders of Influence” list (2022).

The American Lawyer named the practice group Katherine co-leads as the Labor & Employment Litigation Department of the Year in its most recent competition. The American Lawyer noted, “with novel labor and employment issues swirling, Gibson Dunn’s litigators set standards and settle the law,” and that a case “typical for Gibson Dunn’s labor and employment team” is “high-profile,” “cutting-edge,” and “a victory.” The group was also recently recognized for the thirteenth time, more times than any other firm, as a Law360 Employment Practice Group of the Year, and has won The National Law Journal’s D.C. Labor & Employment Litigation Department of the Year competition for the last nine years in a row. Gibson Dunn’s Labor & Employment Group is ranked Tier 1 in Labor and Employment Disputes: Defense by US Legal 500, noting that “Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP‘s practice is regularly called upon by boards of directors and CEOs of major corporations in the retail, tech, and financial services segments for its employment litigation prowess.” 

Katherine has extensive experience representing employers in individual, representative and class action litigation at both the trial court and appellate level. Katherine’s representative litigation matters include:

• Defeated certification in a putative wage and hour class action in California state court. Following two days of argument by Katherine, the court switched its tentative ruling and agreed that current and former remote employees could not maintain a class action. 
• Secured denial of the largest two classes Plaintiffs sought to certify in a sprawling reverse race discrimination case for a multinational information technology services and consulting company.
• Obtained summary judgment in full on behalf of GRAIL, Inc., a cancer screening biotechnology company, as to its former employee’s claims of race-based discrimination, harassment, and retaliation brought in California state court, following a two-day hearing argued by Katherine.
• Obtained multiple judgments in her clients’ favor in private arbitration, including complete victories on sexual harassment and discrimination claims in two separate week-long evidentiary hearings, a full defense judgment in a breach of employment agreement suit following a two-week evidentiary hearing, and a win on summary judgment in a defamation case.  
• Successfully convinced a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to sustain a demurrer as to causes of action for harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress against a Netflix Vice President.

In addition to litigation, Katherine also dedicates a significant portion of her practice to advice and counseling, as well as internal investigations. Katherine’s representative counseling and investigation matters include:

• Led high-profile workplace investigations for a Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Wynn Resorts and the Los Angeles Opera.
• Advised numerous companies on DEI initiatives following the Supreme Court decision in the Harvard admissions case, and is a leader of the Firm’s DEI Task Force.
• Counseled multiple companies through largescale reductions in force, including WARN compliance, development of severance programs, and communications and messaging.
• Advised numerous companies on the exit of C-suite level executives, including drafting severance packages, enforcing “for cause” and noncompete provisions, and directly negotiating mutually agreeable departures.   
• Counseled numerous employers on how to respond to high-profile and high-risk allegations of sexual harassment, assault, discrimination, and whistleblowing, including strategies for investigation and disciplinary action, advising Boards and senior stakeholders on legal risk, negotiating prelitigation resolutions, preparing for potential litigation, and consulting with media teams on press strategies.
• Successfully defended multiple companies before federal and state agencies in connection with systemic and individual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation charges and investigations.

Katherine earned her law degree in 2006 from the University of Virginia, where she was a member of the editorial board for the Virginia Law Review. She graduated cum laude from Duke University in 2003, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Katherine also serves on the Firm’s Pro Bono, Community Affairs, Global Diversity, Partnership Evaluation, and Associate Compensation Committees. Katherine is admitted to practice law in the State of California and the State of Michigan.

Jason C. Schwartz is a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn, co-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group, General Counsel of the law firm and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Jason was recognized as an MVP in employment law seven times, awarded by Law360 to “attorneys whose achievements in major litigation or transactions have set a new standard for accomplishment in corporate law.” Law360 referred to Jason as “an expert dismantler of worker class actions.”

Jason is ranked in Band 1 in Labor & Employment by Chambers USA, which stated, “He is a whip-smart, results-oriented and zealous advocate who is really committed to the client. His judgment is impeccable.” According to Chambers USA, “[c]lients note: He’s an excellent litigator with a good sense of the client’s needs in a business environment. He’s just a pleasure to work with. He’s disciplined, a great writer and gets great results.” Forbes named Jason to its inaugural America’s Top 200 Lawyers 2024 list. He is recognized as a Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator in the U.S. by Benchmark Litigation; on the Top 100 list of the Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys by Human Resource Executive magazine; as a Top Lawyer in Employment Defense by Washingtonian Magazine; as a Leading Partner in Labor & Employment Disputes by The Legal 500 US; by Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers for Labor & Employment (Litigation); in The Best Lawyers in America in the Employment Law-Management category; as a Super Lawyer by Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers; and as an Am Law Litigation Daily “Litigator of the Week” for his win in an independent contractor misclassification/wage-and-hour class action. He is a Fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers.

The American Lawyer named the practice group Jason co-leads as the Labor & Employment Litigation Department of the Year in its most recent competition. The American Lawyer noted, “with novel labor and employment issues swirling, Gibson Dunn’s litigators set standards and settle the law,” and that a case “typical for Gibson Dunn’s labor and employment team” is “high-profile,” “cutting-edge,” and “a victory.” The group was also recently recognized for the thirteenth time, more times than any other firm, as a Law360 Employment Practice Group of the Year and won The National Law Journal’s D.C. Labor & Employment Litigation Department of the Year competition for the last nine years in a row.

Jason’s practice includes sensitive workplace investigations, high-profile trade secret and non-compete matters, wage-hour and discrimination class actions, Sarbanes-Oxley and other whistleblower protection claims, executive and other significant employment disputes, labor union controversies, and workplace safety litigation.

Recent representative matters include:

• Won precedent-setting arbitration appeal relating to Amazon Flex drivers (Harper v. Amazon (3rd Cir. 2021));
• Won decertification of nationwide FLSA collective action (Bah v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car (D. Mass. 2023));
• Won motion to dismiss and prevailed on appeal in nationwide wage-and-hour class action regarding tax reform bonuses and paid volunteer time (McPhee v. Lowe’s (4^th Cir. 2021));
• Won appeal of closely-watched COVID-safety and whistleblower retaliation action brought by New York Attorney General (People v. Amazon (First Appellate Department 2022));
• Won dismissal of Fair Credit Reporting Act class action (Downing v. Lowe’s (D. Az. 2023));
• Won dismissal and prevailed on appeal in highly-publicized COVID-safety and race discrimination class action (Smalls v. Amazon (2^nd Cir. 2022));
• Led high-profile workplace investigations for a Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Wynn Resorts and for Vox Media; and
• Prevailed at trial in manager exemption PAGA action (Ortiz v. Amazon (N.D. Cal. 2022)).

Jason has also successfully tried several sensitive whistleblower matters for major national employers, and he prevailed in a precedent-setting Labor Department appeal of one of the first Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower cases to proceed to trial. He prevailed for Enterprise Rent-A-Car in a case of first impression in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit created a new joint employer test (the Enterprise test) and affirmed summary judgment for a parent corporation in a series of wage-hour class actions, defeating the plaintiffs’ effort to form a nationwide class (In re Enterprise Rent-A-Car Wage & Hour Employment Practices Litig. (3rd Cir. 2012)). In another case of first impression, he successfully argued in the Utah Supreme Court against the recognition of a tort for spoliation of evidence. In addition, he served as lead trial counsel for a retailer in a highly-publicized OSHA enforcement action relating to crowd control at a day-after-Thanksgiving sale.

Jason also has significant experience in administrative law and rulemakings. He served as counsel to the Fair Labor Standards Reform Coalition, and he played a leading role in preparing comments on behalf of the business community relating to the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime exemption regulations.

Jason served for many years as the Secretary of the Retail Litigation Center, and he testified before Congress regarding OSHA enforcement programs on behalf of the U.S. Chamber. He frequently speaks and writes on employment law and trade secret related topics. He is the co-author of the treatise Whistleblower Law: A Practitioner’s Guide, published by American Lawyer Media/Law Journal Press, and he previously authored the annual “Trade Secrets Litigation Round-Up” published by Bloomberg BNA.

Jason earned his law degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and received the George Brent Mickum III Prize and the Charles A. Keigwin Award for the best academic record in first year courses. From 1995 to 1996, he worked as a Legislative Assistant to Congressman Jon D. Fox. Jason received a B.A. degree in international affairs cum laude in 1994 from The George Washington University.

Jason is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland, as well as in numerous federal courts. He served for many years as an officer and board member of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, currently serves as a member of the Washington Lawyers Committee of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and provides pro bono employment counsel to numerous community organizations.

Daniel Angel is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. Daniel is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Technology Transactions Practice Group and a member of its Strategic Sourcing and Commercial Transactions Practice Group. He is a transactional lawyer who has represented clients on technology-related transactions since 2003. Daniel has worked with a broad variety of clients ranging from market leaders to start-ups in a wide range of industries including financial services, private equity funds, life sciences, specialty chemicals, insurance, energy and telecommunications.

Daniel is ranked by Chambers and Partners for his work on corporate technology transactions. He has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® (2020-2025) in Technology Law, IFLR1000, listed in The Legal 500 U.S. as a “Next Generation” lawyer in Outsourcing and Technology Transactions, and in Super Lawyers as a New York Metro Rising Star. Chambers notes Daniel “really knows the subject matter” and describes him as “smart and entrepreneurial” and a “superlative lawyer, very thoughtful and user-friendly.”

Technology Transactions Practice

In this area, Daniel focuses on the development, acquisition, licensing and exploitation of intellectual property. He has substantial experience in patent licensing and cross-licensing agreements, the development and licensing of software, technology development and collaboration arrangements, content licensing and trademark licensing and co-branding agreements. He also regularly advises clients on intellectual property and information technology issues in connection with corporate transactions, including private equity representations, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs and distressed lending. His experience includes negotiating and documenting intellectual property and information technology representations and warranties, complex transition services agreements, transitional trademark licensing arrangements and technology-related joint ventures and strategic alliances.

Strategic Sourcing and Commercial Transactions Practice

In this area, Daniel focuses on representing clients on legal and business issues relating to complex international outsourcing transactions, including structuring, negotiating and documenting information technology and business process outsourcing transactions. His information technology experience includes the outsourcing of numerous IT functions, including infrastructure, applications development and maintenance, end-user computing, help desk, desktop and network operations and his business process outsourcing experience includes the outsourcing of middle and back office financial services processes, facility management functions, insurance claims processing, human resources, payroll processing, finance and accounting functions and procurement. Daniel also regularly represents clients on general commercial contracting arrangements, including supply and distribution agreements, co-packing arrangements, manufacturing agreements and servicing arrangements.

Daniel received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Villanova University in 1995 and his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law in 2003 where he was the editor-in-chief of the International and Comparative Law Journal. In 2002, Daniel served as a judicial extern for Judge Jay C. Zainey at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He has been a member of the New York Bar since 2004 and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York since 2005. Daniel is currently in the third year of a three-year rotation as a member of the Trademarks and Unfair Competition Committee at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and is a member of the Intellectual Property Committee at the American Bar Association.

Speaking Engagements

• Presenter, “Gibson Dunn Webcast: Spinning Out and Splitting Off – Navigating Complex Challenges in Corporate Separations,” (October 30, 2018).
• Presenter, “IP Issues in Outsourcing,” Lawline (April 22, 2015).
• Presenter, “Pricing and Financial Structures,” PLI’s Outsourcing: Structuring, Negotiation and Governance (Chicago, 2012).
• Presenter, “Pricing and Financial Structures,” PLI’s Outsourcing: Structuring, Negotiation and Governance (New York, 2011).

Michael De Voe Piazza is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office, and serves as Co-Chair of both the U.S. Private Equity Practice and GP Solutions Practice. Michael focuses his private equity practice on mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and equity and debt offerings, including control, minority and preferred investments and structured equity and asset-level investments and financings. He regularly represents clients in the financial, oil and gas, energy transition and power sectors. Michael represented two of the largest E&P continuation funds ever, and routinely works with both private equity sponsors and portfolio companies in the oil and gas industry. He has significant experience advising private equity funds and other financial sponsors in “GP stakes” transactions, seeding arrangements, asset management M&A, leveraged buyouts, portfolio company investments and fund formation projects. Michael also has developed expertise in transactions involving the wealth management industry, the mineral and royalty business, the renewable fuels business, volumetric production payments and “DrillCo” structures.

Michael is a nationally ranked lawyer with deep expertise in his field. Clients have commented “Michael is very business-oriented, has a strong pulse on the market, and is able to take complex issues and questions and put them in digestible formats,” (Chambers 2025). In 2025, Michael was recognized as the leading M&A deal lawyer by deal count in the State of Texas and Michael was also recognized as Energy & Industrials Dealmaker of the Year at The Deal’s Middle Market Awards in 2020. In 2015, he was one of only seven lawyers under the age of 40 to be named a “Rising Star” by Law360 in the area of Energy. It was his third consecutive “Rising Star” honor. In 2013, Michael was also named a “Legal Leader on the Rise” by Texas Lawyer.

Chambers Global (2025) ranks Michael among the leading individuals practicing in the areas of Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional) in the United States and Chambers USA (2025) ranks Michael in the areas of Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional) for Nationwide, and Private Equity: Buyouts and Corporate/M&A in Texas. One client emphasized Michael’s “deep understanding of the private equity industry” and “impeccable client service” and remarked: “His attention to detail, commercial awareness and ability to manage nuanced processes are extremely valuable to our business.”

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Michael was a partner at an international law firm, where he served as Co-Head of the firm’s Energy practice and Co-Managing Partner of its Houston office.

Michael graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, in 2008 and received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, magna cum laude, in 2001.

Michael’s experience includes:*

Recent Representative Transactions

• Represented Capital Constellation, a fund managed by Wafra, Inc., in (i) its strategic investment in Citation Capital, a private equity firm specializing in partnering with founder- and family-led businesses, (ii) its strategic investment in Greenbelt Capital Partners, a private equity firm targeting private equity, infrastructure development and late-stage growth opportunities, (iii) its $150 million strategic partnership with Ara Partners Group, whereby Capital Constellation acquired a substantial minority ownership interest in Ara Partners and provided the firm and its affiliates with significant investment capital, (iv) its sale of its minority stake in Ara Partners to Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and (v) its significant equity investment in, and capital commitment to, Pollen Street Capital, a UK-based asset manager focused on the financial and business sectors in the UK and Europe
• Represented Affiliated Managers Group, a global asset manager, on its acquisition of a strategic minority ownership interest in NorthBridge Partners, a real estate investment management firm
• Represented IPI Partners, LLC, a digital infrastructure fund manager, in connection with the sale of its business to Blue Owl Capital Inc., a leading alternative asset manager, for a purchase price of approximately $1 billion
• Represented HighPost Capital, LLC in connection with the sale of a controlling interest to Azimut Group, via its U.S. subsidiary Azimut Alternative Capital Partners LLC, one of Europe’s largest independent asset managers
• Represented Carnelian Energy Capital Management in connection with (i) Ridgemar Energy, LLC’s acquisition of Callon Petroleum’s Eagle Ford business for $655 million and (ii) Percussion Petroleum II, LLC’s sale to Callon Petroleum in a cash and stock transaction involving consideration of $475 million
• Represented Oak Street Real Estate Capital in its $1.6 billion acquisition by Blue Owl Capital
• Represented Oaktree Capital Management L.P. in connection with (i) its $2 billion strategic partnership with an affiliate of Diversified Energy Company to jointly identify and acquire producing oil and gas assets in the continental United States, (ii) its agreement to sell its interests in certain oil and natural gas assets to Diversified Energy for $410 million, (iii) multiple joint acquisitions with Diversified Energy Company, including its substantial acquisition from Tapstone Energy Holdings and a related party, (iv) its joint ABS transaction with Diversified Energy Company and (v) its sale of all of its joint venture assets to Diversified Energy Company
• Represented Constellation Wealth Capital in (i) its preferred equity investment in AlTi Global, Inc, as part of a $450 million investment made by CWC and Allianz X, (ii) its acquisition of a minority stake in Lido Advisors, a wealth management firm with greater than $19 billion in assets under management, (iii) its acquisition of a minority stake in Alphacore, a wealth management firm with over $2.5 billion assets under management, (iv) its acquisition of a minority stake in Merit Financial Advisors, a wealth management firm and (v) its minority investments in Avior Wealth Management, LLC, Bogart Wealth, LLC, Procyon Enterprise LLC and Requisite Capital Management LLC, each an independent wealth management firm with significant assets under management
• Represented Esperanza Capital Management in (i) its strategic partnership with Cockrell to create a platform to make acquisitions of assets and businesses in the Gulf of Mexico and (ii) its joint acquisition, with Andros Capital Partners, of ExxonMobil’s assets in the ursa and Princess Fields of the Gulf of Mexico and on the formation of a strategic joint venture focused on the acquisition and development of upstream and infrastructure assets in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
• Represented Sammons Financial Group in (i) its strategic partnership with Northrock Partners, a wealth management firm with more than $5 billion in assets under management and (ii) on its acquisition of Wealthcare, a Registered Investment Advisor firm and platform services provider
• Represented Andros Capital Partners in (i) each of its inaugural $250 million energy fund targeting flexible capital investments, its $750 million second energy fund targeting flexible capital investments and its $1 billion third energy fund targeting flexible capital investments, (ii) its $150 million Permian Basin drilling joint venture with MPDC, (iii) its $122 million acquisition of mineral and royalty interests from an undisclosed seller and (iv) its participation, as a lead investor, in a $1.6 billion continuation fund with respect to HG Energy
• Represented lead investors of a private equity consortium in connection with the acquisition of Verdad Resources from Ares
• Represented Beemok Capital in its acquisition of the Western & Southern Open from the United States Tennis Association
• Represented Lime Rock Partners in its investments in (i) Prairie Energy, (ii) multiple San Jacinto Minerals platforms, (iii) Wayfinder Resources and (iv) Axis Energy Services
• Represented (i) Avolta LLC in its joint venture with Energy Capital Partners with respect to a joint venture to develop renewable natural gas products and (ii) Nacelle Logistics, LLC, a leading provider of RNG O&M and gas conditioning services, in connection with its investment from Energy Capital Partners
• Represented Devon Energy, as lead investor, in a $244 million funding of Fervo Energy, a leading geothermal development business
• Represented USD Clean Fuels, a leading developer of logistics infrastructure in North America for the renewable fuels value chain, in its sale of a majority interest to Ara Partners
• Represented Carnelian Energy Management in connection with multiple equity commitments to upstream oil and gas companies, including SandPoint Resources, LLC, Veritas Permian II, LLC and Percussion Petroleum
• Represented JP Morgan in its $220 million volumetric production payment transaction to Antero Resources

Other Representative Transactions

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Represented Juniper Capital in its creation of North Peak Oil & Gas through the combination of two existing portfolio companies and a substantial acquisition from a private oil and gas company
• Represented Veritas Energy and Carnelian Energy Capital Management in the sale of Permian Basin assets to Northern Oil and Gas for $406.5 million
• Represented Lime Rock Partners VIII, L.P. and its portfolio company San Juan Offshore LLC in a management-led buyout of all of Arena Energy, LP’s Gulf of Mexico assets out of bankruptcy
• Represented Juniper Capital in its $188 million strategic investment in independent oil and gas company Penn Virginia
• Represented Springbok in the sale of mineral and royalty interests to Kimbell Royalty Partners for $175 million
• Represented Samson Resources II, LLC in the $215 million sale of its Powder River Basin Assets to Continental Resources
• Represented Hilcorp Energy Company in connection with its acquisition of all of the Alaska oil and gas assets of a Chevron subsidiary, including interests in multiple offshore and onshore fields, gas storage facilities, numerous drilling rigs and tank farms
• Represented a private equity natural resources fund in connection with its acquisition of upstream oil and gas assets located in the Williston Basin in exchange for its issuance to the sellers of preferred equity interests in a special purpose vehicle formed to acquire the underlying oil and gas assets
• Represented Millennial Energy Partners in a variety of investments in non-operated oil and gas assets across the continental United States, including its joint venture with Continental Resources and its exits to private equity backed portfolio companies
• Represented privately held oil and gas company in its sale of its crude oil trucking business to an MLP
• Represented a Fortune 500 US energy company in the $230 million acquisition of a power facility and negotiation of subsequent joint operating arrangements
• Represented a leading financial institution in connection with its acquisition of a substantial commodity trading book
• Represented an independent power developer in its sale of a mid-stage development project in the State of Texas
• Represented a strategic participant in its bid for British Gas’s portfolio of gas-fired power generation assets located in New England, ultimately purchased by a private equity fund for approximately $450 million

Private Equity and Joint Venture Investments

• Represented Houston Energy in the formation of HEQ Deepwater and HEQ Deepwater II, with Quantum Energy, with more than $500 million of total equity capital commitments
• Represented Post Oak Energy Capital, LP, as investor in the PIPE transaction as part of Earthstone Energy’s approximately $860 million acquisition of Bighorn Permian Resources’ assets
• Represented Trace Capital and its portfolio companies Horizon Resources, Live Oak Resource Partners and Haymaker Minerals & Royalties in a variety of transactions, including investments by Trace Capital in certain of these portfolio companies
• Represented Black Knight Energy, a private energy company formed to pursue the acquisition and development of large, cash flowing oil and natural gas assets across the lower 48 states, and its management team in its $500 million equity commitment from Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors
• Represented OneNexus Environmental, a financial technology energy company, in its strategic partnership with BlackGold Capital Management to provide asset retirement solutions to oil and gas companies
• Represented the management team of AltaMar Energy in connection with the formation of AltaMar Energy, LLC and a line of equity commitment from Carnelian Energy Capital III, L.P.
• Represented the management team of Hawthorne Energy in connection with the formation of Hawthorne Energy, LLC and a line of equity commitment from Carnelian Energy Capital III, L.P.
• Represented management team in connection with the formation of Percussion Petroleum II, LLC and equity commitment from Carnelian Energy Capital
• Represented a private US developer and operator in the equity financing of two renewable natural gas projects, each related to developing and constructing a waste-to-energy facility at an industrial scale dairy farm
• Represented Denham Capital Management LP in its development of an equity line commitment structure for portfolio companies investing in mineral and royalty interests, including Denham’s equity line commitments to Bradford Minerals and Horizon Resources
• Represented Lime Rock Partners in its recapitalization of TEC Well Services, an oilfield service company with primary operations in West Texas, East Texas and Colorado focused on providing a full suite of well service rigs and ancillary rental equipment to E&P operators
• Represented Lime Rock in its recapitalization of SDI Gas, a Marcellus oilfield services company
• Represented Riverbend Oil & Gas in a variety of fund formation, joint venture and strategic partnerships, including Fund VI, Fund VIII and Fund IX
• Represented management of Lambda Energy Resources in its strategic partnership with Redbird Capital to acquire and develop assets in the Michigan Basin
• Represented a global private equity fund in a $200 million joint venture with a strategic midstream participant for purposes of acquiring midstream transportation and logistics assets in Louisiana, together with related debt and equity acquisition financing arrangements
• Represented upstream oil and gas portfolio company in an Eagle Ford Shale joint venture covering undeveloped properties that featured 100% carry consideration
• Represented Millennial Energy Partners in its fund formation and related arrangements
• Represented Live Oak Resources in the establishment of its private equity firm and its initial private equity fund, which is focused on acquisitions of mineral and royalty interests
• Represented Live Oak Resource Partners in multiple strategic partnerships with Denham Capital Management LP and certain co-investors to target investments in mineral and royalty interests in the continental United States
• Represented Sage Road Capital in multiple portfolio company investments, including its investments in K3 Oil & Gas, Woodford Petroleum and Peachridge Energy Partners
• Represented Titus Oil & Gas in its line of equity commitment from NGP in connection with the formation of an investment platform targeting oil and gas acquisitions in the Permian Basin
• Represented upstream oil and gas portfolio company in its cash and carry joint venture covering oil and gas properties located in the State of Mississippi
• Represented Triple Crown Energy in a variety of transactions, including a cash and carry joint venture covering properties located in the State of Kansas and sales of mineral properties located in the Utica Shale and the STACK play in Oklahoma
• Represented an energy fund in connection with a $400 million joint venture in the Marcellus Shale
• Represented Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts in connection with a Permian Basin drilling joint venture that featured a complicated farmout arrangement
• Represented Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts in connection with a uniquely structured Fort Worth Basin upstream oil and gas joint venture
• Represented a Canadian private equity group in connection with a structured oil and gas joint venture that featured acquisition financing

Energy Finance

• Represented a Second Lien Agent in connection with the Chapter 11 restructuring of Samson Resources Corporation
• Represented numerous financial institutions in acquisitions of volumetric production payments from exploration and production companies, ranging from $40 million to $1.2 billion and covering both onshore and offshore oil and gas assets, including various shale plays
• Represented multiple western oil and gas companies in reserve-based loan facilities ranging from $25 million to $500 million
• Represented Melody Capital Partners in connection with a mezzanine oil and gas loan made to a privately held parent of a Texas-based oil and gas company that featured an issuance of warrants and a bespoke arrangement with the first lien lender
• Represented a club of investors comprised of a variety of financial institutions, including private equity funds, mezzanine lenders, hedge funds, and investment banks in connection with the club’s acquisition from a publicly traded oil and gas company of a $140 million dollar-denominated production payment and perpetual overriding royalty burdening offshore oil and gas assets
• Represented mezzanine lenders in the financing of oil and gas exploration activities, including a $150 million mezzanine financing covering certain properties located in the Marcellus Shale and Montana
• Represented numerous independent oil and gas companies in connection with senior secured borrowing base revolving credit facilities

Trading, Project Development and Operational Matters

• Represented an independent oil and gas company with assets located in the Barnett Shale “Combo Play” in connection with acquisitions, development and operational matters, monetization efforts, upstream and midstream joint ventures and a corporate reorganization
• Represented an independent company with gas storage and oil and gas assets located in Texas in connection with its day-to-day operations, its implementation of a first lien credit facility, and the development, implementation and coordination of comprehensive land program, including title curative matters
• Represented independent power developers in development of power generation facilities located in Texas, including joint ventures with strategic participants and private equity investors
• Represented an international energy company in connection with its purchase of an early stage power development project in Texas and related development matters, including select environmental, public relations and regulatory issues
• Represented utilities and energy companies in connection with long-term power purchase agreements with respect to coal, petcoke, gas-fired and biomass power generation facilities
• Represented a wind power developer in connection with its implementation and administration of a comprehensive power-hedging program for a portfolio of its generation assets
• Represented multiple financial institutions in developing and negotiating both financial and physical commodity trading contracts

Selected Professional and Business Activities

Michael is a member of the Houston Bar Association and the Houston Young Lawyers Association. In 2015, Michael was elected as a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Selected Publications and Lectures

• Panelist, “M&A Perspectives” Telluride Executive Series sponsored by Daniel Energy Partners, June 2025
• Moderator, “PE Energy Trends”, Telluride Executive Series sponsored by Daniel Energy Partners, June 2024
• “Energy Private Equity: Navigating Energy Transition Investments”, Texas Energy Forum 2023, August 2023
• Panelist, “Capital Markets and PE Energy Trends”, Telluride Executive Series sponsored by Daniel Energy Partners, June 2023
• Panelist, “The Role of Private Equity in Energy Transition”, Institute for Energy Law’s Annual Energy Law Conference, February 2023
• Panelist, “M&A and Capital Markets Outlook”, Telluride Executive Series sponsored by Daniel Energy Partners, June 2022
• Moderator, “Infrastructure in the Permian Basin”, 2022 EIC Investor Conference, May 2022
• Panelist, “Energy Transition Capital Raising”, Pickering Energy Partners Energy Transition Symposium, December 2021
• “Contemporary Issues Facing the Modern O&G Startup,” Society of Petroleum Engineers GCS: Financing A Team & A Dream, December 2019

Recognition, Honors & Awards

• Chambers USA, Nationwide Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional), 2017-2025
• Chambers USA, Texas, Corporate/M&A, 2017-2025
• Chambers USA, Texas, Private Equity, 2022-2025
• Lawdragon, 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, 2025
• Lawdragon, 500 Leading U.S. Energy Lawyers, 2023-2025
• The Texas Lawbook, featured as a top dealmaker, 2025
• Who’s Who Legal, Energy, 2018-2023
• Energy & Industrials Dealmaker of the Year at The Deal’s Middle Market Awards in 2020
• Rising Star, Law360, 2013-2015
• Legal Leader on the Rise, Texas Lawyer, 2013

*Includes representations prior to Michael’s association with Gibson Dunn.

Nooree Moola is an English and Australian-qualified partner in the Dubai office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She heads Gibson Dunn’s disputes team in the UAE and is a member of the firm’s International Arbitration, White Collar Defence & Investigations, Enforcement of Judgments and Arbitral Awards, and Litigation practice groups. She has practiced in the Middle East region for more than a decade, as well as in London and Australia.

Nooree specialises in international arbitration and complex commercial litigation, regulatory investigations and complex advisory matters. She has been instructed on multiple landmark commercial disputes before the DIFC Court, creating new law in the process. She recently led an extensive reform of the ADGM Court Rules, Regulations and Practice Directions, introducing a new Division of the ADGM Courts and a Fast Track in the ADGM’s Civil and Commercial Division for the first time.

In addition to her work as counsel, Nooree sits as an arbitrator in arbitrations under all the major institutional rules, including the LCIA and DIAC. She is a member of the DIFC Court Rules Drafting Committee and is appointed to the United Nations Global Arbitration Counsel List.

Nooree is recognized by Chambers Legal as being “extremely bright, energetic, client-focused, hungry to win and tactical”. She is named on Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist for the Middle East Region. In 2025, she led her team to win Law.com’s prestigious “Middle East Arbitration Team of the Year”, Clients describe her as “very client-focused, commercial and pragmatic”, “very articulate and cool under pressure”, and “a tenacious and persuasive lawyer” who “quickly cuts through the noise to hone in on what is important”.

Nooree regularly represents clients in relation to shareholder disputes, investment disputes, M&A disputes, infrastructure and energy disputes, and matters involving fraud, anti-corruption and white collar crime. She has broad experience, including domestic and transnational litigation at the interlocutory, trial and appellate levels, before the DIFC Courts, ADGM Courts, the High Court of England & Wales, the English Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia. She has also acted on multiple campaigns for the enforcement of ultra-high-value arbitral awards across jurisdictions, against sovereign and private entities. She has acted for a broad range of clients including international oil companies, multinational corporations, banks, investment firms and sovereign governments.

Nooree also handles major cross-border investigations in the fields of bribery and corruption, fraud, sanctions, and money laundering.

Recent work includes:

Arbitration

• Representing the majority investors in a Middle Eastern oil and gas joint venture in multiple high-value LCIA arbitrations seated in London, with claims in excess of US$ 2 billion;
• On behalf of minority shareholders in an Iraqi telecommunications joint venture in a high-value, DIFC-seated LCIA Arbitration, securing an award of US$ 1.65 billion, the highest-value award in a DIFC-seated arbitration to date;
• Defending a sovereign state in a US$ 3 billion Singapore-seated commercial and investment dispute relating to a key piece of railway infrastructure, and securing a dismissal of nearly all claims whilst successfully prosecuting counterclaims; and
• Representing a sovereign state in an LCIA arbitration relating to a multi-billion-dollar container terminal and related infrastructure, involving allegations of bribery and State expropriation.

Litigation

• Acting in the first ever state immunity case to be heard by the DIFC Courts or Dubai courts, creating new law in the process;
• Drafting an extensive reform of the ADGM Court Rules and Court Regulations, to introduce a Fast Track in the ADGM Court’s Civil & Commercial Division and a new, bespoke Real Property Division;
• DIFC Court derivative proceedings against the directors of a holding company alleging breaches of fiduciary duty (such as self-dealing and conflicts of interest) and directors’ duties; and
• ADGM Court litigation against an investment manager, with allegations of breaches of the FSRA Rules and ADGM Companies Law, mismanagement and breach of various torts.

Investigations and complex compliance advisory

• Advising an oil major on an investigation into alleged improper payments made to a Lebanese consultant in connection with operations in Abu Dhabi and the broader GCC; and
• Advising a major European investment bank in connection with multi-jurisdictional investigations relating to alleged manipulation of LIBOR and other benchmark rates and foreign exchange rates.

Enforcement and arbitration-related litigation

• Acting for a Middle-Eastern investor in the enforcement in London, New York, the DIFC, the Netherlands and Switzerland of a multi-billion dollar LCIA arbitral award against a foreign government entity;
• Seeking an injunction in aid of arbitration before the DIFC Courts, to restrain a security holder from enforcing a share pledge whilst arbitration was underway;
• Obtaining worldwide disclosure orders from the DIFC Court in connection with the enforcement of an arbitral award; and
• Representing a multi-national company in relation to a jurisdiction challenge in support of an arbitration agreement.

In addition to her client work, Nooree is also active in the dispute resolution community in Dubai, and attends all of the major think-tanks and conferences. She is a member of ArbitralWomen, YIAC, Young ICCA, the Green Pledge and the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge. Nooree speaks at international conferences, and has lectured and published on a number of topics, including delivering training on international arbitration and state immunity to the staff of the Office of the Solicitor General of an Asian country.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Nooree trained and practiced as a solicitor in a top-tier international law firm in Melbourne, Australia. She was admitted as a solicitor in Australia in November 2009.

During her studies, Nooree was awarded a Dean’s Academic Excellence Award for having the highest finishing grade in both her Law and Applied Science (Genetic Engineering/Medical Biotechnology) degrees. She also received Dean’s Commendations for Excellent Academic Achievement each year between 2005 and 2008. Ms. Moola was also awarded the LESANZ Academic Achievement Award as top student in the course of her LL.M., completed at the University of Queensland.

Nooree also serves as Director on the Board of Pack for a Purpose, a s 501(3)(c) non-profit organization which encourages travellers to use extra luggage space to deliver supplies (from books to medical tools) to community-based programmes around the world. It supports more than 450 community projects in 66 countries across the world, with a key focus on education, health and child welfare.

Jade Chu is a partner in the Dubai office of Gibson Dunn, where he is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets Practice Groups.

He has significant experience advising corporates, government-related entities, sponsors and financial institutions on a wide range of corporate transactions (including cross-border public and private M&A, JVs and equity capital markets) and general corporate advisory matters.

Jade is listed and ranked by Chambers Global for Corporate/M&A in Dubai.

Jade received his Bachelor of Laws from SOAS University of London. He is admitted to practice in England and Wales.

Zach Hanusek is an associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. He is member of the firm’s Business Restructuring and Reorganization and Liability Management and Special Situations Practice Groups.  His practice focuses on representing ad hoc creditor groups across a host of in-court and out-of-court transactions.

Zach earned his J.D. cum laude from Fordham Law School, where he was an editor of the Fordham Law Review and was awarded the Benjamin Finkel Prize for Excellence in Bankruptcy Law.  He graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics.

Zach is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Apratim Vidyarthi is a litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on appellate and constitutional law, including First Amendment litigation; international judgment enforcement; technology law; law firm defense; and white collar defense. In addition, his work focuses on the media, entertainment, and technology industries.

Among his matters, Apratim represents a large technology company in First Amendment litigation against a government data sharing law; a national newspaper in a high-profile constitutional litigation against the government; and a media organization in a high-profile defamation/free speech lawsuit. He also represents a leading technology company in a nationwide class action antitrust case, and leading law firms in technology, bankruptcy, and ethics issues. Apratim is also actively involved in various billion dollar judgment enforcement cases against foreign sovereigns.

Apratim maintains a robust pro bono practice, focusing on First Amendment, Second Amendment, constitutional policing, Executive power, and Equal Protection, and criminal justice issues. Apratim has filed amicus briefs at the Supreme Court in Pancholi v. United States, Little v. Llano County, Chiles v. Salazar, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, Gonzalez v. Trevino, and Hungary v. Simon.

Apratim earned his J.D. cum laude in 2022 from the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he was the Philanthropy Editor for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, sat on the Board of the Journal of Law and Innovation, was a Littleton Fellow (teaching Legal Practice Skills), the President of the Comedy Club, and the co-Chair of the Moot Court Board. He was a teaching assistant for Constitutional Law with Professor Mitchell Berman, and a research assistant and co-author with Professor Christopher Yoo. Apratim was awarded the 2022 Fred G. Leebron Memorial Prize, given to the graduating student with the best paper in constitutional law.

Prior to law school, Apratim worked at Deloitte Consulting in their technology consulting group. He also has a Masters of Science in Engineering and Technology Innovation Management from Carnegie Mellon, and Bachelors degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Applied Mathematics and a minor in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Apratim’s scholarship on technology and constitutional law has been published in various leading journals.

• Author, A Sword and a Shield: An Antidiscrimination Analysis of Academic Freedom Protections, 26 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 471 (2024).
• Author, Formula Unjust: What Formula One Can Learn from Our Justice System to Improve Stewarding, 44 Hastings Commc’ns & Ent. L.J. 1 (2023).
• Author, Unknown Unknowns: Why We Need to Know More About How the Government Stifles the Right to Receive Information from Foreigners Online, 170 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1341 (2022).
• Author, The Public Square Has Eyes (or Cameras): Anonymous Speech Under the First and Fourth Amendment in the Age of Facial Recognition, 32 Fordham Intell. Prop., Media & Ent. L. J. 630 (2022).
• Co-author, Privacy in the Age of Contact Tracing: An Analysis of Contact Tracing Apps in Different Statutory and Disease Frameworks, 5 J. L. Innovation 102 (2021) (with Christopher Yoo).
• Co-author, Building Digital Walls and Making Speech and Internet Freedom (or Chinese Technology) Pay for It, 16 Indian J. L. & Tech. (2021) (with Rachel Hulvey).

Apratim is admitted to practice in the state of New York, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York, and the Eleventh Circuit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam Gensburg is an associate in Gibson Dunn’s San Francisco office.  He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department, with a focus on privacy, cybersecurity, and healthcare matters.

He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2024, where he was co-editor-in-chief of the Stanford Technology Law Review and worked in the Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic.

Before attending law school, Sam worked as a senior software engineer at a variety of public and private institutions.  From 2016 to 2018, he worked at the U.S. Digital Service, with a focus on matters related to healthcare data.

Sam is admitted to practice in California.

Amrita Krishnan is an associate in the Washington, DC office of Gibson Dunn. She currently practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Amrita earned her Juris Doctor in 2025 from the University of Chicago Law School. While in law school, she served as the President of the school’s Antitrust Law Association and was a member of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Clinic. Amrita graduated from the Northwestern University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

Amrita is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Benjamin Rice is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn. He currently practices with the firm’s Litigation Department.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Ben served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Jeremy Kernodle of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Ben earned his law degree summa cum laude and as Valedictorian from the SMU Dedman School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor of the SMU Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif and the SMU Barristers. He graduated summa cum laude from Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Spanish Language.

Ben is a member of the State Bars of Texas and Louisiana, and he is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Rachel Schwartz is a litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn.

She earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from New York University School of Law in 2025. While in law school, Rachel served as a Managing Editor for the NYU Law Moot Court Board. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2021.

Rachel is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Daniel R. Adler is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. He specializes in complex commercial and constitutional litigation in trial and appellate courts. Daniel has briefed more than 80 appeals for federal and state courts across the country and has argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and several California Courts of Appeal.

Highlights include:

• Class actions. Daniel regularly defends clients in high-stakes class actions and challenges orders granting motions for class certification. In one case, for example, the Fourth Circuit vacated an order certifying an antitrust class seeking billions. In re Zetia (Ezetimibe) Antitrust Litigation, 7 F.4th 227 (4th Cir. 2021). On remand, Daniel persuaded the district court not to recertify the class. In another case, Daniel secured the reversal of an order certifying a large class challenging the labeling on coffee cans. In re Folgers Coffee Marketing, 159 F.4th 1151 (8th Cir. 2025). Daniel has also defended significant class-action settlements from appeals brought by objectors. E.g., Akins v. Facebook, Inc., 2025 WL 484621 (9th Cir. 2025); Lako v. LoanDepot, Inc., 2025 WL 2389432 (9th Cir. 2025); In re Facebook, Inc. Internet Tracking Litigation, 2024 WL 700985 (9th Cir. 2024).

• Insurance. Daniel has extensive experience representing insurers in trial courts and on appeal. He won affirmance of judgments in cases brought on behalf of putative classes of policyholders in California and Washington seeking business income lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. E.g., Mudpie, Inc. v. Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America, 15 F.4th 885 (9th Cir. 2021); Hill & Stout, PLLC v. Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company, 515 P.3d 525 (Wash. 2022). Daniel also persuaded the Fifth and Ninth Circuits that large classes of auto-insurance policyholders should not be certified because it was impossible to determine on a classwide basis whether they were all injured. Bourque v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 89 F.4th 525 (5th Cir. 2023); Lara v. First National Insurance Company of America, 25 F.4th 1134 (9th Cir. 2022). In another of his appeals, the California Court of Appeal decided that the California Insurance Commissioner had impermissibly ordered a retroactive refund of premiums to policyholders. State Farm General Insurance Company v. Lara, 71 Cal. App. 5th 148 (2021).

• Securities and corporate governance. Daniel persuaded the United States Supreme Court to grant certiorari and then unanimously hold that plaintiffs suing under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 must prove that they bought shares under the registration statement they claim is misleading. Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani, 143 S. Ct. 1433 (2022). On remand in that same case, the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff couldn’t satisfy that standard and ordered all his claims dismissed. Pirani v. Slack Technologies, Inc., 127 F.4th 1183 (9th Cir. 2025). Daniel also won a decision from the Ninth Circuit holding that liability for short-swing profits under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 does not turn on whether a board approved transactions with an insider for the express purpose of exempting those transactions from liability. Roth v. Foris Ventures, LLC, 86 F.4th 832 (9th Cir. 2023). Daniel has also litigated cases in the Delaware Supreme Court, securing a reversal in a high-profile appraisal action (DFC Global Corp. v. Muirfield Value Partners, L.P., 172 A.3d 346 (Del. 2017)) and affirmance of a decision declining to second-guess a board’s judgment in approving an acquisition (City of Coral Springs Police Officers’ Pension Plan v. Block, Inc., 308 A.3d 1189 (Del. 2023)).

• Defending cities. Daniel persuaded the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and then hold that the enforcement of laws regulating camping on public property is not “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment. City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 144 S. Ct. 2202 (2024). The decision returned to local governments the right to decide for themselves how best to address homelessness. Daniel also defended a city, at both trial and on appeal, against claims brought under the California Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause. He has also counseled other California cities threatened with litigation under the California Voting Rights Act and section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act.
• General commercial appeals. Daniel persuaded the Ninth Circuit to affirm an order granting summary judgment to a financial-services firm in a suit over advisory fees. Anderson v. Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P., 2025 WL 3252323 (9th Cir. 2025). Daniel secured reversal of an order granting summary judgment in a dispute over a valuable piece of commercial real estate in Nashville. Houston Humphreys LLC v. Houston Street Partners, LLC, 2022 WL 3573404 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2022). And in a dispute between former parties to a license agreement to manufacture and sell consumer electronics, he defeated multiple appeals challenging orders granting summary judgment and awarding his client significant attorneys’ fees. Monster, LLC v. Beats Electronics, LLC, 2023 WL 4484055 (Cal. Ct. App. 2023); Monster, LLC v. Beats Electronics, LLC, 2020 WL 5014610 (Cal. Ct. App. 2020).

Daniel also maintains an active pro bono practice. Highlights include:

• First Amendment. Daniel won dismissal of a complaint filed against a nonprofit by a political group for an alleged violation of the First Amendment. Pasadena Republican Club. v. Western Justice Center, 985 F.3d 1161 (9th Cir. 2021). He has also counseled other clients facing potential First Amendment litigation.

• Fourth Amendment. Daniel represented the Cato Institute in opposing the United States Customs and Border Protection’s policy of searching electronic devices at the border, including at international airports, without even reasonable suspicion.

• Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Rights. Daniel secured an opinion holding that a former prisoner’s claim of indifference to his medical needs was not barred by the Prison Litigation Reform Act’s exhaustion requirement. Jackson v. Fong, 870 F.3d 928 (9th Cir. 2017). In another appeal, Daniel won reversal of the dismissal of a former immigration detainee’s claim that federal immigration officials violated his constitutional right of access to the courts. Garcia v. Johnson, 840 F. App’x 255 (9th Cir. 2021).

• Criminal appeals. Daniel has represented former prosecutors and public defenders serving as amici curiae in support of nonviolent drug offenders seeking to withdraw their guilty pleas on the ground that their counsel did not advise them of the immigration consequences of those pleas. In one case, he helped to persuade the California Court of Appeal to grant the defendant’s habeas petition. In re Hernandez, 33 Cal. App. 5th 530 (2019). In others, he helped to persuade the California Supreme Court to reverse orders denying defendants’ motions to vacate their convictions. People v. Espinoza, 14 Cal. 5th 311 (2023); People v. Vivar, 11 Cal. 5th 510 (2021). Those decisions will protect other noncitizens from the consequences of their uninformed guilty pleas.

Daniel has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Appellate Practice.

Daniel joined Gibson Dunn after serving as a law clerk to Judge Paul J. Watford of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

He graduated from Columbia Law School in 2014, where he served as an editor of the Columbia Law Review and earned the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize for achieving highest academic honors in all three years. Daniel graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 2009 with a degree in History and minors in Finance and Latin. Before attending law school, he worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in Chicago.

Daniel is admitted to practice law in the State of California as well as before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California.