Lawyers Archive

Mel Levine is counsel in the Century City office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He served as a member of the United States Congress from 1983 until 1993 and as a member of the California Assembly from 1977 to 1982. He is a member of the California bar and the District of Columbia bar.

Mr. Levine’s practice concentrates on counseling clients on the Public Policy aspects of complex domestic and international transactions and other matters. His clients have included companies involved in a range of industries, including banking, transportation, high technology, energy, entertainment, health care, defense, manufacturing, construction and telecommunications. These matters have been in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Mr. Levine was named one of the “100 Most Influential” lawyers in California and has been consistently recognized by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Administrative and Regulatory Law, most recently in their 2026 publication. Mr. Levine served for seven years as the volunteer President of the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California (Berkeley) and the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California and is a Director of the Pacific Council on International Policy. Mr. Levine has served as U.S. Chair of the U.S.-Israel-Palestinian “Anti-Incitement” committee established by the Wye Plantation peace agreement, as a Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, as a U.S. government appointee to the U.S. – Israel Science and Technology Advisory Commission as President of the American Friends of the (Yitzhak) Rabin Center in Israel, and as Board Chair of the Los Angeles Police Foundation.

Mr. Levine’s Congressional committee assignments included the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its subcommittees on International Economic Policy and Trade, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia; the Committee on the Judiciary and its subcommittee on Intellectual Property; and the Committee on the Interior and Insular Affairs. Mr. Levine was especially engaged in U.S. foreign policy involving international trade and Middle East policy. He served as Chair of the House Task Force on Exports. He also served as co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and chair of the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Latin America. Mr. Levine founded and co-chaired Rebuild America, an educational foundation to improve American competitiveness by increasing support for high-technology industries, improving education and rebuilding infrastructure. Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Levine served, at the request of Vice President Gore, as co-President of Builders for Peace, the private sector effort to assist the Middle East peace process.

Mr. Levine received his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1969, a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University in 1966, and a bachelor’s degree cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964.

Mr. Levine is married to journalist Connie Bruck, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. They have four children, Adam Levine, Jake Levine, Cara Levine and Ari Schlossberg.

Lindsey Young is an associate in the Palo Alto office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of the firm’s Litigation department and has represented clients in a wide variety of securities, corporate dispute, class action, and general litigation matters.

Her practice focuses on the representation of companies and their officers and directors in litigation in California, Delaware, and federal court. Lindsey also has substantial experience representing clients in governmental and internal investigations. In particular, she has significant expertise crafting and implementing end-to-end discovery strategy on complex matters. Lindsey’s clients have included companies and individuals in the software, social media, hardware, cryptocurrency, biotechnology, venture capital, and financial services industries, among others.

Lindsey also maintains an active pro bono practice, with a focus on domestic violence litigation, and has a long-standing relationship with the Family Violence Appellate Project.

She earned her law degree in 2014 from Stanford Law School, where she was student attorney at the Stanford Community Law Clinic in East Palo Alto, California, President of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter, and Editor of the Stanford Journal of Animal Law & Policy. Prior to attending law school, she worked in media and consumer behavior research in New York City. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Tufts University in 2006 with a major in Psychology and minors in Italian and Media & Communications.

Lindsey has been recognized in the 2026 edition of the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Commercial Litigation.

She is admitted to practice in the State of California.

Kiernan Panish is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She currently practices with the firm’s Litigation Department.

Kiernan earned her law degree cum laude from the University of Michigan, where she served as an Executive Editor of the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law and a teaching assistant for the first year legal writing program. She graduated cum laude from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

She is a member of the State Bars of California and Alabama.

Karl Nelson is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Dallas office where he is Co-Chair of the firm’s ERISA Litigation practice and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment, Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation, and Class Action Litigation Practice Groups.

Karl is recognized by Chambers USA for his work as a Labor and Employment attorney in Texas, and he has been consistently honored since 2012 as one of The Best Lawyers in America® for Labor & Employment Litigation, including being named the 2019 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers for Dallas Litigation – Labor and Employment. Karl is also ranked as among the Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers. A fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers since 2015, Karl counsels and represents clients in all aspects of federal and state employment regulation, labor relations, and compensation and benefits law. He has extensive experience defending complex labor and benefit matters, including class and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and comparable state laws. He has successfully defended clients against a wide variety of claims including compliance with state and federal wage and hour laws; worker misclassification challenges; allegations of systemic age, race, disability and gender discrimination; “whistle-blower” retaliation; and breach of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. He also regularly advises and represents clients in connection with trade secret, competition, and employee-raiding issues.

Karl has extensive experience representing clients before federal and state administrative agencies. He has successfully represented employers before the Department of Labor in complex wage and hour and pension benefits investigations and in Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower retaliation cases, as well as before the EEOC in connection with charges of individual and class-wide discrimination. Karl also frequently assists clients in conducting internal investigations of high-risk and high-profile matters such as those involving alleged misconduct by senior executives and corporate officers and allegations of whistle-blowing under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and similar laws. Given the sensitive and high-profile nature of the matters he regularly handles, Karl frequently works closely with in-house and outside resources to coordinate legal, investor relations, and media strategies and messaging.

Representative areas in which Karl practices include:

Discrimination Class Actions – Karl has successfully represented employers in industries including retail sales, manufacturing, defense, and transportation in class actions alleging discrimination in pay, promotion opportunities, and job assignments on the basis of race, sex, age, and disability. He was a core member of the team that redefined the legal standard for class certification in the U.S. Supreme Court’s watershed decision in Dukes, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Class and Collective Wage and Hour Litigation –Karl frequently defends large national employers in class and collective actions alleging violation of federal and state wage and hour laws, including claims for uncompensated work time, improper pay at termination, and unlawful pay and vacation practices. He has also successfully litigated challenges based on alleged misclassification of workers, application of various overtime exemptions, and “joint employer” status arising from use of contract labor.
Employee Benefits Litigation – Karl regularly represents clients in a variety of industries, including retail, transportation, manufacturing, communications, consumer products, and defense in connection with both individual and class action claims alleging violation of fiduciary standards and other requirement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. He was among the first to argue successfully for dismissal at the pleading stage of fiduciary breach and self-dealing claims in connection with ERISA “stock-drop” litigation. g., Lalonde v. Textron, Inc., 270 F. Supp.2d 272 (D.R.I. June 24, 2003), aff’d in part, 369 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2004). More recently, he has represented an array of Fortune 500 clients in disputes centering on allegations of excessive fees and other imprudent administration of 401(k) plans, actuarial equivalence claims for large defined benefit pension plans, prohibited transaction issues, and employer withdrawal liability.
Worker Health and Safety – Karl has successfully represented clients in responding to Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspections and in challenging subsequent OSHA citations arising from alleged workplace hazards, including allegedly serious and systemic safety and health hazards tied to novel and cutting edge workplace conditions including those arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace ergonomics, and employee exposure to dangerous customer conduct such as the crowd-trampling death of an employee.
Administrative Proceedings and Investigations – Karl has represented leading corporations in industries including financial products, retail, and consumer products when responding to high profile investigations by the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Engagements have included leading the response to investigations by the DOL’s Employee Benefit and Security Administration into health and pension plan losses resulting from the financial collapses of plan sponsors and administrators, defending employers in response to unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board, and counseling one of the nation’s largest private employers in connection with an EEOC investigation calling into question the structure of its hourly pay plan.
Trade Secrets and Competition – Karl frequently counsels and represents employers in connection with the protection of proprietary, confidential, and trade secret information and enforcement of restrictive covenants limiting post-employment competition, solicitation, and employee raiding. He has successfully litigated such matters to final judgments for clients in a variety of industries, including building products, manufacturing, restaurants and hospitality, healthcare, insurance, and financial management.
Sensitive Internal Investigations – Karl has represented clients across a wide variety of industries, including aviation, retail, building products, manufacturing, and hospitality, in sensitive internal investigations of possible misconduct such as employee theft of confidential information, whistle-blowing, sexual harassment, bribery, and corruption. In addition, he has led teams responding to sensitive investigations in a variety of non-employment contexts, including in response to investigations by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and to a high-profile outbreak of salmonella affecting the guests and staff of a major hotel.
Statistical Workforce Analysis – Karl has extensive experience assisting clients with the statistical analyses that are frequently at the heart of complex employment issues, including class discrimination claims, affirmative action plan design and testing, and anticipating potential adverse impact patterns that may result from critical employment decisions. He regularly assists clients in evaluation of their pay and employee selection practices, including in order to respond to shareholder initiatives and market demands for increased reporting and transparency with respect to such data.

Karl regularly writes and speaks on employment, benefits, litigation, and data security topics. He has served as an adjunct instructor in Human Resource Law and co-authored a software package for human resource professionals. He is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Labor and Employment Law and the American Employment Law Council. Karl is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States and numerous federal appellate and district courts.

Karl received his law degree from Duke University School of Law in 1991, graduating with high honors, and his B.B.A. in economics and business administration from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, graduating summa cum laude from the University Honors Program.

Michael Celio is the Partner in Charge of the Palo Alto Office of Gibson Dunn. He is a sought-after trial lawyer with more than two decades of experience trying cases in Silicon Valley and beyond. He has won at every level from state trial courts all the way the United States Supreme Court. His most recent wins include a 9-0 decision in the Supreme Court for Slack, and precedent-setting opinions in the Seventh Circuit for Kleiner Perkins and in the Ninth Circuit for Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

Clients call him “an exceptional trial lawyer” and “a resourceful and tenacious litigator.” He is highly-ranked by Chambers & Partners and recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in securities litigation. Michael is also featured in Lawdragon’s prestigious list of 500 Leading Lawyers in America, has been recognized as a “Legal Lion” and a Securities Law MVP by Law 360, and is recognized as a “Recommended Lawyer” in Securities Litigation: Defense by the Legal 500. He has also been named a Super Lawyer in Securities Litigation every year since 2010 and Benchmark Litigation recognized Michael as a “Litigation Star.”

He is a recognized expert in the field of securities litigation and is particularly experienced in defending venture capital firms and their partners as well as their portfolio companies. He also has deep experience in defending criminal actions brought by the United States Department of Justice and civil enforcement actions brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Michael has been repeatedly recognized for his superior client service. He has been named a BTI Client Service MVP and an Acritas Star on multiple occasions, with clients calling him “the gold standard” for outside counsel.

Earlier in his career, Michael was seconded to the San Francisco district attorney’s office under then-District Attorney Kamala Harris, where he was responsible for dozens of prosecutions and successfully tried numerous cases to verdict. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ronald Lee Gilman on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Michael received his law degree, cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he won awards in the both the Williston Contracts Competition and the Best Brief Award in the first year Ames Moot Court Competition. He was named a Chevening Scholar by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom and earned an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He earned an A.B. from Stanford University with Honors and Distinction and was awarded the Firestone Medal for Outstanding Research in Political Science.

He is admitted to practice before all Federal and State Courts in California, as well as in the Second, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits and the United States Supreme Court.

Select Representative Matters*:

Slack Technologies, LLC v. Pirani (U.S. No. 22-200): Obtained a 9-0 win for Slack in the U.S. Supreme Court, after litigating in the Ninth Circuit and Northern District of California and the 9th Circuit, in key industry-shaping litigation regarding Section 11.
Plaintiffs v. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers: Defended Kleiner Perkins and individually named defendants in a putative securities class action arising from the collapse of portfolio company Fisker Automotive. The district court dismissed the suit on statute of limitations grounds, including based on a novel argument that the statute of limitations was triggered by inquiry notice. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal in a published opinion, agreeing that publicly-known facts were judicially noticeable and supported dismissal at the pleading stage.
Plaintiff v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc.: Defended Intuitive Surgical, Inc., a leading manufacturer of cutting-edge robotic surgery devices, from a securities class action. Plaintiffs alleged that Intuitive Surgical issued false and misleading statements regarding the company’s financial results and prospects, when during the economic crisis of 2008, its financial results did not meet previously announced predictions. Plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a securities class action, which U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh dismissed with leave to amend. Then in a written opinion, Judge Koh agreed with each of the arguments, and dismissed the class action for the second time, this time with prejudice. Finally, the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the dismissal in a 23-page published opinion.
Plaintiff v. Amyris, Inc.: In this putative securities class action, the plaintiff accused the client, Amyris, Inc., a renewable energy company, of knowingly making false and misleading statements over the production of a chemical used in transportation fuels. After demonstrating the company was simply mistaken in their projections and its statements provided meaningful cautionary warnings, the judge granted the motion to dismiss.
San Mateo School Districts v. San Mateo County: Represented San Mateo County and its former treasurer against a $20 million suit brought by a group of San Mateo County school districts. Following the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy – in the midst of the nationwide financial crisis – plaintiffs filed suit against the County, alleging officials violated their fiduciary duties by investing too heavily in Lehman holdings. However, a San Francisco Superior Court judge was convinced to dismiss the case on the grounds that the complaint failed to comply with state and county laws governing lawsuits against public entities.
Receiver v. Venture Capital Firm: Won a total victory for a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm, which, along with 17 other defendants, was accused of conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty. The client and another venture capital firm invested in an internet-based portfolio company. The other firm sold the company’s stock to the client, which made a substantial profit after the company’s IPO. The stock sale, along with several other investments, led to the other firm’s collapse. In an effort to recoup its losses, the other firm’s receiver filed suit, accusing the client of conspiring with the company to sell the stock for a fraction of its value. Nearly all the other defendants settled, however the firm litigated the matter to its conclusion. After winning three different demurrers and a motion to dismiss, a final judgment was won for the client.
United States v. Bruce Karatz: Represented the former CEO of a public company in a criminal stock options backdating trial. Following a six-week trial in Los Angeles federal court, jurors acquitted the client on 16 of 20 counts. A federal judge then threw out one of two mail fraud counts. Despite the government’s recommendation of a six year prison term, the client only received eight months of home confinement and a fine.
Plaintiffs v. Electronic Arts Inc.: Represented Electronic Arts, its officers and directors, in parallel class actions and derivative lawsuits alleging securities fraud. After winning a motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs in all pending cases voluntarily dismissed their claims.
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Former Chief Financial Officer: Defended the former chief financial officer of a San Francisco-based hedge fund firm against charges of insider trading. The case was part of the government’s push to make insider trading the focus of financial fraud prosecution. The Securities and Exchange Commission named our client and several others in a civil suit, alleging they made more than $8 million trading on stocks based on insider tips. The firm knocked out half of the case on summary judgment and settled the remainder on very favorable terms.
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Former Executive: Represented the former controller of a failed online bank in a securities fraud action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The case was settled on favorable terms.
United States v. Computer Programmer: Represented a Russian computer programmer arrested in the U.S. for allegedly violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He was the first person to be charged under the criminal provisions of that statute.
United States v. Michael Shanahan Jr.: In a criminal options backdating case, the firm secured a dismissal before trial for Michael Shanahan Jr., who served on Engineered Support Systems Inc.’s board of directors and was a member of the company’s compensation committee. The firm also represented him in a parallel options backdating action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. After eight days of trial testimony, a federal judge in Missouri granted the motion for judgment as a matter of law.
United States v. Stock Analyst: Secured a successful plea agreement for the client, a former hedge fund analyst, who admitted to insider trading. In exchange for his cooperation in a major FBI investigation, the firm convinced the judge to sentence our client to two years probation.

*Includes matters prior to joining Gibson Dunn.

Speaking Engagements

39th Annual SEC Reporting & FASB Forum, “Staying Out of Trouble – SEC Enforcement Update,” 2023 (upcoming 12/23)
TechGC VCGC Conference, “Operating in the New Economic Environment,” 2023 (upcoming 10/23)
38th Annual SEC Reporting & FASB Forum, “Staying Out of Trouble – SEC Enforcement Update,” 2022
TechGC x VCGC Conference, “Litigation Trends,” 2021

Publications

“July 2012 Securities Roundtable,” California Lawyer, 2012
“February 2012 Securities Roundtable,” California Lawyer, 2012
“Anything You Don’t Say Can and Will Be Used Against You: Adverse Inferences from Invoking the Right to Remain Silent in DOJ/SEC Parallel Proceedings,” Practicing Law Institute, Securities Litigation & Enforcement Institute, 2010
“Books & Records: More Than Just a Paper Cut,” Practicing Law Institute, Securities Litigation & Enforcement Institute, 2008
“Internal Investigations: The Other Side Of Cooperation,” Practicing Law Institute, Securities Litigation & Enforcement Institute, 2007

Raychel is a litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. She specializes in white-collar criminal matters, government investigations, internal investigations, SEC enforcement, and complex civil litigation. Raychel also maintains an active pro bono practice.

Raychel represents individuals and large companies in high-profile criminal and civil matters, which include:

Representing Joy Reid in a defamation action in the Eastern District of New York concerning certain social media posts.
Represented a Fortune 500 client in connection with numerous government investigations that resulted in multiple declinations.
Represented a former executive of a publicly traded company in a high-profile multi-defendant criminal case brought by the United States Attorney’s Office involving over a dozen counts of alleged tax and securities fraud. The case resulted in a complete dismissal of all charges post-indictment.
Represented an individual who was the target of parallel SEC and DOJ investigations involving alleged securities violations. The SEC investigation resulted in a small settlement and no criminal charges were filed.
Secured a complete victory for NBCUniversal following an arbitration related to CNBC’s show The Profit. Raychel helped defend NBCU against fraud, defamation, conspiracy, and other claims, defeating a $30 million claim for damages.
Represented a major entertainment company in an arbitration concerning a television series breach of contract dispute that arose in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Represented a major consulting company in negotiations of a pre-litigation dispute that resulted in no claims against the client after zealous advocacy.

Raychel graduated first in her class from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, where she was the recipient of the William T. Aggeler Award, awarded summa cum laude, and elected to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, she served as a Judicial Extern to the Honorable Robert G. Klausner, United States District Judge for the Central District of California. Raychel also served as a Developments Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Raychel is admitted to practice law in the State of California and before the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Christina Krokee is a litigation associate in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation matters in federal and state court and high-stakes matters related to government investigations and enforcement actions.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Christina served as a law clerk to the Honorable Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Christina earned her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 2019. While in law school, she served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Jon S. Tigar of the United States District Court of the Northern District of California. Christina earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015.

Christina is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

David Woodcock is a partner in the Dallas and Washington offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a co-chair of the firm’s Securities Enforcement Practice Group. Mr. Woodcock’s background as a senior officer at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), global law firm partner, CPA, and senior in-house corporate attorney at ExxonMobil Corporation provides a unique set of experiences and perspectives that help him guide clients through complex matters that require sound judgment.

SEC Enforcement and Investigations

Mr. Woodcock’s practice focuses on internal investigations and SEC defense, with a particular emphasis on accounting and financial reporting, corporate compliance, and audit/special committee investigations. He also counsels investment advisors and private equity funds in the context of SEC examinations and investigations, ESG matters, and portfolio due diligence and compliance.

Mr. Woodcock served as Director of the Fort Worth Regional Office of the Securities Exchange Commission from 2011 to 2015. In this role, he led over 120 lawyers, accountants, and examiners on all aspects of the SEC’s enforcement and examination activities in four states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas). During his tenure, Mr. Woodcock helped create, and served as chair of, the cross-office/division Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force, which was designed to enhance the SEC’s detection and prosecution of violations involving accounting and false financial statements. During this time, Mr. Woodcock oversaw investigations in nearly every major area of the SEC’s enforcement program. He also served as a member of the Enforcement Advisory Committee.

Corporate Governance

Mr. Woodcock also regularly advises clients on corporate securities and governance, the role of the board, shareholder activism, and ESG-related issues, including the energy transition, climate disclosures, enterprise risk management practices, and related U.S./European regulations. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Woodcock was Assistant General Counsel – Corporate at ExxonMobil Corporation, where he led all aspects of corporate, securities, ESG/sustainability, and governance.

He is a frequent speaker and commenter on governance issues, including the following:

Market Recognition

Mr. Woodcock has been recognized as a leading attorney by Chambers, Securities Docket Elite, Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, and LawDragon—Energy, among others. In interviews with Chambers, his clients note “David is considered a thought leader in SEC work. He is super well-rounded and deeply respected.”

Mr. Woodcock received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Louisiana State University in 1992. He was a CPA at Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse for nearly five years before graduating with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2000. Mr. Woodcock clerked for Judge Howell Cobb in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas from 2000 to 2001 before going into private practice.

Harrison A. Korn is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn, where he is a member of the firm’s Transactional Department.

Harrison advises public and private companies, private equity firms, boards of directors and special committees in a wide variety of complex corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, asset sales and other carve-out transactions, spin-offs, joint ventures, strategic investments, and corporate governance matters, including securities law compliance. He also has substantial expertise advising public benefit corporations (PBCs).

Harrison has been recognized in the 2024 and 2025 editions of Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch® for Corporate Law.

Selected representations include the following:

Marriott International in its $13.6 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, its acquisitions of the City Express and Postcard Cabins brands, and several other acquisitions
CACI International in its unsolicited $7.2 billion topping bid to acquire CSRA, its $225 million acquisition of ID Technologies, and several other acquisitions
United Therapeutics in its conversion to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), its acquisition of Miromatrix Medical, its Series A preferred equity investment in TAI Diagnostics, and several other acquisitions
Standard International in its $385 million acquisition by Hyatt Hotels
FAST Acquisition Corp. II in its $1 billion merger with Falcon’s Beyond Global
Motive Capital Corp in its $2 billion merger with Forge Global
Brookfield Renewable and Stonepeak in their up to $1 billion investment in InterEnergy
JRE Partners in its spinout from J.P. Morgan
Fly Leasing in its $2.4 billion sale to an affiliate of Carlyle Aviation Partners
DocGo in its $1.1 billion merger with Motion Acquisition Corp.
An international insurer in its divesture of certain global shared services operations
Johnson & Johnson in its carve-out asset sale of medical device manufacturing operations with $1 billion per year in revenue to Jabil
Eaton in its $3.3 billion carve-out sale of its hydraulics business to Danfoss
Towers Watson in its $18 billion merger of equals with Willis Group
The Conflicts Committee of the Board of The Carlyle Group in Carlyle’s conversion from a publicly-traded partnership to a C-corporation
WGL Holdings in its $6.4 billion sale to AltaGas
Euronet Worldwide in its unsolicited $1 billion topping bid to acquire MoneyGram Financial
Civeo in its $367 million acquisition of Noralta
Avalere Health in its acquisition by Inovalon for $140 million
CoStar in its $170 million acquisition of Apartment Finder
Neustar in its $450 million acquisition of MarketShare Partners
Underwriters in a public senior note offering for Arlington Asset Investment Corp.
Underwriters in follow-on public equity offering for Pacific DataVision
MidOcean Partners and ATL Partners in various other transactions

Harrison is a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee and serves as Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Sub-Committee. He provides pro bono representation with respect to corporate matters to The Trevor Project and The Human Rights Campaign.

Harrison received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he served as Student Director of The Ethics Bureau at Yale clinic. Prior to attending law school, he graduated summa cum laude with distinction in the major from Yale College, where he majored in Cognitive Science and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa during his junior year.

Harrison is a member of the bars of New York State and the District of Columbia.

Patrick Hennessy is an English qualified partner in the London office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the Corporate Transactional, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, and Real Estate Practice Groups. Patrick has extensive experience advising clients in the U.K., across Europe and Asia on a wide range of corporate matters, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, disposals, leveraged buy-outs, and joint ventures.

Patrick has a particular focus on corporate real estate, mainstream private equity (including management and institutional buyout transactions), and all aspects of real estate private equity (including real estate mergers and acquisitions, real estate joint ventures and co-investment deals and structures). Patrick has advised clients on numerous high profile, cross-border, and complex transactions in these areas.

He also has significant experience advising clients in the betting and gaming industries.

Patrick is recognised by The Legal 500 UK 2024 for Real Estate: Commercial Property – Investment.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Patrick trained and practiced at another international law firm where he completed secondments to Cable & Wireless plc and AstraZeneca plc.

Wesley Sze is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and is a member of the Class Actions, Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation, and Securities Litigation Practice Groups.

Wesley represents leading companies in a wide range of complex litigation in all phases of litigation, including pre-trial discovery and substantive motions practice. In particular, he has significant experience advising clients in the technology and media industries on matters involving federal and state consumer fraud claims and data privacy issues.

He also maintains an active pro bono practice, with a focus on immigrant rights and constitutional litigation.

Wesley has been recognized by Law360 as a 2025 “Rising Star” in Class Actions and is also featured in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Appellate Practice.

Representative Matters

Representing software and hardware technology company in multidistrict class action litigation regarding flagship mobile device.
Representing technology companies in class action litigation arising out of alleged data security incidents.
Representing cloud software provider in first putative class action alleging securities law violations based on direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Representing cryptocurrency exchange in litigation regarding crypto-asset recovery issues.
Obtained published opinion from the California Court of Appeal affirming dismissal of a putative class action alleging violation of “trespass to chattels” by accessing electronic files. 79 Cal. App. 5th 755 (2022).
Secured dismissal of multiple negligence and products liability actions against leading technology company on the pleadings, and defended those dismissals on appeal.
Obtained order decertifying a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action of over 320,000 individuals against technology company.
Secured multiple orders quashing subpoenas seeking identifying information about anonymous blogger, in violation of the blogger’s First Amendment rights. 337 F.R.D. 639 (N.D. Cal. 2020).
Represented a leading technological company in bid protest of multi-billion dollar cloud computing contract, successfully securing preliminary injunction and ultimately resulting in cancellation of contract to competitor.
Secured dismissal of Section 16(b) “short-swing” profits claim involving withholding of restricted stock units, and successfully defended the judgment on appeal. 2018 WL 575468 (N.D. Okla. 2018), aff’d, 760 F. App’x 620 (10th Cir. 2019).

Select Pro Bono Matters

Representing asylum seekers at all stages of the immigration process, including obtaining favorable results from the Ninth Circuit, Board of Immigration Appeals, Immigration Court, and Asylum Office for clients from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Eritrea.
Won preliminary injunction ordering immediate reunification of asylum seeker and her 3-year-old son, who had been forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border pursuant to the government’s “Zero Tolerance” policy. 2018 WL 10050356 (D.D.C. Dec. 4, 2018).
Obtained appellate order reversing illegal seizure of veteran disability benefits from inmate trust account. 781 F. App’x 593 (9th Cir. 2019), on remand from 139 S. Ct. 790 (2019).

Wesley received his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he served as a Technical Managing Editor and Notes Editor of the Stanford Law Review. His Stanford Law Review note, 68 Stan. L. Rev. 235 (2016), was awarded the 2016 Scribes Law-Review Award for the best student-written article in a law review or journal.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia, where he graduated as class valedictorian. Before law school, Wesley conducted monetary policy research at the Bank of Canada.

Wesley is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts of California.

Sam Raymond is Of Counsel in the New York office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations, Litigation, Anti-Money Laundering, Fintech and Digital Assets, and National Security Groups. As a former federal prosecutor, Sam has a broad-based government enforcement and investigations practice, with a specific focus on investigations and counseling related to anti-money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, and sanctions.

Sam is an experienced investigator and trial lawyer. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Sam was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York from 2017 to 2024. In that role, Sam tried multiple cases to verdict and prosecuted a broad range of federal criminal violations. Sam was a member of the team that prosecuted executives at FTX and Alameda Research, including as a member of the trial team in United States v. Bankman-Fried, and was the lead prosecutor in the FTX case on issues related to asset seizure and forfeiture. Sam was also a member of the DOJ team that brought criminal charges against the senior leadership of Hamas for their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. Sam was a lead prosecutor in one of the first cases ever charging individuals with violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, in a pathbreaking prosecution of executives at a cryptocurrency exchange.

Sam led dozens of other investigations and prosecutions, including in cases involving money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, sanctions evasion, asset seizure and forfeiture, tax fraud, securities fraud, bank and wire fraud, racketeering, extortion, illicit gambling, art fraud, and government benefits fraud. Earlier in his career, Sam prosecuted cases involving gang violence and narcotics trafficking. Sam argued multiple times before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, including with respect to constitutional issues of first impression. He also served as one of the Office’s inaugural Digital Asset Coordinators, offering trainings and coordinating within the Office regarding digital assets, and engaging with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Department of Justice components, and law enforcement agencies, regarding cryptocurrency.

Prior to his government service, Sam practiced for several years at another major international law firm, where he practiced white collar defense and litigated complex civil cases and appeals.

Sam has a substantial pro bono practice. At his prior firm, Sam helped establish the innocence of a man who had served 29 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, leading to the vacatur of the man’s conviction by the Manhattan D.A.’s Office.

Sam received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his law degree from NYU Law School. Following law school, Sam clerked for Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the Central District of California, and Judge J. Clifford Wallace of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Sam is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Fourth Circuits.

Jackson Weber is an associate attorney in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He currently practices with the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group.

Jackson received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, and received Order of the Coif honors from Fordham University School of Law, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law and was a recipient of the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award.

Jackson received his Bachelor of Arts in Government, with distinction, from Cornell University. While at Cornell University, Jackson was a member, and senior captain of the football team.

Jackson is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

Sloane Ruffa is a corporate associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn.

She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2024, where she served as the Executive Editor for the Virginia Law & Business Review.

Sloane received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Duke University in 2019. Sloane is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Blaine Roth is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. She currently practices in the firm’s Transactional Department.

Blaine earned her Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law in 2019. While in law school, she served as a member of the Entertainment Law Review and the Journal of Law and Technology. Blaine graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, having double majored in Policy Studies and Public Relations.

She is admitted to practice law in the States of California and New York.

Elizabeth Romefelt is a corporate partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice Groups.

Elizabeth represents both public and private companies and financial sponsors in connection with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, minority investments, restructurings, and other complex corporate transactions. She also advises clients with respect to governance and general corporate matters.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Elizabeth was a corporate associate in the New York office of another international law firm. She earned her Juris Doctor, with honors, in 2014 from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was an Associate Editor on the Texas Law Review. She received a Bachelor of Arts, with distinction, in Philosophy and Spanish from the University of Michigan in 2010.

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

Johannes Reul is an associate in the Munich office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Private Equity Practice Groups.

Johannes focuses on corporate transactions and corporate law and advises clients on the various issues of corporate law, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.

He studied law at the University of Passau and at King’s College London, focusing on corporate, antitrust, and capital market law. During his studies and his legal clerkship, he gathered international work experience at the United Nations ECOSOC in New York and worked for two renowned international law firms in Munich. Johannes obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Columbia Law School, New York, in 2023 specializing in corporate law and corporate finance. He has been admitted as a German lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) since 2023.

In addition to his native German, Johannes speaks English and French.

Tim Windfelder is a corporate associate in the Munich office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Projects and Infrastructure Practice Groups.

Tim represents both public and private companies and financial sponsors in connection with mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, minority investments, management programs, and all other kinds of M&A and PE transactions. He also advises clients with respect to governance and general corporate matters.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Tim studied law at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and at the Université Jean-Moulin-Lyon-III in Lyon. During his studies and his legal clerkship, he gathered work experience at renowned law firms in Munich and New York City. He has been admitted as a German lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) since 2023. In the following year, Tim obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from NYU School of Law focusing on corporate law and core American law courses, allowing him to successfully pass the New York Bar Exam.

After completing his LL.M., Tim joined the New York office of Gibson Dunn as Visiting Attorney, working on infrastructure transactions for financial sponsors in the U.S. and Latin America. He transferred to the Munich office in 2025.

In addition to his native German, Tim speaks English and French.

Sarah Reder is an associate in the London office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of the Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Capital Markets Practice Groups.

Sarah advises on a broad range of private equity and corporate transactions. Before joining the firm, she was an associate at another international law firm in London where she gained experience in corporate private equity, capital markets, and global finance.

Sarah also undertook two client secondments: at a private equity house and a leading European bank.

Selected experience:*

A leading provider of dealer management systems and integrated information technology solutions to the automotive retailing and adjacent industries, in the $1.45 billion sale of part of its business.*
A French media conglomerate in the acquisition of a UK TV production company.*
A leading global chemical company based in Germany in the sale of part of its business.*
Goldman Sachs on its investment in tech platform LumApps.*

*Some of these representations occurred prior to Sarah’s association with Gibson Dunn.

Haresh Prasad is of counsel in the New York office of Gibson Dunn where he practices in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice Groups. Haresh advises public and privately held companies, including private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, in connection with a wide variety of corporate transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, minority and strategic investments, and divestitures.

Haresh has represented numerous public companies in their strategic transactions, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Publicis Groupe, Xylem, Marsh & McLennan, and General Electric, among others. He has similarly represented numerous private equity clients, including Macquarie Asset Management, JPMorgan Growth Equity Partners, L Catterton, Trilantic Capital Partners, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, and their respective portfolio companies.

Haresh also previously worked for JPMorgan as part of JPMorgan’s M&A Group, where he worked on principal acquisitions, divestitures, strategic and financial investments, and with respect to its warrant program. His experiences included advising on JPMorgan’s acquisition of the assets and assumption of certain liabilities of First Republic and providing guidance to board members on general governance matters and fiduciary obligations.

Haresh received his Juris Doctor in 2015 from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served as the notes Editor on the Columbia Business Law Review. He graduated summa cum laude from Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.