Brenton Gutkowski is an associate in the Orange County office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP where he currently practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Brenton earned his Juris Doctor in 2023 from the University of San Diego School of Law where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to the Order of the Coif. During law school, he served as Articles Editor of the San Diego Law Review and was a judicial extern to the Honorable Michael S. Berg of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Prior to attending law school, Brenton graduated magna cum laude from The Ohio State University. He majored in Public Policy Analysis with a minor in Global Public Health.

Brenton is a member of the bar of the State of California and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Dr. William R. Hollaway is chair of Gibson Dunn’s Energy Regulation and Litigation practice. He is also a leader in Gibson Dunn’s Energy Power and Renewables practice, focused on the federal and state regulatory aspects of electric utility mergers and acquisitions, financing, and project development. Dr. Hollaway also represents clients on oil and gas matters, including federal regulations and authorizations. He is recognized as a leading Energy Regulatory practitioner by Chambers USA and Chambers Global – Energy: Electricity (Regulation and Litigation). The U.S. Legal 500 named him a “Leading Lawyer” for Energy regulation: electric power and Who’s Who Legal
for Power/Electricity. Dr. Hollaway has extensive experience representing clients on a broad range of issues in the energy regulation and transactions, including numerous proceedings and matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). His clients include public utilities, independent power producers, transmission companies, and oil and gas companies. Dr. Hollaway’s deep understanding of power generation and transmission technology has enabled him to work seamlessly with clients on virtually every type of power project. He has represented clients on many wind, solar, and hydro renewable power projects, nuclear power projects, and natural gas and coal projects. Dr. Hollaway possesses in-depth knowledge of project development agreements and interconnection agreements, exemplified by his ground-breaking work on the Neptune Transmission System and Hudson Transmission Project. Dr. Hollaway also represents clients on Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), oil and gas pipeline, and oil refining matters.

Dr. Hollaway represents clients on energy utility mergers and acquisitions, financing, and project development. His transactional work includes transaction structuring to address federal and state regulatory requirements, due diligence of utility assets and businesses, negotiating transaction agreements, and obtaining federal and state regulatory approvals for mergers and acquisitions. Dr. Hollaway has obtained federal and state regulatory approval for numerous energy transactions. He has also obtained numerous required regulatory approvals for wholesale and retail power sales, and transmission service rates. Dr. Hollaway has extensive experience working with the nation’s Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO)/Independent System Operators (ISO) including PJM, MISO, ERCOT, CAISO, NYISO, SPP and ISO-NE, and has a thorough understanding of RTO/ISO open access transmission tariffs and operating agreements.

Dr. Hollaway received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif. Dr. Hollaway also received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and undergraduate engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been elected a member of the Sigma Xi scientific research honor society, Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and Alpha Nu Sigma nuclear engineering honor society, and was awarded a fellowship from the United States Department of Energy.

Christopher M. Joralemon is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of several Gibson Dunn Practice Groups, including Securities Litigation, Trials, and White Collar Defense and Investigations. Since 2014, Christopher has served as Chair of the New York Community Affairs Committee, Pro Bono Chair of the New York Office, and as a member of Gibson Dunn’s Global Pro Bono Committee.

Christopher represents multinational companies, financial institutions, and senior executives in complex trial and appellate litigation, regulatory proceedings, and internal investigations. He currently serves as lead counsel for Vale S.A., one of the world’s largest mining companies, in a billion-dollar securities class action filed in the wake of catastrophic mining accident in Brazil. He also currently represents Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and Mondelez Global LLC in a federal class action asserting Commodity Exchange Act and antitrust claims based on an alleged wheat futures market manipulation.

Christopher has successfully defended a wide range of clients in some of the most noteworthy cases of the last twenty-five years. For example, he was a key member of the Gibson Dunn trial team that successfully prosecuted a RICO action on behalf of Chevron Corporation to block enforcement of a fraudulent $9 billion judgment in the widely covered “case of the century.”

Christopher also recently served as co-lead trial counsel for Investcorp, a world-leading manager of alternative investments, in a $500 million negligent misrepresentation lawsuit brought by a failed hedge fund. Following a three-week bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Christopher and his colleagues achieved a complete defense verdict in favor of Investcorp.

He also compiled a perfect record over eight years in defending leading global asset management firm Trust Company of the West (“TCW”) against a series of unrelated post-financial crisis lawsuits stemming from investment losses in multi-billion-dollar structured finance transactions. In the crowning achievement of that run, the New York Appellate Division (First Department)—in a virtually unprecedented ruling—granted TCW summary judgment against two now-defunct Australian hedge funds based on their failure to rebut TCW’s showing that the global financial crisis commencing in 2007 caused plaintiffs’ investment losses.

Early in his career, Christopher orchestrated an important victory on behalf of a former mutual fund executive in a closely watched “market timing” enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following an appeal by the SEC from an order dismissing the action, an en banc panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the SEC’s efforts to expand the scope of Rule 10b-5 primary liability based on an actor’s “central role” in securities markets.

Other Representative Matters:

• Vale: Successfully moved to dismiss a multi-billion-dollar putative securities class action (affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) based on plaintiff’s failure to allege a domestic securities transaction.
• Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS and BNY Mellon Capital Markets: Obtained voluntary dismissal with prejudice of a putative securities class action concerning foreign exchange practices.
• Coty: Defeated at motion to dismiss stage a putative securities class action arising out of $1 billion IPO of leading beauty products manufacturer despite the complaint’s inclusion of seven “confidential informants” supporting an allegation that company had failed disclose negative material trends in its business.
• The Royal Bank of Canada: Favorably resolved highly publicized regulatory and civil proceedings arising out of structured finance investment losses realized by five Wisconsin School Districts in the wake of the global financial crisis.
• Moody’s: Secured positive eve-of-trial settlements of two separate investor actions stemming from the collapse of multi-billion-dollar structured investment vehicles during the global financial crisis.
• Prominent Accounting Firm: Convinced the SEC to forego any charges against the client in connection with investigation and subsequent enforcement action against a publicly traded international technology company.
• Morgan Stanley and The Bank of New York Mellon: Negotiated advantageous settlements in $5 billion civil litigation relating to the collapse of Adelphia Communications Corporation.
• Citigroup: Won summary judgment in a $13 billion class action litigation arising out of the failure of Parmalat.
• Merrill Lynch: Successfully navigated a broad range of Enron-related hearings, investigations, and proceedings.
• SMBC Capital Markets: Won dismissal of a federal False Claims Act qui tam action—affirmed in a seminal Second Circuit decision—involving the municipal bond market “yield burning” scandal.

Throughout his career, Christopher has devoted significant attention to pro bono and charitable efforts. He recently chaired a hearing panel appointed by the Judicial Committee of USA Climbing to resolve disputes involving alleged violations of governing conduct codes. He also has led a team of attorneys representing a man wrongly convicted of murder almost twenty-five years ago, has supervised young attorneys handling criminal appeals on behalf of the District Attorney’s Offices for Kings and Queens Counties, has represented the Republic of Liberia in disputes involving diplomatic operations in New York, and has organized groups of lawyers to monitor polling locations in several states as part of nonpartisan voter protection efforts during presidential elections. He also has coordinated fundraising efforts through law firm participation in corporate sporting events on behalf of charitable organizations dedicated to preventing domestic abuse and providing a safe haven for victims of domestic violence.

Christopher graduated magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law, where he served as Editor of the Boston University Law Review.

Kareem Ramadan is a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he is a member of the Public Policy, Congressional Investigations, White Collar Defense and Investigations, and Antitrust practice groups.

Kareem has a wide range of experience advising clients on their interactions with Congress. He represents clients undergoing investigations by various congressional committees, including United States House and Senate Committees. The committees Kareem has worked with include House Education & Workforce, House Oversight and Accountability, House Financial Services, House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, House Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, House Judiciary, House Energy & Commerce, House Homeland Security, Senate Finance, Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Senate Judiciary, Senate Budget, and Senate HELP. Kareem supports clients through all stages of investigations including subpoena responses and preparing witnesses for transcribed interviews and congressional hearings. He also provides counsel around federal ethics and lobbying rules. 

Additionally, Kareem regularly supports companies through DOJ investigations, internal investigations, and internal risk assessments involving anti-corruption, securities fraud, false statements/obstruction, and the unlawful sale of regulated products.

Kareem earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2020, where he received the Thomas Marshall Miller Prize and was a member of the Raven Society. During law school, he served as the Managing Editor for the Virginia Law Review, president of the Muslim Students Association, and president of the Middle East and North Africa Student Association. From 2020 to 2021, Kareem served as a law clerk to the Honorable Norman K. Moon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Prior to law school, Kareem worked in business development and strategy for a large IT government contractor in Northern Virginia. He received a B.S. in business administration and a second major in economics from the University of North Carolina in 2014.

Kareem is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Publications

• Kareem W. Ramadan, Confessionalism in Lebanon: The Costs of Seeking Consensus Through Fragmentation, 61 Va. J. Int’l L. 137 (2020).

Monica Lin is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Dallas office, where she currently practices in the firm’s Litigation, Life Sciences, and Intellectual Property Practice Groups.

Before joining the firm, Monica was an associate in the IP Litigation group at Sidley Austin.

Monica received her B.A. cum laude in Chemistry from Harvard University and her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where she served as an articles editor for the Texas Law Review and as a Cybersecurity Graduate Fellow in the Strauss Center. Monica also participated in the Texas Law Supreme Court Clinic, helping to draft cert petitions and merits briefs. In addition, while at UT, she interned for Justice Patricia Alvarez at the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals.

Monica is admitted to practice in the states of Illinois and Texas.

Kemi Kehinde is an associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s New York Office. She is a member of the Litigation Department, where she currently practices in the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.

Kemi earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 2023 from Georgetown University Law Center where she was an Opportunity Scholar and a Reactions Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives. While at Georgetown, she was a student-lawyer in the Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic, a teaching fellow, and a law clerk for the Mothers’ Outreach Network. Kemi also served as the Communications Director and Corporate Relations Chair of Georgetown’s Women of Color Collective and was a former scholar and intern of PracticePro, an organization that supports law students as they enter the professional world.  

Kemi graduated summa cum laude in 2019 from the University at Albany with a Bachelor of Arts in English Honors.

Kemi is admitted to practice in New York.

Philip Rocher is the senior partner in the Dispute Resolution Group in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s London office. He specialises in litigation, often with an international element, and regulatory and internal investigations. He has extensive experience in the financial services sectors and in competition litigation and class actions.

Philip regularly advises on high value disputes arising from the full range of commercial activities and has taken many large and complex matters through to a concluded trial. In recent years he has conducted a three-month hedge fund fraud trial in the Cayman Islands, a ten-week fraud trial in the Commercial Court, and multiple hearings in the appellate courts (including the UK Supreme Court) in a ground-breaking private sector equal value employment claim. He has also defended clients in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the UK Commercial Court.

He has conducted numerous regulatory and internal investigations in the UK and internationally for clients in the financial services sector and in other industries, reporting the results to both regulators and boards of directors. These matters range from examining the conduct of senior managers in an investment bank, to major multinational regulatory investigations.

Philip was ranked as a leading lawyer in the field of Commercial Litigation in Chambers UK 2017. He is included in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame listing for Commercial Litigation and also recognised for Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, Competition Litigation, Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime and Administrative and Public Law in The Legal 500 UK 2024, in which clients have noted “Philip Rocher’s depth of experience, sound judgement and ability to cut through the detail to the essentials provide an invaluable resource on any litigation team. He is a superstar of commercial litigation.” Philip is recommended in the field of litigation by Best Lawyers UK (2014-2025), and is listed as one of the leading practitioners worldwide in the most recent issue of International Who’s Who of Commercial Litigation Lawyers. Benchmark Litigation Europe 2022 ranked Philip as a Litigation Star in the areas of Insurance, International Arbitration and Commercial & Transactions. He is also ranked for International Arbitration and Litigation in the Lawdragon 500 Global Litigation Lawyers guide 2021.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Philip was a partner in the London office of Clifford Chance.

Joel Harrison is a partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a Co-Chair of the firm’s Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Technology Transactions Practice Group.

Joel advises on everything technology-related, including transactions, disputes and renegotiations, as well as regulatory issues. He also specialises in data protection and cybersecurity, advising on the full range of regulatory, transactional and contentious matters. Joel’s clients include some of the world’s leading corporations and financial institutions.

Joel advises clients on a wide range of technology projects, including outsourcing, cloud computing, software development and licensing and system integration agreements, as well as collaborations and strategic alliances in the technology sector. He has also represented clients in major disputes and renegotiations on technology projects, and regularly advises on a wide variety of issues in technology regulation and policy development.

Joel also advises clients on data protection matters, including data protection and ePrivacy issues in the development of new products and services and international data transfers, as well as data protection disputes and regulatory proceedings. He regularly advises on cybersecurity issues, and has represented clients in a wide range of sectors (including financial services, technology and pharmaceuticals) on incident preparedness and response.

He is listed as a leading individual for both Information Technology and Outsourcing in Chambers & Partners and as a leading individual for Information Technology in Legal 500. In addition, he is recognised by the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom as a leading lawyer for Technology Law and Outsourcing.

Kylah Turner is an associate in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She currently practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Kylah earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 2023.  While in law school, Kylah served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley.  In addition, Kylah was a member of the Interdisciplinary Law Journal and served as vice-president of the Health Law Society. 

Kylah graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in History.

Kylah is admitted to practice in the State of California.

Kasturi Mitra is a litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  Kasturi has represented clients in a range of matters including patent litigation, contract disputes, privacy litigation, and antitrust matters. 

She received her Juris Doctor in 2020 from Cornell Law School. While at Cornell, Kasturi served on the board of OutLaw (the LGBT+ group) and worked as an associate for the Journal of Law and Public Policy. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Connecticut in 2015.

Kasturi is admitted to practice law in New York.

Cathy Conway is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. Cathy has sealed her reputation as a leading labor and employment litigator with more than 40 years trial experience representing major companies in high-stakes employment cases. Her practice focuses on complex employment litigation, including class actions with an emphasis on wage and hour litigation trials. She has trial experience in state and federal litigation, including wage and hour claims, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, unfair competition, protection of employer trade secrets and unfair business practice litigation under California Business and Professions Code Section 17200. Cathy has advised boards of directors in many confidential investigations and represents a large variety of employers, including national retail companies, insurance companies, Internet companies, manufacturers, banks, investment banking and financial services firms, national restaurant chains, oil companies and law firms.

Cathy joined Gibson Dunn in April 2012.

Recent representations include:

• In a strongly contested sexual harassment case in the Northern District of California, Cathy was lead counsel on behalf of an individual defendant. U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton on May 11, 2012 granted summary judgment dismissing the case against Cathy’s client. The Court found no basis for liability for Cathy’s client.
• In March 2012, Cathy obtained a significant victory for Michaels Stores when a federal judge indicated he planned to rule in the arts and crafts chain’s favor following a bench trial held with an initial “test” plaintiff. More than 100 individual plaintiffs are named in the case, former and current store managers who claim Michaels improperly classified them as exempt from overtime and other labor violations. The Adams case was filed after Cathy obtained decertification of the class in a previous class action making similar claims against the company. On August 6, 2013 U.S. District Judge George Wu issued his final written decision, and found that Michaels’ expectations that the test plaintiff would spend most of her time managing were clear and realistic, so she was properly classified as exempt. This decision greatly impacted the resolution of the remaining cases.
• On November 27, 2012, Cathy along with other Gibson Dunn attorneys, secured a grant of review from the Ninth Circuit in Brown v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a class action brought under the California Private Attorney General Act, which allows private litigants to prosecute violations of the California labor laws. In this “suitable seating” case, plaintiffs are seeking to recover statutory penalties on behalf of a putative class comprised of more than 22,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees, alleging that Wal-Mart violated California law by failing to provide its cashiers with seats while they worked. This case marks the first time a state or federal court of appeals will consider a case involving the seating requirement.
• Cathy is a part of the Gibson Dunn team that has secured multi district dismissals of class action claims after the Dukes decision. In each case, plaintiffs argued – that a smaller, regional class could overcome the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dukes. The cases include the following:– Ladik v. Wal-Mart On May 24, 2013, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed class allegations brought by a group of current and former female Wal-Mart employees. Gibson Dunn attorneys persuaded the Court that plaintiffs’ theory of class certification, whether applied to a regional or national class, cannot satisfy commonality as a matter of law under the Supreme Court’s ruling. The Court agreed and dismissed plaintiffs’ class claims.– Phipps v. Wal-Mart On February 20, 2013, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee dismissed with prejudice the class allegations brought by a group of current and former female Wal-Mart employees. Gibson Dunn attorneys persuaded the Court that the new, regional class allegations were untimely, arguing that tolling principles do not apply to successive class actions. The Court agreed, holding that plaintiffs’ class claims were barred by the relevant statute of limitations.– Odle v. Wal-Mart On October 15, 2012, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas dismissed with prejudice the class allegations brought by a group of current and former female Wal-Mart employees. The plaintiffs claimed Wal-Mart engaged in gender-based discrimination in both pay and promotion decisions. Gibson Dunn attorneys persuaded the Court that the new, regional class allegations were untimely, arguing that familiar tolling principles do not apply to successive class actions involving the same parties. The Court held that plaintiffs’ class claims were barred by the relevant statute of limitations. In addition, the Court agreed that the individual claims of lead plaintiff and original Dukes class representative Stephanie Odle are time-barred.
• In addition, Cathy has been lead counsel on the resolution of a number of class action cases and high profile cases in state and federal court for such clients as Conoco Oil, Phillips 66, Orchard Supply Hardware and Michaels Stores.

Cathy has been recognized as a leading employment lawyer by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business from 2009-2024. She is also recognized by her peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Employment Law from 2015 – 2023. In 2024, Cathy was named a “Labor & Employment Star” by Benchmark Litigation and in the Hall of Fame for Labor & Employment (Litigation) by Lawdragon in their 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers guide. Expert Guides named her to its 2022 Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law, which recognizes top female legal practitioners advising on business law; The Daily Journal named her as one of the Top Labor and Employment Lawyers in California many times, most recently in 2020, and one of the Top Women Lawyers in 2012 and 2014. In 2019, she was named a “Leading Lawyer” by Legal 500. Cathy also received the California Lawyer of the Year award from California Lawyer magazine in the employment law category in 2010. 

Alejandro Tellez is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group.

Alejandro received his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 2023. While at Texas Law, he served as an Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review and participated in the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and Real Estate from the University of North Texas, summa cum laude, in 2020.

Alejandro is admitted to practice in Texas.

Judith A. Lee
(1962 – 2025)

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our partner and friend Judith A. Lee — a vibrant and cherished member of our firm’s community for 35 years.

Judith joined Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office in 1990 and became a member of our partnership in 1996, serving as Co-Chair of our International Trade Regulation and Compliance Practice Group from 1990 to 2023. She had earned her law degree in 1987 from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary and her bachelor of arts in 1984 from Mount Holyoke College, where she studied Chinese and politics.

Throughout her career, Judith was known as a devoted mentor to many current and former Gibson Dunn lawyers, as well as to a generation of international trade lawyers throughout Washington, D.C. She was a key catalyst in establishing the informal sanctions bar, which for the first time brought together sanctions lawyers from throughout Washington and beyond.

Judith was a trusted advisor to colleagues and clients alike, always willing to lend a listening ear or offer thoughtful guidance. She was also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, playing an integral role in championing the rights of the Native American community and serving as one of only 10 appointed members of the American Bar Association’s Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice.

Judith’s mastery in the area of international trade regulation earned her countless accolades and honors, and her expertise made her a natural leader for various professional organizations. She was also a sought-after speaker, as well as a prolific writer in many journals and publications.

In addition to her professional memberships and leadership, Judith was involved in the broader Washington, D.C. community, including as a prior Board Member for the Washington Performing Arts Society. She was also very much involved with The Washington Ballet and helped found the National Ballet of Costa Rica, where she had a retirement home.

Judith’s integrity, generosity, and unwavering dedication to her work and everyone around her made her a beloved figure. She will be greatly missed, and our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.

Jayee Malwankar is an associate in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department.

Jayee graduated from Harvard Law School in 2023, where she served as an Executive Editor for the Harvard International Law Journal. While in law school, Jayee worked as a legal intern in the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs. In 2023, she served as a law clerk for the White House Counsel’s Office.

Jayee graduated from the University of Chicago in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in Political Science and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations.

She is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

Julian Zhong is a Registered Foreign Lawyer (New York) and an associate. He is a member of the firm’s Corporate Group.

His practice focuses on general corporate, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and other complex commercial transactions. Prior to joining the firm, Julian was an associate in the New York office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he represented public and private companies, private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and recapitalizations, in the technology, healthcare, food, consumer/retail, insurance, industrial and other industries.

Julian earned his Juris Doctor in 2017 from University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he was an executive editor of the University of Pennsylvania Asian Law Review. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics-Economics and Psychology in 2013 from Wesleyan University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is admitted to practice in New York and is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Patrick Reischl is a litigation associate in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He previously practiced in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

His practice focuses on complex litigation matters, including class actions and multidistrict litigation at the trial and appellate level. He has assisted entities and individuals manage and respond to government investigations. He also maintains an active pro bono practice bringing constitutional claims on behalf of prison inmates.

Patrick previously served as law clerk to the Honorable Anthony J. Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and to the Honorable Michael A. Shipp of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Patrick graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a Comments Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, a finalist in the Edwin R. Keedy Moot Court Competition, and an Arthur J. Littleton Legal Writing Instructor. Patrick earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.

Patrick is admitted to practice in California and the District of Columbia, as well as before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Darcy C. Harris is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s Securities Enforcement, Securities Litigation, White Collar Defense and Investigations, and Accounting Firm Advisory and Defense Practice Groups. Recognized as a 2022 Rising Star by Euromoney for her prominence in her field, Darcy focuses on complex commercial litigation, internal and regulatory investigations, securities litigation, and white-collar defense.

Darcy has represented clients in diverse industries, including financial services, technology, insurance, accounting and auditing, healthcare, real estate, renewable energy, consumer goods, media and entertainment, and non-profits. With significant experience in preparing complex financial cases for trial, she was part of the team that secured a jury trial victory for Wynnefield Capital and its portfolio manager, Nelson Obus, in SEC v. Obus—one of the longest-running insider trading cases in history.

Darcy frequently represents public companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, and financial institutions in SEC and PCAOB enforcement inquiries. She also advises boards of directors of public companies and has conducted confidential investigations for boards and privately held companies.

Committed to pro bono work, Darcy has represented clients in trademark, immigration, family law, reproductive rights, qualified immunity, appellate, and criminal matters. In November 2015, she argued an appeal before New York’s Appellate Division, Third Department, successfully defending the lower court’s finding that her client’s parole denial was improper. The court ruled unanimously that the parole board’s decision was irrational, ordering a new parole hearing.

Darcy graduated cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2009, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. She served as Associate Marden Competition Editor for the Moot Court Board and received the Order of the Barristers Moot Court Award. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology from Vassar College, graduating with general and departmental honors and election to Phi Beta Kappa.

Admitted to practice in New York, as well as in the Second Circuit and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, Darcy also serves on Gibson Dunn’s Global Diversity Committee.

Simon Briefel is an associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and is a member of the firm’s Business Restructuring and Reorganization practice group.  His practice focuses on corporate restructurings, liability management transactions, and Chapter 11 cases, including debt exchanges, distressed investments, acquisitions and financings, and other in-court and out-of-court transactions.

His representative matters include:*

• PGX Holdings, Inc. and 11 of its affiliates along with their associated law firm known as Lexington Law Firm in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The debtors provide credit repair services and credit monitoring to approximately 130,000 customers and started their Chapter 11 cases with approximately $423 million of funded debt and were defendants in a lawsuit by the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seeking monetary damages in excess of $2.7 billion. Through the Chapter 11 cases, the debtors raised $19.925 million in new-money debtor-in-possession financing, entered into two stalking horse purchase agreements (one for PGX and one for Lexington Law), conducted a comprehensive marketing process, negotiated a global settlement with the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, and settled their lawsuit with the CFPB. On September 28, 2023, the debtors consummated two sale transactions by which the debtors sold substantially all of their assets as a going concern to their stalking horse bidders.
• Lannett Company, Inc. and its debtor affiliates in their prepackaged Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Lannett is a manufacturer and distributor of generic pharmaceutical products that had more than $650 million of prepetition funded debt obligations. Prior to commencing the Chapter 11 cases, Lannett entered into a restructuring support agreement with holders of more than 80% of Lannett’s first lien notes and 100% of its second lien term lenders to implement a comprehensive restructuring, eliminate approximately $597 million of funded debt obligations, and emerge as a privately owned company.
• Kinderhook Industries, LLC as private equity sponsor, DIP lender, and stalking horse purchaser in the Chapter 11 cases of Performance Powersports Group Investor, LLC and its affiliated debtors in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Performance Powersports Group is a producer of high-quality, light-to-middle weight powersports equipment. At the time of filing, Performance Powersports Group had $52 million in funded debt, claims in excess of $70 million from trade creditors, and was subject to ongoing litigation with a trade vendor. Despite opposition to both the final DIP order and sale transaction from the U.S. Trustee and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, Kinderhook’s $73 million bid for the assets of Performance Powersports Group was approved, including broad releases via the final DIP order. The sale transaction closed less than a week later.
• Celsius Network LLC and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Celsius is one of the largest and most sophisticated cryptocurrency-based finance platforms in the world and provides financial services to institutional, corporate, and retail clients across more than 100 countries.
• Intelsat S.A. and its debtor-affiliates—operator of the world’s largest satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure—in connection with their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. With approximately $15 billion in liabilities at the time of filing, and posing complex intercompany issues and novel issues of regulatory and foreign law, Intelsat was one of the largest and most complex restructurings of 2020 and 2021. Intelsat filed with $1 billion in committed DIP financing, which it subsequently refinanced and expanded up to $1.5 billion during its Chapter 11 cases. During their Chapter 11 cases, Intelsat purchased Gogo Inc.’s commercial aviation business, including its software platform and network management infrastructure, for approximately $400 million in a relatively unprecedented transaction for a Chapter 11 debtor. After extensive multiparty and cross-silo negotiations and successful mediation efforts, Intelsat obtained confirmation of its plan of reorganization on a fully-consensual basis and emerged from Chapter 11 with nearly $7 billion in new exit financing and a deleveraged capital structure.
• Carlson Travel, Inc. and 37 of its affiliates in the fastest cross-border prepackaged restructuring transaction to date. On November 12, 2021, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas entered an order confirming Carlson Travel’s prepackaged Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, just 18 hours after commencing bankruptcy proceedings. Carlson Travel is a leader in business travel management with over 12,000 employees and operations in 140 countries and territories around the world. As a result of the restructuring, CWT eliminated almost $900 million of its $1.6 billion of debt, secured access to $775 million of exit facilities and a $350 million equity investment, and preserved the entirety of its worldwide employee base.
• Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc. and its affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Extraction is one of the largest oil producers in Colorado, focusing on the acquisition, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves in the Rocky Mountain region, and listed approximately $1.7 billion of funded debt obligations at the time of filing. Extraction’s prearranged plan of reorganization carries broad stakeholder support and contemplates the equitization of approximately $1.1 billion in unsecured notes and a $125 million debtor-in-possession financing facility, which includes $50 million in new money.
• PES Holdings, LLC and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases initiated in July 2019, four weeks after a catastrophic explosion at PES’s Girard Point refining complex that resulted in a permanent shutdown of PES’s refining operations. Following this event, PES worked quickly to obtain access to $100 million of new DIP financing from its term loan lenders and negotiated consensual cash collateral usage with its working capital lender to finance its Chapter 11 cases. In Chapter 11, PES pursued a competitive sale process for the refinery site and a claim under its $1.25 billion property insurance policy. The process culminated in a $225.5 million equity sale to Hilco Redevelopment Partners under a Chapter 11 plan. The Chapter 11 plan and sale were approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in February 2020, less than 8 months after the catastrophic explosion.
• Tailored Brands, Inc. and its 17 affiliates in their prearranged Chapter 11 cases. Tailored Brands, a leading specialty retailer of men’s tailored clothing and the largest men’s formalwear provider in the United States and Canada, operates approximately 1,400 stores and employs over 18,000 people across its omni-channel network of five retail brands (Men’s Wearhouse, Men’s Wearhouse and Tux, Jos. A. Bank, K&G, and Moores). Tailored Brands commenced its Chapter 11 cases with broad support from its secured lenders, evidenced by a Restructuring Support Agreement that contemplates a reduction in funded indebtedness by $455 million to $555 million, a $500 million DIP ABL facility to finance the Chapter 11 cases, and committed exit financing that will ensure the company has sufficient liquidity to support its operations following emergence from Chapter 11.
• Cirque du Soleil and its affiliates, the world’s premier live entertainment media company based in Quebec, Canada, in their Chapter 15 proceedings in the United States to recognize proceedings commenced in Canada under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
• Forever 21 Inc. and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 restructuring in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Based in Los Angeles, California, Forever 21 is a fast-fashion retailer specializing in women’s and men’s fashion, jewelry and accessories with over 750 stores globally.  During their Chapter 11 cases, Forever 21 effected a going-concern sale to the SPARC Group spearheaded by Simon Properties.
• Hollander Sleep Products, LLC and certain of its affiliates, a leading bedding products manufacturer and wholesaler, specializing in pillows, comforters, mattress pads and foam products, in connection with their prearranged Chapter 11 restructuring in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Sungard AS Capital, Inc. and its affiliates in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, in the fastest Chapter 11 case in history. Sungard AS obtained confirmation in less than 19 hours on May 2, 2019. In addition, Sungard AS emerged from Chapter 11 faster than any company in history—staying in Chapter 11 for less than 48 hours. Sungard AS, a provider of availability and recovery services, had approximately $1.26 billion in funded debt at the commencement of its Chapter 11 cases and deleveraged by over $900 million upon emergence.
• Toys “R” Us, Inc. and several of its direct and indirect subsidiaries in one of the largest ever retail Chapter 11 filings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. Following implementation of a strategy to effect a successful wind-down of operations in the United States and going concern sales and/or reorganizations of operations throughout the world, including Asia, led efforts to construct and implement global settlement agreements amongst all stakeholders and five distinct Chapter 11 plans.

Mr. Briefel received his LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 2017.  Following graduation, Mr. Briefel served for a year as a judicial clerk to Judge Martin Glenn in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, for whom he also served as a judicial extern during law school. Mr. Briefel received his Bachelor of Law degree in 2012 and his Masters in Business Law in 2014 from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Mr. Briefel is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Briefel was an associate in the Restructuring Department of another international law firm.

*Representations also include those that occurred prior to his association with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Kayla Jahangiri is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

She received her Juris Doctor in 2023 from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.  During law school, she was the Executive Editor of Columbia’s Human Rights Law Review and a research assistance for Columbia’s Human Rights Institute. Prior to attending law school, Kayla received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Studies from UCLA in 2019, where she received Departmental Highest Honors, the Congressional Service Award and the Presidential Service Award for her work in public service.

Kayla is a member of the California Bar. She is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Brian Schwarzwalder
(1970 – 2025)

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our partner and friend Brian Schwarzwalder. Brian was a partner in our Hong Kong office and a valued member of our Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions practice groups. He cared deeply about training and championing the next generation of talent, having served as a mentor to countless associates. This passion was underscored by Brian’s service on the firm’s Associate Compensation and Professional Development committees.

Brian joined Gibson Dunn in 2017, having practiced in Hong Kong since 2004. He had decades of experience advising private equity funds and other sophisticated asset managers on cross-border leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions and growth equity investments across Asia-Pacific markets. Brian represented both global and Asian investors in some of the largest transactions in the region. In addition to his sponsor-side practice, Brian also represented limited partners who invest as active consortium members and passive equity financing sources.

His practice covered a wide range of industries, including life sciences, technology, media, publishing, real estate and manufacturing. Brian was consistently recognized as a leading lawyer and was highly regarded by various independent legal publications, including Chambers Asia Pacific, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, and IFLR1000.

Before moving to Hong Kong, Brian was the China Program Manager of the Rural Development Institute (now Landesa), a Seattle-based non-profit organization focused on property rights reform in developing and transitional economy countries. Brian received his Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Williams College in 1992 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law in 1997, where he served as articles editor for Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal.

Brian was a beloved member of the Gibson Dunn community. At this difficult time, our thoughts are with his family, as well as with the many colleagues who worked with Brian over the years. He will be greatly missed.