People

James Edwards Associate

London

James has experience working on cross-board and domestic transactions including acquisitions, disposals and investments, primarily in the technology sector. He also advises companies and investors on venture capital and growth equity transactions, covering early-stage financings, institutional funding rounds, bridge financings and secondary transactions.

Andrew Ehler Associate

New York

He represents public companies and their directors in complex securities litigation, shareholder derivative suits, books-and-records demands, and internal investigations. His practice covers a broad range of sectors, from financial services and life sciences to green energy and software technology. Committed to pro bono work, he also represented incarcerated persons in precedent-shaping civil liberties disputes.

Ellen Ehrenpreis Partner

Silicon Valley

In her practice, Ellen focuses on advising emerging companies and investors in the tech ecosystem. On the company side, Ellen’s clients range from early startups to mature private companies. She advises companies and founders on formation, venture financings, governance, M&A transactions, corporate and securities matters, commercial transactions and litigation strategy. Ellen’s approach is holistic and strategic. Her unique skill set and business-driven approach derive from more than twenty years as a Silicon Valley lawyer and her broad experiences earlier in her career as both a successful litigator and business owner.

Over her career, Ellen has represented both private and public companies and has worked with both small startups and large multinational enterprises, as well as the executives, investors and advisors involved in those businesses. As a result, Ellen draws upon a deep knowledge base and set of experiences and insights that allow her to offer practical and seasoned advice to her clients. Ellen’s clients have represented a broad swath of the technology ecosystem, including both hardware and software, and, as a result, her industry experience is wide-ranging. Her clients have included companies in the artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, climate-tech, renewables, fintech, SAAS, aerospace, digital retail, online sharing, biotech/biopharma, media, design and data analytics fields, among others.

Ellen has a passion for working with companies making an impact in the world. She is committed to helping her community and has devoted substantial time and effort over many years serving on boards of directors and in pivotal roles for nonprofit organizations. Ellen is a former competitive figure skater, a devoted wife and the mother of three (wonderful) children.

Yona Elfassi Managing Associate

Paris

Yona specializes in mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions. She advises French and international companies, as well as private equity funds, on complex domestic and cross-border deals—including divestitures, leveraged buyouts (LBOs), carve-outs, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships. Yona has broad sector experience, with notable expertise in the life sciences industry.

Dan Eliades Senior Associate

New York

He represents sponsors, developers, investors, and lenders in connection with the financing of renewable power and energy transition assets throughout the U.S. Dan has a particular focus on structuring and negotiating tax-advantaged investments, which facilitate the monetization of tax credits, whether through tax equity or tax credit transfers.

He works closely with clients to structure practical, efficient financing solutions that align with commercial objectives and support continued investment in the U.S. energy market.

Peter Elias Partner

Santa Monica

He regularly assists in the tax planning and structuring of emerging companies and other transactions relevant to their formation and sale, including founder loan share purchases and secondary sales, “Up-C” IPO transactions, obtaining and optimizing “qualified small business stock” tax benefits, conversions of limited liability companies, structuring and documenting “profits interests” and other favorable equity to founders, as well as M&A, joint ventures, equity and debt financings, buyouts, divestitures, and restructurings. He has significant experience in real estate and related transactions, including structuring and tax planning for private equity investment funds, joint ventures, and like kind exchanges and other tax-advantaged exit strategies, including:

• Tax planning and structuring for private equity and venture capital investment vehicles, including the use of parallel or alternative investment vehicles, co-investment vehicles, or other similar structures to accommodate participation by tax-exempt entities and/or non-U.S. parties.
• Implementing tax efficient structures and exit strategies for U.S. real estate projects, joint ventures or similar vehicles, including recapitalizations, in-kind distributions, leveraged recaps, as well as like-kind exchange structures pursuant to tax code section 1031.
• Providing advice and tax structuring for investment funds and related entities in connection with secondary market purchases of debt securities and debt instruments, including distressed debt, as well as related debt modifications, workouts, foreclosures and/or related resolutions.

Pete has spoken and written extensively in areas involving private equity, venture capital, hedge and real estate funds, real estate joint ventures and distressed debt, and private equity transactions.

Pete also is an adjunct professor at the U.C. Irvine School of Law, having created and taught classes focused on Tax Planning for Real Estate Transactions, for both JD and LLM (taxation) students.

Elizabeth J. Elias Partner

New York

Elizabeth has played a key role in numerous pioneering esoteric deals and has extensive experience in the securitization of commercial PACE liens, musical composition and sound recording copyrights, television, movie and other IP royalties, whole business operating companies, diamond receivables, litigation settlement awards, and PDP oil & gas wellbore interests.

In addition to her work in esoteric ABS, Elizabeth represents a wide array of market participants, including sponsors, issuers, underwriters, and service providers, in both public and private commercial mortgage-backed securities offerings.

John Eliason Partner

Washington, D.C.

John advises major financial institutions (tax equity investors and infrastructure funds), lenders, developers, and sponsors, particularly those in the wind, solar, storage, biomass and energy tech space. He helps clients structure financings for their projects to take advantage of federal and state tax incentives, like the Federal production tax credit (PTC), energy investment tax credit (ITC) and accelerated depreciation (MACRS and “bonus”) using partnership flips, sale-leasebacks, public/private partnerships, and other structuring options. He has been particularly focused on providing clients with the latest guidance and opportunities relating to the Inflation Reduction Act, including with respect to Section 6418 tax credit transfers and Section 6417 direct pay opportunities.

Recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers Global in Band 2 for Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy, clients describe John as “extremely knowledgeable, flexible and can put technical jargon into plain terms.” Client sources also state “he knows the tax equity markets very well and is very commercial.”

Prior to law school, John founded an information management company based in Austin, Texas. He is also a veteran of the Texas Army National Guard.

Alexandria Elliott Senior Associate

Sacramento

Known for a strategic and pragmatic approach, Alexandria collaborates with clients to resolve high-risk matters at the earliest opportunity and with the least business disruption. When early resolution isn't possible, Alexandria is a skilled advocate who fights for her clients every step of the way. Alexandria is valued by her clients for her ability to balance defense strategies with business-minded solutions. Alexandria has successfully defended clients in trial and arbitration and helps clients with all types of employment matters, including whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, harassment, failure to accommodate, FMLA and CFRA claims, breach of employment contract, and equal pay claims. When she's not litigating, Alexandria enjoys partnering with clients to set them up for success through thoughtful advice and counsel.

Alexandria maintains an active pro bono case load and recently won a prisoner appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prior to joining Orrick, Alexandria worked as a litigation associate in Kirkland & Ellis's San Francisco office. Before that, Alexandria was a law clerk for the Honorable Bobby R. Baldock of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Honorable Gina M. Groh of the Northern District of West Virginia. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law, where she graduated second in her class.

Siegfried Elsing, Prof. Dr. LL.M. (Yale) Partner

Düsseldorf

He has acted as counsel and arbitrator in more than 300 arbitrations, including ad hoc proceedings and cases administered under the rules of many leading arbitration institutions such as the ICC, LCIA, DIS, ICSID and UNCITRAL.

As counsel, he represents both private investors and international corporations, as well as sovereign states, and state-owned enterprises in a range of significant, complex and, frequently, cross-border disputes.

Siegfried has extensive experience with both commercial and investment arbitration. His work as counsel and arbitrator spans a wide variety of disputes including post M&A and other corporate transactions (e.g. joint ventures); engineering; energy and construction cases; intellectual property disputes such as licensing and distributorship agreements, investment protection cases involving a multitude of bilateral investment treaties; and disputes concerning financing arrangements.

In addition to his work as counsel and  arbitrator, Siegfried also appears as an expert witness before German courts, courts in the United States and the United Kingdom and foreign regulatory institutions.

He is admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law in both Germany and New York. Accordingly, his legal practice also focuses on German-American legal transactions.

Siegfried has been recommended consistently by many legal publications as arbitrator and counsel for arbitration. As in previous years, the Lexology Index (formerly Who's Who Legal) has featured Siegfried as a "Global Elite Thought Leader" in Arbitration, Chambers Global 2026 describes him as a "star individual" and a "towering figure in the German and European arbitration market" who is "often sitting in complex disputes under ICC, ICSID AND UNCITRAL rules, while also being well versed in a number of other arbitration rules" and "sought after as an arbitrator for commercial and investment cases."

Siegfried has served on the boards and panels of many leading arbitration institutions. He has previously served on the Advisory Board of the American Arbitration Association (2009 to 2020) and the Panel of Conciliators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) (2011 to 2017). He was a member of the Board of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) (2012 to 2022) and served on the DIS Council (since 2022 to 2025). He also served as Chairman of the Mediation Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA) (2007-2008).

Siegfried regularly publishes in the field of international arbitration and comparative law and is the co-editor of the German Arbitration Journal (Zeitschrift für Schiedsverfahren (SchiedsVZ)). He also frequently appears on panels and holds lectures on international arbitration and comparative law, with a particular focus on U.S. law. Siegfried is an honorary professor at the Faculty of Law at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, where he has taught international commercial arbitration and international civil procedure law for 25 years.

Since 2013, he has represented the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as Honorary Consul in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Siegfried Elsing co-founded the German law firm Hölters & Elsing in 1989 and oversaw its the merger with Orrick in 2008.

Hagit Muriel Elul Partner

New York

Hagit represents clients in international arbitrations across the world under the rules of all the major arbitral institutions including the ICDR/AAA, ICC and LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, JAMS and CPR and in cross-border disputes in courts across the United States. She has also served as an expert witness on New York law in proceedings in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Hagit is recognised as ‘a force to be reckoned with’ (Legal 500) who ‘thinks ten steps ahead’’ (Chambers) and has “astonishing legal skills”, including the ability “to analyze and sharpen arguments”. She was recognized as one of a select group of "Distinguished Leaders" by New York Law Journal (2021).

Hagit regularly teaches courses on arbitration and advocacy skills, sits as arbitrator and frequently writes and lectures on topics related to international business disputes. She is a member of the ICC Court of International Arbitration Commission, former chair of the Arbitration Committee of the International Institute of Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), a current member of the CPR Council, ICC Commission, and a founding Board Member of the New York International Arbitration Center.