NEW YORK — The O’Melveny law firm has promoted 12 exceptional lawyers that have been elected to the firm’s 2024 partner class: Vince Ferrito (Mergers & Acquisitions—New York), Nidhi Geevarghese (Corporate Finance—New York), Zach Greenberg (Mergers & Acquisitions—Century City), Jim Harrigan (Capital Markets—Washington, DC), Lauren Kaplan (General Litigation—Los Angeles), Adam Levine (Health Care—Los Angeles), Russell McGlothlin (Water—Century City), Zoheb Noorani (Insurance—Los Angeles), Christian Peeters (Antitrust & Competition—Brussels), David J. Ribner (White Collar Defense & Corporate Investigations—Washington, DC), Viq Shariff (Mergers & Acquisitions—New York), and Jason Zarrow (Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation—Los Angeles).
O’Melveny has over 800 lawyers in 18 offices around the globe. The firm says it completed more than $1 trillion in M&A deals closed for clients around the world over the last five years
“Our new partners embody the excellence, leadership, and citizenship that are the hallmarks of the shared values we at O’Melveny hold so dear,” said O’Melveny chair Bradley J. Butwin. “Time and again, these stellar lawyers have demonstrated their dedication to our clients, to our firm, and to our communities. This remarkable group also represents the depth and range of talent we have across our corporate, litigation, and regulatory practices—all of which are vital to our firm’s continued strength and growth.”
Vince Ferrito
A key member of our M&A team, Vince Ferrito advises private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies, and other corporate clients in their most critical and complex transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic matters. Before attending law school, Ferrito served for four years as a US Marine Corps Officer in the 1st Marine Division and was stationed in Quantico, San Diego, and Iraq. Following his military service, he worked for several years at Shell and Panasonic in various finance, operations, and corporate strategy roles. Ferrito earned his law degree summa cum laude from Fordham University.
Nidhi Geevarghese
A versatile practitioner, Nidhi Geevarghese represents private equity sponsors, institutional and direct lenders, and corporate borrowers in a wide range of debt financing matters. Her fluency across the credit spectrum makes her a key part of our growing private equity and M&A practices, and an instrumental complement to our market-leading aviation finance and restructuring practices. A former O’Melveny summer associate, Geevarghese earned her law degree from Brooklyn Law School, where she received the International Business Law Fellowship and was Executive Notes & Comment Editor of the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law.
Zach Greenberg
Our private equity and entertainment clients look to Zach Greenberg for his leadership and business acumen, as well as his strong track record advising on complex M&A transactions in Southern California and nationally. Prior to entering private practice, Greenberg served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Chief Justice Myron T. Steele in the Delaware Supreme Court. He earned his law degree magna cum laude from Washington University School of Law, where he was Senior Executive Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Washington University Law Review.
Jim Harrigan
A go-to lawyer for US securities law regulatory issues, Jim Harrigan represents public and private corporate issuers, investment banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, investment advisers, and broker-dealers on complex capital markets, M&A, derivatives, and structured product transactions as well as a wide range of other securities law regulatory matters. Harrigan, who first joined the firm as a summer associate, has also advised extensively on securities and commodities laws in the context of blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, and digital assets. Before earning his law degree from University of Virginia, he served as an intern investigator with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.
Lauren Kaplan
A natural legal strategist, Lauren Kaplan defends leading companies in highly regulated industries in bet-the-company litigation and high-stakes investigations. She is a key team member in State Attorneys General Investigations & Litigation matters and environmental public nuisance cases. Her client roster spans an array of sectors, including energy, transportation, pharmaceutical and medical devices, and consumer products. Kaplan is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of California, Irvine School of Law and joined O’Melveny as a summer associate. She is dedicated to mentoring junior attorneys and is a role model for both pro bono engagement and firm leadership, serving on the Los Angeles office’s Employment Committee and Associates and Counsel Advisory Committee.
Adam Levine
Adam Levine’s strengths as a deft civil litigator and perceptive advisor make him a sought-after counselor to clients of O’Melveny’s Litigation Practice. Health insurers and health plans in particular rely heavily on his guidance and strategic insights in high-stakes commercial litigation matters, including payor-provider reimbursement disputes and False Claims Act litigation. While Levine’s deep knowledge of litigation is critical to the firm’s health insurer and health plan clients, his versatility has also made him an essential member of the consumer class action and commercial litigation teams. Levine—who began his O’Melveny career as a summer associate—is widely respected for his leadership and mentoring of junior lawyers. He earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and is a longtime board member of the Program for Torture Victims, which supports refugee victims of persecution and torture.
Russell McGlothlin
Russ McGlothlin counsels clients on the full spectrum of water rights issues, including disputes and litigation, regulation, and high-stakes transactional work, positioning him as one of California’s leading water lawyers. McGlothlin is known throughout the state for the creativity and skill he applies to the most complex groundwater-access challenges, including in the Borrego Springs, Las Posas, and Oxnard and Pleasant Valley basins. He helped draft the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act that revolutionized how California manages groundwater and resolves related legal disputes. A frequent speaker, author, and thought leader in the water rights space, McGlothlin excels at guiding disparate parties to consensus, a critical skill as water shortages become more widespread. McGlothlin earned his law degree with honors from the University of Michigan.
Zoheb Noorani
Recognized by The Legal 500 as a “rising star,” Zoh Noorani defends insurance companies in all stages of coverage actions. He offers an encyclopedic command of insurance law to clients facing some of the most significant insurance litigation of recent years, from COVID-19 cases to high-stakes asbestos and environmental exposures. A keen analyst and creative strategist, he has defended clients at trial and served as the principal drafter of numerous case-winning summary judgment motions. In addition to his insurance work, Noorani maintains an active pro bono practice focused on helping clients with immigration and asylum matters. A member of the O’Melveny community since starting as a summer associate, he earned his law degree from the University of Southern California, Order of the Coif.
Christian Peeters
Christian Peeters is an experienced antitrust lawyer who represents clients before the European Commission, the German Federal Cartel Office, and other agencies across the globe. He counsels the world’s leading businesses on headline-making transactions and precedent-setting, bet-the-company litigation, specializing in multijurisdictional mergers and defenses in complex abuse of dominance and cartel investigations. He is a German-qualified lawyer, admitted to the Berlin and Brussels bars, and a member of the prestigious Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht e.V., an association of German antitrust experts. In addition to his antitrust practice, Peeters also advises clients on German foreign direct investment law. He earned his graduate and post-graduate law degrees from the Free University of Berlin and Glasgow University.
David J. Ribner
Clients look to David J. Ribner for critical national security-related regulatory counseling in connection with matters under the purview of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), for which he has been recognized by Chambers USA. He also brings national security-related expertise to matters involving economic sanctions, export controls, customs, anti-boycott, and anti-corruption laws, all priority areas for US enforcement. Ribner spent a year working as a Holocaust Claims Specialist with the New York State Banking Department before earning his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an Articles Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. He joined O’Melveny as a summer associate.
Viq Shariff
As a sought-after advisor to the technology, emerging growth, and investment communities, Viq Shariff serves clients at the intersection of our dynamic Silicon Valley-based emerging company, technology, and venture capital practice and New York’s community of investors, media and technology companies, and entrepreneurs. He is a veteran of New York City’s deal-making scene, with years of experience as both an M&A lawyer and a senior investment professional with a major private equity and growth capital firm. His deep well of experience helped drive many complex deals, including large merger and “de-SPAC” transactions for major clients. Shariff earned his law degree from Tulane University Law School and serves on the Board of Directors of Loop AI Labs Cognitive Computing.
Jason Zarrow
Jason Zarrow is a skilled litigator and appellate advocate whose work has been recognized by The American Lawyer, Law360, and The Legal 500. He has served as a principal drafter in five merits cases before the US Supreme Court, where he is currently 5-0, and he has argued on behalf of clients in the federal circuits, state appellate courts, and trial courts nationwide. His practice spans multiple industries, including transportation, pharmaceutical and medical devices, health care, insurance, and financial services. Zarrow helped secure a trial victory for a leading medical device manufacturer and then argued the appeal, successfully defending the verdict. His pro bono practice includes representing clients in immigration, education, and death penalty cases. Before joining O’Melveny as a summer associate, Zarrow earned his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.
