Title: Senior Associate
Firm: Orrick
Age: 38
Lauren Herrera, a senior associate with Orrick, always thought she would work in the public sector after growing up with parents who both worked for Arizona State University. Then while in law school and interning at the Arizona governor's office she saw there were a lot of public and policy jobs suited for lawyers.
"I knew then I wanted to use a law degree in this way and I assumed I would work at a state agency," says Lauren. "Right after graduation I worked for a division within the state treasurer's office in California and that's where I learned about public finance."
In her practice, Lauren advises as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, and underwriter's counsel across a wide range of complex public finance transactions, serving issuers and borrowers in K-14 education, higher education, healthcare, affordable housing, and local government.
Lauren is a recognized contributor on workforce housing initiatives for school districts and community college districts. By combining her deep experience in K-14 school financings with multifamily housing financings across the Western United States, Lauren helps clients navigate and implement emerging financing models that address critical housing shortages.
"The clients I work with are educators and passionate about public education. Growing up, education was really important in my house so I love their passion. I also work with a lot of developers creating affordable multifamily housing, which is in high demand, especially in California," Lauren says.
Lauren recently worked on a 100% affordable housing financing in San Francisco. "It's very cool. It's close to my office so I get to walk past it. It's a very big project and all of the tenants are formerly unhoused people," she says.
