Education

• Pomona College, B.A., cum laude, 1985
• Cornell Law School, J.D., 1988

Experience

• Representing private companies in multi-million dollar exit transactions and sales to Fortune 500 acquirers and private equity buyers
• Representing a global digital asset/cryptocurrency exchange platform in acquisitions, governance, securities, and complex financial and commercial transactions (2019-present)
• Representing private equity buyers in serial roll-up transactions
• Working with early-stage technology businesses on capital formation and governance, technology licensing, and angel/VC investments
• Serving as chief administrative and senior operations executive for a $100+ million Appalachian oil and gas production company, developing an intimate knowledge of oil and gas transactions, joint ventures, leasing and land matters, and energy derivatives
• Representing a Nasdaq-traded engineering software company from its start-up stage to its initial public offering (1996); and continued to work with the company as outside general counsel on its secondary offering (1998), its Securities Exchange Act compliance (including all disclosure and analyst guidance issues), and five major acquisitions, as well as supervising its intellectual property and licensing work
• Handling portfolio investments for Mid-Atlantic regional venture capital firm (1990 - 1997) and a California-based venture firm (2004 - 2005), focusing on technology investments
• Serving as special counsel to the board of directors of a regional bank holding company with regard to securities and anti-takeover matters (2004)
• Representing the City of Pittsburgh and related entities from 1993 to 2000 with regard to the matters culminating in the construction of PNC Park, including: serving as one of the lead negotiators on the lease and construction agreements; designing the auction of the Pittsburgh Pirates and working on the eventual sale of the team to the group headed by Kevin McClatchy; and authoring the urban planning justification for the location of PNC Park

Distinctions

• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Named the Best Lawyers^® 2015 & 2023 "Lawyer of the Year" for Mergers and Acquisitions Law in Pittsburgh
• Recognized by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, 2015
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law
• Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for Corporate/M&A & Private Equity
• Named to "Who's Who in Energy" by Pittsburgh Business Times, 2014
• One of 50 "Fast Trackers" who have made significant contributions to the region's business and civic enterprises, Pittsburgh Business Times, May 2003
• One of 25 "Changemakers," Pittsburgh Business Times, December 2001

Admissions

• Pennsylvania Bar
• District of Columbia Bar

Memberships

• McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Advisory Council, 2003 - 2005
• Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse Technology Advisory Committee, 2002 - 2004
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Governor's Life Sciences Greenhouse Committee, 2001 - 2003
• University of Connecticut Foundation Research & Development Corporation Board of Directors, 2001 - 2005
• Carlow College Business and Technology Management Program Advisory Committee, 1999 - 2010
• Coordinator, Forbes Field II Task Force, Office of the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, 1995 - 1996
• Allegheny County Bar Association
• Hispanic National Bar Association
• Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania
• Eastern Mineral Law Foundation
• National Association of College and University Attorneys

Publications & Presentations

• Author, The Steel Bar: Pittsburgh Lawyers and the Making of America (Marquez Press, 2019)
• Co-author, "Top Legal Issues for European Clients Targeting a U.S. Acquisition," BNA Bloomberg Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report, January 1, 2015
• Co-author, "Corporate Reorganization in the 1990s: Guiding Directors of Troubled Corporations Through Uncertain Territory," The Business Lawyer, Vol. 47, No. 1

Community Involvement

• Murrysville Community Library Board of Trustees, 2009 - 2011
• Pittsburgh Public Media Board of Advisors, 2010 - present