Experience
I was educated as a lawyer, trained as a business man, and experienced as a problem solver. For over 20 years, I have been advising and assisting entrepreneurs and large companies with technology, financial and strategic matters, with an emphasis on building companies, implementing new systems and commercializing technologies.
I have worked in small law firms, I have worked in large national firms and I have served as General Counsel inside companies. I have spent most of my career representing or engaging in entrepreneurial ventures or assisting large institutions with technology deals.
At the heart of it all, I have always been a technologist. From my first computer programming in the late '70's to the teach yourself Lotus 1-2-3 books that I wrote during the 90's to the patented A.I. powered preference technology that I co-invented, I have always been that person that friends called when they wanted to know about the latest gadget or newest technology. I have always been someone who is not only not afraid of embracing new technologies, but wakes up every day excited about the idea of “what’s possible”.
When it comes to deals, especially those in the tech space, where time is of critical importance, you want to be able to cut through the legal mumbo-jumbo and “get the deal done”. I bring to bear my practical business and technical judgment and leverage my prior experiences and relationships to help you make important decisions to move the deal forward.
I have handled mergers and acquisitions and corporate matters and have successfully executed on over $1 billion in capital transactions, ranging from early stage angel investments through CMBS debt, mezzanine debt, construction financing and taxable and tax-exempt municipal bond financing, including the first ever issuance of “Green Bonds”.
I have also successfully enjoyed some real estate development, having executed the financing and been a part owner of the first new construction combo-Courtyard/Residence Inn hotel.
About me
I was born and grew up on Long Island, outside of New York City, the son of parents from the Bronx – which I think makes me 100% New Yorker at heart.
After achieving my B.S. in Business Management at Cornell University in the beautiful Central NY/Finger Lakes area, I followed my wife to Pittsburgh. We met at Cornell (she was my Teaching Assistant for Statistics) and she was from central Pennsylvania so she moved to Pittsburgh after graduation. I went to the University of Pittsburgh for Law School and my MBA, focusing on Computer Law and Artificial Intelligence and the Law.
After graduating, I worked for a number of years for Sherrard, German and Kelly, P.C., and was then recruited to join Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C. Having been fortunate to join one of Pittsburgh's top technology and corporate law firms, I worked alongside and learned from some of the greatest lawyers I could have imagined. Even before my promotion to equity partner, I was co-chair of the Technology Transactions group, so I was even more fortunate to work with some of the greatest technology companies that Pittsburgh spawned.
After long hard decision-making, when I client asked me to join the executive team in 2005, I packed up my wife and nearly five year old and moved back to the Central NY region to join a real estate development project that was looking to combine technology and retail real estate in a way that was well ahead of its time. Before long, I was made General Counsel of the entire company. After three years, it was time for me to branch out on my own.
