Frank A. Ciatto
Frank drafts and negotiates key business documents, such as merger agreements, limited liability company agreements, partnership agreements, stockholder agreements, executive employment agreements, severance agreements, stock-option plans, grant agreements, and other corporate agreements.
He serves as corporate counsel to entrepreneurs and individual investors in a number of industries, including hedge funds, financial services providers, auto dealerships, publishing, securities companies, professional consulting firms, software and technology providers, hospitality, law firms, and other professional service providers.
In addition to his legal work, Frank is a certified public accountant, formerly with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in New York – experience that often adds value to his clients' transactions.
Frank served as the firm's corporate counsel in its recent combination with the Fitzpatrick Cella law firm.
Experience
Government Experience
Representative Matters
- Served as lead counsel representing Beacon Global Strategies, LLC in the sale of its equity interests to an affiliate of ICV Partners, LLC. The total transaction consideration was paid in a combination of cash and rollover equity
- Served as sellers’ counsel in the sale of Praxis Engineering Technologies Inc. to SCRA, LLC (now General Dynamics Information Technology)
- Served as sellers’ counsel in the sale of Telmate, LLC to Global Tel*Link Corporation
- Served as counsel for DOAR Consulting, a trial strategy consulting firm, in a management buyout of private equity interests
- Served as purchaser’s counsel for SAGE Publications, Inc. in the sale of the assets of its CQ Press imprint First Street, and Professional Directories business lines to Leadership Directories, Inc.
- Served as counsel to a leading operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations worldwide
- Served as purchaser's counsel in the redemption of a majority of the stock of the founder of CHL Business Interiors
- Served as seller's counsel in the sale of CTS Services, LLC
- Served as seller's counsel for Kastle Holding LLC, the owner of Kastle Systems International LLC, in the sale of Kastle Security Systems, a major security systems firm
- Represented a leading food and beverage brands operator in licensing, franchising, joint venture, real estate, and IP matters related to its worldwide travel locations
Representative Clients
- Beacon Global Strategies, LLC, a Washington, DC-based consultant to large government contractors
- Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc., a Washington, DC–based architectural consulting firm
- CHL Business Interiors, Inc., a Washington, DC-based corporate furnishing design company
- Clearview Energy Partners, LLC, a Washington, DC-based energy policy consulting company
- Entertainment Software Association, an association dedicated to the video game industry
- Hausfeld LLP, a Washington, DC-based law firm
- Heart+Mind Strategies, LLC, a Reston, Virginia-based marketing consulting company
- Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostic LLC, a Bethesda, MD-based health sciences company
- Radius Networks, Inc., a Washington, DC-based technology firm serving large chain restaurants
- RK Chevrolet, Inc. and RK Motors, LLC, two prominent automobile dealerships in Virginia Beach, Virginia
- SAGE Publications, Inc., a publishing company located in Sherman Oaks, California
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Insights
Credentials
Education
- J.D. Georgetown University Law Center 1994
- B.A. cum laude Georgetown University 1988
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- New York
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Member, American Bar Association, Corporations Section, Mergers & Acquisitions Subcommittee
- Member, DC Bar Association, Corporations Section
Recognition
- Legal 500, M&A/corporate and commercial - M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), 2023
- Georgetown University, James P. Reed Alumni Award, 2017 (Awarded for distinguished service to the Georgetown University Alumni Board of Governors)
Community
Volunteerism
- Served in various capacities on the board of governors, Georgetown University Alumni Association, since 2003; served as treasurer for the period 2014-2018 and currently serves as president, Georgetown University Alumni Association
- Co-teaches “Ethics & Leadership,” a summer class for the Fund for American Studies at George Mason University
- Serves as communications chair of his undergraduate class at Georgetown University
Personal Activities
- Previously coached his daughters' softball and basketball teams
- Played in the Maryland division of the Ponce de Leon 30-and-Over Baseball League