Rick Graf joins Moarbes as head of the venture capital and private equity practice

January 2023: Rick Graf recently joined Moarbes as to head its private equity and venture capital practices. Rick ran numerous complex mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions with and for a number of Fortune 100 companies and private equity clients worldwide - including GE Capital, Continental Airlines, Texas Pacific Group, AOL, AOL Latin America and Alloy, Inc.

Rick has been a company counsel on more than 150 venture capital transactions with an aggregate dollar value in excess of 1.5B. He has counseled numerous startups in a wide variety of industries, including traditional software, SaaS, analytics, payments, biotech, organic food production and distribution, e-commerce, remote health care and telecommunications. Rick holds a BA and MA from the University of Chicago, as well as a JD from Boston College of Law.

His practice is focused on technology and other early stage ventures, such as software, biotech, energy and food-related companies, with a particular focus on those with a triple bottom line or socially responsible focus. His more than 30 years of diversified legal experience, coupled with his experience as co-founder and general counsel of a number of rapidly growing technology companies, investment funds and other startups, makes him well-suited to act as a virtual general counsel to our clients, guiding such enterprises through the complex legal and regulatory environment of the United States and abroad, and in all stages of growth, from founding to IPO.

During his large law firm days, Rick ran numerous complex mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions with and for a number of Fortune 100 companies and private equity clients worldwide - including GE Capital, Continental Airlines, Texas Pacific Group, AOL, AOL Latin America and Alloy, Inc. - bringing to the table an ability to negotiate business-critical deals with efficiency and skill. During the latter stages of his large law firm days, he focused primarily on venture capital transactions representing both companies and investors, as well as assisting the aggressive growth by acquisition strategy of several active publicly traded technology and e-commerce companies. 

Prior Experience

CampusU, Inc., Leesburg VA, Director and Acting General Counsel, 2007-2008
Katten Muchin Rosenman, LLP, Washington, DC, Partner, 2002-2007
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., Washington, DC, Partner, 1998-2002          
SSE Capital, LLC, Silver Spring, MD, Co-Founder, COO and General Counsel, 1997-1998
Arnold & Porter, LLP, Washington, DC, Associate 1986-1992, Partner 1992-1997
Breed, Abbott & Morgan, NY, NY, Associate 1984-1986