News

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

Legal Workshop on Termsheets and Fundraising by Speed Accelerator

August 2, 2019 (Beirut): Managing Partner, Charbel Moarbes, along with White & Case partner Charbel Abou Charaf and Member of Parliament Nadim Gemayel, recently participated in a legal workshop on termsheets and fundraising for startups at Speed Accelator in Beirut, Lebanon. The panel, lead by Mr.

Scott Krygier Joins Moarbes' Life Sciences Practice

August 15, 2018 (Washington, D.C.)

Scott Krygier Esq. recently joined Moarbes as Of Counsel of the Life Sciences Practice. Dr. Krygier’s expertise is counseling pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology clients for over the past decade on issues related to compliance with the laws and regulations administered by FDA, USDA, and EPA.

Dr. Krygier and the head of the life sciences practice, Mr. Mason, have combined their collective 30 years of outside counsel legal expertise with practical knowledge gained by working in business to efficiently counsel clients on a comprehensive strategy for FDA and USPTO approval, along with downstream success in threatened or actual litigation. Given the FDA favors conventional extensions of existing treatments, whereas the USPTO and Federal Courts favor patents on the most unconventional and non-obvious such treatments, Dr. Krygier and Mr. Mason firmly believe a comprehensive strategy resolving that tension is critical to the long-term success of any life sciences company.

Dr. Krygier’s clients vary from the earliest to latest stages, i.e. from early product development and optimization to commercialization.  

 

Moarbes LLP Acquires the First Edition of the French Civil Code (1804)

May 2, 2014
Beirut, Lebanon.

 

Moarbes LLP acquired on April 4, 2013 the first edition of the French Civil Code (Code Civil des Français, édition originale et seule officielle, Paris, 1804). It is the first official publication of the French Civil Code which was produced under   the direction of Emperor Napoleon. Moarbes LLP is hence the only Law firm in the Middle East which possess this rare edition of the French Civil Code.  Promulgated as the Civil Code of the French (code civil des Français), it was renamed the  Napoleonic Code (code Napoléon) in 1807.

 

 

Geoff Mason joins Moarbes as head of the Intellectual Property Practice

18 June, 2013
 
Washington, D.C., USA

Geoffrey Mason, Esq. joins Moarbes LLP as head of the Intellectual Property Practice. Mr. Mason has over a dozen years’ experience managing and trying biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent cases, and managing large teams and vendors programming and developing pharmaceutical client-facing litigation databases.