Mr. Ricotta practices in the areas of commercial transactions and business law. He represents start-up, family-owned, small, and large organizations, public and private, with a focus on the following:

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• The purchase and sale of businesses, equity interests, and assets.

• The drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts.

• The purchase, sale, lease, development, management, and financing of commercial real estate, covenant controlled properties, and related projects.

• The establishment of new business entities and ventures, including within the framework of existing corporate structures.

• Management-side employment matters.
   

Education
Mr. Ricotta obtained his J.D. degree cum laude (top 25%) from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 1990, where he served as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, earned a spot on the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Team and a top oralist award at regionals, received the Wigmore Prize for Excellence in Publication, and was selected by the Dean as an Edwin C. Austin Scholar based on scholarship and conduct in and out of class.

Mr. Ricotta obtained his B.S. degree with high honors (top 1%) in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Refining from the Colorado School of Mines in 1987. A Boettcher Foundation Scholar, he received the William D. Waltman ’99 Award upon graduation, presented to “the student whose conduct and scholarship have been most nearly perfect and who has most nearly approached the recognized characteristics of an American gentleman.”

Experience
Mr. Ricotta brings a unique perspective to his law practice, having been promoted to equity partner of a prominent Rocky Mountain law firm early in his career and subsequently to roles of increasing responsibility at a Texas-based independent energy company, where he served as an executive officer, led the company’s worldwide litigation and human resources departments, worked as lead business counsel for an operating region, served as senior counsel in negotiating the purchase and sale of assets and interests, and supervised the corporate compliance and community partner functions.

 

Mr. Ricotta draws upon his practical, real-world leadership experiences to assist the firm’s clients in developing effective business strategies. These experiences include the following:

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Directing case strategy in high-profile and high-stakes matters from case inception to final orders.

Legal Officer Highlights: As one of two law department vice presidents at a publicly traded Fortune 500 corporation and head of litigation, Mr. Ricotta achieved successful outcomes directing trial strategy in three multibillion-dollar international matters, each involving litigation and evidence in multiple jurisdictions groundbreaking court decisions, and significant media attention. One case concerned a gas pipeline explosion, another a long-term gas supply contract, and the third protection of trade secrets. He also successfully directed trial strategy in a preferential right-to-purchase case involving assets valued at more than one billion dollars. For 10 years he served as litigation department head of a corporate team that achieved an impressive 90% overall win rate in dispositive proceedings and protected more than 95 cents of every disputed dollar in a broad range of domestic and international cases spanning six continents.

 

Leading the global human resources team of a corporation with thousands of employees.

Executive Officer Highlights: As senior vice president of human resources and a member of the senior leadership team of a publicly traded Fortune 500 corporation, Mr. Ricotta strongly advocated for family-friendly benefits and oversaw their implementation, including elder care paid leave; significantly enhanced parental, adoptive, and surrogacy paid leave; telemedicine; evidence-based mental health services; a retirement matrix; and consumer-driven health programs. He conceived and oversaw the development of a proprietary virtual academy to deliver “in time” and “on demand” enterprise-wide learning resources and management training. He drove the implementation of mobile-capable tools and dashboards to facilitate planning compensation and succession, delivering real-time feedback, setting goals, recruiting, and onboarding. He strengthened compliance and reporting. His branded efforts achieved widespread adoption and transformed the human resources team into a premier strategic business partner while contributing to substantially lower costs, elevated employee engagement, greater diversity among the officer team, the technical leadership, and the overall workforce, and the company being recognized as a “Top Workplace” based on an independent employee survey during each year that he led the human resources function.

 

• Serving as senior counsel on acquisitions and divestitures having a combined value of more than ten billion dollars.

• Serving as lead day-to-day business counsel for a region with operations in four states, which included drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts.

• Assisting clients in assessing business risks, litigation reserves, and insurance coverage.

• Conducting due diligence and investigations.

• Reporting to boards and board committees.

• Delivering training programs for leadership, management, and employees.

• Drafting comprehensive corporate policies and governing documents.

• Preparing responses to media inquiries.

• Authoring public filings, including business and regulatory filings.

 

Bar Memberships
Mr. Ricotta is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the El Paso County (Colorado) Bar Association, and the State Bar of Texas. A Colorado native, Mr. Ricotta co-founded and served as the inaugural chair of the Colorado Springs Teen Court, for which he received the El Paso County Auxiliary community service award.

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Email: NRicotta@mullikenlaw.com

Phone: (719) 635-8750

Legal Assistant: Elise Reis | ereis@mullikenlaw.com

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