Area of Practice: White Collar & National Security Deborah Curtis, former Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and Investigations at the CIA, is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations practice. She focuses on national security investigations and defense, as well as other litigation and enforcement matters. An accomplished trial lawyer, Deborah has chaired 17 jury trials and over 50 bench trials as both prosecutor and defense counsel. As an adviser to senior CIA leadership, Deborah oversaw all litigation and investigations implicating sensitive CIA interests, congressional inquests, incident response, criminal inquiries, and the invocation of state secrets and diplomatic privileges and immunities. She also advised on counterintelligence issues and major international policy initiatives that impact national security, including the U.S.-EU transatlantic data privacy framework and the interface with the International Criminal Court. Prior to joining the CIA, Deborah served as Chief Counsel for Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she advised executive leadership and the National Security Council on legal enforcement and policy decisions related to the expansion of export controls and enforcement mechanisms, including the Entity List, emerging technologies, and the foreign direct product rule. Deborah previously spent more than a decade in various roles at the U.S. Department of Justice. She worked as a Trial Attorney and Deputy Chief in the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuting Espionage Act and other national security-related cases, as well as overseeing criminal sanctions, export control investigations, and prosecutions nationwide. Deborah also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief in the National Security Section for the District of Columbia, where she investigated, prosecuted, and supervised a broad spectrum of cases, including nation-state sponsored espionage and malign cyber activities; illegal foreign agents; economic espionage; export control and sanctions violations; and related criminal matters involving fraud, terrorism, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Speech or Debate Clause, and other constitutional issues. Deborah began her career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California’s Criminal Division. Following that, she served ten years with the U.S. Department of the Air Force as an active duty and reserve Judge Advocate, attaining the grade of Major. During this time, Deborah was the Cadet Counsel at the U.S. Air Force Academy and served as Associate Deputy General Counsel for National Security and Military Affairs at the Pentagon. As a Judge Advocate, she was appointed by the Secretary of the Air Force to lead a Department-level “Crisis Action Team” legal review of sexual harassment at a military academy.

Area of Practice: Employment Defense In 2008, Ms. Cusimano joined McCormick Barstow’s Labor/Employment Law Group. She is admitted to practice law before all California State Courts, all United States District Courts of California, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Cutchins has represented Markley Group and its affiliated entities since 2001. Prior to joining Markley Group, Mr. Cutchins completed his undergraduate education at Georgetown University and obtained his juris doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC with visiting credentials at the University of Southern California. Mr. Cutchins launched a successful legal career in finance, real estate and business litigation under Pierce O’Donnell at the law firm of O’Donnell & Shaeffer in Los Angeles, California. There, his exceptional business and legal intellect and writing skills were repeatedly recognized both in legal circles and in the legal decisions he influenced. Since joining Markley Group, Mr. Cutchins’ representation has helped guide the company through substantial growth, hundreds of new leasing and licensing transactions and numerous financing transactions. He currently serves on the company’s management committee as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer.

Francis V. Cuttita joined the firm as a Partner in 1997. Mr. Cuttita has extensive expertise in residential and commercial real estate transactions ranging from purchase, sale, refinance and leasing. Within our robust sports and entertainment practice, Mr. Cuttita focuses on the business and personal needs of legendary professional athletes, internationally acclaimed entertainers, actors, sports agencies, professional coaches, and related companies. Among his notable representations include the Miami Dolphins Marc Anthony collaboration, designed to create and enhance the Dolphins' celebrity ownership group. Mr. Cuttita introduced his client, Marc Anthony to the Miami Dolphins and counseled them throughout the transaction. Mr. Cuttita is privileged to represent numerous legendary current and retired NFL and NBA professional athletes, premier sports agencies, coaches, fashion models, Grammy award winning musicians, Fortune 100 corporations and their CEOs, and television/radio personalities from ABC, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, MTV, HGTV, BRAVO and ESPN Networks. Mr. Cuttita has been a guest speaker at various events, has written several articles and has been interviewed and quoted as an expert legal analyst in the NY Post and Wall Street Journal, and other national newspaper publications. He also serves as a business advisor to several domestic and international companies, as well as various sports entities, and has advised the NFL Alumni Association and professional sports franchise ownership. He previously served as a senior associate at Beattie, King & Abate LLP (a spinoff law firm of Sidley Austin LLP) and as an associate at Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP, both in New York. Mr. Cuttita is a member of the Bar of the States of New York and New Jersey and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. His accomplishments include several appointments from the New York State Supreme Court Judiciary. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association. Mr. Cuttita received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1990, where he played varsity football and basketball. He received a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1993.