Counsel
Charleston, WV
Mr. Pizatella's primary areas of practice are general corporate law, business expansion and economic development.

Education

  • West Virginia University, B.A., Political Science, summa cum laude, 2004
  • West Virginia University College of Law, J.D., 2007

Experience

  • Chief Executive Officer, Contractors Association of West Virginia, 2022-present
  • Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, 2017
  • President and Chief Executive Officer, Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, 2016
  • Acting Cabinet Secretary, West Virginia Department of Administration, 2014 - 2015
  • Acting Cabinet Secretary, West Virginia Department of Revenue, 2013
  • Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative Affairs, Office of West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, 2011 - 2013
  • Deputy State Tax Commissioner, West Virginia Department of Revenue, 2010
  • Counsel, West Virginia State Senate Committee on Finance and Committee on Government Organization, 2009 - 2010

Distinctions

  • West Virginia Executive "Lawyers & Leaders," Class of 2023
  • Nominated by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for Government Relations Practice
  • Forty Under 40, The State Journal, 2017
  • Adjunct Faculty, West Virginia University College of Law, 2017 - present
  • Young Gun, West Virginia Executive Magazine, 2015
  • Henry Toll Fellow, National Council of State Governments, 2014
  • Leadership West Virginia, 2012

Admissions

  • West Virginia State Bar
  • United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Memberships

  • Former Member, West Virginia Board of Law Examiners
  • Former Member, Consolidated Public Retirement Board (Governor's Representative)
  • Former Chair, Public Employees Insurance Agency Finance Board
  • Former Member, Enterprise Resource Planning Board (Governor's Representative)
  • Former Member, Parkways Authority (Governor's Designee and Chair)
  • Former Member, Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council (Governor's Designee and Chair)
  • Former Member, Regional Jail and Correctional Facilities Authority
  • Former Chair, State Personnel Board
  • Former Member, Capitol Building Commission

Publications & Presentations

  • Co-Author, "Section 404 Permits, Valley Fills and In-Stream Ponds: What's Next?" Energy & Min. L. Inst. 262, 2008
  • Author, "Separation of Powers and the Governor's Office in West Virginia: Advocating a More Deferential Approach to the Chief Executive from the Judiciary," 109 W.Va. L. Rev. 185, 2006
  • Associate Editor and Executive Business Editor, West Virginia Law Review

Community Involvement

  • Eucharistic Minister, Lector and Usher, Basillica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart