MICHAEL RATO is a Partner in the Morristown office, where he focuses on unclaimed property law and commercial litigation.

His practice focuses on advising corporations and financial institutions on unclaimed property law compliance. Mr. Rato has defended companies in unclaimed property audits, assisted with voluntary compliance initiatives, and conducted internal investigations into potential unclaimed property law violations. He has also counseled financial institutions on the application of state unclaimed property laws to stored value card programs and has advised companies on the unclaimed property implications of merger, acquisition, and divestiture activity.

Mr. Rato also assists clients with internal and government investigations, including matters brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and other regulators. His matters have involved credit default swap and derivatives trading, insider trading, frontrunning, broker-dealer conflicts of interest, advertising rules, regulatory reporting requirements and operational issues.

Mr. Rato is admitted to practice in the States of New Jersey and New York, the U.S. District Courts for the District of New Jersey and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second, Third, Fourth and Seventh Circuits and before the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a 1998 graduate of the Stevens Institute of Technology, and received his Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2001. At Seton Hall, Mr. Rato was a member of the Editorial Board of The Seton Hall Law Review and a recipient of the Daniel J. Moore Scholarship. Prior to joining McElroy, Mr. Rato was a Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.