Overview
Frank Velocci leads Faegre Drinker’s finance litigation team across the firm’s domestic and international offices. Frank resolves disputes for clients through litigation and arbitration in real estate, telecommunications, health care, prerogative writ, legal malpractice and business tort matters. He also represents debtors, trustees, committees and secured creditors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Frank counsels community hospitals and health systems in complex M&A transactions, including providing advice under the Community Health Care Assets Protection Act (CHAPA), which governs the sale of nonprofit hospitals. He has extensive experience with New Jersey health care mergers and acquisitions and also represents nonprofit organizations and community foundations.
Frank has litigated complex cases involving the investigation of distressed companies and their former executives. His work on these matters resulted in a multimillion-dollar jury verdict in a breach of lease action against a public entity and its attorneys.
He is a frequent lecture panelist on bankruptcy and litigation topics for numerous groups, including the American Bankruptcy Institute and the New Jersey Bar Association. A New Jersey Law Journal article featured Frank as one of the “Saviors of St. Mary’s” for his work on the Chapter 11 reorganization of St. Mary’s Hospital in Passaic, New Jersey.
Representative Experience
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
- General counsel to St. Mary’s Hospital in negotiations and sale to California-based health care network
- Representation of national law firms in defense of legal malpractice actions
- Successfully obtained injunction to protect an international distributor of sanitary ware’s exclusive distribution rights from China in the United States and Canada
- Secured a declaration for a former executive that his anticipated employment did not violate a noncomplete agreement
- Counsel to the Official Committee of Retirees for Bethlehem Steel Corporation
- Counsel hospitals on Medicare and Medicaid Fraud audits
- Counsel to the Receiver for a massive New Jersey-based Ponzi scheme
Prior Experience
Frank served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary Gambardella, former Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
Personal Interests
Frank makes wine every year, continuing the tradition his father taught him as a child.
Related Legal Services
Related Industries
Credentials
Bar Admissions
New Jersey
New York
Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Clerkships
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, Hon. Rosemary Gambardella, 1999-2000
Education
Seton Hall University School of Law
J.D. (1999)
Montclair State University
B.A. (1996)
Insights & Events
News
Other Perspectives
- "Passaic Hospital First in New Jersey to Survive Chapter 11"
New Jersey Law Journal, March 8, 2010
Leadership & Community
Pro Bono
Frank has made a sustained commitment to pro bono work in the community, including the Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project, an organization that protects the rights of victims of domestic violence. Frank both represents victims of domestic violence and supervises younger associates who volunteer their time to the Project.
Frank also serves as a member of Law2Life, a legal enrichment and mock trial program developed by the firm’s Community Outreach Committee and implemented at Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. The program culminates in a mock trial before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler and the Honorable Robert Vinci.
Professional Associations
- District X — Fee Arbitration Committee, 2011-15
Civic Activities
- Craig School, Mountain Lakes, NJ — Chairman, Board of Trustees
Honors
- Chambers USA — New Jersey, Health Care, 2023-24
This award is conferred by Chambers & Partners. A description of the methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. - Chambers USA — New Jersey, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, 2011-24
This award is conferred by Chambers & Partners. A description of the methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. - New Jersey Law Journal — “New Leaders of the Bar,” 2012
This award is conferred by American Lawyer Media. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- Best Lawyers® — Bankruptcy, 2023-25
This award is conferred by Best Lawyers. A description of the methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- New Jersey Super Lawyers — 2017-24
This award is conferred by Thomson Reuters. A description of the selection methodology is available here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.