MEMBERS
T.J. Herten
A. Burstein
P.F. Sheridan, Jr.
A.J. Cevasco
T.P. Bottinelli
A.D. Litt
S.B. Harz
P. Papalia
R.J. Contant
S.M. Marra
T.S. McGuire
A.T. Fede
G.A.Pietrafesa
S.D. Jacobson
M.I. Lubin
N.O. DeScherer
D.Y. Gielchinsky

ASSOCIATES
P. Ascolese
L.R. Bicocchi
C.P. Bossong
T.J. Fagan
C.B. Hand
L.J.C. Hardesty, Jr.
M.R. Olszak
D.C. Ritson
K.K. Ruggiero
E.S. Thompson

OF COUNSEL
J.T. Shafron
W.H. Schmidt, Jr.
D.S. Steinberg
L.C. Tomasella
C. Brooks
D.L. Mulligan

SPECIAL COUNSEL
G.C. Escala

DIRECTOR OF
OPERATIONS
D. Polizzotto

ATTORNEY MAIN PAGE

Gianfranco A. Pietrafesa

Gianfranco A. (Franco) Pietrafesa is a business lawyer and litigator.

As a business lawyer, Mr. Pietrafesa represents clients in corporate, business, employment and real estate matters. His extensive experience includes the formation of business entities, the purchase and sale of businesses, the preparation and negotiation of various business contracts, and advice to clients on general employment matters. He also handles real estate matters for his corporate clients, including the purchase and sale of commercial real estate, the preparation and negotiation of leases, and commercial mortgage lending.

When necessary, Mr. Pietrafesa engages in business litigation and has experience in both the trial and appellate courts. Currently, he focuses his litigation practice on business and corporate matters, such as breach of contract and disputes between business owners.

Mr. Pietrafesa has been a director of the Business Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and currently serves as its Secretary. He has been a member of the Inn of Transactional Counsel since 2002. He is listed among The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Corporate Law.

In addition to his hands on experience, Mr. Pietrafesa has lectured on the topics of corporate law, litigation, and legal ethics. He also has taught corporate law at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is the author of numerous articles on corporate law and litigation topics that have appeared in such legal periodicals as the New Jersey Law Journal and New Jersey Lawyer Magazine. He is a contributing author, on the subject of drafting complaints, to New Jersey Federal Civil Procedure 2d, published by New Jersey Law Journal Books. He is also the author of the post trial motions chapter in Trial Tactics Defense Litigation Manual, published by the Defense Research Institute. He also serves on the Editorial Board of New Jersey Lawyer Magazine. His articles can be found at www.GianfrancoPietrafesa.com.

Mr. Pietrafesa has been appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to serve on both a district fee arbitration committee, where he served as the committee chairman for two years, and a district ethics committee.
In 2002, Mr. Pietrafesa was recognized by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of the 40 outstanding attorneys under the age of 40 in New Jersey.

Mr. Pietrafesa received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Seton Hall Legislative Journal. He received his B.S. in accounting, summa cum laude, from Fairleigh Dickinson University, which better enables him to provide advice to business clients.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Pietrafesa served as a Law Secretary to the Honorable Nicholas G. Mandak, the Assignment Judge for the Passaic County Vicinage of the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Mr. Pietrafesa is actively involved in his community. He coaches baseball, softball and soccer. He has been a member of the Hawthorne Board of Education for many years, where he currently serves as its Vice President. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Louis Bay 2d Library in Hawthorne. He has also served as general counsel to the St. Anthony Education Foundation, and the Hawthorne Education Foundation, New Jersey Nonprofit Corporations.

Fairleigh Dickinson University
(B.S. 1986)

Seton Hall University School of Law
(J.D. 1989)

New Jersey

New York

U.S. District Court,
District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals,
Third Circuit

U.S. Tax Court