After Hours: Mercer County Bar Association; Giordano Halleran

The Mercer County Bar Association named Joseph Paravecchia, an assistant prosecutor at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office in Trenton, the 2020 “Young Lawyer of the Year” at a virtual event on Sept. 24. He is assigned to the Trial and Appellate units. He prosecutes cases ranging from homicides to narcotics, and drafts and submits legal briefs to, and argues before, the Appellate Division and New Jersey Supreme Court. He has also argued before the Supreme Court as amicus curiae on behalf of the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey. Paravecchia is the immediate past chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section and a member of the NJSBA’s Young Lawyers Division. He’s also appointed to several State Bar committees and frequently participates as a panelist on criminal-law-related programs sponsored by the NJSBA and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. He sits on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Model Criminal Jury Charges and previously served as acting president and treasurer of the Assistant Prosecutors Association of New Jersey. Paravecchia has been an active member of the MCBA since he first joined in 2012, including as a trustee since last year, according to the announcement. He recently served as co-chair of the Young Lawyers Committee and currently co-chairs the Continuing Legal Education and Mock Trial committees. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University and graduated from Ave Maria School of Law, where he was publication manager of the law review. He clerked for Mercer County Superior Court Judges Robert C. Billmeier and Andrew J. Smithson.

Seminski Elected Fellow of Mortgage Attorneys College

Louis Seminski Jr., a partner and co-chair of the business and banking law practice group at Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla in Red Bank, was recently elected as a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He was formally inducted at the organization’s annual meeting on Sept. 10. He is one of 18 real estate attorney inductees in North America this year. Seminski handles commercial real estate and finance in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and in other Eastern states. The ACMA’s members are recognized as distinguished practitioners in mortgage law and real estate finance based on their legal skills, knowledge, experience and professionalism, the announcement noted. In his practice, Seminski structures, negotiates and documents commercial real estate transactions and financings. He also advises institutional lenders, borrowers, commercial banks and investors. He also  practices general corporate law. Given his representation of restaurant and hospitality clients, Seminski also is experienced in government licensing and permitting, the announcement noted.