Frank M. Crivelli, Esq.

Frank M. Crivelli is a partner in the law firm of Pellettieri Rabstein & Altman. His primary practice revolves around the representation of public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues that are litigated before state and federal trial courts, appellate courts, and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey.

Frank M. Crivelli has attained certification as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey. To qualify for certification, an attorney must be at least a five-year member of the NJ Bar and have completed numerous continuing legal education courses in the three years prior to filing an application for certification. In addition, the attorney must show a substantial involvement in the preparation of litigated matters and demonstrate primary responsibility for a large number of trials completed before New Jersey courts. Less than two percent of the attorneys in New Jersey have been certified as trial attorneys by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Prior to becoming a shareholder of Pellettieri Rabstein & Altman, Mr. Crivelli formed The Law Offices of Frank M. Crivelli, L.L.C., and Arpaia & Crivelli, L.L.C. However, his legal career began with the United States Marine Corps as a Judge Advocate stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. As a Judge Advocate, Mr. Crivelli was selected as the lead military defense counsel in a nationally publicized wrongful death case that has since shaped United States domestic policy on the use of military personnel on America's international borders for drug interdiction purposes. While serving on active duty, Mr. Crivelli was also charged with the responsibility of assisting the development and implementation of the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy's policy on sexual harassment. Mr. Crivelli educated Marines, Sailors, and Department of Defense Personnel on the implementation of the policy and was often called upon to formally investigate serious charges of sexual harassment and defend high-ranking Marines criminally charged with unlawful acts of sexual harassment. Mr. Crivelli is still a member of the Marine Corps Reserve where he holds the rank of Major. His last billet was serving as an appellate criminal defense counsel in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Crivelli is admitted to practice law in the Federal and State Courts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He is a member of the American, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Mercer County Bar Associations, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is the founder of The New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog (www.NJPublicsafetyofficers.com), a free electronic legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up to date and informed about legal issues that affect their profession. Mr. Crivelli and the other attorneys that comprise the Pellettieri Rabstein & Altman labor department presently serve as counsel to over forty private and public labor unions throughout the State of New Jersey.

Mr. Crivelli is a graduate of Washington College (B.A. 1991), the City University of New York School of Law (J.D. 1994), the United States Naval Justice School (1995), and the Harvard Law School Program on Contract Negotiation.

Practice Areas

  • Public Employment Labor Law
  • Public Employee Discipline Representation
  • Workers Compensation
  • Public Employee Pension Appeals
  • Complex Civil Litigation

Professional Associations

  • Mercer County Bar Association
  • New Jersey State Bar AssociationAmerican Association for Justice

Education

  • J.D. The City University of New York School of Law, 1994
  • B.A. Washington College, 1991

Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey, 1994
  • Pennsylvania, 1994
  • Georgia, 1994

Donald C. Barbati, Jr.

Originally from Hamilton Township, New Jersey, Donald C. Barbati is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Prior to joining Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court, Law Division, Mercer County. During his clerkship, Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local governing bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition to his regular responsibilities, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including civil rights, social security, and immigration cases. In addition, Mr. Barbati was employed by the Law Offices of Frank M. Crivelli, L.L.C., wherein he prepared numerous legal memoranda for filing in various New Jersey state and federal courts. In 2007, he received his Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class.

At Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman, Mr. Barbati will focus his practice primarily in labor and employment law and matters of general litigation. He is currently a member of the American and Mercer County Bar Associations.