FERNANDO VELEZ, JR.

fvelez@rppmh.com

Fernando Velez, Jr. is a business attorney with a transactional practice focusing on business start-ups, venture capital, securities, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and real estate syndications. 

Fernando provides general counsel services to a client base ranging from small family-owned businesses to large international public companies, from small technology startups to established nonprofits.  He guides clients through their day to day legal issues, including entity selection, capitalization, employee issues, real property matters, financing, intellectual property licensing and protection, strategic arrangements, and exits.

Fernando has structured, negotiated, and closed transactions from both buy-side and sell-side, including public securities offerings, public debt offerings, tender offers, distressed company acquisitions and sales, going private transactions, and other transactions ranging from small commercial lease arrangements to billion dollar acquisitions.  He has extensive experience with private and public offerings of securities, including private placements with venture firms, angel investors, and strategic partners.

Prior to joining Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy, Fernando practiced in both law firms and in-house.  He served as corporate counsel and corporate secretary to Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF), and its two majority-owned public subsidiaries, Fidelity National Information Solutions (Nasdaq: FNIS) and American National Financial (Nasdaq: ANFI), where he was responsible for all securities matters, mergers and acquisitions, and legal compliance for hundreds of subsidiaries in all fifty states.  His experience as an in-house attorney gives him a unique perspective on his client's needs.

Fernando graduated from U.C. Berkeley (B.A. Rhetoric, 1991) and Boalt Hall School of Law at U.C. Berkeley (J.D., 1994).

Fernando is an active member of the Santa Barbara community.  He currently serves on the board of directors of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara (VP-Student Programs, Executive Committee), the board of trustees of Bishop Diego High School (Chair-Arts Committee), and the pastoral council at St. Barbara's Parish at the Old Mission.  In his free time he coaches girls' soccer.