Franckiewicz, Jr.

Vic’s legal and executive management experience centers on governmental innovation, real estate development, environmental stewardship, and construction.  He provides clients with legal advice informed by results-oriented leadership in the public sector and private industry, and by a strong scientific and technical background.

• Administrative Law
• Governmental Litigation
• Real Estate Development & Finance
• Public-Private Partnerships & Public Facilities
• Public Finance
• Environmental
• Administrative & Regulatory Law
• Governmental Finance

• Lead counsel for Louisiana Land Trust, a legislatively-chartered nonprofit charged with managing 11,000 Hurricane Katrina-damaged properties across South Louisiana and returning them to commerce.
• Strong experience handling complex, multi-parcel real estate projects and resolving real estate title issues.
• Manager of the firm’s title subsidiary (North Boulevard Title, LLC); licensed as a title insurance producer in Louisiana.
• Prepared innovative land use ordinance for St. James Parish, Louisiana and counseled local authorities in implementation and successful defense against legal challenges.
• Led 15-member legal team representing the Regional Transit Authority in New Orleans in major effort to reorganize the agency following a change in administration, and to restructure the agency following Hurricane Katrina.
• Lead counsel for an international water treatment company in a seven-year long class action in Louisiana over drinking water quality.
• Managed defense team defending several national clients against 21,000 plaintiffs alleging lung injury from silica dust in Mississippi litigation.
• Executive management experience in public works construction, zoning, environmental regulation, federal programs, employment and labor matters and economic development.
• Prepared Mississippi’s coastal zone management program, including drafting legislation, wetlands permitting and waterfront industrial development regulations.
• Notable Litigation:
• Martello v. City of Ferriday, 886 So.2d 645 (La. App. 3rd Cir. 2004), writ denied, 894 So.2d 1148 (La. 2005).  Represented a water treatment equipment manufacturer in a long-running class action.
• Freeman v. Walley, 276 F. Supp. 2d 597 (S.D. Miss. 2003):  Represented an excess insurer opposing a $4 million underlying judgment in an action removed to federal court.
• International Rivercenter v. Henry C. Beck Co., 672 So. 2d 1160 (La. App. 4 Cir.), writ denied, 675 So.2d 1083 (La. 1996); and International River Center v. Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, 861 So.2d 139 (La. 2003).  Represented the general contractor in a construction dispute over a major facility in New Orleans.
• Lindy Investments, L.P. v. Shakertown Corp., 209 F.3d 802 (5th Cir. 2000): Represented the owners of four large apartment complexes in an action against the manufacturer of defective siding.
• Massey v. Decca Drilling Company, Inc., 647 So.2d 1196 (La. App. 2nd Cir, 1994), writs denied, 653 So.2d 563 and 564 (La. 1995).  Represented the insurer on appeal of a $19 million jury award ($43 Million with accrued interest); secured a reduction of the award to $44,000.

• Martindale-Hubbell®
  • BV®-Distinguished™ Peer Review Rated, 2004-2017
• Best Lawyers in America®
  • Lawyer of the Year, Administrative/Regulatory Law (New Orleans), 2021
  • Administrative/Regulatory Law, 2020-2025
• CityBusiness Leader in Law, 2016
• National Excellence Award for Public Policy, Governmental Research Association, 2000
• Common Cause Legislative Leadership Award, 1990
• Volunteer of the Year for pro-bono services, Safe Harbor Women’s Shelter, 1996
• Senator, Mississippi State Senate, 1989-1993
• Mayor, City of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, 1985-1989
• Mississippi Advisory Commission on Public Trust Tidelands, 1988-1990
• Co-Recipient, Ted Aschman Prize, American Society of Planning Officials, 1976

• Louisiana, 1993
• Mississippi, 1993

• Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, J.D., 1993
  • Loyola Law Review
  • Moot Court Board
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.C.P., City Planning, 1976
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.B., Urban Studies, 1976

• Mississippi Bar Association
• Louisiana State Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Bureau of Governmental Research
  • President and CEO, 1999-2000

• Speaker, “Legal and Urban Planning Aspects of Disaster Recovery,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Planning, November 19, 2018.
• A Sinking Coast Bubbles up Legal Challenges; presentation and paper on property law, coastal regulation, and disaster recovery issues resulting from coastal land loss and rising sea levels; New Orleans, Louisiana, December 30, 2014.
• Overview and Status Report on the New Orleans Capital Program, Bureau of Governmental Research, October 2000; examined capital budget process of City of New Orleans.
• Privatization of Sewerage and Water Board Operations, Bureau of Governmental Research, April 2000.  A report on the options and issues involved in privatizing a major urban utility system.
• Property Tax Exemption and Assessment Administration in Orleans Parish, Bureau of Governmental Research, December 1999; comprehensive examination of operations of seven Orleans Parish Tax Assessors.  The report was the analytic foundation for post-Katrina reforms that abolished the archaic seven-assessor system.  It won the prestigious Governmental Research Association’s National Excellence Award for Public Policy in 2000.
• The States Ante Up: An Analysis of Casino Gaming Statutes, 38 Loy. L. Rev. 1123, 1993.
• Chisom v. Roemer: The Elected Judiciary is Subject to Vote Dilution Claims Under the Voting Rights Act, 38 Loy. L. Rev. 211, 1992.
• Frequent lecturer on zoning and land use issues at professional seminars in Mississippi and Louisiana.