Larry’s Childhood
Larry Friscia was born in Livingston, at St. Barnabas Hospital. His dad was raised in Bayonne, and lived in a two-family house with his Italian speaking immigrants from Sicily. His mother was born in Cuba, and fled to the U.S. escaping communism, as a child without her parents. Larry was raised in Florham Park. He attended the local public schools, Brooklake, Briarwood and Ridgedale. Friscia graduated from high school, at Delbarton School, in Morristown, after which he earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy with a masters degree in policy and public administration. He then matriculated to the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, from which he earned his law degree.
Larry’s Early Legal Career
Larry began his legal career working for a major law firm, based in Manhattan, working in the Private Equity M&A space. Sensing that there would be a need to help struggling Jersey homeowners following the Financial Crisis, he left Big Law and established a law practice in Newark. His office is located at the same location his father and his grandfather ran a small blue collar business.
Larry Fights the Big Banks
Months after he founded his firm, Larry left a mark on the legal world, initiating nationally recognized litigation against major banks in connection with the foreclosure crisis that followed the Financial Crisis. At the time, it was remarked in the Rolling Stone that Larry “…launched a powerful suit against Bank of America and two subsidiaries for predatory practices on the one hand and a rush to commit fraud on the other. Friscia’s complaint eloquently spells out the entire history of the mortgage scam…” As one of Larry’s cases asserted and as reported at the time in The New Jersey Law Journal, “[m]any thousands of foreclosures are plainly void under statute and settled New Jersey case law.” The attention brought to the foreclosure crisis by leaders like Larry eventually led to the National Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement, which yielded $25 billion largely to advance the cause of reforming and improving the foreclosure related practices relied on by major financial institutions.
Larry Defends the Constitution
Larry backs the blue. He strongly opposes “Defunding the Police.” Yet, his commitment to the Bill of Rights is unwavering. The Bill of Rights isn’t above his pay grade, so he understands that we cannot pick and choose when and for whom the rights it protects. Understanding that with creative policy initiatives, the choice between safety and liberty can be a false choice, Larry sued Essex County, New Jersey, after community members came to him with claims that invasive and allegedly unconstitutional practices were taking place in Essex County’s Correctional Facility. These practices were alleged to have arisen in connection with rampant strip searches, in what he believed to be violations of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.
As reported in the New Jersey Law Journal, last year Larry won this fight. As a result of this commonsense social justice class action, the practice of invasive and intrusive strip searches for non-violent detainees, whose innocence is presumed, was ended once and for all. This reform did not come at the expense of public safety or the safety of the facility’s detainees and employees, as the County agreed to implement advanced technological solutions allowing for the search of detainees without the need to physically invasive practices.
Larry Comes Home to Fight for the 11th
Now Larry Friscia is coming home to the 11th District. He is coming home to fight for this community, because he is from this community. Larry welcomes everyone into this race and into this community, but he believes that he has a special connection to this community because it was where he was literally born and raised. Larry might be a fresh face, but he’s also a fighter and a leader who has a track record of beating the odds.