Key Facts
Career & Education
About
Frank J. Bailey is a distinguished legal professional born in Kingston, New York. He earned a BSFS in economics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1977 and a JD from Suffolk University Law School in 1980. His career began as a judicial law clerk to Hon. Herbert P. Wilkins on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1980-1981), followed by work as an associate at Sullivan & Worcester LLP in Boston, focusing on litigation and corporate restructuring until 1987. He then served as a partner at Sherin and Lodgen LLP from 1987 to 2009, where he chaired the Litigation Department, sat on the management committee, and represented clients in complex business litigation, bankruptcy, and industries including financial services, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, technology, real estate, and high tech. Bailey also taught as adjunct faculty at Boston University School of Law (legal writing and research, 1981-1993), Suffolk University Law School (Advanced Business Restructuring/Business Reorganizations), and New England Law School. He has international teaching experience in Argentina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine, and will serve as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Galway Law School in Ireland in Spring 2025. From 2009 to 2022, he was a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Massachusetts (appointed January 30, 2009; retired June 1, 2022), serving as Chief Judge from 2010 to 2014 and as an Appellate Judge on the First Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. He was appointed mediator for the City of Central Falls, RI Chapter 9 restructuring. In professional leadership, he served as President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges until October 2021 and holds key roles in the American Bar Association, including Judicial Member at Large on the Board of Governors, member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, Vice Chair of the Judicial Division (elected 2024, chair 2026), and Chair of the Board Committee on Profession, Public Service and Diversity. He has testified before U.S. Congress on federal judiciary issues such as venue reform and DEI. Currently, he is President of the Pioneer Public Interest Law Center, a former federal prosecutor and experienced litigator, and holds board positions including Chair of the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden, MA; Board of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University; President of the Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice; and Board of Greater Boston Legal Services. Personally, he is married to Susan L. Cahill, M.D., F.A.C.S., and has two adult sons: Matthew Bailey, an attorney at Sullivan & Worcester LLP in Boston, and Michael Bailey, an energy analyst at National Grid.