Jess Velona worked for 20 years as a senior attorney in the enforcement division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. For a decade, he was a commercial litigator at Schulte Roth & Zabel and at Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He also worked extensively on pro bono matters, including a federal class action to reform New York City's child welfare system.
Velona was a law clerk to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, then a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, prior to Ginsburg becoming a Supreme Court justice.
Velona is the co-author of “Clearing Broker Liability and Responsibilities” in Broker-Dealer Regulation, Practising Law Institute, 2004, and the author or co-author of articles on the workings of the U.S. Courts of Appeals.