Consumer financial services companies face a broad spectrum of issues unique to the industry, and you need counsel that understands the challenges the industry faces. With one of the most preeminent consumer financial services litigation practice groups in the nation, our lawyers know your industry. With experience in regulatory counseling and examinations, government investigations, enforcement proceedings, and litigation, we defend many of the nation’s largest financial institutions, including prominent banks, mortgage companies, credit card issuers, and insurers, in high-stakes consumer financial services litigation cases and government enforcement actions across the country.
Litigation
We specialize in the defense of class actions and government investigations and enforcement actions against financial institutions in the consumer financial services industry. Our practice is national, having handled matters in nearly all 50 states, before numerous federal and state appellate courts, and before the United States Supreme Court. We have a team of industry specialists in offices in Washington, California, New York and Boston that have defended hundreds of nationwide or statewide putative class actions, and multiple multi-district litigation matters.
Many of the suits we defend present groundbreaking issues with industry-wide impact. This includes a host of victories on behalf of our clients in putative class actions in the fields of mortgage loan pricing and origination practices, fair lending, mortgage servicing and loan modification, default servicing and consumer bankruptcy, lender-placed insurance, and captive reinsurance arrangements.
We regularly represent financial services institutions in defending matters arising under the full range of laws and regulations affecting the consumer finance industry, including claims under federal and state consumer credit laws (such as the Truth-in-Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Fair Housing Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act); fair and responsible lending claims and investigations; challenges to loan origination and servicing practices; federal and state UDAP claims; claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act; federal preemption; challenges to marketing practices; credit card products; add-on credit products; and credit disclosure claims.
We also defend our clients in lawsuits brought by state attorneys general, state district attorneys, counties and municipalities throughout the country. We regularly defend individual consumer litigation that poses issues that may have wider precedent, including coordinating the response to a series of cases brought in many courts throughout the country that, collectively, present a significant challenge to our client.
Enforcement + Government Investigations
We have substantial experience representing banks, non-bank lenders and servicers, student loan companies, debt collectors, non-traditional finance companies, and other market participants in responding to government investigations, defending enforcement actions, and managing administrative, criminal, and private proceedings. Our practice is nationwide in scope, and includes matters involving many different federal and state agencies and officials, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, federal and state banking regulatory agencies, offices of inspector general for various federal agencies, state attorneys general and district attorneys.
Litigation Avoidance
We do more than litigate. In anticipation of potential litigation, we assist clients with internal investigations, responding to pre-suit or civil investigative demands, developing internal company procedures, and advocating to government agencies regarding potential suits against our clients. Our trial lawyers work closely with financial services attorneys in all of our offices, to provide a comprehensive breadth of knowledge as to both business practices and litigation issues to assist clients in avoiding future risks and minimizing potential exposure.
