Thanks to all who attended my November 9 presentation in New York on Ethics and Consumer Financial Services Law. You can obtain a copy of the powerpoint here: Ethics6. The handout can be accessed here: Avoiding ethical pitfalls 20121105.
I have today’s transcript from oral argument before the Supreme Court in Marx v. General Revenue. Ms. Marx lost her Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) case against General Revenue. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d), which permits the court’s clerk to tax costs to a…
I ran across this post at the State Bar of Michigan Blog (http://sbmblog.typepad.com). It is the first state bar organization to mention the regulation of attorneys by CFPB fiat. There you have it — go Michigan, you’re #1! You can read it for yourself here.…
Election Day is next Tuesday and it is also an opportunity to learn more about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s plans to regulate attorneys and small businesses. Join me at 11:30 am ET along with Alan Kaplinsky, Chris Willis and John Culhane of Ballard Spahr…
In his October 27, 2012 weekly address to the Nation, President Obama praised recent efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Among the highlights: “[The CFPB’s] only mission is to fight for you.” “[The CFPB] recently ordered three big credit card companies to return more than $400 million dollars to folks who were deceived or…
Last night, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Larger Non-Bank Participant Rule. The Rule is available here. In addition to releasing the Rule, the CFPB released an examination manual and a fact sheet. Some highlights: The Rule is effective January 2, 2013 — 70 days from…
As Fall brings a chill to early morning weather, a string of federal agency enforcement actions are supplying a lot of unwanted heat for the consumer financial services industry. Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has entered into a Consent Order with Equifax Information Services LLC,…
A City of New York regulation that sought to regulate attorneys who practiced debt collection law, was struck down Wednesday by a Federal Court sitting in the Eastern District of New York because it violated New York’s Constitutional separation of powers. In Eric Berman, P.C. v. City…
As reported in today’s New York Law Journal, a Federal Court Judge sitting in the Southern District of New York recently denied a request by an affiliate of Chase Bank to serve process through a party’s Facebook profile. In Fortunato v. Chase Bank USA, N.A.,…
While the use of form pleadings is not unusual, it becomes dicey when attorneys seek fees from their use of forms as “original work.” But when you use a fee petition that itself is a form pleading and claim it too is “original work,” you…
When a law firm uses its letterhead to collect debt for its client, it “cannot disclaim the fact that he or she is engaging in the practice of law when using law firm letterhead,” states a recent joint opinion by the New Jersey Committee on…
Prelude: In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission released a study entitled “Repairing A Broken System: Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration.” What follows is part two of a report on their latest repair efforts. In a February blog post, I explored the Federal Trade…