Consumer Financial Services

Foley's Consumer Financial Services practitioners include a nationally recognized RESPA counsel, the former chief litigation counsel for one of the country's largest banks, a recognized national authority on the consumer provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, several adjunct law professors in consumer law and trial advocacy, a prominent advocate in the fight over arbitration clauses in the consumer context, a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a former federal prosecutor with more than 17 years of bank fraud and mortgage fraud prosecution experience.

We provide practical, strategic, and tactical advice on a variety of matters as reform and conventional litigation efforts continue to challenge our clients, including commercial banks, thrifts, finance companies, credit card issuers, acquirers and processors, and mortgage bankers. We have handled litigation and counseling matters involving virtually every consumer protective statute, and are ready to address your legal issues in light of recent reform:

• The new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act reforms the way consumer credit card transactions are conducted. In addition to advising financial institutions individually on addressing their practices under the new law, we provide timely news alerts and regular Web conferences briefing financial services providers on the legislation.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now oversees virtually all consumer financial transactions, creating a new and unfamiliar battleground for financial institutions. Our attorneys are fully briefed on the new law and have been advising clients on preparing for the changes, including likely challenges to the new law.
• In response to the lawsuits arising from the regulatory changes, we have represented clients on such regulations as the Red Flag Rules under FACTA and HUD rules under RESPA.

To keep you apprised of the latest developments in the area of consumer financial services, we maintain a blog — CFSLBulletin.com — that is regularly updated with the latest decisions from state and federal appellate courts and news items affecting the financial services industry.

In addition to managing issues posed by legislative reform, we are especially adept at managing your legal matters in the following areas:

Individual consumer claims: Individual consumer claims are our bread and butter. We have the knowledge and experience necessary to handle a high volume of these matters while still providing quality representation. Our experience handling these large portfolios allows us to partner with you and provide cost certainty that aligns your interests and ours.

Compliance reviews: Our Consumer Financial Services Practice has developed an innovative offering to review your products for risk that could be found unfair, deceptive, and abusive. Based on our experience handling these types of claims, we are able to spot problems and provide proactive counsel to head-off or correct the issues before litigation arises.

Class actions: We have the resources and experienced attorneys necessary to defend against consumer class actions, no matter the size of the potential class. Foley has successfully handled many large class actions brought by consumers against financial institutions, including cases brought under RESPA, TILA, FDCPA, and many other state and federal consumer fraud and protection statutes.