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1 |  | National Consumer Law Center's Annual Consumer Rights Litigation Conference December 6-10, 2021 | Week One: Education Week | |||||
2 | Recordings: Unless otherwise noted, all Week One sessions are recorded and made available for on-demand viewing. All times in Eastern Standard Time. | ||||||
3 | Monday, December 6th, 2021 | Register Now! | ||||||
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5 | Times (EST) | Track | Level | Title | Speakers | Description | |
6 | 11:00 AM-12:30PM | Opening Plenary | Zixta Q. Martinez (Deputy Director at the CFPB) and our 2021 Rising Star and Vern Countryman Award Winners | ||||
7 | 1:00PM-2:00PM | FCRA | ABCs | A1: ABCs of FCRA [This Session Will Not Be Available for On-Demand Viewing. Interested attendees must watch live.] | Duran Keller (Keller Law) & Kari Rudd (Bay Area Legal Aid) | This course covers the ABCs of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It is intended for practitioners who are new to this area of law. The course will present perspectives on litigating from a legal services practice and a private practice | |
8 | 1:00PM-2:15PM | Debt Defense | Intermediate | A2: Medical Debt Defense: What Consumer Attorneys Need to Know about Surprise Billing and Other Health Insurance Issues | Maanasa Kona (Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Georgetown University) & Mala Rafik (Rosenfeld & Rafik, P.C.) | In addition to debt collection issues under the FDCPA and FCRA, medical debt cases may involve a range of other legal issues related to surprise billing and health insurance. For instance, many states have their own surprise billing laws, and federal surprise billing protections will take effect in 2022. This course will introduce consumer advocates to some of the surprise billing and health insurance issues that can arise in medical debt cases, and may provide additional avenues of relief for clients. | |
9 | 1:00PM-2:30PM | Auto | ABCs | A3: ABC's of Auto Fraud | Kristin Kemnitzer & Adam McNeile (Kemnitzer Barron & Krieg) | This is an introductory course on autofraud, including various types of auto fraud from the "wheels and steel" to financing. It covers causes of action, case strategy, and client management. | |
10 | 2:30PM-3:00PM | Oregon Consumer Justice Update | |||||
11 | 3:00PM-4:15PM | Fair Debt | ABCs | A4: ABC's of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act | Stacy Bardo (Bardo Law, P.C.) & Brian Bromberg (Bromberg Law Office, P.C. | This session will give a general overview of the FDCPA with a focus on coverage and violations. | |
12 | 3:00PM-4:15PM | Housing/FDCPA | Intermediate | A5: Using Violations of Mortgage Servicing Rules without Private Rights of Action as Predicates for FDCPA and UDAP Claims. [This Session Will Not Be Available for On-Demand Viewing. Interested attendees must watch live.] | Yongmoon Kim (Kim Law Firm, LLC) & Phillip Robinson (Consumer Law Center LLC) | Many provisions of RESPA, Regulation X, TILA, and state law are not privately enforceable against mortgage servicers. However, the standards they establish may be used as the basis for claims brought under the FDCPA or state UDAP laws. This session will offer success stories and failures for what has worked and not worked in this arena on claims asserted against mortgage entities on individual and class-wide basis. Attendees will be provided sample complaints, checklists, and potential claims to consider and tips and tricks for developing new avenues. | |
13 | 3:00PM-4:15PM | Practice/Other | All Levels | A6: Advocating for Change Outside the Courtroom: how to make a difference at the state or city level | Melissa Bondi (Enterprise Community Partners), Keith Fairey (CEO Way Finders), & Christie Marra (Virginia Poverty Law Center) | As practitioners we often encounter clients in a crisis moment around housing, or other issues, where our job is to get them through an acute problem through the courts. But if the local circumstances don’t change (e.g. low wages, lack of affordable housing) we will continue to see the same problems in court. What policy solutions are available at the state and local level? Using housing as a case study we will explore how to find the intervention points at the state and municipal level to address issues you are seeing in your practice and can use to help members of your own community. | |
14 | 5:00PM-6:30PM | Student Loans | ABCs | A7: ABCs of Student Loan Law | Kyra Taylor (National Consumer Law Center) | A primer on the different types of loans and how to use administrative cancellation programs to get relief for your clients. | |
15 | 5:00PM-6:30PM | Credit | Intermediate | A8: Combatting Unauthorized Electronic Charges | Joe Baressi (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), Brian Bromberg (Bromberg Law Office) & Lauren Saunders (NCLC), Moderated by Jerry Battle (NCLC) | The Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E provide important protection against unauthorized charges and errors in electronic payments. The EFTA applies to a range of older and new types of electronic payments, including debit and prepaid cards, preauthorized electronic debits, and payments sent through systems like PayPal, Venmo and Zelle. But the scope of the protection can vary depending on the type of payment, how it was initiated, and whether it was completely unauthorized or the result of a scam. This session will provide an overview of EFTA rights as well as issues that come up if a financial institution does not respond adequately to a request to correct an error or unauthorized charge. | |
16 | 5:00PM-6:30PM | Housing | All Levels | A9: Pandemic Loss Mitigation Updates | Steve Sharpe (NCLC), Rachel Labush (Community Legal Services), & Jennifer Ngai Lavallee (Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia) | This session will cover the most recent updates in loss mitigation policy for mortgage borrowers struggling with COVID-19 related hardships | |
17 | Tuesday, December 7th, 2021 | Return to Conference Info Page | ||||||
18 | Times (EST) | Track | Level | Title | Speakers | Description | |
19 | 11:00AM-11:30AM | Wellness Session: Meditation and Breathwork | SarahEmily Pina (NCLC) | Join SarahEmily for some pre-session grounding! Feel free to come as you are and stay for what serves you in the moment. | |||
20 | 12:00PM-1:00PM | Auto | All Levels | B1: Implied Warranty and Mag-Moss: Under Used Yet Remarkably Useful (And No, As-Is Disclaimers Often Don’t Stop You) | Bernard Brown (The Brown Law Firm) & Matt Osborne (Matthew R Osborne, PC) | Mag-Moss claims can be remarkably useful, providing attorney fees and actual damages for a breach of a written warranty, implied warranty, or service contract. While most car sales attempt to disclaim implied warranties such attempted disclaimers and modifications are often ineffective or insufficient to deprive the consumer of all claims. This session will help you understand the valuable tools that Mag-Moss and implied warranties provide and how to use them to help consumers. | |
21 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | Litigation | Beginner | B2: Arbitration Do's and Dont's: Succeeding in Arbitration in 2021 and Beyond | Elliot Conn (Conn Law, PC) & Ron Wilcox & Allison Krumhorn (Wilcox Law Firm, P.C.) | Arbitration is ever shifting and innovative strategies are needed to successfully litigate arbitration cases. This session will discuss the changing arbitration landscape, trying a case via Zoom video, new case law, and arm advocates with the tools necessary to obtain significant arbitration awards including actual and punitive damages, fees and costs. | |
22 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | FCRA | Intermediate | B3: Outside and Alongside the FCRA: Bringing state law claims against "Not CRAs" | Jennifer Bennett (Gupta Wessler, PLLC), Sharon Cruz (DiCello Levitt Gutzler LLC), & Drew Sarrett (Consumer Litigation Associates) | Often, entities collecting and reselling data on consumers try to argue they are not covered by the FCRA. The flip side of that argument is that these actors should not get the protection of FCRA preemption (or qualified immunity) from potential state law causes of action. In this session, we'll explore uses of state law statutory and tort claims against companies that claim to be outside of the FCRA's scope. | |
23 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | TCPA | All Levels | B4: TCPA Litigations Using FCC Actions | John Barrett (Bailey Glasser), Ted Hobson (Vermont Attorney General's Office), & Margot Saunders (NCLC) | We'll discuss finding and suing the callers, the sellers, and their phone service providers with new claims. | |
24 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Housing | Intermediate | B5: Mortgage Discovery: Getting the Goods | Loraine Martinez Bellamy & Sarah White (Connecticut Fair Housing Center) | We'll discuss knowing what documents you really need, and how to get them when the servicer tries to avoid giving them to you. | |
25 | 2:00PM-3:30PM | Fair Debt | All Levels | B6: Using Consumer Law to Protect Tenants Part I: Rental Debt | Scott Kinkley (Northwest Justice Project), Farah Majid (Legal Services Alabama), Matthew Vocci (Santoni, Vocci & Ortega, LLC) | This session will consider strategies for defending consumers with rental debt as well as affirmative strategies for responding to abusive collection practices by landlords and debt collectors. | |
26 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Practice | Intermediate | B7: Where Attorneys Fear to Tread: FCRA, Family Identity Theft and Victims of Economic Abuse | Carla Sanchez-Adams (Texas RioGrande Legal Aid) & Robert Sola (Robert S. Sola, PC) | This course will examine the challenges and successful strategies in FCRA actions brought by victims of identity theft committed by a family member and victims of economic abuse. The panelists will discuss the unique defenses asserted in such cases and how to overcome defense claims of collusion, responsibility for, and knowledge of the debt. The session will examine the subject of "coerced debt." The panel will consist of legal aid and private attorneys and will present examples from a recent case involving economic abuse and coerced debt brought against the Big 3 CRAs and a large bank. The panel will also discuss emerging trends and state law remedies for victims of economic abuse. | |
27 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Litigation | Intermediate | B8: Supreme Court Litigation Review | Jennifer Bennett (Gupta Wessler PLLC), Allison Zieve (Public Citizen Litigation Group) | The Supreme Court has maintained an active docket of cases that will impact both class action and individual consumer litigation. This session will review some of the SCOTUS cases decided during the last year that consumer advocates should be aware of (e.g. Ramirez, Goldman, Ford Motor Company, AMG Capital Mgt.) as well as key cases to be on the lookout for during the upcoming term. | |
28 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Fair Debt | Intermediate | B9: Criminal Justice Debt: Relief from collection based on financial hardship or inability to pay | Abby Shafroth (NCLC), Shanelle Johnson (Fines & Fees Justice Center), Mairead C. O'Reilly (Vermont Legal Aid), Ed Wunch (Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma) | This session will discuss models and strategies for seeking relief from criminal justice debt collection based on financial hardship or lack of "ability to pay." | |
29 | Wednesday, December 8th, 2021 | Return to Conference Info Page | ||||||
30 | Times (EST) | Track | Level | Title | Speakers | Description | |
31 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | Auto | Intermediate | C1: Credit Math for Car Cases | Carolyn Carter (NCLC) & Tom Domonoske (Consumer Litigation Associates) | The ability to carefully and thoroughly review auto finance transactions for compliance with state and federal requirements is an important skill for consumer advocates handling car cases. This session will help participants better understand credit math issues in car finance such as add-on interest rates and rebate and APR calculations, and will provide an introduction to RISA and TILA issues, with practical tips for reviewing auto finance transactions. | |
32 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | Debt Collection | Intermediate | C2: Determining Statute of Limitations in Affirmative and Defensive Debt Collection Cases | April Kuehnhoff (NCLC) & Dan Myers (The Law Offices of Daniel O. Myers) | This session will explore the issues relating to the statute of limitations on debt, both before and after litigation. We will discuss how to determine the proper statute of limitations depending on the kind of debt as well as possible FDCPA violations for collections when the statute of limitations has expired. | |
33 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | FCRA | Intermediate | C3: Do's and Don'ts of Intake and Working Up the Case | Justin Baxter (Baxter & Baxter) & SaraEllen Hutchison (Law Office of SaraEllen Hutchison, PLLC) | This session will focus on some of the do’s and don’ts of pre-intake, and pre-litigation work that is necessary to lay the groundwork for successful litigation. Topics include, identifying critical documents, avoiding surprises, red flags for intake, organizing facts before you draft, and using technology to facilitate discovery and client communications. This session will also include a mock/demo intake and demonstration of technology. | |
34 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Housing | Beginner | C4: Untangling Title: Saving the Home When Heir Property Issues are Involved | Dãnia Davy (Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund), Rachel Gallegos (Community Legal Services of Philadelphia), & Scott Kohanowski (City Bar Justice Center) | Saving the home can be a lot more complicated when someone has died. This session will address strategy pointers for dealing with "tangled title" or "heir property." We will include a discussion of pulling and reviewing title (quickly and with the lowest cost), basics of probate and intestacy, preparing heirship deeds and family tree affidavits, assuming and modifying mortgage loans, scams and predatory behavior, and other issues key for preserving inter-generational wealth and saving the family home. | |
35 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Practice | Beginner | C5: Intersectionality of Disability Law and Consumer Law | Marissa Ditkowsky (Tzedek DC) & Alpha Taylor (NCLC) | This session will focus on the nexus between disability law and consumer law. While historically disability rights litigation has centered around anti-discrimination laws like the ADA and Rehab Act, federal and state consumer protection laws are also valuable tools for clients with disabilities that are both disproportionately targeted and disproportionately harmed by abusive practices. Consumers with disabilities face challenges around issues like debt collection, student loan repayment, and more. We will describe these common problems and discuss representation strategies that attorneys can use to help protect clients with disabilities from harm. | |
36 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Ethics | Beginner | C6: Prospect Theory: How Behavioral Economics Impacts Litigation and the Ethical Implications for Lawyers | Dan Blinn (Consumer Law Group, LLC) | This presentation will introduce the participants to the principles of Prospect Theory, as developed by Amos Tversky and Daniel Khaneman, and how they impact decision making when economic risks are involved. The concepts of framing, anchoring, the certainty principle, and Fourfold Pattern will be introduced and illustrated. Participants will learn how these behavioral economic principles relate to client representation with emphasis on how they cause litigants (and their attorneys) to make poor choices in deciding whether to settle cases and the ethical implications. Particular emphasis will be given to Model Rules:e 1.2(a), 1.4(b), Rule 2.1 (comment 1), and 3.3. | |
37 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Student Loans | Intermediate | C7: Student Loan Bankruptcy | Ed Boltz (The Law Offices of John T. Orcutt, P.C.), Elizabeth Gonzalez (Public Counsel), & Alpha Taylor (NCLC) | This session will explore ways that student loan borrowers can discharge their loans in bankruptcy. | |
38 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Practice | Beginner | C8: Protecting Those who Protect Us:Claims for Military/Veteran Consumers | Lynn Drysdale (Jacksonville Legal Aid) & Janet Varnell (Varnell & Warwick) | There is a literal epidemic of predatory lending to military consumers. This course would permit any practicing consumer lawyer to have the basics tools they require to evaluate and litigate cases on behalf of service members, their dependents and veterans. There have been sparse few cases brought under the Military Lending Act in the past. Now, it is finally being utilized and all consumer lawyers should learn to harness this powerful law along with its prohibition against arbitration. Similarly, many other military specific laws like the Servicemembers Relief Act are underutilized. Because military consumers are among the most vulnerable, they need representation. | |
39 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Litigation | Intermediate | C9: Impact Litigation for Legal Services Attorneys | Anna Deknatel (Quinn Emanuel), Jessica Ranucci, & Danielle Tarantolo (New York Legal Aissistance Group) | This course will focus on how legal services attorneys can pursue impact litigation on behalf of consumers. Topics that will be covered include: choosing which issues to litigate; when to file pre-suit demand letters; when to file an individual case versus a class action; how and whether to get private or pro bono co-counsel; how to navigate the tension between benefits of a settlement to the individual client versus other consumers affected; mootness issues; and how to negotiate and apply for attorneys' fees. | |
40 | 5:30PM-6:30PM | Wellness Session: Mid-Week Strech Sesh | SarahEmily Pina (NCLC) | This one hour All Levels yoga class will feature repetative sequencing that will help you wring out tension and release portions of the body that often become tense from hours of seated work. Comfortable clothing and a yoga or workout mat are best for this practice. Special thanks to Top Class Actions for sponsoring this Wellness Session! | |||
41 | Thursday, December 9th, 2021 | Return to Conference Info Page | ||||||
42 | Times (EST) | Track | Level | Title | Speakers | Description | |
43 | 12:00PM-1:00PM | FCRA | Beginner | D1: Litigating against Background Screening Companies | Hans Lodge (Berger Montague) & Adam Thoresen (Jacksonville Area Legal Aid) | Today, to nail down an apartment or job, you almost always have to pass a background check. However, many landlords and employers rely on reports, purchased from specialized background screening companies, that routinely mismatch people, include sealed or expunged criminal records, miscategorize criminal offenses, report incomplete criminal or eviction record information, and include misleading information. This session will cover common FCRA claims against background screening companies and litigation pitfalls that practitioners should watch out for. | |
44 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | Ethics | All Levels | D2: Taxes on Attorneys' Fees | Dan Blinn (Consumer Law Group, LLC) & Elizabeth Maresca (Fordham Law) | This session will be a discsussion about how the tax obligations of clients for attorneys' fee impacts ethical obligations of their lawyers. | |
45 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | Housing | Intermediate | D3: RESPA Mortgage Servicing Rules: New COVID-related updates | Loraine Martinez Bellamy (Connecticut Fair Housing Center), Sarah Mancini (NCLC), and John Rao (NCLC) | How does Regulation X address the challenges faced by COVID-affected homeowners during and at the end of a mortgage forbearance? Can it help them understand their options and obtain offers of loss mitigation, including streamlined offers? And what about dual tracking protections? This panel will walk through a number of RESPA issues, including the expected new rules from the CFPB. | |
46 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Practice | Beginner | D4: Utility Debt and Consumer Protections: Intro to Advocacy and Litigation Strategies | Karen Lusson (NCLC), Alexa Rosenbloom (Greater Boston Legal Services), and Olivia Wein (NCLC) | The COVID-19 pandemic left low-income customers with record-breaking amounts of utility debt. Federal assistance and a range of state responses offer much-needed support, but the path to receiving assistance may be confusing. In this session, advocates will learn how to help clients gain access to bill payment assistance and other programs. We will also address the overpriced competitive energy supply contracts that ensnare consumers in deregulated states, and successful litigation and advocacy strategies. | |
47 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Housing | Intermediate | D5: Reversing Course: Protecting Older Adults from Reverse Mortgage Foreclosure | Maryann Flanigan (Legal Services of New Jersey) & Sarah White (Connecticut Fair Housing Association) | Data from reverse mortgage servicers reveals that over 27K borrowers are in default on property charges, with half of those defaults occurring during the pandemic. Guidance with respect to loss mitigation and other home saving measures for borrowers and non-borrowing surviving spouses has changed rapidly over the past year. This session will focus on strategies and options for keeping older borrowers and spouses at home after the moratorium is lifted. The session will also highlight the challenges heirs face in keeping the home after the death of the borrower. | |
48 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | TCPA | All Levels | D6: TCPA Updates and New Interpretations of ATDS Definition | Megan Iorio (EPIC), Justin Holcombe (Skaar & Feagle, LLP), Loraine Martinez Bellamy (Connecticut Fair Housing Center), & Margot Saunders (NCLC) | We will discuss new developments in addressing unwanted robocalls | |
49 | 3:15PM-4:00PM | Wellness Session: Movement and Breathwork | John Ellem (Ellem Law Office) | ||||
50 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Housing | Intermediate | D7: Escrow Issues: How to Stay Sane and Figure Out What is Going On | John Rao (NCLC) & Rachel Scott (Atlanta Legal Aid) | We will discuss how to calculate escrow shortages and proper escrow balances. | |
51 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Credit | Intermediate | D8: What is a Bank? Fintech, Crypto, Trust, Neo, Public and Other New Banks and Faux Banks | Paulina Gonzalez-Brito (California Reinvestment Coalition), Adam Rust (National Community Reinvestment Coalition), & Lauren Saunders (NCLC), & Mike Townsley (Conference of State Bank Supervisors), Moderated by Andrew Pizor (NCLC) | Banks have special privileges in our country. Only banks have the right to take deposits and only banks benefit from banking regulations that preempt many state consumer protection laws. But in recent years, bank regulators have chartered or considered chartering a variety of new types of banks that push the limits on what types of companies can be a "bank" entitled to bank privileges and what obligations and oversight apply to banks. The growth of arrangements between nonbank entities and banks further blur those lines. At the same time, proposals for public banks aim to expand financial inclusion to those left behind by traditional banks. This session will explore the policy and legal implications of different types of banks. | |
52 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Practice | Beginner | D9: Freedom of Information Act | Stuart Rossman (NCLC) & Brian Wolfman (Georgetown Law) | Understanding the legal scheme for the collection and public release of government-held information is important to litigators as a gathering tool in advance of, or as a compliment to, civil litigation. This session will cover the basics of the Freedom of Information Act as well as other federal public records laws and state-open government analogues for requesting, negotiating and litigating these issues. | |
53 | Friday, December 10th, 2021 | Return to Conference Info Page | ||||||
54 | Times (EST) | Track | Level | Title | Speakers | Description | |
55 | 11:00AM-11:45AM | Wellness Session: Chair Yoga | John Ellem (Ellem Law Office) | ||||
56 | 12:00PM-1:00PM | Auto | Intermediate | E1: Using State Unfair and Deceptive Acts to Help Consumers | Christina Gill Roseman (Roseman Law Firm, PLLC) | State Unfair and Deceptive Acts provide a powerful tool to help consumers in car cases. State UDAP statutes typically have a lower burden of proof than fraud, making it easier to obtain a favorable verdict for consumers. While there are many variations in state Unfair and Deceptive Acts, there are many common concepts. Practitioners will learn about the advantages of using State UDAP laws, the common elements of the laws, types of claims that can be filed and the defenses to avoid. | |
57 | 12:00PM-1:15PM | Student Loans | Advanced | E2: Student Loan Updates | Winston Berkman-Breen (Student Borrower Protection Center), Heather Jarvis (Student Loan Expert), Maggie O'Grady (Project on Predatory Lending), Abby Shafroth (NCLC), & Kyra Taylor (NCLC) | This session will provide an overview of significant developments from the last year in the federal student loan system that are likely of interest to lawyers who work with borrowers. | |
58 | 12:00PM-1:30PM | Fair Debt | Advanced | E3: FDCPA Developments | April Kuehnhoff (NCLC), Dick Rubin (Law Office of Richard J. Rubin) & Dave Philipps (Philipps & Philipps, LTD.) | This session will focus on FDCPA litigation developments with a brief overview of relevant legislative and regulatory developments. | |
59 | 2:00PM-3:00PM | Auto | Intermediate | E4: New Developments in Autofraud | Kristin Kemnitzer (Kemnitzer Barron & Krieg), Rosemary Shahan (Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety), & Bernard Brown (The Brown Law Firm) | This session will examine new developments in the practice of car sales and financing, changes to state and federal laws, and new developments in caselaw and litigation with a panel of experts. | |
60 | 2:00PM-3:00PM | FCRA | Intermediate | E5 Using Consumer Law to Protect Tenants Part II: Developments in Tenant Screening | Rasheedah Phillips (Community Legal Services of Philadelphia), Lauren Brennan (Francis Mailman Soumilas) | The COVID-19 economic crisis has exacerbated the existing housing crisis, with many low- and moderate-income tenants struggling to access rental housing. Many landlords, relying on tenant screening reports from third-party companies, reject potential tenants due to eviction case filings, alleged rental debt, and/or their credit score. This session will consider recent proposed and enacted state legislation to lessen these barriers to rental housing and discuss recent developments in tenant screening case law. | |
61 | 2:00PM-3:15PM | Housing | Beginner | E6: Using the FHA and ECOA to Combat Housing and Credit Discrimination | Lorray Brown (Michigan Poverty Law Program), Rachel Geballe (Brooklyn Legal Services), & Coty Montag (NAACP Legal Defense Fund) | In the recent past advocates have used the FHA and/or ECOA to sue predatory companies pushing land contracts; a tenant-screening company using criminal records as a rental criteria; and a traditional lender for redlining. This nuts and bolts session will focus on bringing cases under the FHA, ECOA and other discrimination statutes. This session is practice oriented as presenters will walk through early considerations, from intake to complaint and beyond, and focus on strategies that will lead to a successful resolution of the case. This session will also use case studies, hypotheticals or other creative formats to illustrate the challenges and considerations in bringing these cases. | |
62 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Credit | Advanced | E7: Earned Wage Access, Income Share Agreements and Other "Non-recourse" Finance | Carolyn Carter (NCLC), Benjamin Roesch (Student Borrower Protection Center), & Lauren Saunders (NCLC), Moderated by Geoff Walsh (NCLC) | State and federal laws have a variety of Important consumer protections for many types of credit, including interest rate limits and cost disclosure requirements. But a growing number of products, including earned wage access products, income share agreements, and home shared appreciation products, meet financing needs while claiming not to be “loans” or “credit” subject to those laws. Many of their arguments hinge on the claim that the financing is “non-recourse” and does not create a “debt.” State and federal regulators are grappling with these issues. This session will explore the legal issues surrounding the scope of credit laws and the policy implications for allowing products to escape those laws. | |
63 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | Housing | Beginner | E8: Don't Mess Up the Settlement Agreement | Ahmad Keshavarz (The Law Office of Ahmad Keshavarz) & Steve Koval (Koval Law Firm) | Many consumer law practitioners, especially new ones, fail to appreciate the importance of and the finer details in settlement agreements. As almost all of our consumer law cases settle rather than going to trial, it is very important to be able to properly draft and negotiate the terms of settlement agreements.This practical course will include the discussion and examples of important topics including the understanding the defense lawyer mindset; limited v. general release; protecting claims for attorneys' fees; confidentiality; tax considerations; timing of payment; and avoiding disputes as to whether an agreement is enforceable. Applicable case law and sample provisions will be included. | |
64 | 4:00PM-5:30PM | FCRA | Intermediate | E9: FCRA Developments | John Albanese (Berger Montague), Dick Rubin (The Law Office of Richard J. Rubin), & Chi Chi Wu (NCLC) | This is our perennial course that provides updates on FCRA caselaw and litigation | |
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