| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
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1 | Course Number | Level | Track | Title | Speakers | Course Description | |
2 | Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 | ||||||
3 | 8:00AM-12:00PM | Pre-Conference Bankruptcy Intensive Check-In and Registration | |||||
4 | 9:00AM-5:00PM | Pre-Conference Bankruptcy Intensive | |||||
5 | 5:00PM-7:00PM | Early Check-In, Registration, and Web App Support | |||||
6 | 5:30PM-6:30PM | FDCPA Meeting - This session will be an informal conversation with FDCPA practitioners facilitated by Duran Keller (Keller Law). (Not eligible for CLEs) | |||||
7 | 7:30PM-8:00PM | Volunteer Training | |||||
8 | Thursday, November 10th, 2022 | ||||||
9 | 7:00AM-5:30PM | Check-In, Registration, and Web App Support | |||||
10 | 7:30AM-9:00AM | Continental Breakfast | |||||
11 | 7:30AM-9:00AM | First-Timer's Breakfast | |||||
12 | 9:00AM-10:00AM | A1 | Beginner | Housing & Mortgages | The End of LIBOR: What It Is and How It Affects Consumers | Andrew Pizor (NCLC), Abhishek Agarwal (CFPB) | This session will explain what the LIBOR is and how its upcoming end will affect consumers. While this issue primarily affects homeowners who currently have or plan to get an adjustable-rate mortgage, it will also affect some consumers with reverse mortgages, student loans, and credit cards. This session will not be recorded and presentation materials will not be shared. |
13 | A2 | Beginner | Auto | Helping Consumers in Car Leases | Cary Flitter (Flitter Milz, P.C.), Robert Murphy (Law Offices of Robert W. Murphy) | Understanding lease transactions is essential for consumer attorneys in car cases. From early termination liability to warranties, litigating lease transactions present many challenges. This session will help prepare consumer attorneys to successfully represent consumers in auto lease cases. | |
14 | A3 | Intermediate | FCRA | State Policy Developments and Strategy: Tenant Screening and Rental Debt | Ariel Nelson (NCLC), Tina Rosales (Western Center on Law & Poverty), Rasheedah Phillips (PolicyLink), Sophie Sahaf (CFPB) | The COVID-19 economic crisis has exacerbated the existing housing crisis, with many renters struggling to access 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 report and score. This session will discuss recent proposed and enacted state legislation to lessen these barriers to rental housing as well as ideas for future state legislation. | |
15 | A4 | Beginner/Intermediate | Litigation | Pleading for Success | Len Bennett, Andrew Guzzo (Kelly Guzzo, PLC) | What to consider and what to do to make sure your initial filing is set up for success. When less is more and more is more? Standing issues. Special considerations for FCRA, FDCPA, mortgage cases and RICO pleadings. | |
16 | A5 | Intermediate | Practice | Drafting a Winning Motion for Attorneys' Fees | Kristin Kemnitzer (Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg, LLP), Bren J. Pomponio (Mountain State Justice, Inc.) | You've gotten your client a great result. Now how do you make sure you get paid? This course will give you the tools you need to set up a winning fee motion from the outset of the case through getting the check in your hand | |
17 | 10:15-11:30AM | B1 | ABC | Housing & Mortgages | Loss Mitigation 101 | Steve Sharpe (NCLC), Rachel Scott (Atlanta Legal Aid) | This session will provide a foundation in the options available to help homeowners avoid foreclosure through a discussion of forbearance, deferrals, partial claims, loan modifications, and other relevant topics. |
18 | B2 | Intermediate | Student Loans | New Predatory Products and Practices Used in Higher Education: Bootcamps, Income-Share Agreements, and Online Program Managers | Ben Kaufman, Stephanie Hall, Claire Torchiana (Student Borrower Protection Center), Anna Anderson (NCLC) | With new technology comes new predatory practices, and this is no less true in the higher education space. Panelists will discuss emerging predatory trends in the higher education space and will share possible litigation approaches. | |
19 | B3 | Beginner | FCRA/Litigation | Litigating Identity Theft and Unauthorized Charges | Len Bennett (Consumer Litigation Associates), Drew Sarrett (Consumer Litigation Associates) | This session is a beginner's guide to the nuts and bolts of bringing an unauthorized charges identity theft case. This session will take you from intake to the filing. This is the first out of two sessions on identity theft and unauthorized charges, the second is C5, Attacking Payment Fraud and Unauthorized Charges. | |
20 | B4 | ABC | FDCPA | Intro to the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) | Sam Leonard (Leonard Law, PLLC), Angie Robertson (Philipps & Philipps, LTD) | This session will give a general overview of the FDCPA with a focus on coverage and violations. | |
21 | B5 | Intermediate | Litigation | Persuasively Presenting Compensatory and Punitive Damages at Trial | Nick Wooten (Nick Wooten LLC) | What kinds of evidence can you use at trial to support claims for punitive damages and/or to secure larger compensatory damages awards in cases of reprehensible conduct and how do you set a proper foundation for the admission of such evidence. | |
22 | 11:30AM-11:45AM | Coffee Break | |||||
23 | 11:45AM-12:45PM | Opening Plenary: Attorney General Bob Ferguson | Bob Ferguson (Washington State Attorney General) | Bob Ferguson is Washington State’s 18th Attorney General. As the state’s chief legal officer, Bob is committed to protecting the people of Washington against powerful interests that don’t play by the rules. He has made consumer protection a cornerstone of the Attorney General’s Office, doubling the size of the Consumer Protection Division (at no cost to taxpayers), taking on billion-dollar corporations that violated the law, and returning hundreds of millions of dollars back to the hardworking people of Washington. Attorney General Ferguson will speak on what our government should be doing -- at the federal level as well as in the states -- to protect vulnerable consumers. | |||
24 | 12:45PM-2:00PM | Lunch On Your Own | |||||
25 | Networking Group Lunches: Click here to view or organize one! | ||||||
26 | Brownbag Lunches | ||||||
27 | Medical Debt Brownbag Lunch (Not eligible for CLEs) | ||||||
28 | 2:00PM-3:30PM | C1 | ABCs | Housing & Mortgages | Overview of the RESPA Mortgage Servicing Rule | Sarah Mancini (NCLC), Andrea Bopp Stark (NCLC), Loraine Martinez (Connecticut Fair Housing Center) | This session will provide an overview of the RESPA mortgage servicing rules, including the loss mitigation rule and qualified written requests. |
29 | C2 | ABCs | Auto | The ABC's of Auto Fraud | Adam McNeile (Kemnitzer Barron & Krieg, LLP), Amy Beth Clark Downing (Texas RioGrande Legal Aid), | This session will survey the many kinds of fraud that are common in both sales and financing of cars, and will provide insights about the auto sales industry. It will include an introductory discussion of many causes of action and remedies and will review key points for intake and structuring your case for success. | |
30 | C3 | Beginner | FCRA | Tenant Screening Litigation: FCRA and Civil Rights Claims | Ariel Nelson (NCLC), Jim Francis (Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C.), Salmun Kazerounian (Connecticut Fair Housing Center) | One huge barrier for renters to secure safe and affordable housing is tenant screening reports. These reports often tag the wrong person with an eviction or criminal record, include expunged records, misclassify offenses, or omit disposition information. They also often contain questionable tenant screening scores or recommendations. Because of the information in these reports and scores, they result in disproportionate denial of renters of color from housing. This session will cover common FCRA claims against tenant screening companies, as well as potential civil rights claims, including under the Fair Housing Act. | |
31 | C4 | Beginner/Intermediate | Student Loans | New Avenues to Relief through Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness | Abby Shafroth (NCLC), Heather Jarvis, Ashley Harrington (Department of Education) | Important changes to the income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs are afoot. This session will cover the new program rules that are expected to be published by Nov. 1, as well as what borrowers need to do to benefit from temporary waivers of program rules that can provide more credit toward forgiveness. | |
32 | C5 | Advanced | Credit, Banking, & Payments | Attacking Payment Fraud and Unauthorized Charges | Evan Rothfarb (Schlanger Law Group), Pat McNichol (Kelly Guzzo), Adrienne McEntee (Terrell Marshall) | The Electronic Fund Transfer Act has important protections against unauthorized charges, but violations are common, and the law has gaps that can present challenges when addressing payment scams and new payment services. Bank wire transfers are also completely exempt, and are left to UCC Article 4A, which was not designed for consumers. This session will walk through different payment scams and strategies for addressing them using the EFTA, Article 4A, and other approaches. | |
33 | 3:30PM-3:45PM | Coffee Break | |||||
34 | 3:45PM-5:00PM | D1 | Beginner | Housing & Mortgages | Preserving and Growing Black Homeownership | Michael Froehlich (Community Legal Services), Octavia Howell (The Pew Charitable Trusts), Abraham Reyes Pardo (The Urban League of Philadelphia) | After a decades's long decline the rate of Black homeownership has reached a low not seen since the 1960s. This session will focus on preserving and growing Black homeownership in the face of significant challenges, including those arising from the pandemic, the rise of predatory equity stripping companies targeting communities of color, and issues regarding title to the property. The session will highlight specific challenges faced by and strategies employed in the City of Philadelphia to promote and protect Black homeownership. |
35 | D2 | Beginner/Intermediate | TCPA/Litigation | Basics of TCPA: Viable Claims, Litigation, and Proof Issues | Amanda Allen | This course will provide a thorough overview of the types of claims that can be brought under the TCPA, how to evaluate cases for litigation, and keys to successful prosecution of these cases. | |
36 | D3 | ABCs | FCRA | ABCs of FCRA | Erika Heath (Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C.), Susan Stocks (CFPB) | This is our perennial course on ABCs of FCRA, intended for practitioners who are new to this area of law. | |
37 | D4 | Intermediate | FDCPA | Developing Actual Damages in FDCPA Litigation | Ahmad Keshavarz (The Law Office of Ahmad Keshavarz) & Stacy M. Bardo (Bardo Law, P.C.) | In the wake of the TransUnion v. Ramirez Supreme Court decision, it is critical to determine what constitutes a “concrete harm” in FDCPA cases sufficient to establish Article III standing. This session will explore arguments and the nascent case law as to what constitutes, in FDCPA cases, either a monetary injury or an intangible harm that has a “close relationship” to a harm traditionally recognized as providing a basis for a lawsuit in US courts. | |
38 | D5 | Beginner | Ethics | Legal Ethics, Consumer Advocacy, & Living an Eudaimonic Life | Dan Blinn | This course will discuss the philosophical approaches to ethics, their relevancy to the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, and how they inform practitioners in a more enlightened and satisfying legal practice. | |
39 | D6 | Beginner | FDCPA | Criminal Justice Debt and Record Clearing | Ariel Nelson (NCLC), Abby Shafroth (NCLC), Jamie Gullen (Community Legal Services of Philadelphia), Alexes Harris (University of Washington), Jarrell Mitchell (Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County) | This session will provide an introduction to criminal justice debt – i.e., criminal fines, fees, costs, and restitution – and then focus on how it acts as a barrier to record clearing in all but one of the fifty states. We will explore potential policy solutions for removing criminal justice debt as a barrier to record clearing and also provide practical tips and strategies for practitioners in jurisdictions where record clearing may be possible even for clients who have outstanding criminal justice debt. | |
40 | 5:15PM -6:15PM | Plenary Session: Town Hall Meeting with CFPB General Counsel Seth Frotman | Seth Frotman, General Counsel and Senior Advisor to the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | Seth Frotman, General Counsel and Senior Advisor to the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will host a Q&A and listening session to hear directly from consumer advocates about what you are seeing on the ground, what are your priorities for CFPB attention, and how the CFPB can provide practical assistance to help you protect consumers, clarify the law, and combat arguments that federal law preempts state consumer protections. | |||
41 | 6:30PM-8:00PM | Opening Reception at Pike Brewing Company featuring The Redactions! | |||||
42 | Friday, November 11th, 2022 | ||||||
43 | 7:00AM-5:30PM | Check-In, Registration, and Web App Support | |||||
44 | 7:30AM-9:00AM | Continental Breakfast | |||||
45 | 8:00AM-3:30PM | Womxn's Networking Suite | |||||
46 | 8:00AM-9:15AM | E1 | Intermediate | FCRA/Litigation | Bringing FCRA Cases in State Court Post-Ramirez | John Albanese (Berger Montague, PC), James Pietz (Feinstein, Doyle, Payne and Kravec, LLC) | Consumer law practitioners have begun filing litigation in state courts to avoid the onerous requirements for Article III standing imposed by the Supreme Court's decision in Ramirez v. TransUnion. This course will provide analysis and advice for bringing cases in state court. |
47 | E2 | ABCs | Auto | Repossession - Helping Consumers When Their Car has Been or is About to be Repossessed | John Van Alst (NCLC) | ||
48 | E3 | Intermediate/Advanced | Practice | Successful Negotiations | Len Bennett (Consumer Litigation Associates) and E. Michelle Drake (Berger Montague), Norman E. Siegel (Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP) | Successful outcomes are most often obtained by successful negotiations. That requires strategy, preparation and execution. Negotiation is not reactive, but planned. We consider and outline the different recognized approaches. We also discuss our own successes (and failure) to better understand what has worked and what hasn't. | |
49 | E4 | Beginner | FDCPA | Medical Debt | Berneta Hayes (NCLC), Jen Bosco (NCLC), Emma Caterine (The Law Office of Ahmad Keshavarz), Keith Hagan (Hofer Hagan LLP) | This session will provide a general overview of FDCPA coverage and violations relating to medical debt collection. Medical debt collection tactics can be aggressive and may include wage garnishment, bank account seizure, and even liens on property. This course will introduce consumer advocates to some of the issues that arise in medical debt collection, and may provide additional avenues of relief for clients. | |
50 | E5 | Beginner | Ethics | Ethics and Mental Health: Your Own and Your Clients' | SaraEllen Hutchison, Dave Maxfield (Dave Maxfield Consumer Protection Law) | Being a lawyer can bruise our confidence, test our patience, and max out our resources. On top of it, lot of attorneys -- and a lot of our clients -- have mental health issues. "First world problems" and "mere economic injury without bodily harm" can exacerbate existing mental health issues, and even cause trauma. And, the pandemic has made it worse. This session will address how we can better manage stress, time, and other limited resources, and how to ethically represent (or decline) challenging clients without burning ourselves out. We'll discuss RPCs 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.14 and 1.16. | |
51 | 9:30AM-10:45AM | F1 | Intermediate | Housing & Mortgage/Litigation | Principal and Agent Issues in Mortgage and Other Consumer Cases | John Goolsby, Jeff Gentes (Connecticut Fair Housing Center), Geoff Walsh (NCLC) | This session will focus on agency issues that play an important role in many areas of consumer law, including mortgage servicing, debt collection, and credit reporting. In the mortgage area, for example, disputes often arise over whether a servicer, subservicer, or vendor acts as an agent for a principal or as some type of independent contractor. Similar issues can appear whenever a consumer seeks to hold a company accountable for the acts of its employees. Learn pitfalls to avoid and strategies to maximize accountability. |
52 | F2 | Intermediate | Student Loans | What Do Student Loan Advocates Need to Know About the New Discharge and Accountability Rules | Robyn Smith, Josh Rovenger, John Whitelaw (Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.), Kyra Taylor (NCLC) | The Department of Education expects to finalize new rules by Nov. 1 on discharge of federal student loans based on disability, school closure, borrower defense, and false certification; this session will focus on what advocates need to know to help borrowers benefit. We will also discuss new changes to rules on school use of arbitration provisions and school accountability. | |
53 | F3 | Beginner | Debt Defense | Utility Debt | Olivia Wein (NCLC), Karen Lusson (NCLC), Jen Bosco (NCLC) | This session will provide legal aid attorneys and other interested advocates information and strategies on how to assist financially struggling clients to remain connected to essential utility services. Learn the basics on utility regulation, avenues to prevent disconnection, and available financial assistance for electric, heat, water and internet services. | |
54 | F4 | Intermediate | FDCPA/Litigation | Getting the Discovery You Need in FDCPA Litigation: Dealing with Difficulty Discovery Practices | Loraine Martinez (Connecticut Fair Housing Center), Angie Robertson (Phillips & Phillips, LTD) | How do you deal with debt collectors and their counsel who refuse to provide any substantive responses to your discovery requests, provide blanket objections to every request, claim documents are confidential, and produce a deposition witness that will not provide a direct answer to any of your questions? Find out from experienced litigators what discovery you will need to build your case and how to get it from even the most difficult adversary. | |
55 | F5 | Beginner | Practice | Intro to Economic Abuse (Part 1) | Marisa Menna, (CAMBA); Erika Sussman (CSAJ) | This session is part 1 of 2. This first session will provide an overview of what economic abuse looks like and how it presents among the most vulnerable consumers (who often have serious damages to overcome federal standing challenges). Advocates will learn how to issue spot cases of economic abuse and coerced debt, what resources exist to help victims of economic abuse, and how to effectively work with these clients. The second session will go into more depth on how to litigate these cases. | |
56 | F6 | ABC | Practice | Becoming a Better Lawyer by Applying Principles of 12 Step Recovery | Adam Deutsch | Attorneys are routinely surveyed as being less happy and suffering from substance abuse at higher rates than nearly any other profession. This course will discuss how the principles of 12 Step programs can help lawyers become more effective advocates while also providing deeper meaning and professional fulfillment. | |
57 | 10:45AM-11:00AM | Coffee Break | |||||
58 | 11:00AM-12:15PM | G1 | Beginner | Housing & Mortgages | Options for Older Homeowners Facing Reverse Mortgage Foreclosures | Stacey L. Tutt (National Housing Law Project), Maryann Flanigan (Legal Services of New Jersey), J. Rachel Scott (Atlanta Legal Aid Society) | Older consumers with reverse mortgages who have fallen behind on property charges and other obligations face a high risk of foreclosure. Yet loss mitigation and other home saving measures remain limited for borrowers and non-borrowing spouses. This session will focus on strategies and options for keeping older homeowners and non-borrowing spouses housed, including with use of Homeowner Assistance Funds. |
59 | G2 | Intermediate | TCPA | Defeating Callers' Claims of Consent in TCPA Cases | Matthew McCue, Margot Saunders (NCLC) | This course will explore all of the issues relating to rebutting the callers' claims that the automated or telemarketing calls were consented to by the recipient, including the use of bots and weblinks to obtain consent for telemarketing calls, dealing with electronic consent supposedly obtained through a websites; and related issues. | |
60 | G3 | Intermediate | Housing & Mortgages/Bankruptcy | Post-Final Cure Issues | John Rao (NCLC), Christina Henry (Henry & DeGraaff, P.S.), Thad Bartholow (Kellett and Bartholow PLLC) | When consumer debtors make all their Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan payments and cure their mortgage defaults, they should come out of bankruptcy completely current on their mortgage. However, servicer errors in applying payments and calculating escrow and other payment changes often cause servicers to claim fees that are not owed and treat consumers as in default once they emerge from bankruptcy. This panel will discuss using Bankruptcy Rule 3002.1 (and proposed changes to the rule), and claims and remedies under bankruptcy and consumer law, to address final cure problems. It should be of interest not only to bankruptcy specialists but also attorneys who handle foreclosure cases (even if you do not have bankruptcy experience). | |
61 | G4 | Beginner | Debt Defense | Assisting Clients with Rental Debt | Fadi Assaf (Northwest Justice Project), Kari Rudd (Bay Area Legal Aid), Carla Sanchez-Adams (NCLC) | Join us for a discussion of how different legal services programs are assisting clients with rental debts in collection. Speakers will share materials that they have developed and discuss strategies that they are using to assist clients. | |
62 | G5 | Intermediate | Practice | Standing to Sue After Ramirez | John Albanese (Berger Montague, PC), Leah Nichols (Public Justice) | The session examines the challenges consumer rights attorneys face in establishing standing after the Supreme Court decision in Transunion v. Ramirez, and outlines successful, substantive strategies to establish standing in state and federal courts. The presenters will discuss how to craft pleadings to allege a concrete injury, with a focus on alleging injuries cognizable at common law that satisfy Article III standing under Ramirez. It will then address the state court alternative, including when to bring federal claims in state court, how to handle post-removal remand motions, and a short discussion of state standing law. Finally, the course will address standing challenges that arise in the class certification context. | |
63 | 12:00PM - 1:00PM | Student Loans FSA Office Hours: Sign-up here for schedule 1:1 : Two members of the Department of Education--FSA Ombudsman Bonnie Latreille & Senior Advisor Ashley Harrington--will be available for 1:1 meetings to meet with you all. They welcome the opportunity to discuss any issues you've run into with your clients or on specific student loan accounts. The time slots are on a first come, first serve basis. | |||||
64 | 12:15PM - 1:45PM | Lunch On Your Own or Networking Group Lunches: Click here to view or organize one! | |||||
65 | Advocates of Color Luncheon | ||||||
66 | Brownbag Lunches | ||||||
67 | 1:45PM-3:15PM | H1 | All Levels | Housing & Mortgages | Mortgage Strategy Summit: Zombie Mortgages, Successors and Tangled Title, and Loss Mitigation/Homeowners Assistance Fund (Not eligible for CLEs) | Michael Corcoran (Legal Services NYC), Andrea Bopp Stark (NCLC), Steve Sharpe (NCLC), Sarah Mancini (NCLC), Alys Cohen (NCLC), Lisa Sitkin (National Housing Law Project), Stacey L. Tutt (National Housing Law Project) | This strategy summit will allow participants to engage in roundtable discussion of hot topics in mortgage servicing and foreclosure cases. |
68 | H2 | Intermediate | Student Loans | Student Loan Policy Updates | Persis Yu (SBPC), Eileen Connor (Project on Predatory Student Lending), Bonnie Latreille (Department of Education), Abby Shafroth (NCLC), Alpha Taylor (NCLC) | The past year has had many policy developments for federal student loans that practitioners need to know about. This session will discuss key policy developments, including subregulatory changes, and the impact on student loan borrowers and practitioners. | |
69 | H3 | Advanced | FCRA | FCRA Developments | Chi Chi Wu, Duran Keller, John Goolsby (Goolsby Law Office, LLC) | This session provides the annual update for FCRA developments, including caselaw, litigation trends, regulatory announcements, and enforcement actions. | |
70 | H4 | All Levels | Practice | Using Federal E-Sign and State UETA Laws to Defeat Arbitration Clauses, Show TILA and Other Disclosures Have Not Been Provided, and More | Margot Saunders (NCLC) | Learn how to deploy the powerful tools available under the federal E-Sign law and the state UETA laws to unwind unfair agreements entered into electronically. | |
71 | H5 | Advanced | Practice | Addressing Economic Abuse with Federal Consumer Protection Laws and New State Laws | Carla Sanchez-Adams, (NCLC), Kari Rudd (Bay Area Legal Aid) | This session is part 2 of 2. Attendance at the first session is not mandatory for advocates already familiar with economic abuse. This second session will cover federal consumer protection statutes that can be utilized to represent victims of economic abuse and why these make compelling cases likely to survive standing challenges. Advocates will also learn about state laws that may be utilized to assist victims of economic abuse as well as policy proposals on the federal and state level. Advocates will engage in roundtable discussions. | |
72 | 3:15PM-3:30PM | Coffee Break | |||||
73 | 3:30PM-4:30PM | Plenary | Plenary Session: "Dignity and Debt" | Professor Frederick Wherry (Princeton University) | Princeton Sociology Professor Frederick Wherry is the author, editor or co-editor of nine books, including Credit Where It’s Due: Rethinking Financial Citizenship. He is also the director of the Debt Collection Lab and the founding director of the Dignity + Debt Network, a global network of scholars, advocates, and financial organizations working to understand and empower the linkages between lending and human values. Professor Wherry will speak on changing the conversation about credit and debt among those measuring financial access and wellness, including financial service providers and those writing legislation on credit access and debt. | ||
74 | 3:30PM-5:00PM | Student Loans FSA Office Hours: Sign-up here for schedule 1:1 : Two members of the Department of Education--FSA Ombudsman Bonnie Latreille & Senior Advisor Ashley Harrington--will be available for 1:1 meetings to meet with you all. They welcome the opportunity to discuss any issues you've run into with your clients or on specific student loan accounts. The time slots are on a first come, first serve basis. | |||||
75 | 4:45PM-6:00PM | I1 | Beginner | Housing & Mortgages | New Strategies to Combat Home Equity Theft | Sarah Mancini (NCLC), Kate Dugan (Community Legal Services of Philadelphia), Scott Kohanowski (City Bar Justice Center) | As home prices rise, many parts of the country have seen a growth in predatory home buyers, exemplified by the ubiquitous We Buy (Ugly) Houses solicitors. Today, scammers use high-pressure, deceptive, in-home sales tactics to dupe homeowners into signing agreements of sale and, with the stroke, they risk losing their homes. This panel would describe the issue & identify policy & litigation solutions to effectively reign in the worst abuses in this area. |
76 | I2 | Intermediate | Practice/Litigation | The Pivot from Defeating Summary Judgment to Preparing Your Case for Trial | SaraEllen Hutchison (Law Office of SaraEllen Hutchison, PLLC) & Justin M. Baxter (Baxter & Baxter, LLP) | This session will discuss the fundamental shift from proving a triable question of fact to preparing your case for the jury. The presenters will also cover settlement strategies after the summary judgment stage. | |
77 | I3 | Intermediate | Credit, Banking, & Payments | Solar Panel and Other Home Improvement Scams and Fraud | Amy Beth Clark Downing (Texas RioGrande Legal Aid), Andrew Milz (Flitter Milz, PC), Andrew Pizor (NCLC) | ||
78 | I4 | Intermediate | Practice | The Evolving Law on Negative Option Contracts | Ted Mermin & Prentiss Cox | State legislatures are rapidly enacting and amending laws regulating automatic renewal, recurring charges, and other forms of negative option contracts. At the same time, both federal enforcers and plaintiff class attorneys have turned attention to this market practice. The FTC, for example, obtained $10 million in consumer redress and an injunction against ABCMouse for deceptive automatic renewal charge for online children's learning programs, and for promising "Easy Cancellation" but making it difficult to cancel so that "hundreds of thousands of consumers who visited the ABCmouse cancellation path nevertheless remained subscribed." The course will categorize and examine state regulation in this space, and will examine public enforcement and class litigation related to negative option contracts brought under federal and state UDAP, ROSCA and other laws. | |
79 | I5 | Advanced | FDCPA | FDCPA Developments | Brian Bromberg (Bromberg Law Office, P.C.), April Kuehnhoff (NCLC), Tara Goodwin (Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin, LLC) | This session will focus on FDCPA litigation developments with a brief overview of relevant legislative and regulatory developments. | |
80 | I6 | Private Meeting | Private Meeting | Private Meeting | |||
81 | 6:30PM-8:30PM | Legal Services Reception at Hard Rock Cafe Seattle | |||||
82 | Saturday, November 12th, 2022 | ||||||
83 | 7:00AM-5:30PM | Check-In, Registration, and Web App Support | |||||
84 | 7:30AM-9:00AM | Continental Breakfast | |||||
85 | 8:00AM-8:45AM | Plenary | Plenary Session: The Consumer Law Landscape: Major Legislative, Regulatory and Judicial Developments in 2022 -- and More to Come in 2023 | Deepak Gupta (Gupta Wessler), Lauren Saunders (NCLC) | Two of the nation’s leading consumer law experts, NCLC Associate Director Lauren Saunders and appellate advocate Deepak Gupta, will address the most significant legislative, regulatory, and judicial changes impacting consumers – and consumer law practices – in the past year, and look forward following the 2022 elections to anticipate major challenges and opportunities in the year ahead. | ||
86 | 9:00AM-10:15AM | J1 | Beginner | Housing & Mortgages | Looking for Fair Lending and Disability Claims in Mortgage and Foreclosure Cases | Tara Ramchandani (Relman Colfax), Jeff Gentes (Connecticut Fair Housing Center), Moderators: Jerry Battle (NCLC), Odette Williamson (NCLC) | This course will discuss the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act and other statutes attorneys can use to combat discriminatory credit and housing practices based on race, disability and other protected characteristics. |
87 | J2 | Intermediate | Auto | Holder Liability in Auto Sales and Finance | Bernard Brown (The Brown Law Firm) | In many car cases consumers have significant potential defenses and affirmative claims against assignees as well as the selling dealers. These claims and defenses are based upon either the dealers’ or the assignees’ own conduct. They are supported by the FTC Holder rule and contract language, UCC statutes, and in appropriate cases common law torts, UDAP statutes, and other theories, and have been seriously underused by consumers and consumer advocates. This session will help you find and assert these claims and defenses. | |
88 | J3 | Intermediate | FCRA/Litigation | How to Succeed in Mixed File Litigation and Avoid Common Pitfalls: From Dispute to Trial | Robert Sola (Robert S. Sola, PC), Casey S. Nash (Kelly Guzzo, PLC), Subhan Tariq (The Tariq Firm, PLLC) | This comprehensive presentation takes a deep dive into successful mixed file litigation, including strategies to deal with the common difficulties in these cases under the FCRA. This course will show practitioners how to use dispute letters to maximize the value of their case; obtaining the necessary, and often hidden, documents in discovery; using depositions to obtain critical evidence from the CRAs and their agents; guiding plaintiff through an effective deposition; proving damages; and litigating the case through trial. | |
89 | J4 | All Levels | Ethics | How to Be Trauma Informed Lawyers: Working with Vulnerable Clients | Carla Sanchez-Adams (NCLC), Duran Keller (Keller Law LLP), Olga Trujillo, Marisa Menna, (CAMBA) | Trauma impacts a person's ability to remember, communicate, and make decisions. This session will discuss the challenges of representing clients who are survivors of trauma with a particular focus on the elderly, disabled consumers, and survivors of abuse. | |
90 | J5 | Intermediate | Practice/Housing & Mortgages | The Intersection of Decedent’s Estates and Consumer Law – A Practical Guide to Handling A Case When A Client Dies and Advising Heirs | Stacy Woods (Queens Legal Services), Alison Warden (Stokes Lawrence), Adrienne McEntee (Terrell Marshall) | When a client dies during the course of representation, what happens to their claims and defenses? When a decedent’s heir comes to you with a matter concerning the decedent’s assets and/or debts, what do you do? This panel will examine the practical aspects of litigation in these situations, including identifying heirs, analyzing property ownership upon death, and finding a suitable fiduciary. It will also explore debts that are exempt from decedent’s creditors. | |
91 | 10:15AM-10:30AM | Coffee Break | |||||
92 | 10:30AM-11:45AM | K1 | Intermediate | Housing & Mortgages | New Developments in Mortgage Servicing | Meredith Bruch (Northwest Justice Project), Lisa Sitkin (National Housing Law Project), Alys Cohen (NCLC), Steve Sharpe (NCLC) | We will discuss the latest developments in mortgage servicing policy and how it impacts the ability of borrowers to avoid foreclosure. |
93 | K2 | Intermediate | TCPA | New Strategies for Do-Not-Call List violations | Alex Burke, Tim Sostrin | This session will address Do-Not-Call violations, including: novel theories to prove damages, prevailing on vicarious liability, and balancing procedural issues. | |
94 | K3 | All Levels | Credit, Banking, & Payments | High-Cost Loans and Fintech Lending: Old and New Abuses | Ellen Harnick (Center for Responsible Lending), Suzanne Martindale (California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation), Lauren Saunders (NCLC) | Come share information about the high-cost lending you are seeing, the new models and evasions that pose concerns for consumers, and how to combat them, including payday loans, installment loans, rent-a-bank and tribal evasions, buy now pay later, earned wage access products, cash advance features on banking apps, and more. After a brief overview of developments at the federal level, we will go around and hear about trends, strategies and developments around the country. | |
95 | K4 | Intermediate | FDCPA | Using Regulation F in your FDCPA Practice | Andrea Bopp Stark (NCLC), April Kuehnhoff (NCLC) | This session will examine any court decisions interpreting Regulation F and discuss different types of claims that have been or may be filed under the new debt collection regulations. | |
96 | K5 | Beginner/Intermediate | Litigation | Arbitration Practice Tips and Case Law Update | Ronald Wilcox and Allison Krumhorn | I’m often contacted by attorneys wanting to know more about: 1) What to do when the Defendant fails to pay the Arbitration forum, 2) How do you get the discovery you need; 3) Can the Arbitration agreement really limit damages, fees, and costs, and 4) What if the Arbitrator doesn’t follow the rules/law? The discussion will leverage off the conducting arbitrations chapter of the NCLC manual, and discuss case law to help practitioners achieve the best possible outcome for consumers. These tools helped me obtain four $1 million + victories in the 8 Final Awards I received in consumer cases since 2014. | |
97 | K6 | All Levels | Publications | Demonstration of the New Digital Library and Its Features | Katie Eelman | The NCLC Digital Library which hosts all of NCLC's 21 consumer law practice manuals has been redesigned with new and improved features, making the Digital Library an essential practice tool. See the new features in a demo of the new Digital Library, and take advantage of an opportunity to have your questions answered by NCLC Publications staff. | |
98 | 11:45AM-1:30PM | Vern Countryman Awards & Rising Star Awards Luncheon | Rep. Pramila Jayapal | NCLC’s annual Awards Luncheon, a highlight of every Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (CRLC), will feature multiple speakers including U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and presentation of the 2022 Rising Star and Vern Countryman Awards. | |||
99 | 1:30PM-2:45PM | L1 | Intermediate | Housing & Mortgages | Monetizing a Mortgage Servicing Practice | Rashad Blossom (Blossom Law PLLC); Jim Kowalski (Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc.), Karen Kellett (Kellett and Bartholow PLLC) | This session will cover strategies for doing well while doing good with mortgage servicing cases. The presentaiton is for private practitioners as well as legal services attorneys and will discuss how to maximize your financial return while helping your clients obtain the relief they deserve. |
100 | L2 | Intermediate | Auto | New Developments in Auto Fraud | John Van Alst (NCLC), Margot Saunders (NCLC) | This session will examine new developments in the practice of car sales and financing, evolving state and federal law, and developing case law and litigation with a panel of experts. | |