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1 2015 Consumer Rights Litigation Conference Featured Speakers Richard Alembik Richard S. Alembik is the Principal at the Law Offices of Richard S. Alembik, PC, in Decatur, Georgia. Since 1991 he has focused his practice on real-estate-related and commercial litigation. Alembik has been recognized as a leading authority on foreclosure defense, and an advocate for victims of wrongful foreclosure. Listed in SuperLawyers since 2012 (since 2006 as a Rising Star ), Alembik has won multimillion dollar jury verdicts and has litigated, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of legal disputes to successful resolution. He has first-chaired more than 60 jury trials and arbitration proceedings in state and federal courts, and arbitration forums. Alembik earned his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was elected to the position of Executive Editor of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. He regularly lectures on various legal topics (generally involving real-estate-related litigation) at continuing legal education seminars, and to other non-legal organizations. He has made TV appearances as a legal commentator and provided consultation on state legislation to Georgia legislators and study groups. Alembik is admitted to practice before all trial and appellate courts of the State of Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, and all three U.S. District Courts in Georgia. He is an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, DeKalb County Bar Association, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and the Real Estate Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Outside of work, Alembik enjoys raising his two daughters, masters swimming competition, and studying military history. Daryl Atkinson Daryl V. Atkinson is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) where he focuses on drug policy and criminal justice reform issues, particularly removing the legal barriers triggered by contact with the criminal justice system. Daryl received a B.A. in Political Science from Benedict College, Columbia, SC and a J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minneapolis, MN. Prior to coming to SCSJ, Daryl was a staff attorney at the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) where he coordinated the Systems Evaluation Project (SEP), which pioneered a first-of-its kind evaluation tool for indigent defense systems. While at IDS, Daryl went on to help develop the Collateral Consequence Assessment Tool (C-CAT), an online searchable database that allows the user to identify the collateral consequences triggered by North Carolina arrests, indictments, and convictions. C-CAT served as a model for the American Bar Association s National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction. Justin Baxter Justin Baxter is an AV rated trial lawyer with Baxter & Baxter, LLP, in Portland, Oregon. His national practice focuses on credit reporting and unlawful debt collection cases. In 2007, he obtained a $200,000 verdict against Equifax under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In 2010, he obtained a $95,000 verdict against TRS Home Furnishings under the Oregon Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act, and a $100,000 verdict against a debt buyer and collection law firm under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In 2013, he obtained a verdict against Equifax for $18.5 million. Suzanne Begnoche Suzanne Begnoche represents plaintiffs in matters involving identity theft, security breaches, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act, and North Carolina s fair debt collection laws. Prior to going into private practice in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, she was a staff attorney handling consumer matters at Legal Aid of North Carolina s Durham and Wilson offices. She is a past Chair of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice-Consumer Areas of Practice Section. She is also an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the North Carolina Bar Association s Bankruptcy Section. She is a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.

2 Leonard Bennett Leonard A. Bennett has been a consumer advocate in consumer practice since His home office is in Newport News, Virginia. He is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC), and a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Consumer Law Center s Partner s Council. He has been a speaker at numerous programs, including NACA and NCLC conferences, ABA and state bar CLE seminars, NAVY and ARMY JAG instruction and law school courses. Mr. Bennett presented NACA s Fair Credit Reporting Act Congressional Testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services in both 2003 and He was a contributing author to the NCLC Fair Credit Reporting Manual. Paul Bland F. Paul Bland, Jr. is Executive Director of Public Justice, overseeing its docket of consumer, environmental and civil rights cases. He has argued or co-argued and won more than 25 reported decisions from federal and state courts across the nation, including cases in six of the federal Circuit Courts of Appeal and at least one victory in nine different state high courts. He has been counsel in cases which have obtained injunctive or cash relief of more than $1 billion for consumers. He was named the Vern Countryman Award winner in 2006 by the National Consumer Law Center, which honors the accomplishments of an exceptional consumer attorney who, through the practice of consumer law, has contributed significantly to the wellbeing of vulnerable consumers. In 2013, he received the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition s Legal Champion award. In 2010, he received the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau s Champion of Justice Award. In the late 1980s, he was Chief Nominations Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1986, and Georgetown University in Daniel Blinn Daniel Blinn is the Managing Attorney of Consumer Law Group, located in Rocky Hill, CT. He handles both individual claims and class actions, and most of his cases involve auto dealer fraud and warranty claims, debt collection abuse, and unfair business practice claims. Dan is a former chair of the CT Bar Association s Consumer Law Section, and he is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He also serves as NACA s treasurer and is currently the chair of its Connecticut chapter. Dan regularly blogs regarding auto dealer fraud at In addition to his legal practice, Dan is active in secular and Humanist organizations and practices as a Humanist Celebrant. Craig Briskin Craig Briskin joined Mehri & Skalet, PLLC in 2007 and became a partner in He focuses his practice primarily on class actions related to antitrust, consumer and mortgage law. He is co-counsel with AARP Foundation Litigation in a series of cases that have secured important protections for spouses and family members of borrowers in the federal reverse mortgage program. In Bennett v. Donovan and Plunkett v. Castro, plaintiffs challenged the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) s failure to protect spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers from displacement, and the right of family members and heirs to purchase their family home for 95% of its appraised value. Plaintiffs have prevailed on both counts, and as a result, HUD has reformed its program and now allows lenders to assign these mortgages to HUD. In addition, HUD has rewritten the standard reverse mortgage issued beginning in August 2014, so that they now protect non-borrower spouses, providing them a deferral of foreclosure when their borrower spouses die. Mr. Briskin received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1998.

3 Bernard Brown Bernard Brown studied as an undergraduate at St. John s College in Annapolis, Maryland (a Great Books school), received his B.A. from the University of Toronto (in Toronto, Ontario), his law degree from the University of Kansas, and has been in private practice in Kansas City since Since 1983 his practice has focused on consumer fraud cases, particularly relating to car sales and finance practices. His cases have resulted in many notable jury verdicts and settlements, and in a sizable number of published court decisions of significance in consumer law. He has worked regularly with the National Consumer Law Center for many years, as well as with many other national consumer advocacy groups. He has written or contributed to many items relating to consumer law, and has served as an adjunct law school professor teaching consumer protection law. Mr. Brown is a founding member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates ( NACA ), was one of its two original Co-chairs, has twice served on the NACA board, and currently serves as chair of its Ethics Committee. He often is consulted by members of local and national media regarding car industry consumer issues, and has appeared in stories on 60 Minutes and ABC s 20/20. He currently serves on a Department of Justice Advisory Board that is dedicated to building the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System ( NMVTIS, a/k/a vehiclehistory.gov ). In 2008 he received the Countryman award from the National Consumer Law Center. Lorray Brown Lorray S. C. Brown has been an attorney since 1984 and has been the managing attorney and the statewide consumer law specialist at the Michigan Poverty Law Program (MPLP) since In her role as the statewide consumer law specialist, she provides litigation, advocacy and case consultation support in consumer law which includes foreclosure prevention and anti-predatory lending. In the summer of 2008, she worked at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) in Boston as a consumer law fellow. At NCLC, she reviewed and analyzed mortgage documents and co-authored the chapter Federal, State, and Industry-Led Responses to the Foreclosure Crisis for the NCLC Foreclosure Prevention Counseling manual, second edition. She is also the director of the Michigan Foreclosure Prevention Project. The Foreclosure Prevention Project is a project of the Michigan Poverty Law Program. Ronald Burdge Ronald L. Burdge is the founder of Burdge Law Office in Dayton, Ohio. He has authored numerous articles in national, state, and local publications, and lectured widely on Consumer Law topics, Attorney Fee issues and trial practice and strategy topics. He is widely known as a leading Consumer Law attorney with 36 years of litigation experience representing thousands of consumers, with a focus on Attorney Fee Issues, Motor Vehicle Sales Fraud and Lemon Law. He has extensive trial and appellate experience in individual and class action cases involving lenders, car dealers, manufacturers and their business practices and is one of the few Consumer Law Trial Attorneys who has class action jury trial experience. Repeatedly named an Ohio SuperLawyer since 2005, he was named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the National Association of Consumer Advocates in 2004 and has been an examiner for the National Board of Trial Advocacy. For the last 15 years he has conducted Consumer Law Attorney Fee Surveys resulting in biannual published Reports that have been cited with approval in over 40 federal court decisions. Mr. Burdge is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Consumer Advocates and has testified as an expert witness on Consumer Law and Attorney Fee issues in numerous state and federal courts. Alex Burke Alex Burke has been doing consumer class actions for more than twelve years, and began his career litigating FDCPA, FCRA, TILA. ECOA, CROA and consumer fraud cases. Since opening Burke Law Offices, LLC in 2008, Alex has focused his practice on TCPA class actions, and has obtained final approval for settlements exceeding $130 million under that law. Alex has lived in New York City, Washington DC, Buenos Aires and Chicago, and worked in the satellite telecommunications industry and for the Foreign Commercial Service before becoming a lawyer. Burke Law Offices, LLC is based in Chicago, Illinois. Karen Campbell Karen Campbell is the Senior Managing Attorney at the Northwest Justice Project s (NJP) Vancouver field office. NJP is a legal aid provider in Washington State. Karen manages four attorneys who are responsible for representing indigent clients in civil matters in a three county area. Karen co-chairs NJP s in-house driver s license reinstatement task force as part of NJP s strategic advocacy focus of removing barriers to employment. Karen previously served as a public defender for 15 years in Pierce County Washington and as Session Counsel for the Washington State Senate Services Committee in 2010.

4 Carolyn Carter Carolyn Carter is the Director of Advocacy at NCLC who has specialized in consumer law issues for over 30 years. From 1974 to 1986 she worked for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, first as a staff attorney and later as law reform director. From 1986 to 1999 she was co-director of a legal services program in Pennsylvania. She was the 1992 recipient of NCLC s Vern Countryman Award. She is admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. From 2005 to 2007 she was a member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council. She is a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School. She is co-author of NCLC's Truth in Lending, Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices,Collection Actions and Consumer Warranty Law and is a contributor to a number of other NCLC treatises. Jason Causey Jason Causey is an associate attorney at Bordas & Bordas, PLLC of Wheeling, West Virginia. Prior to law school, Jason received a Master of Professional Accountancy degree from Clemson University. Jason received his law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law. Jason served as Issue Editor for the West Virginia University Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. Since joining Bordas & Bordas in 2003, Jason has handled cases in a variety of areas, including securities fraud, wrongful discharge, workplace injuries, invasion of privacy, personal injury, lender liability, illegal debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer class actions. Currently, Jason concentrates on consumer law cases, many of which seek to remedy predatory mortgage lending. His notable victories include a multi-million dollar punitive damage verdict reached on behalf of a homeowner that is currently being challenged before the United States Supreme Court. Jason has been asked by the National Consumer Law Center, the Federal Trade Commission, the Attorney General of West Virginia, the West Virginia Association for Justice and the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees to give various presentations on consumer law issues at events held across the United States. Jason is licensed to practice law in West Virginia and Ohio. Hyung S. Choi Hyung S. Choi is a partner of Choi & Fabian, PLC, with offices in Chandler and Flagstaff, Arizona. Mr. Choi has handled hundreds of successful consumer protection cases including class action lawsuits against car dealers and finance companies. Mr. Choi s efforts have resulted in the following groundbreaking published decisions favoring consumers: Howell v. Midway Infiniti., 362 F.Supp.2d 1158 (Ariz. 2005) (forgery and FCRA inaccuracy claims); Uhlig v. Berge Ford, 257 F.Supp.2d 1228 (Ariz, 2003) (FCRA impermissible access claim); Garden Lakes Community Association v. Madigan, 204 Ariz. 238, 62 P.2d 983 (App. 2003) (HOA residents rights to install solar panels); and Winkler v. DTE, Inc., 205 F.R.D. 235 (Ariz. 2001) (odometer rollback class action against lender based on the FTC Anti-Holder Rule). Mr. Choi received his J.D., cum laude, from the Arizona State University College of Law in Mr. Choi immigrated to the United States in 1978 at the age of fourteen. As an immigrant who benefitted immensely from the opportunities and freedom to achieve provided by this great country, Mr. Choi strongly believes in social justice and fights to promote it. Alys Cohen Alys Cohen is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center s Washington office, where she advocates before Congress and federal regulatory agencies on predatory lending and sustainable homeownership issues. Ms. Cohen also trains and consults with attorneys and other advocates nationwide on mortgage lending matters. She is a co-author of Stop Predatory Lending, and a contributing author to the Center s Cost of Credit, Credit Discrimination and Truth in Lending treatises. Prior to joining the NCLC staff, Ms. Cohen served as an attorney in the Federal Trade Commission s Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Financial Practices, where she focused on predatory lending and discrimination matters. Ms. Cohen is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

5 Eileen Connor Eileen Connor is a Senior Staff Attorney in the Special Litigation Unit of the New York Legal Assistance Group. She is counsel on multiple consumer class-action lawsuits concerning student loan debt, and a founder of the For-Profit School Project at NYLAG. Prior to joining NYLAG, she was a John J. Gibbons Fellow in Constitutional and Public Interest Law at Gibbons P.C., and a staff attorney at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center in San Francisco. She served as a law clerk to Hon. Martha Craig Daughtrey of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and B.A. from Brown University. Ariel Cook Ariel P. Cook is a staff attorney and the Deputy Unit Head of the Consumer Advocacy and Litigation Unit at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. Ariel received her undergraduate degree in History at Boston College in 2004 and her JD from Boston University in Ariel began working in the consumer field as a law student at Boston University by working at the National Consumer Law Center, a nationally recognized authority on consumer law and energy policy. Her interest in consumer law grew and led her to apply for an Equal Justice Works Fellowship. To create her Fellowship program, Ariel partnered with JALA as her host organization. Her two year fellowship focused on education and direct representation of low income consumers in Northeast Florida, specifically focusing on protecting defendants rights in debt collection cases. After the completion of her fellowship, Ariel remained at JALA as a staff attorney and was quickly promoted to Deputy Unit Head, under Lynn Drysdale. Ariel continued her work with debt-collection defendants through a project within the Florida Leadership Development Institute. Thomas A. Cox Thomas A. Cox joined National Consumer Law Center as Of Counsel in 2013 and focuses on foreclosure and mortgage issues. Tom is credited with exposing the national foreclosure "robo-signing" mortgage lenders' scandal and has more than 30 years of private practice experience in residential and commercial loan documentation and litigation matters. Tom also has significant experience training other attorneys in residential foreclosure defense and litigation practices, and acted as a consultant to Maine's Pine Tree Legal Assistance in managing the litigation strategies of its foreclosure prevention program. He has testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and is the recipient of numerous awards. Tom received his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. Joanna K. Darcus Joanna K. Darcus is a Staff Attorney in the Homeownership and Consumer Rights Unit at Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia (CLS). She joined CLS as an Independence Foundation Fellow. Through her fellowship, Joanna implemented an economic justice project designed to protect consumers from predatory debt collection practices. Joanna represents low-income consumers who have been sued by debt collectors or who are struggling to repay their student loans. She also seeks to increase the availability of self-help materials and counsel for consumers, and pursues policy reform. Joanna is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law.

6 Charles Delbaum Charles Delbaum is a senior staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center in Boston, focusing on class action litigation, and has been counsel in dozens of consumer class action cases that have been brought to a successful conclusion. He also is co-author and editor of NCLC s Consumer Class Actions manual and contributing author to the most recent editions of Fair Debt Collection, Credit Discrimination and Fair Credit Reporting. He is a frequent presenter at national conferences on consumer law topics, such as The Future of Consumer Class Actions, NYU Law School Symposium (November 2014); Ethical Issues in Fair Debt Collection, Fair Debt Collection Conference, San Antonio, TX (March, 2014); Emerging Issues in Debt Collection, The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), November, 2013; FDCPA Protections against Zombie Debt, National Association of Legal Aid and Defenders Association, Austin, TX, July, Immediately prior to joining NCLC, Charles was Director of Litigation at New Orleans Legal Assistance, where he litigated class cases for public benefits and received the Louisiana Lifetime Public Interest Award in Earlier, he was a staff attorney in the law reform division of the Cleveland Legal Aid Society specializing in nursing home patient rights, a founding partner of a small social justice-oriented firm in Cleveland, Ohio, and a U.S. District Court law clerk in Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. Sharon Dietrich Sharon Dietrich has been an attorney with the Employment Unit of Community Legal Services, Philadelphia, since She became CLS Managing Attorney for Public Benefits and Employment in 1997 and its Litigation Director in She specializes in employment issues faced by people with criminal records. She also worked as a contract attorney with the National Employment Law Project from 1994 through Ms. Dietrich s work features systemic advocacy, such as legislative and policy advocacy, class action litigation, and communications, primarily on criminal record and unemployment insurance issues. She received the 2006 Kutak-Dodds Prize from National Legal Aid and Defender Association in 2006, among her awards. Robert W. Doggett Robert W. Doggett is General Counsel at Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA). Robert has been with TRLA since 2001 and prior to that he worked for two other legal aid organizations in Dallas, Texas. Although he has represented clients across many areas, his primary focus has been housing work since becoming a lawyer in Robert is a native Texan but was forced by prenuptial agreement to move to Austin. He is married to a criminal defense attorney (but she prosecutes at home and their two daughters are alleged to be following in their mother's footsteps). Darian Dorsey Darian Dorsey is the Chief of Staff for the Office of Consumer Response at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She joined the Bureau in late 2010 as a member of the U.S. Department of Treasury Implementation Team. Since then she has been involved in every major facet of the strategy, design, and development of the Office of Consumer Response, including recent expansions of the Bureau s Consumer Complaint Database. Prior to joining the Bureau, Darian lead the implementation of Recovery Act reporting efforts at the U.S. Department of Treasury s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund after serving as a research project manager at IFF, a nonprofit community development financial institution. Darian graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the University of Chicago s Harris School of Public Policy Studies as a McCormick Tribune Leadership Fellow, graduating with a master s degree in public policy.

7 E. Michelle Drake E. Michelle Drake is a partner at Nichols Kaster, PLLP in Minneapolis. Ms. Drake has served as lead class counsel in over fifty consumer and employment class actions and has achieved over $150 million in recoveries for her clients. Michelle serves on the Board of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, is a member of the Partner s Council of the National Consumer Law Center, and is as an At-Large Council Member for the Consumer Litigation Section for the Minnesota State Bar Association. She was named as a Super Lawyer by her peers in both 2013 and 2014 and was appointed to the Federal Practice Committee in 2010 by the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Ms. Drake is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School. Ms. Drake began her career as a public defender in Georgia where she defended death penalty cases at the trial court level. She has never lost her desire to engage in high stakes litigation and to fight for the little guy. Tom Feltner Tom Feltner is the director of financial services at the Consumer Federation of America, an association of non-profit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education. At CFA, Feltner heads coalition building, policy development and advocacy in the areas of automobile insurance reform, high-cost lending and financial services regulation. In this position, he is regularly engaged in state and national efforts to further the consumer interest in the financial services marketplace and protect consumers, particularly low-wealth consumers, from abusive practices. Colten Fleu Colt Fleu is a staff attorney at Mountain State Justice, Inc. a non-profit public interest law firm. His concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy and consumer rights litigation including, predatory lending, mobile homes, auto fraud, and housing. Colt has been selected as a presenter and has contributed to several seminars focusing on underwater real estate loans, consumer bankruptcy, and bankruptcy litigation. He graduated from Transylvania University with a B.A. in Philosophy in 2001 and from the University of Kentucky College of Law in Cary Flitter Cary L. Flitter practices Consumer law with Flitter Lorenz, P.C. in suburban Philadelphia and New Jersey. Cary serves on the adjunct faculty at Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia and Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware, where he teaches Consumer Law and Litigation including Fair Credit Reporting, Fair Debt Collection, and class action. He has guest lectured on consumer law issues at Harvard Law School, The University of Pennsylvania Law School, and other venues.cary is the recipient of pro bono awards for his work on behalf of low-income consumers from the President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 2006 and again in 2011, the Montgomery Bar, and the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network in He also was the recipient of the 2014 Consumer Lawyer of the Year Award from the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He served as the Co-Chair of the Federal Courts committee of the Montgomery (County) Bar Association from 2000 to 2012 and 2015, and has served on the board of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Mary Fons Mary Catherine Fons is a sole practitioner who has operated the Fons Law Office in Stoughton, Wisconsin since Her practice is limited to prosecuting consumer protection claims, representing consumers with regard to debt collection harassment, fraud, deceptive sales practices, wrongful repossession, and other claims involving state and federal consumer protection laws. Ms. Fons is a frequent presenter on consumer protection topics at state and national conferences and seminars, has taught consumer law at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a founding member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

8 Judith Fox Judith Fox is a Clinical Professor of Law at the Notre Dame Law School, where she teaches and practices consumer law. She joined the faculty in 1997 and teaches courses in consumer law and negotiation. Ms. Fox directs the Economic Justice Project, a low income clinic specializing in foreclosure and debt collection defense. Judy graduated from Notre Dame Law School, magna cum laude in 1993, where she was the articles editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. Ms. Fox s advocacy and research focus on issues of predatory lending and debt collection. She is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the Indiana Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force and cochairs the AALS Clinical Section s Standing Committee on Lawyering in the Public Interest. She has received numerous awards for her advocacy, including the Rodney F. Ganey, Ph.D. Faculty Community Based Research Award for her research on foreclosure issues in Indiana and the Grenville Clark Award for voluntary activities that advance the cause of peace and human rights. Ms. Fox provides trainings and seminars across the country on issues related to mortgage foreclosure and debt collection and, most recently, as a trainer for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau s toolkit, Your Money Your Goals, to assist low income consumers gain financial literacy. James Francis James Francis he has focused his practice in consumer protection litigation, with a particular concentration in fair credit reporting, fair debt collection practices and consumer class actions since He was ranked a Top 100 Pennsylvania Superlawyer in 2008, 2012, and 2014, and has been regularly ranked one of the Top 100 Superlawyers in Philadelphia since He has lectured and spoken extensively on the FCRA and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA). David Friend David Friend is a Counsel in the Office of Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. At the CFPB, he has been involved in rulemakings related to TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures, Ability-to- Repay/Qualified Mortgage requirements, HPML escrow account requirements, annual adjustments to regulatory threshold amounts, and interagency rulemakings concerning appraisals. He transferred to the CFPB pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act when responsibility for RESPA transferred from HUD. At HUD, he worked in the Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales where he investigated RESPA violations, provided guidance to industry, and presented discussions of the 2010 HUD revisions to the GFE and HUD-1. Before working in government, David worked as a claims counsel covering Maryland and the District of Columbia for a title insurance underwriter for just over one year and as a title and settlement attorney for residential and commercial transactions in Maryland for about six years. Jeff Gentes Jeff Gentes manages the Connecticut Fair Housing Center s work on the fair lending and foreclosure prevention aspects of housing discrimination and co-supervises the Mortgage Foreclosure Litigation Clinic at Yale Law School. His practice focuses on foreclosure defense and litigating against mortgage companies on behalf of homeowners. He regularly engages in appellate work, as both homeowner counsel and amicus curiae, and has trained foreclosure mediators in four different states. He is a member of Connecticut s Bench-Bar Foreclosure Committee, and a registered state lobbyist on mortgage and foreclosure issues. Mr. Gentes began his work in this field in 2008 when he joined the Homeowner Defense Project at Staten Island Legal Services following stints at Proskauer Rose LLP and Pfizer Inc. Mr. Gentes received his B.A. from the University of Connecticut and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. Karla Gilbride Karla Gilbride joined Public Justice in October 2014 as a staff attorney. She previously spent three years as an associate at Mehri & Skalet PLLC, where she worked on wage and hour, and employment discrimination cases, as well as consumer class actions and cases brought under the Fair Housing Act. Before coming to Mehri & Skalet, Karla worked at Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, Calif., where she brought class actions on behalf of blind computer users seeking equal access to websites and Los Angeles residents seeking inclusion of people with disabilities in the county s emergency plans. She also represented consumers with disabilities before the California Public Utilities Commission and applicants seeking accommodations on professional licensing exams. Karla graduated with honors from Georgetown Law in 2007 and clerked for Judge Ronald Gould on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She received her undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College with highest honors in 2002 with a major in linguistics and minor in psychology.

9 Sylvia Goldsmith Sylvia Antalis Goldsmith is the founder of Goldsmith & Associates, LLC. She received her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctorate degrees from the Ohio State University and has been a licensed member of the Ohio State Bar since Goldsmith s practice focuses on consumer protection under a variety of state and federal laws including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. She is licensed to practice law in all courts in the State of Ohio, as well as the United States Supreme Court and the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas. Richard Gordon Richard Gordon is a partner with Gordon, Wolf & Carney, Chtd. in Maryland. Over the past 25 years, Richard has served as Lead Counsel in dozens of complex and class action cases on behalf of consumers, minorities, disable children and migrant workers. He has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts on behalf of his clients and, in all, has recovered and returned several hundred million dollars to those in society who have been wronged, harmed or taken advantage of. Since 2011, GWC has been nationally ranked in the U.S.News and World Reports listing of Best Law Firms in America. Richard is also individually recognized in Best Lawyers in America and for 2016 is being honored as Best Lawyer s Lawyer of the Year for Maryland (Mass Torts/Class Actions Plaintiffs). Dan Hedges Dan Hedges is the Executive Director of Mountain State Justice, a non-profit, public interest law firm in West Virginia. Prior to founding Mountain State Justice in 1996, Dan was a lawyer and Litigation Director for over 20 years at the Appalachian Research, Education, and Defense Fund (AppalRED) pursuing legal reform on issues including consumer rights, education funding, institutional conditions, mental health services, juvenile justice issues, and worker safety. Dan has served as Vice Chairman of both the Litigation Subcommittee and the ADR Subcommittee of the American Bar Association, and he has testified before the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development about predatory lending. In 2003, Dan received the Vern Countryman Award from the National Consumer Law Center for his outstanding work as an advocate for low-income consumers. Chantal Hernandez Chantal Hernandez is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center whose focus includes mortgage servicing and foreclosures, including language access issues for limited English proficiency consumers.. Previously, she was a staff attorney in the Foreclosure Prevention Project of MFY Legal Services in New York. At MFY, she defended homeowners sued in foreclosure through state trial and appellate litigation, representation at court-supervised settlement conferences, preparation of pro se pleadings, and negotiation of loan modifications. During law school, she was an intern for the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice and also represented clients at the Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic in Washington, D.C. She also served a member of the American University Law Review. Chantal is a member of the New York Bar. She graduated cum laude from Boston University and American University, Washington College of Law. David Humphreys David Humphreys has been practicing law since He was a member of the first class (1994) of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, Wyoming. He was recognized in 2004 by the college, along with his partner, Luke Wallace, for his trial work and currently serves as a member of the teaching staff. He and his partner, Luke Wallace, have participated in dozens of trials and settlements resulting in many million-dollar recoveries for their consumer law clients. His areas of special interest include debt collection abuse, predatory mortgage servicing and representing mentally challenged or vulnerable persons who have been trapped into debt by installment lenders. David has provided CLE and pro bono representation across the country and is grateful for his membership in NACA and close friendships that have resulted from his association with NCLC and NACA. He is most proud of his twenty-five-year partnership with his wife Tanya and their three children a law student, a theatre artist, and a budding scientist.

10 Peggy Jurow Peggy Jurow and her partner Rebecca Schore are members of Jurow & Schore, LLC, a New Jersey law firm with offices in Montclair and New Brunswick, dedicated to the exclusive practice of consumer protection law on behalf of consumers. Prior to forming Jurow & Schore, LLC, Peggy and Rebecca served as Chief Section Counsel at Legal Services of New Jersey (LSNJ), where they were at the forefront of cutting edge developments in consumer law. They authored the report that influenced the State s unprecedented steps to eradicate fraudulent foreclosure practices such as robosigning, and remained vital participants in the process. Together they litigated several pivotal consumer cases including, D'Agostino v. Maldonado, --- N.J ) (Amicus Curiae); U..S. Bank v. Guillaume, 209 N.J. 449 (2012); Gonzalez v. Wilshire Credit Corp., 207 N.J. 557 (2011) (Amicus Curiae); and Wells Fargo v. Ford, 418 N.J. Super. 592 (App. Div. 2011). Prior to working at LSNJ, Peggy Jurow served as a trial attorney at the Office of the United States Trustee and was a partner at the firm now known as Podvey Meanor. Dana Karni Dana Karni is a solo practitioner and owner of Karni Law Firm, P.C. Ever since she was licensed to practice, Ms. Karni has focused her career on consumer rights. Specifically, she defends individuals sued for debt, as well as asserting consumers' rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Ms. Karni is an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, director for the Consumer and Commercial Law Section of the Houston Bar Association, and a member of the Texas State Bar Consumer and Commercial Law Council. Ms. Karni has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center teaching a class entitled Practicing Consumer Law. She is a frequent speaker on consumer rights for the Houston Bar Association and the University of Houston s Peoples Law School. More information is available at Scott R. Kaufman Scott R. Kaufman is far from the traditional attorney and his firm is far from a traditional firm. Scott graduated from the University of South Florida in 1981 with a degree in Speech Communication. He went on to follow his dream of becoming an entrepreneur by selling hot dogs from a hot dog cart in Southern CA. He later began his own small business teaching tennis, also in Southern CA. After a dozen years of "living the dream" Scott went off to law school and earned his JD from Willmatte University College of Law in in Once again, Scott's entrepreneurial spirit had him starting and running his own business. A few years in, facing mounting bills, Scott took a job with Consumer Legal Services, PC, out of Michigan, opening and running their California Lemon Law office. Dissatisfied with the way this firm operated, Scott opened California Lemon Lawyers in Mr. Kaufman focused on a smaller practice, dedicated to helping consumers, not just his own bottom line. This smaller firm approach has been directly responsible for putting millions of dollars back in to the pockets of California Consumers since Scott now has three dedicated consumer attorneys working at his office on Auto Fraud and Lemon Law matters. Mr. Kaufman has appeared on Radio and Television multiple times in his capacity as a Consumer Protection attorney. Mr. Kaufman been active with the National Association of Consumer Advocates since 2005 and currently serves with Bob Brennan as California co-chair for NACA. While his legal focus remains on Lemon Law and Auto Fraud matters, he regularly attends conferences for FDCPA, FCRA, and other consumer law areas in order to hone and his consumer advocate skills. Mr. Kaufman co-hosted NACA's semi-annual Auto Fraud conference in San Diego in 2014 and is again on that committee for He also teaches Mandatory Continuing Legal Education classes in the areas of lemon law and auto fraud, nationwide, in order to further the cause.

11 Kristi C. Kelly Kristi C. Kelly focusses her practice on advocating for individuals in state and federal courts in Virginia, District of Columbia and Maryland, with a focus on credit reporting inaccuracies and mortgage servicing abuses. Described by her peers as someone who takes- and wins- the cases others won t touch, she was selected as a Virginia Leader in the Law for the Class of Ms. Kelly is also regularly selected as a Super Lawyer. Prior to starting her law firm in 2014, Ms. Kelly was a shareholder at Surovell Isaacs Petersen & Levy where her practice focused on consumer rights litigation in state and federal courts in the Washington, D.C. area. In May 2010, she received a $686,600 jury verdict and her attorney fees from a foreclosure rescue scammer. After graduating law school, Ms. Kelly worked for Legal Services of Northern Virginia as a housing and consumer law attorney. In that position, she co-founded the Foreclosure Legal Assistance Program (FLAP) to provide legal advice and housing counseling to prevent foreclosures. Ms. Kelly is a regular speaker on credit reporting and mortgage servicing issues. She graduated from University of Richmond TC Williams School of Law. At graduation, she received the Nina R. Kestin award for her extraordinary contributions to the school, community and profession. Ms. Kelly received her degree cum laude from Dickinson College, where she was a four year varsity soccer player. Ms. Kelly is a board member of the Virginia Poverty Law Center and on the Advisory Committee of the Legal Aid Justice Center. She lives in Oakton, VA with her husband Matt and two sons, Joey and Charlie. Keith Keogh Keith J. Keogh is a partner at Keogh Law, Ltd. in Chicago, Il. Keith has been litigating TCPA class actions since early 2002 many of which have resulted in class wide settlements. He was class counsel in the two largest TCPA Class Settlements. See Hageman v. AT&T Mobility LLC, et al., Case 1:13-cv DLC- RWA (D. MT.) (Co-Lead) (Final Approval Granted February 11, 2015 providing for a $45 million settlement for a class of 16,000 persons) and Capital One Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, et al., 12-cv (N.D. Ill. Judge Holderman) (Liaison Counsel and additional Class Counsel)(Final Approval Granted February 12, 2015 for a $75 million settlement). Keith was selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer in 2015 and 2014 and an Illinois Super Lawyer Rising Star each year from 2008 through In addition to litigating TCPA cases, Keith has spoken at numerous sessions on the TCPA. Ahmad Keshavarz Ahmad Keshavarz established his law firm, The Law Office of Ahmad Keshavarz in His practice is devoted entirely to consumer protection. The large majority of his practice is devoted to FDCPA litigation, including a number of class actions involving collection lawsuits on debts that are time barred or where the debt collector does not have standing to file suit in his own name. In terms of FDCPA litigation arising from student loans, his office recently settled Love v. Windham Professionals, Inc., 1:13-cv BMC, Eastern District of New York just prior to rulings on cross-motions for summary judgment. In Love, the debt collector demanded minimum monthly payments based solely on a percentage of the amount of the debt, the accrued interest, and the collection fee. However, the pertinent student loan regulations required monthly payments that were reasonable and affordable and based solely on the financial circumstances of the consumer. His office, with co-counsel, is currently litigating Torres v. Toback, Bernstein & Reiss LLP et al, 1:11-cv NGG-VVP, Eastern District of New York. In Torres, a debt collection law firm sought to collect defaulted Perkins loans while concealing in the total amount claimed due a collection fee and an interest greater than allowed by contract or statute, among many other violations. Ahmad Keshavarz has a B.A. With Honors from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Masters in Public Policy from the L.B.J. School of Public Affairs. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. April Kuehnhoff April Kuehnhoff is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center whose focus includes fair debt collection. From 2009 to 2010 she was a Skirnick Public Interest Fellow at the Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services office of Greater Boston Legal Services. From 2010 to 2012 she was a law clerk for the Honorable Justice Gary Katzmann at the Massachusetts Appeals Court. From 2012 to 2014 she was an associate at Shapiro Haber & Urmy LLP. Prior to law school, April worked as a member of the Project on Global Working Families at the Harvard School of Public Health and at the Wellesley College Center for Work and Service. April is a graduate of Wellesley College and Harvard Law School.

12 Rachel Labush Rachel Labush has been a staff attorney at Community Legal Services since Since 2008, she has been a member of the Consumer and Homeownership Unit, where her practice focuses on defending low income homeowners in foreclosure, fraud, and mortgage servicing abuse cases. Rachel was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Anita. B. Brody, Eastern District of Pennsylvania prior to her joining CLS. She earned her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was a member of the student-run Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. Elizabeth Letcher Elizabeth Letcher is a consumer advocate and attorney who has practiced in the public interest for nearly twenty years. She represents homeowners and other consumers in mortgage servicing and related litigation, and offers consulting to attorneys and others on mortgage servicing and loan modification. Before opening the Law Offices of Elizabeth S. Letcher in 2015, she was the Director of Litigation at the nonprofit Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, leading the organization s individual and class litigation in areas ranging from predatory lending to mortgage servicing and modification issues to unfair debt collection, and performing non-litigation related advocacy as well. She has testified as an expert on foreclosure rescue and loan modification issues, and conducts worships and trainings for consumers and attorneys on related issues. Before her six years at HERA, Ms. Letcher had a civil rights oriented practice, both as an associate at a small firm and on her own, which focused on challenges to government conduct and practices, employment discrimination and public benefits suits, and civil, administrative, and criminal appeals. Ms. Letcher is a 1994 graduate of Berkeley Law. She clerked for the Hon. Thelton E. Henderson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and the Hon James R. Browning of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and was a Skadden Fellow at the Employment Law Center in San Francisco. Ariana Lindermayer Ariana Lindermayer is a staff attorney at MFY Legal Services. She works in the Consumer Rights Project, which assists low-income New Yorkers who are being pursued for credit card debts, medical debts, or student loan debts or are victims of financial scams. After graduating from Fordham University School of Law, she clerked for the Honorable Paul A. Crotty on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Honorable Maryanne Trump Barry on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Ian Lyngklip Ian B. Lyngklip is a partner at Lyngklip & Associates Consumer Law Center PLC. Mr. Lyngklip is a former member and Chairperson of the State Bar of Michigan Consumer Law Section Counsel, and a past Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He regularly provides training in consumer law around the country, which have included participation in programs for other consumer advocates, legal aid groups, industry, regulatory bodies, judges, and legislators. He is the recipient of many honors including the Oakland County Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award, June 2005, the Frank Kelly Award, Michigan State Bar Association Consumer Law Section, September 2004, and the Consumer Advocate of the Year, National Association of Consumer Advocates, October He is regularly quoted in articles concern credit reporting and debt collection abuse, and has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Kiplingers, the Scripps Howard News Wire, and the Detroit Free Press. His firm maintains its web site at He graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1987 and the University of Detroit School of Law in Sara Manaugh Since 2008, Sara Manaugh has been a staff attorney in the Foreclosure Prevention Project at South Brooklyn Legal Services, where she defends homeowners in foreclosure actions; participates in affirmative litigation primarily relating to predatory lending, unfair debt collection practices, and mortgage and real estate fraud; and advocates for homeowners in court-mediated settlement conferences. Prior to her work at South Brooklyn Legal Services, she served as law clerk to two federal judges and worked at a law firm in Manhattan.

13 Roger L. Mandel Roger L. Mandel is a nationally known class action lawyer who has been lead and liaison counsel in class action cases across the country which have collectively recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for injured consumers. He successfully tried one of the only two class actions known to have been tried to a jury verdict in the Texas state courts. He is a frequent author and lecturer on class action topics. He has been named as a Texas Super Lawyer in the Class Action/Mass Torts category by Texas Monthly Magazine since the inception of the ratings in 2003, as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in the Class Action category by The National Trial Lawyers since the inception of the honor in 2013, and as one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas in the Class Action category by D Magazine since the inception of the category in Craig Marchiando Craig graduated cum laude from South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas, in After a one-year clerkship with Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals, he joined Caddell & Chapman, one of the country s most-successful trial and class action boutique firms, as an associate. During his first years at Caddell & Chapman, Craig took part in cases representing consumers who purchased defective products in class actions under various states consumer protection laws as well as investigating and prosecuting qui tam cases on behalf of the federal government. More recently, Craig has helped thousands of consumers recover for claims made in class actions under the Fair Credit Reporting Act against defendants like Choicepoint, LexisNexis, Harbor Freight Tools, Metscheck, Pre-Employ.com, and Acxiom. He was named a Texas Rising Star for class actions and mass torts in 2013 and Craig joined Consumer Litigation Associates in Newport News, Virginia in September At that firm, Craig continues his representation of consumers with FCRA claims against employers, background reporting companies, and credit reporting agencies. Mandi Matlock Mandi L. Matlock is the founder and former director of the Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc. (TRLA). Before joining TRLA as a managing attorney, she was an Equal Justice Works fellow specializing in tax and consumer litigation. She co-authors Effectively Representing Your Clients Before the IRS and has worked on numerous comment projects for proposed Treasury regulations, including testifying before the Department of the Treasury on behalf of the State Bar of Texas Tax Section. She represents individual and business taxpayers at all administrative levels of the IRS, in U.S. Tax Court, and in federal district court. Ms. Matlock is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. Toby Merrell Toby is a Clinical Instructor at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, where she founded and directs the Project on Predatory Student Lending. The Project represents low-income student loan borrowers in predatory lending cases against for-profit and occupational schools. She teaches and supervises law students in the Center s Predatory Lending Clinic. Toby is also a lecturer at Harvard Law School, where she teaches a class on Student Loan Law. She is a member of the advisory council on Private Occupational Schools to the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure, and has represented legal aid providers and their clients in the US Department of Education's two most recent negotiated rulemaking sessions, by which the Department promulgates new student loan regulations. Toby joined the Center in 2012 as a Skadden Fellow. She received her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. She clerked for the Honorable Janet C. Hall of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Before attending law school, Toby worked for an education non-profit in New York City. She holds a B.A. from Yale, with distinction.

14 Andy Milz Mr. Milz is an attorney at the firm of Flitter Lorenz, PC with offices in suburban Philadelphia and New Jersey. He specializes in representing consumers victimized by consumer finance fraud, improper debt collection, repossessions, and inaccurate credit reporting. He has represented plaintiffs in successful appeals involving significant issues in state and federal consumer protection law, including Cappuccio v. Prime Capital Funding LLC, 649 F.3d 180 (3rd Cir. 2011) (Truth in Lending Act), Douglass v. Convergent Outsourcing, 765 F.3d 299 (3d Cir. 2014) (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), and Gager v. Dell Fin. Servs., LLC, 727 F. 3d 265 (3d Cir. 2013) (Telephone Consumer Protection Act). Mr. Milz is a contributing author to Carter, et al., Pennsylvania Consumer Law (Bisel 2014), has been published in peer-reviewed journals, has lectured nationally on consumer law subjects, and is an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates ( NACA ). He received his J.D. from Temple University, an M.A. from the University of Scranton, and a B.A. cum laude from King s College. Adam S. Minsky Adam S. Minsky founded the first law office in Massachusetts devoted entirely to assisting student loan borrowers, and he is one of the only attorneys in the country practicing exclusively in this area of law. Attorney Minsky provides counsel, legal assistance, and direct advocacy for borrowers on a variety of student loan-related matters, including repayment management, default resolution, and servicing troubleshooting. He has been interviewed by major national publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and was recently featured on the front page of the Boston Business Journal. Attorney Minsky regularly speaks to students, graduates, and advocates about the latest developments in higher education financing, and he maintains a nationally recognized blog on student loan-related topics at He has recently published two handbooks on student loan-related topics: Student Loan Debt 101, and The Student Loan Guide for Parents and Cosigners. His upcoming book, The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys, will soon be released by the American Bar Association. Attorney Minsky is also a contributor to the National Consumer Law Center s manual on Student Loan Law. Attorney Minsky is a graduate of Boston University and Northeastern University School of Law. Robert Muth Professor Robert F. Muth teaches in the areas of veterans law and legal ethics at the University of San Diego School of Law. He is also the supervising attorney of the University of San Diego s nationally acclaimed Veterans Legal Clinic. Muth is admitted to the bar in both California and Illinois and is a VA accredited attorney. His professional memberships include the San Diego County Bar Association and the Veterans Bar Association, and he is a barrister in the Wallace Inn of Court. Muth also serves as the Chair of the board of directors of the San Diego Veterans Coalition, a prominent San Diego based non-profit veterans collaborative organization. Muth received his BA from Northwestern University in 2002 and his JD from Duke University School of Law in Andrew Neuhauser Andrew Neuhauser is an attorney in the New Philadelphia office of Southeastern Ohio Legal Services. For the past seven years, Andrew has focused on representing homeowners in foreclosure cases and bringing affirmative litigation in state and federal courts related to mortgages. Prior to joining SEOLS, Andrew was the supervisor of the Homeownership Preservation Project at Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, a legal aid program in western Ohio. Andrew is a graduate of Purdue University and the University of Toledo College of Law.

15 Raúl Noriega Raúl Noriega practiced voting rights litigation for 7 years by bringing together the resources of Texas Rural Legal Aid, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Southwest Voter Registration Project to producing the first operational redistricting computer and map library for the 1980 census dedicated to doing voting rights litigation. He successfully litigated an assortment of class action voting rights law suits to institute single member district electoral plans in several cities, counties, and school districts in Texas found to have discriminatory election plans. In 1986, he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of Attorney General of Texas where he served for 22 years. This work included investigating and enjoining a variety of business operations from small repair shops deceptively selling auto repair work, to national corporations involved in deceptive pyramid sales schemes, to land developers illegally selling unplatted land creating third world conditions along the Texas-Mexico border. He represented the Texas Dept. of Health in enforcing health statutes in food manufacturing facilities and obtaining court orders to place infectious, drug resistant, persons into the care of the state infectious disease hospital. He also represented the Texas Dept. Of Housing and Community Affairs in enjoining the illegal sale of manufactured housing. After retiring from OAG, for the last 7 years he has been the manager of the Manufactured Housing Team for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid representing poverty level clients in eviction and foreclosure lawsuits and has written training material for legal aid lawyers on representing manufactured home owners and renters in Texas. Willard Ogburn Willard Ogburn has been the Executive Director of the National Consumer Law Center since The National Consumer Law Center is a low-income advocacy organization, publisher of the major treatises on consumer law, a support center for legal aid programs, and sponsor of the annual National Consumer Rights Litigation Conference. NCLC's advocates are sometimes called 'the nation's consumer law experts.' Mr. Ogburn has presented and written widely on consumer law. He has served as Deputy Commissioner of Banks in Massachusetts; in the Executive Office of the President; with Congress' Legislative Reference Service; in the Law Reform Unit of Cleveland Legal Aid; as a member and Chair of the Federal Reserve Board Consumer Advisory Council; on Senator Elizabeth Warren's Judicial Screening Committee; on the transition team for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey; and on the Boards of Directors of Americans for Fairness in Lending; the Consumer Federation of America (President); the National Association of Consumer Advocates (Executive Committee); the Center for Legal Aid Education (President); and Consumer Reports. He was awarded the National Association of Consumer Advocates' Lifetime Achievement Award; the William J. Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award by the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers; and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Scott Owens Scott D. Owens was raised in Amherst, New York and attended SUNY at Buffalo. Fed up with the snow, Scott eventually made his way down to sunny South Florida in 2001 after graduating from the New England School of Law in In 2011, Scott founded the law firm of Scott D. Owens, P.A., a consumer law practice located on the beach in Hollywood, Florida. As one of Florida s most recognized consumer advocates, Scott has represented consumers for the past eight years with regard to: violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA); violations of the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA); violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA); and violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). Scott has certified more than twenty class actions since becoming a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) in 2007, including several multi-million dollar class action settlements in Additionally, Scott has successfully argued before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on several occasions, including Breslow v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 755 F.3d 1265 (11th Cir. June 9, 2014) (affirming partial summary judgment in TCPA action) and overturning four district court decisions on the issue of whether an unaccepted Rule 68 Offer of Judgment could moot a class action. See generally Keim v. ADF MidAtlantic, LLC, 586 Fed.Appx. 573 (11th Cir. Dec. 1, 2014); Barr v. Harvard Drug Group, LLC, 591 Fed.Appx. 928 (11th Cir. Jan. 29, 2015).

16 Dennis D. Parker Dennis D. Parker is the Director of the ACLU National Office's Racial Justice Program (RJP). Concentrating on issues of the school-to-prison pipeline which funnels children of color from the educational system into the criminal justice system, racial profiling, affirmative action, indigent representation and felon enfranchisement, the RJP seeks to remove barriers to equal opportunity for communities of color through litigation, public education, community organizing and legislation. Prior to joining the ACLU, he was the Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the Office of the New York State Attorney. Mr. Parker also worked for fourteen years at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund litigating and supervising the litigation of scores of cases involving elementary and secondary education, affirmative action in higher education and equal educational opportunity. Other positions included work at the employment firm of Vladeck, Waldman, Elias and Engelhardt and the New York Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division in Brooklyn, New York. He has published a book and numerous chapters and articles on a range of civil rights issues including housing discrimination, educational equity, and affirmative action and testing. Mr. Parker lectures extensively on civil rights issues and is an adjunct professor at New York Law School. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard Law School. David Philipps David J. Philipps is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and Loyola University of Chicago. After clerking for Illinois Supreme Court Justice Benjamin K. Miller, he has devoted his entire career to the protection of the rights of consumers. In 1995 he was one of the founding members of the National Association of Consumer Advocates ( NACA ) and currently serves on its Board of Directors. In 2011 he was named the NACA Consumer Attorney of the Year, and in 2014, he received an Award of Excellence for Pro Bono Service from the Judges of the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. David has lectured throughout the country at numerous Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and class action seminars for NACA, the NCLC, the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the National Legal Aid Defenders Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services and others. Dave s practice consists mainly of representing elderly and disabled consumers who have been subjected to illegal collection activities and/or credit reporting problems. Andrew Pizor Andrew Pizor is a Staff Attorney in the National Consumer Law Center's Washington, DC office where he works on issues related to mortgage financing and defending homeowners from foreclosure. He is a contributing author to Foreclosures, Truth In Lending, and a co-author of Mortgage Lending and Consumer Credit Regulation. Andrew also serves as an expert witness on mortgage origination and servicing issues. He was previously an attorney at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, the Consumer Law Group, LLC, and Legal Services Corp. of Delaware. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Fordham University School of Law.

17 Katherine Porter Professor Porter specializes in commercial and consumer law, including bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure, and credit cards. Her research focuses on empirical studies of consumer bankruptcy and has been published in journals including the Texas Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, and the Cornell Law Review. She is currently Professor of Law at the University of California Irvine School of Law, where she is Director of the Transition to Practice program. She has conducted several original empirical studies and is a principal investigator in the ongoing Consumer Bankruptcy Project, the most comprehensive study of people in bankruptcy. She has testified several times before Congress and is a frequent speaker at judicial education and continuing legal education programs. She blogs about credit and debt issues at In March 2012, Professor Porter was appointed by California Attorney General Kamala Harris to be the state s independent monitor of banks in a nationwide $25 billion mortgage settlement. As Monitor, she oversaw the banks implementation of the settlement reforms and conducted extensive community outreach and education. Under her leadership, the California Monitor Program handled over five thousand homeowner complaints, conducted more than four dozen outreach or education events, and issued six policy reports. Her work has garnered several awards: the InnovAction Award by the College of Law Practice Management, recognizing innovation and ingenuity in the delivery of legal services, academic recognition for the best article in the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, practice excellence by selection as one of the top 100 lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, and advocacy merit with the Champion of Consumer Rights honor by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. Professor Porter previously was on the faculty at the University of Iowa College of Law and has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, UC Berkeley Law, the University of Illinois College of Law, and the UNLV Boyd School of Law. She practiced bankruptcy law in Portland, Oregon, and clerked for the Honorable Richard S. Arnold of the Eighth Circuit. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. from Yale University. John Rao John Rao is an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, Inc. Mr. Rao focuses on consumer credit and bankruptcy issues and has served as a panelist and instructor at numerous bankruptcy and consumer law trainings and conferences. He has served as an expert witness in court cases and has testified in Congress on consumer matters. Mr. Rao is a contributing author and editor of NCLC's Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice; and a co-author of NCLC s Foreclosures and Bankruptcy Basics. He is also a contributing author to Collier on Bankruptcy and the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide. Mr. Rao served as a member of the federal Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules from 2006 to 2012, appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts. He is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, vice-president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, member of the editorial board of Collier on Bankruptcy, and former board member for the American Bankruptcy Institute. Joseph Rebella Joseph Rebella is a Staff Attorney in MFY Legal Services, Inc. s Foreclosure Prevention Project and represents homeowners in foreclosure and in affirmative litigation. Joseph practices in both state and federal court, recently arguing an important foreclosure standing case before the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. He co-created and manages MFY s FHA Waterfall Worksheet and HAMP and GSE Waterfall Worksheet, both of which are nationally prominent resources among homeowners advocates. Because of his knowledge of FHA loss mitigation rules and HAMP regulations, Joseph has served as an expert in federal and state cases alleging violations of FHA or HAMP rules. Before joining MFY Legal Services, Inc., he served as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow for the Consumer Law Project of the Public Counsel Law Center in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Rebella is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School.

18 Ira Rheingold Ira Rheingold is Executive Director and General Counsel of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), an organization dedicated to protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices. At NACA, Ira has testified before both Houses of Congress on various mortgage lending and consumer finance issues, offered commentary before federal agencies charged with regulating financial service industries and protecting consumers, and helped draft amicus briefs on issues of great concern to consumers before the nation's highest courts. Before coming to NACA, Ira worked at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago as a supervisory attorney in charge of the Foreclosure Prevention and Senior Housing Projects. His responsibilities included community outreach and education, legal and policy advocacy and the development of impact litigation against predatory mortgage lenders. Ira also worked for three years as a legal services attorney in suburban Washington D.C. At that job, his primary work included welfare advocacy and homelessness prevention. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. Al Ripley Alfred Ripley is a North Carolina native and lives in Raleigh, where he has worked since 2003 for the North Carolina Justice Center, a non-profit organization that advocates for the needs of low income individuals and communities. He is Director of the Justice Center s Housing and Consumer Affairs Project. His work includes policy development and advocacy at the North Carolina General Assembly where he has worked on efforts to protect consumers and homeowners. His legislative successes have included helping keep payday and car title lending out of the state, creating a loan program to help laid-off workers avoid home foreclosure, and developing landmark legislation regulating mortgage servicers and debt buyers. Al holds a J.D. and B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a Master's in Education from North Carolina State University. Stuart Rossman Stuart Rossman is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and has served as director of litigation since Stuart is the co-editor of NCLC s Consumer Class Actions and coordinates NCLC's annual Consumer Class Action Symposium. Stuart currently is the co-chair of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) Board of Directors. Since 1992, he has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the Northeastern University School of Law where he teaches courses in Civil Trial Advocacy and was appointed the 2010 Givelber Distinguished Lecturer on Public Interest Law. He also is a member of the adjunct faculty at the Suffolk University School of Law. Previously, he was a private trial attorney in Boston and served as Chief of the Trial Division and Chief of the Business and Labor Protection Bureau at the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. Stuart has received numerous honors and awards, including the Thurgood Marshall Award by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. He is a 1975 graduate of the University of Michigan, summa cum laude and graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude in Susy Rotkis Susan M. Rotkis has practiced law in Virginia since As part of the team at Consumer Litigation Associates, she represents consumers in litigation against financial institutions, consumer reporting agencies, employers, and debt collectors in federal courts throughout the country. Ms. Rotkis started her legal career at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, as legal and legislative counsel. She served as general counsel and corporate facility security officer of Total Immersion Software, Inc., (now Intific). She served as a law clerk at the elbows of two judges: the Hon. Michael S. McDonald (retired) in the Western District of Texas and the Hon. Dennis W. Dohnal (deceased) in the Eastern District of Virginia. As a student at Georgetown University Law Center, she was a member of the American Criminal Law Review and a founding member of the GULC Disability Rights Council. She represented disability applicants, consumers and tenants as part of the Center for Applied Legal Studies and the D.C. Law Students in Court Program. During law school, Ms. Rotkis also served on the staff of the Hon. Dennis DeConcini, United States Senator (Arizona). Ms. Rotkis is graduated from Arizona State University (B.A. 1989) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1996). She is currently serving a gubernatorial appointment as a Commissioner on the Hampton Roads Sanitation District Commission, and an appointment to the Hampton Federal Area Development Authority. She is also a member of the parish leadership council of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and an immediate past member of the Virginia National Guard Family Advisory Council and the American Red Cross, Hampton Roads Chapter. When she isn t working or volunteering, she can usually be found on a boat with her husband and two kids.

19 Richard J. Rubin Richard J. Rubin is a private attorney in Santa Fe, New Mexico, whose federal appellate practice is limited to representing consumers in federal consumer credit protection cases, including credit reporting and debt collection abuse litigation, and to consulting for other consumer rights specialists around the country.the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has acknowledged Mr. Rubin as a "nationally known consumer-rights attorney" (Bass v. Stolper, Koritzinsky, Brewster Neider, S.C., 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 41397, *5 (June 6, 1997)). He and his solo practice were the subject of a profile published in the January 1993 ABA Journal. Mr. Rubin is the past chair of the National Association of Consumer Advocates and in 2000 was the recipient of NCLC s Vern Countryman Award. In 2006 he was named to Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs' Lawyers in America. Mr. Rubin has taught consumer law at the University of New Mexico School of Law, is a regular contributor to the Consumer Credit and Sales Legal Practice Series manuals published by NCLC, and presents continuing legal education and attorney-training programs nationally in the areas of consumer credit, warranty law, and debt collection abuse. Sasha Samberg-Champion Sasha Samberg-Champion is a counsel in the civil rights law firm of Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC, where his practice focuses on civil rights litigation. He has argued dozens of appeals and has briefed cases covering a wide variety of topics before trial courts, appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to joining Relman, Dane & Colfax, Sasha served as an appellate lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice s Civil Rights Division, as an assistant solicitor general with the New York Office of the Attorney General, and as a law clerk for the Hon. Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Hon. Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Sasha is a graduate of Haverford College and Columbia Law School. He has taught classes at Columbia Law School and at American University s Washington School of Law. Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg wears two hats at the Legal Aid Justice Center in Virginia: Director of the Immigrant Advocacy Program, and Team Leader for Consumer Law. Simon practices consumer, housing, employment, and civil rights litigation. He was awarded the 2013 LASSY award from the Virginia Poverty Law Center for greatest achievement in consumer law. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School, where he was awarded the C. LaRue Munson prize for excellence in clinical practice. Jane Santoni Jane Santoni has been a practicing litigator since 1988 and has been practicing consumer law since She has successfully tried and settled automobile fraud, mortgage fraud, warranty, illegal repossession, insurance denials and debt collection cases in state circuit, district, and appellate courts and in federal court. She has handled both individual and class cases. Ms. Santoni has been interviewed and quoted on consumer issues by major news sources, including the New York Times, Fox, CBS and NBC, The Baltimore Sun, The Daily Record, The Baltimore Business Journal, and the Scripps Howard news. She has taught consumer law and personal injury seminars locally and nationally. She is on the board of directors of Civil Justice, Inc., and is the past Maryland state chair of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. She is a member the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition and the Baltimore County Bar Association. She has been named a Super Lawyer in Maryland repeatedly and in 2013 was named as one of the Daily Record s Leaders in the Law for her work in consumer protection and personal injury law. She is grateful to be part of this heroic organization and to be able to practice an area of law which helps people obtain justice.

20 Lauren Saunders Lauren Saunders is Associate Director at NCLC's Washington, DC office and serves as its Managing Attorney. She directs NCLC's federal legislative and regulatory work. Lauren regularly speaks, writes and testifies in areas including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, prepaid cards, mobile payments, small dollar loans, credit cards, bank accounts, and preemption. She contributes to NCLC legal treatises, including Consumer Banking and Payments Law, Consumer Credit Regulation, and Fair Credit Reporting, and has authored several reports and white papers. She previously directed the Federal Rights Project of the National Senior Citizens Law Center; was Deputy Director of Litigation at Bet Tzedek Legal Services; and was an associate at Hall & Phillips. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and was an Executive Editor of the Harvard Law Review, and holds a Master s in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from Stanford University. Margot Saunders Margot is currently of counsel to the National Consumer Law Center, after serving as Managing Attorney of the Center s Washington office from 1991 to Margot has testified before Congress on dozens of occasions regarding a wide range of consumer law matters, including predatory lending, payments law, electronic commerce, and other financial credit issues. She is a co-author of NCLC s Consumer Banking and Payments Law and a contributor to numerous other manuals. Margot regularly serves as an expert witness in consumer credit cases, providing opinions on predatory lending, electronic benefits, servicing, and credit math issues. Prior to joining NCLC she was the consumer law specialist for North Carolina Legal Services. In 1991, Margot was the second recipient of the Vern Countryman Award. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and the University of North Carolina School of Law. Rachel Scott Rachel Scott is an attorney with the Senior Citizens Law Project of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, focusing on foreclosures, mortgage lending, and real estate issues affecting seniors. Most recently, Rachel has been an advocate for non-borrowing spouses of reverse mortgages who have been facing foreclosure following the death of the borrower spouse, in violation of federal law. Rachel successfully litigated against HUD and a reverse mortgage lender on behalf of a widow who was facing foreclosure after her husband s death, and secured a resolution giving her client the right to remain in the home. Prior to joining Atlanta Legal Aid, Rachel clerked for the Honorable Henry Coke Morgan, Jr., U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk. Rachel received her B.A. in mathematics from Agnes Scott College and her J.D. from Atlanta s John Marshall Law School, where she graduated first in her class. David Seligman David Seligman is a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center whose focus includes forced arbitration, alternative payment systems, and auto finance. Previously, he was a Harvard Law School Irving Kaufman Fellow at NCLC. David served as a law clerk for Judges Robert D. Sack and Susan L. Carney of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Patti B. Saris of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He has worked for Make the Road New York and a unionside labor law firm in San Francisco. Before law school, he was a New York City Urban Fellow in the New York City Police Department. David is a graduate of the Harvard Law School. Steven Sharpe Steven Sharpe is a Senior Attorney in the Hamilton office of the Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, LLC, where he represents borrowers facing foreclosure and children in child protective services cases. He has been active in national efforts to address problems with the servicing of FHA-insured and USDAguaranteed mortgage loans.