Monthly Archives: April 2016

Maurice Wutscher’s Brent Yarborough Speaks to Mortgage Banking Industry at Advocacy Day

April 19, 2016 — Maurice Wutscher’s Brent Yarborough was a panel speaker on April 18 at Advocacy Day 2016, a grass roots advocacy event for mortgage servicers and lenders in Washington, D.C.

The panel discussion, “Advocacy Super Session: How We Got Here,” prepared members of ALFN, USFN, NARCA, and REOMAC to meet with their congressmen about issues faced by attorneys representing the mortgage banking industry.

Mr. Yarborough discussed the federal regulation of the practice of law, including the practice-of-law exclusion under Dodd-Frank and the history of attorney regulation under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. He also discussed CFPB enforcement actions against attorneys and law firms.

Maurice Wutscher Opens Birmingham Office, Adds Attorney Brent Yarborough

April 13, 2016 — National financial services law firm Maurice Wutscher LLP has opened a new office in Birmingham, hiring financial services attorney Brent Yarborough to lead the firm’s Alabama litigation matters.

Mr. Yarborough will practice in the firm’s Appellate, Commercial Litigation, Consumer Credit Litigation and Regulatory Compliance groups. He joins Maurice Wutscher’s skilled team of litigators who specialize in appellate matters, business formation and transactions, class action litigation, commercial litigation, construction litigation, consumer credit litigation, contested bankruptcies, contested foreclosures, employment litigation, equine law, insurance recovery and advisory services, intellectual property litigation, regulatory compliance, and trials and evidentiary hearings in offices throughout the United States.

Mr. Yarborough brings substantial experience representing financial institutions, debt buyers, and law firms. He has defended cases involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth In Lending Act, and various state law claims asserted against lenders and their assignees. He has also provided compliance advice on matters related to the FDCPA, UDAAP, and state debt collection laws.

He is a frequent speaker to national audiences and publishes on topics related to consumer financial services regulation and litigation.

For many years Mr. Yarborough has served on the Executive Board of the Birmingham Bar Association’s Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section. He also serves on the Legislative Task Force of the Creditor Attorney Association of Alabama and is the immediate past president of the Birmingham-Southern College National Alumni Association.

In October 2015, he was elected Secretary of NARCA – The National Creditors Bar Association, after serving on its Board of Directors for the previous eight years. In addition, he chairs NARCA’s Government and Regulatory Affairs Committee.

Mr. Yarborough earned his B.A., cum laude, from Birmingham-Southern College and his J.D. from Cornell University, where he was Secretary/Treasurer of the Cornell Law School Moot Court Board.

He is admitted to practice law in Alabama, Mississippi, the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama, the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Maurice Wutscher’s Birmingham office is located at 420 N. 20th St., Suite 2200, Birmingham, AL 35203. Brent Yarborough may be reached at (205) 295-6594 or via email at [email protected].

Donald Maurice on New Wave of Class Actions in Corporate Counsel Cover Story

April 5, 2016 — Maurice Wutscher attorney Donald Maurice speaks about a new wave of putative class actions being waged against companies in Corporate Counsel’s April cover story, Out of Focus, Plaintiffs Lawyers Take Aim at Web Access and Privacy.

The suits involve cutting edge technology, such as biometrics, website accessibity and e-commerce.

Maurice discusses actions involving the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and whether a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins may curtail their filings by imposing stricter standing requirements.

Author Jan Wolfe writes, “But even if the defense bar gets a win in Spokeo—which, again, got more unlikely with Scalia’s death—these cases will likely continue, predicts Maurice. He points out that Spokeo only deals with whether ‘noinjury’ plaintiffs have standing to sue in federal court. No matter what happens, plaintiffs can still bring EFTA cases in state court. The statute explicitly states that federal courts and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction.”

Maurice Wutscher is a national law firm focused on the defense of the financial services industry. With offices throughout the United States, the firm’s skilled team of litigators specialize in appellate matters, business formation and transactions, class action litigation, commercial litigation, construction litigation, consumer credit litigation, contested bankruptcies, contested foreclosures, employment litigation, equine law, insurance recovery and advisory services, intellectual property litigation, regulatory compliance, and trials and evidentiary hearings.

Donald Maurice to Moderate Mortgage Loan Litigation Panel at ABA Spring Meeting

April 4, 2016 — Maurice Wutscher attorney Donald Maurice will moderate a panel discussion regarding mortgage loan litigation on April 7 at the ABA’s Business Law Section Spring Meeting in Montreal.

Panelists will examine three areas where mortgage lenders are facing conflicting rulings: 1) the running of limitations periods; 2) credit reporting following a mortgagee’s bankruptcy discharge; and, 3) Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and UDAAP liability arising from servicing notices.

Mr. Maurice will also moderate a Consumer Financial Services Committee roundtable regarding state regulation of debt collection following the panel at 4 p.m.

For more information, click here.