Monthly Archives: April 2020

Maurice Wutscher’s Donald Maurice Named 2020 Super Lawyer

Donald Maurice attorneyApril 23, 2020 — Donald Maurice, a partner at national business and financial services law firm Maurice Wutscher LLP, has been named a New Jersey Super Lawyer in the area of Class Action & Mass Torts.

Each year, only five percent of the lawyers in the state receive this honor. Super Lawyers is a Thomson Reuters rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Mr. Maurice provides counsel to businesses and financial services companies, successfully litigating matters in state and federal courts in individual and class actions. He has argued before various U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, and has been retained as counsel for amicus curiae in the U.S. Supreme Court and in the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.

He also counsels clients in data privacy and other regulatory compliance matters and provides advice and counsel to attorneys in matters of professional responsibility and attorney ethics.

In addition to being a frequent speaker and author on consumer financial services law, he is outside counsel to Receivables Management Association International and serves on the governing Board of Regents of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.

He is a Fellow of the ABA’s American Bar Foundation and a former chair of the ABA’s Debt Collection Practices and Bankruptcy Subcommittee, Business Law Section.

Mr. Maurice is rated AV Preeminent, the highest rating given by Martindale-Hubbell, the worldwide guide to lawyers. A description of the selection methodology can be found at www.martindale.com/ratings-and-reviews/.

This communication is published by the law firm Maurice Wutscher LLP and may be considered attorney advertising under the ethical rules of certain jurisdictions. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Maurice Wutscher’s Kevin Hudspeth Discusses MERS Mortgages in Business Law Today

April 21, 2020 — Maurice Wutscher attorney Kevin Hudspeth has written an article for the American Bar Association’s news magazine Business Law Today in which he discusses a line of judicial opinions from Maine’s Supreme Court that calls into question the ability of foreclosing lenders to rely on mortgage assignments from MERS when proving ownership of the mortgage.

In “MERS’s ‘Maine’ Purpose: Recognizing Key Differences Between MERS Mortgages,” Mr. Hudspeth writes, “Maine’s Supreme Court recently held that a foreclosing lender’s equitable interest in the mortgage does not by itself equate to ownership of the mortgage and does not allow courts to compel the mortgage’s assignment. Beal Bank USA v. New Century Mortg. Corp., 2019 ME 150, ¶ 15. The opinion revives concerns over the viability of foreclosing Maine mortgages involving Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS).”

“Now that Maine’s Supreme Court has shot down the equitable trust argument, however, foreclosing lenders must seek alternative arguments to enforce their mortgage rights. Before they decide how to proceed, they should check their Maine mortgage to see how it describes MERS’s main purpose,” he writes.

Riccio: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Maurice Wutscher Webinar

Riccio v. Sentry Credit, Inc.April 20, 2020 — Financial services defense and compliance law firm Maurice Wutscher LLP will present a webinar, “Riccio: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” now available on demand. 

For nearly 30 years Third Circuit law required all disputes under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act section 1692g(a)(3) to be in writing — an interpretation that was rejected by all other Courts of Appeals that took up the issue. That changed with the Third Circuit’s recent ruling in Riccio v. Sentry Credit, Inc.

In this webinar, Maurice Wutscher attorneys Thomas R. Dominczyk, Shannon P. Miller and Brent Yarborough will discuss the ruling and how the decision is expected to drive FDCPA litigation for years to come.

The webinar qualifies for one hour of RMAI Certification credit. Click here to register.