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Christopher Carlson

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Chris represents clients in regulatory, civil, and criminal investigations and litigation. In his practice, Chris regularly employs his prior regulatory experience to benefit clients who are interacting with and being investigated by state attorneys general.

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Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Stefanie Jackman and Chris Carlson as they discuss the recent action by the Massachusetts attorney general (AG) involving automobile dealer pricing discrimination. After a Massachusetts-based automobile dealer allegedly engaged in discriminatory pricing toward Black and Hispanic automobile customers via additional charges for “add-on” products, the AG’s office acted. Listen as Chris, Stefanie, and Chris dive deeper into the case and what it could mean for automobile dealers in the future.

In response to the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFSA) that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding mechanism is unconstitutional, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sent a letter on October 24th to the CFPB, calling its continued operations into question and foreshadowing potential state challenges to its actions. While some state AGs and financial regulators are likely to help offset any reduction in CFPB activity through their own investigations and coordination with the CFPB, the dark cloud of the CFSA opinion hangs over the agency.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and guests Troutman Pepper Associates Chris Carlson and Susan Nikdel as they discuss the multistate coalition of state attorneys general calling on many of the nation’s largest banks to eliminate overdraft fees. The conversation focuses on what was done, which state attorneys general participated, the current controversy surrounding overdraft fees, and several key takeaways for the industry going forward.

On January 13, a coalition of 39 state attorneys general — led by AGs from Pennsylvania, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, and California — reached a settlement with student loan servicer Navient over allegedly unfair, deceptive, and abusive student loan origination and servicing practices. The $1.8 billion settlement will undoubtedly draw eyes, but perhaps just as important…

If you use the internet, you have probably encountered at least one of the scams con artists use to bilk victims. There’s “catfishing” and other online dating fraud, where scammers use fake identities to woo victims into sending money. There’s also “grandparent scams,” where typically elderly victims are tricked by those posing as his or…

Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of Washington, has released his 2021 legislative agenda. The requested legislation includes a bill that would self-impose notice requirements to Washington tribes before initiating a project or program that would implicate tribal rights. The legislation “requires that the Attorney General obtain free, prior, and informed consent before initiating programs or…

On January 5, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced the creation of a new Office of Civil Rights, which will expand and replace the existing Division of Human Rights within the office of the attorney general. The new division is a prime example of state regulators’ expanded scrutiny of workplace activities occurring nationwide,…

On January 18, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed Clyde “Ed” Sniffen to be Alaska’s next attorney general, subject to approval by the Alaska legislature. Sniffen has served as acting attorney general since the resignation of Kevin Clarkson in August 2020.

In December 2020, Sniffen was among the state attorneys general who supported an amicus brief…

Seven state attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, reached a settlement with Residual Pumpkin Entity LLC (formerly known as CafePress LLC) (“CafePress”), related to a 2019 data security incident, exposing 22 million customer accounts and as many as 186,000 social security and tax identification numbers.

Background

Based on the state attorneys…

Last week, the Washington State Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Convergent Outsourcing, Inc. for sending 75,000 “Settlement Offer” letters to Washington consumers without disclosing that the underlying debt was beyond the statute of limitations. While yet another example of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s active enforcement of the state’s debt collection laws, the Attorney…