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John is a first-chair litigator with a distinguished defense record in class action matters and other high-stakes litigation. He is sought after for his trial-to-verdict experience in state and federal courts throughout the U.S., effective strategies, and practical advice.

On January 15, 2016, the Fourth Circuit issued a published decision affirming summary judgment to the defendant national bank on plaintiff’s unconscionable contract claim under WVCCPA 46A-2-121. Plaintiff relied on a retroactive appraisal in an attempt to prove the loan was “predatory” because “the loan amount was in excess of the property value.”

The ruling

The CFPB released a resource intended to help lenders understand and implement the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures (“TRID”) when extending construction loans.    

The CFPB’s factsheet provides that construction loans are subject to TRID requirements as long as they are closed-end consumer credit transactions secured by real property.  The only exception is those construction loans that are

On January 25, on a 23-15 vote, Virginia’s “ban the box” bill, SB335, passed the Virginia Senate.  The proposal will now make its way to the Virginia House of Delegates for deliberation and potential approval. 

SB 335 generally bars “state agencies” from inquiring into a job candidate’s criminal background before

On January 15, the United States Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in the matter of Baker v. Microsoft Corp. on the issue of whether plaintiffs may voluntarily dismiss their suit after class certification is denied as a procedural tactic to guarantee appellate review of an unfavorable class certification decision.

Rule 23(f) allows a

Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would heighten the standards for obtaining class certification by requiring extra scrutiny as to the continuity of the damages claimed by the class representative and the putative class members.  Lawmakers voted 211-188 to pass H.R. 1927, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a “Request for Information Regarding Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Resubmission Guidelines.”  The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was enacted in 1975 and requires covered depository and nondepository institutions to collect and publicly disclose information about applications for, originations of, and purchases of home purchase loans, home improvement

When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau refused to allow an attorney to attend an investigational hearing held in connection with several Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) issued by the CFPB, the subjects of the investigation filed suit against the CFPB, along with a motion to seal the case.  Although the subjects voluntarily dismissed their complaint, the

On December 17, in addressing an issue of first impression, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that a letter sent by a loan servicer under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to a borrower in default was not subject to the Fair Debt Collection Practices

In Lagos v. The Leland Stanford Junior University, the plaintiff alleged the defendant’s background check disclosure violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act because it included notices regarding background checks required under state law.  The court declined to dismiss the Plaintiff’s claim at the pleading stage, finding the existence of these state law notices could

Last week, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed into law a bill that will bar public employers from including on job applications questions concerning an applicant’s criminal background for public sector jobs.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Senate voted overwhelmingly, on a 32-1 vote, to “ban the box” for public sector jobs.  In late September, the