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Mary focuses her practice on litigation and strategy in lender liability, check and bank operation, class action, consumer finance, fiduciary matters, and creditor’s rights disputes. While Mary litigates extensively in the federal and state trial and appellate courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, she represents banking clients in cases of all sizes nationwide.

A new Fourth Circuit decision has thrown out of federal court a state-law privacy claim where the plaintiff alleged only a bare statutory violation without alleging “a nonspeculative, increased risk of identity theft,” holding that the plaintiff alleged no Article III injury.

As background to the February 21, 2023 decision in O’Leary v. TrustedID, Inc.

The Department of Treasury (DOT) has been slow to dole out the nearly $10 billion available under the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), a pandemic aid program enacted by Congress to provide relief to homeowners. Under the HAF, homeowners can apply for relief, including payoff of deferred balances accrued during pandemic forbearance periods. As of October

Bankers are opposing any effort by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) to reduce or eliminate the late fee safe harbor, citing a potentially significant adverse impact on community banks and credit unions. In a letter dated January 20, the American Bankers Association (ABA), Credit Union National Association (CUNA), Independent Community Bankers of

On December 21, 2022, outgoing Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced legislation entitled the Stablecoin TRUST Act of 2022 that would establish the first-ever federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. In the press release announcing the proposed legislation, Senator Toomey stated that he “put forward a regulatory model that won’t undermine competition by favoring entrenched incumbents

Is an arbitration provision enforceable if it is added to a bank’s deposit account agreement four years after the account is opened and contains no meaningful opt-out clause? According to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the answer to that question is no. A copy of the court’s decision

In an October 27 letter, the American Bankers Association (ABA) expressed concern regarding a proposal currently being considered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that would shift liability from consumers to banks for scams involving peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. This would include requiring banks to reimburse consumers for P2P payments made but later identified

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues and fellow Partners Mary Zinsner and Susan Flint as they discuss the current landscape of wire fraud scams in the financial services industry. Topics include:

  • Wire fraud scams, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud, and the potential liability of banks;
  • How banks should analyze wire fraud claims in the pre-litigation stage;
  • How courts are ruling on the issues;
  • Responsibilities of nonbank parties to the wire; and
  • Tips for bank in-house counsel in handling wire fraud transfer situations.

On September 21 and 22, chief executives from the nation’s seven largest banks faced questioning before Congress, marking the third time senior bank officers have testified before Congress in the last three years. Senators remarked that only two were the same due to changes in CEOs and a decision to bring in super-regionals.

The first

On August 16, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York issued a summary order in favor of the plaintiff, allowing a breach of contract claim to go forward based on a bank’s assessment of non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees. The ruling continues a trend of NSF fees coming under heavy scrutiny by