Photo of Simon Fleischmann

Simon manages complex litigation and regulatory enforcement actions for banks and non-bank financial services providers, bringing decades of experience in jury and non-jury trials, federal and state appellate arguments, and responding to investigations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Illinois attorney general.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by Erin Edwards and Simon Fleischmann to break down the most significant trends reshaping the consumer finance class action landscape. With a 25% year-over-year increase in federal class action filings and consumer protection claims leading the charge, the stakes are getting higher for financial services companies. The trio covers critical areas from recent cases to highlight information that every in-house legal team needs to understand about class actions, including the significance of precise class definitions and ascertainability, standing and concrete injury, and evidentiary examination. Whether you’re managing active litigation or building a proactive defense strategy, this episode delivers the insights and practical checklist you need to navigate the class action wave.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis is joined by Consumer Financial Services Practice Group leadership Michael Lacy and Simon Fleischmann to preview the firm’s annual Consumer Financial Services Year in Review and Look Ahead publication. They describe how the publication provides concise summaries of the past year’s key trends, cases, and regulatory developments — along with informed predictions for 2026 and beyond — across areas such as consumer class actions, bankruptcy, credit reporting, digital assets, mass arbitration, mortgage and auto finance, payment processing, and privacy and data security. They also introduce an upcoming companion podcast series featuring several of the publication’s section authors.