Photo of Tim J. St. George

Tim defends institutions nationwide facing class actions and individual lawsuits. He has particular experience litigating consumer class actions, including industry-leading expertise in cases arising under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its state law counterparts, as well as litigation arising from data breaches.

On October 8, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray delivered prepared remarks on screening policies and practices associated with the opening of checking accounts.  These remarks, which focused on the specialty credit reports used by banking institutions to determine a potential customer’s credit risk, may signal the CFPB’s increased interest in access to checking

In Redman v. RadioShack Corporation, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 18181 (7th Cir. Sept. 19, 2014), the Seventh Circuit held that the lower court erred when it approved a settlement in a class action that was filed under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g), against a company that sold

On September 18, in Peters v. Financial Recovery Services, Inc., the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri held that neither the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) nor the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibit a debt collector from charging state statutory pre-judgment interest after charge-off.  In reaching that

On September 10, Congresswoman Maxine Waters released a draft proposal entitled “Fair Credit Reporting Improvement Act of 2014” that, if passed, could lead to fundamental changes in the credit reporting industry.

According to the published summary of the key provisions of the proposed legislation, the legislation would alter various aspects of credit reporting in favor

On September 4, in Tierney et al. v. Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp., the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an order dismissing a putative Fair Credit Reporting Act class action accusing Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp. of violating the FCRA by failing to secure health data stolen from

On August 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission jointly filed an amicus brief in Hernandez v. Williams, Zinman & Parham, P.C.  The case concerns the interpretation and enforcement of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In a June 2 decision, Judge Richard Posner, writing for a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, criticized a number of statements and other aspects within a notice of class action settlement that had been approved by the district court.  In response to a number of objections

On July 30, the Third Circuit held that whether an arbitration agreement permits classwide arbitration is a question for courts, not arbitrators, to decide.  Through its decision, the Third Circuit expressly aligned itself with a prior ruling to the same effect from the Sixth Circuit.

The Third Circuit reversed a 2011 decision of a district

The United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that the federal government cannot invoke the defense of sovereign immunity for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but the court also dismissed on separate grounds the underlying class action proceeding relating to the government’s alleged unlawful disclosure of plaintiff’s credit card information.

In

A Texas-based credit repair organization has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it violated federal law by making misrepresentations to consumer reporting agencies and charging consumers up-front fees before providing its services.

In its complaint filed in October 2011, the FTC charged that RMCN Credit Services, Inc. and its individual owners, Doug and