LITIGATION FORUM TRACK: Key State Cases, FCRA, SCRA, TCPA and FDCPA (Closed to Media)

Partner, Alston & Bird, LLP

Anoush Garakani, co-leader of Alston & Bird’s Consumer Financial Services Team, advises on mortgage banking and consumer finance and concentrates on counseling clients on compliance with federal and state consumer financial protection laws and regulations. Clients trust his guidance when facing challenges surrounding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Mortgage Servicing Rules, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Truth in Lending Act, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. He is experienced with federal and state prohibitions against unfair and deceptive acts or practices, as well as laws and regulations related to mortgage origination and servicing, debt collection, retail installment sales contracts, telemarketing, and the use of autodialer systems. Garakani also assists clients with regulatory compliance due diligence for investments or acquisitions involving consumer financial products, such as mortgage loans and secured and unsecured consumer loans. He clerked for the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Financial Practices.

Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Brian McGrath counsels companies on a wide range of complex commercial legal issues. As Partner and the co-chair of Hinshaw and Culbertson’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, he has helped clients navigate litigation involving financial services, intellectual property, antitrust, and white-collar criminal investigations throughout his career. An outside-the-box thinker, McGrath partners with his clients to deliver simple, tailored solutions to their legal problems. In recent years, McGrath has leveraged his broad experience to focus on serving clients in the financial services industry. He works with many financial institutions—including mortgage loan servicers—regarding lender liability and consumer protection statutes. He also handles complaints concerning the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), as well as regulatory issues involving Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement actions.