Attorneys practicing consumer protection law represent individual clients and the interest of the public in general in cases involving unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce and scams perpetrated by criminals such as identify theft and pyramid schemes. The attorneys at our firm have won many cases and recovered millions of dollars on behalf of consumers whose rights had been violated by creditors, advertisers, banks, automobile dealers, credit bureaus, debt collectors, landlords and consumer lenders. The unifying feature of consumer law is that consumers are entitled to the benefits afforded by special consumer protection statutes, such as the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
These statutes serve a two-fold purpose: first to fully compensate consumers for any losses incurred as a result of conduct which violates the law; and second, as a regulatory mechanism, by imposing civil sanctions on merchants that refuse to comply with the law — a principle referred to as the “private attorney general.” These objectives are met by statutes which provide for the recovery of out-of-pocket losses, attorneys fees, and, in appropriate cases, punitive damages.
Common consumer protection lawsuits include:
- Defense of credit card collection suits
- Defense of automobile deficiency suits
- Suits against debt collectors for violating federal and state collection laws
- Suits against payday lenders for usury and other legal violations
- Recovery of automobile title and compensation for unpaid trade-ins when dealerships fail
- Suits against lenders for wrongful repossessions and other predatory lending practices