Rob Treinen is a father, husband, skateboarder, and consumer protection lawyer. He loves all these roles.  He loves living in Albuquerque, NM. He has been a consumer protection lawyer his whole career, starting at New Mexico Legal Aid in 1999, and now running his own one-attorney firm. 

John O’Neal represents persons across North Carolina in matters of auto fraud, solar fraud, unfair/harassing debt collection, credit reporting issues, illegal repossessions, and various other civil matters. John was a founding member and chair of the Consumer Areas of Practice Section of the North Carolina Advocates of Justice (formerly NCATL) and has provided seminars, resources, and advice to countless lawyers and consumers across North Carolina. John is a proud alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the UNC School of Law.

Chris Bernstein is a Program Manager for Complaint Policy in the Division of Consumer Response and Education. He has worked with CFPB for four years. In various roles at the bureau he has supported engagement with statutorily assigned underserved communities, outreach on consumer savings, and supported CFPB’s consumer complaint function.

Greg Evans is a Regulatory Compliance Program Manager in the Consumer Response Investigations section. He has been with the Bureau since early 2012, working primarily with Consumer Response. Through complaint reviews he plays a key role in sharing consumer challenges in the financial marketplace with Bureau stakeholders. Before joining the Bureau in 2012, Greg worked as an attorney focused on complex civil litigation.

Kelly Byrne is a Regulatory Compliance Program Manager in the Consumer Response Investigations section. She has been with the Bureau since its founding in 2011, working primarily with Consumer Response. Through complaint reviews she plays a key role in sharing consumer challenges in the financial marketplace with Bureau stakeholders. Before joining the Bureau in 2011, Kelly served as an Examiner with the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Known nationwide as a leading Lemon Law attorney, Ronald L. Burdge has represented thousands of consumers in “lemon” vehicle lawsuits and actively co-counsels and coaches other consumer law attorneys on how to win their cases.

Michael F. "Mike" Cardoza is a California Consumer Financial Protection Attorney who helps people regain control of their financial lives by getting the upper hand on creditors, debt collectors and credit reporting agencies. Trained as a trial attorney in the U.S. Marine Corps, Mike Cardoza has tried countless cases in federal and state courtrooms. Mike founded The Cardoza Law Corporation in order to share the truth about consumer credit and finance with clients and to be their “partner in prosperity.”

Russell Dombrow is an attorney and the owner of the Dombrow Law Firm in Syracuse, New York. He focuses his practice on dealer fraud, debt collection defense, foreclosure defense, and credit reporting issues throughout New York State and in federal court. Russell is also a 2022 graduate of Joshua Cohen’s Student Loan Law Workshop. He graduated from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2006. Russell has been a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates since 2018. He has won multiple awards from the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Central New York Volunteer Lawyers Project for his role in presenting Continuing Legal Education programs and pro bono legal services.

For over eighteen years, founder Christine A. Ferraris has worked relentlessly in the legal arena to help those hurt by fraud. As a business owner herself for most of those eighteen years, she understands the challenges small-business owners face.

Melissa A. Huelsman is the principal of Law Offices of Melissa A. Huelsman, P.S. Her practice involves plaintiffs’ civil litigation in the areas of predatory lending and mortgage loan servicing, foreclosure defense, fraud, and foreclosure rescue scams. Ms. Huelsman is a founder and vice chair of the board of directors, Northwest Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit dedicated to the representation of consumers on financial issues and she sits on the board of CENTS, financial literacy nonprofit. She was named King County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2006 and was previously recognized by VLS as one of its Volunteers of the Year. She has been interviewed by foreign and domestic journalists regarding predatory lending, mortgage loan servicing, foreclosure rescue scams, and wrongful foreclosures, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and others. Ms. Huelsman received her B.A. in English from California State University at Fullerton in 1993 and her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles in 1997. 

Suzanne Iazzetta is the Directing Attorney for the Consumer Law Unit. Suzanne is also an adjunct law professor at University of California at Irvine, teaching a course/clinic in Consumer Law.  Suzanne has been practicing since 2005, and is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and California.  She previously clerked for Judge Katharine S. Hayden of the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, and practiced civil litigation and bankruptcy at Lowenstein Sandler PC in New Jersey for many years. While at Lowenstein Sandler, Suzanne was granted a fellowship to work at Legal Services of New Jersey at the Newark, NJ office, which re-sparked her interest in working in Public Interest. While at LSNJ, Suzanne worked in the housing unit, assisting low-income clients obtain section 8 vouchers and defending voucher holders against HUD’s attempts to terminate the vouchers. Suzanne continued that pro bono work when she returned to Lowenstein, and was given a pro-bono attorney award every year that she remained at Lowenstein Sandler. She continually volunteered her services to assist people who needed legal help but could not afford traditional legal help.  Some of the areas of law that Suzanne has worked on in her career are consumer law, bankruptcy (business and personal), housing/eviction matters, foreclosure defense, FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, and UDAAP claims, and debt collection defense. Suzanne also was a staff attorney for a chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee in New Jersey, and has had her own solo practice since 2012.

Matt Vocci is a partner at Santoni, Vocci & Ortega, LLC. The majority of his work relates in some way to housing. He represents tenants against landlords and property managers on a variety of cases, such as consumer protection and consumer debt collection issues, habitability, Fair Housing Act violations, illegal evictions, and personal injuries. Matt has served as class counsel on several class actions, including a recent case that resolved favorably for tenants against a large, out-of-state property management company. He is a member of the MSBA’s Delivery of Legal Services Committee Council and the ACLU of Maryland Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities. Matt deeply believes in Santoni, Vocci & Ortega’s mission to provide high-quality legal representation to low-income Marylanders. He graduated cum laude from Temple University, Beasley School of Law in 2006.

Subhan Tariq regularly handles complex commercial litigation, with particular experience in consumer finance litigation in individual and class action cases in the areas of federal and state consumer protection laws. Mr. Tariq has successfully helped thousands of consumers exercise their consumer rights against large institutional banks, debt collectors, and consumer reporting agencies. Subhan also consults with other lawyers and law firms on blockchain automation, working towards a streamlined efficient network of client files, document automation, and cost-effective workflows.

Alex Burke graduated from Colgate University in 1997 (B.A. International Relations), and from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2003 (J.D.). Alex has lived in Chicago, Manhattan, Washington DC and Buenos Aires (among others). Alex has focused on individual and class action TCPA cases since approximately 2008, has nearly 200 TCPA decisions on Westlaw and enforced the TCPA to obtain more than $300,000,000 in aggregate relief for his clients and class members. Alex lives in Evanston, Illinois (just north of Chicago) with his family, and when he’s not on discovery meet-and-confer calls, he enjoys fishing, hiking, boating, cycling and – more than anything – travel.

Tav Gomez graduated from Florida State University in 1997 (B.A. Political Science and History), and from Florida State University School of Law in 2000 (J.D.). Tav was born in Colombia but has lived in Florida for the last 30 years. Tav was the Head of the Consumer protection for Morgan & Morgan specializing in the TCPA, FDCPA, FCRA and FCCPA. He has appeared in over one thousand lawsuits filed in Federal Court alone, nearly all of them Consumer related and over 650 of them being TCPA cases. Tav has been involved with numerous large nationwide TCPA class action settlements resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in recovery for Plaintiffs. Tav currently owns his own firm and lives in Tampa, Florida with his family, and enjoys not eating pickles.

Matt Wessler is a principal at Gupta Wessler LLP, where he focuses on public interest and plaintiffs’-side appellate and complex litigation. Matt handles high-profile cases at all levels of both state and federal court and regularly appears before the U.S. Supreme Court. In recent years, he has argued and won significant class-action, workers-rights, and consumer-protection appeals in multiple federal courts of appeal on issues including arbitration, payday lending, antitrust, civil procedure, class-action practice, and preemption. He has substantial expertise handling significant FCRA appeals. For his “excellence in appellate advocacy in America,” Matt was awarded the 2020 Pound Civil Justice Institute Appellate Advocacy Award.

Rick Alembik is the Principal at the Law Offices of Richard S. Alembik, PC, in Decatur, GA. Since 1991, he has focused his practice on real estate-related and commercial litigation. Rick has been recognized as a “leading authority on foreclosure defense,” and an “advocate for victims of wrongful foreclosure.” He has first-chaired more than seventy jury trials and arbitration proceedings in state and federal courts and arbitration forums. Rick earned his J.D. degree from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served as the Executive Editor of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. He has made numerous TV appearances as a legal commentator, and he has provided consultation on state legislation to Georgia legislators and study groups. He is admitted to practice before all trial and appellate courts of the State of Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, and all three U.S. District Courts in Georgia. Rick is also an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, Lawyers Club of Atlanta, and the Real Estate Section of the State Bar of Georgia.

Sarah Bolling Mancini is Co-Director of Advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center focusing on foreclosures, mortgage lending, and credit reporting issues. Sarah previously worked in the Home Defense Program of Atlanta Legal Aid, and has represented homeowners in litigation in state, federal district, and bankruptcy courts. She also clerked for the Honorable Amy Totenberg, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Sarah is a member of the Georgia Bar. She received her B.A. in public policy from Princeton University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Adam S. Minsky is licensed in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont and is one of the nation’s leading authorities in student loan law. He remains one of the only attorneys in the country with a practice devoted entirely to helping student loan borrowers and their families. Attorney Minsky provides counsel, legal assistance, and direct advocacy for borrowers on a variety of student loan-related matters. He has been interviewed by major national media outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer “Rising Star” multiple times since 2015. Attorney Minsky regularly speaks to students, graduates, and advocates about student debt, and writes about the topic in a variety of publications and platforms. He has published three handbooks including The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys, published by the American Bar Association. Attorney Minsky has also been contributing author to the National Consumer Law Center’s manual, Student Loan Law. He is a senior contributor at Forbes.com, where he writes about the latest developments in the student loan space. Attorney Minsky received his undergraduate degree, with honors, in Philosophy and Political Science from Boston University, and his law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.