Battle for Consumer Protections: Using Lessons from New York's UDAAP Campaign to Inform Other Advocacy Efforts

Carolyn E. Coffey is the Director of Litigation for Economic Justice at Mobilization for Justice, Inc. (MFJ). MFJ provides free legal assistance to New York City residents in the areas of housing, foreclosure, public benefits, civil and disability rights, employment, and consumer and family law, prioritizing services to vulnerable and under-served populations, while simultaneously working to end the root causes of inequities through law reform, impact litigation, and policy advocacy. Ms. Coffey also directly supervises MFJ’s Consumer Rights and Low-Income Bankruptcy Projects, which provide advice, counsel, and defensive and affirmative representation to low-income New Yorkers in state and federal court lawsuits and appeals. Ms. Coffey is the co-chair of the New York City Consumer Advocates Taskforce and is an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School, where she teaches a consumer clinic seminar.

Hashim Rahman runs a consumer law practice based in New York City. He specializes in cases pertaining to credit reporting, identity theft, debt collection harassment, tenants’ rights, banking fraud, home-improvement fraud, product misrepresentations, and environmental law. He has litigated cases in federal and state courts under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and other statutes. He is a graduate of Pace Law School, where he earned his JD, and the University of Chicago, where he earned a BA in sociology