FCRA Discovery eCourse Part 1

Barry S. Balmuth was lead counsel for the plaintiffs in cases that resulted in the largest recovery in an inverse condemnation action in Florida ($42 million after a successful liability trial) and the third-largest individual verdict under the FCRA ($3.55 million). He is board certified by the Florida Bar in both civil trial law and business litigation. He obtained JD and MBA degrees from Emory University in 1990. He focuses his practice on property rights, consumer rights, and other civil litigation.

Justin Baxter is an AV rated trial lawyer with Baxter & Baxter, LLP, in Portland. He received an $18.5 million verdict against Equifax, a $200,000 verdict against Equifax, a $95,000 verdict against TRS Home Furnishings under the Oregon Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act, and a $100,000 verdict against a debt buyer and collection law firm under the FDCPA.

Anthony Chester was born just outside of Washington D.C., moved around a bit as a kid, and then spent most of his early life in Michigan. Anthony went to college at Michigan State University and received two bachelor’s degrees: one in political theory and constitutional democracy, and the other in philosophy. After college, Anthony attended Michigan State University College of Law and graduated with his J.D. in 2013. Anthony moved to Minnesota in 2014 and began practicing consumer law in 2015 when he opened a Minneapolis branch of a firm based out of California. In October 2022, Anthony opened his own firm, Chester Law.

Erika Heath fights for economic justice on behalf of consumers and employees, with a particular focus on erroneous credit/background reports, unlawful debt collection practices, bank fraud, ID theft, and other unfair trade practices. Erika is particularly passionate about assisting fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community through those employment and consumer legal challenges. She is currently Of Counsel to Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., and a Lecturer at Berkeley Law. 

SaraEllen Hutchison is a consumer rights trial lawyer and a NACA member since 2011. She stands up for the rights of individuals who are victims of false credit reporting or otherwise have significant emotional and economic injuries, resulting in significant relief to her clients and the clients of her colleagues and collaborators. SaraEllen's unique approach to litigation and trial brings the emotional stories of her clients to life. Her most notable cases include Sedric Ward v. Shelby County, Western District of Tennessee Case No. 2:20-cv-2407-JPM-cgc and Brandt v. Columbia Credit Servs.,Western District of Washington Case No. 2:17-cv-703-RSM. SaraEllen is licensed in Washington State and Alaska. She is a December 2004 graduate of Georgia State University College of Law. Law Office of SaraEllen Hutchison, PLLC is her solo firm based in Tacoma, Washington. When SaraEllen is not practicing law, she's singing and songwriting with her band, Plaid Lion, and at local jazz jams. You can find her at lifecoachlawsuit.com and saraellenhutchison.com.

Kristi C. Kelly specializes in assisting consumers with credit reporting and employment background check mistakes, mortgage servicing errors, and predatory lending. She has successfully litigated hundreds of individual and class action cases in state and federal courts in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. Prior to starting Kelly Guzzo, PLC, Kristi was a shareholder at Surovell Isaacs Petersen & Levy and worked for legal aid. She is a board member of the Legal Aid Justice Center, Virginia Poverty Law Center. She is also on the Partner’s Council of NCLC.

Alexis Lehmann was an attorney at Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., who represented individual consumers’ rights under the FCRA and the FDCPA. Alexis is also an active member on the Executive Board for the Justice Rising Advocates. Prior to joining the firm, Alexis worked as a civil litigator for local and state law enforcement officers handling cases under Title VII, The Americans With Disabilities Act, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the First Amendment Free Speech and Petition clause.

Matthew Loker is the founder of Loker Law, APC and is Professor of Contracts at the San Luis Obispo College of Law. Prior to moving to California, Matthew attended the University of Toledo in Ohio where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Social Thought with a concentration in Spanish. Immediately after obtaining his undergraduate degree, Matthew went to law school at California Western School of Law. While there, Matthew served as the President of the Entertainment & Sports Law Society as well as Vice President of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Society. In practice, 100% of the cases handled by Loker Law, APC are consumer related. Said cases range from defending consumers that have been sued by creditors or debt collectors to large Multi-District Class Actions. Specifically, a majority of Matthew’s practice focuses on the FDCPA, the FCRA, the TCPA, California’s Identity Theft Act, and false advertising claims.

Tony Love founded Love Consumer Law (LCL) to provide Georgia consumers with the legal protection and representation they are entitled to and deserve. He has over 28 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States. He represented one of the country’s largest consumer reporting agencies in several thousand Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) cases over twenty years. He was a member of the trial practice groups of several major law firms, including over fourteen years with King & Spalding. Tony has represented clients in FCRA and personal injury jury trials through verdict. In addition to his decades-long experience in the credit reporting field, Tony has also handled personal injury cases for both plaintiffs and defendants and served as in-house counsel for a mortgage servicing company. Tony received his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his law degree from Georgia State College of Law.

Casey S. Nash has represented consumers for her entire 10-year legal career. She has litigated a variety of issues, including credit reporting errors, inaccurate background reports, illegal debt collection, mortgage servicing errors and payday loans in more than 450 federal cases. While she practices mostly in Virginia and Washington, D.C., Casey has a national practice and has represented consumers in Maryland, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. She litigates both individual and class action cases, and her exceptional performance in many complex consumer lawsuits has earned her numerous “Rising Star” and “Super Lawyer” recognitions from Super Lawyers in both Virginia and Washington, D.C. She contributed to the 10th edition of NCLC’s Consumer Class Action Treatise, and she serves on the Legal Aid Justice Center’s Advisory Committee.

Jed Nolan has devoted his career to protecting West Virginia consumers from predatory lenders and unfair debt collectors. He worked in non-profit organizations focused on protecting the vulnerable at Legal Aid of West Virginia and Mountain State Justice. Jed also worked at a private firm where he advocated consumer rights against aggressive debt collectors and unfair credit reporting practices.

Craig Rothburd has practiced law for twenty-four years with a focus on class actions, consumer law, complex business, and commercial and health care law and litigation. He is AVä Martindale-Hubbell rated and was recently awarded the Consumer Protection Lawyer of the Year for 2017 by the Florida Bar. Since 2000, Craig has been involved in numerous consumer-based cases and devoted a considerable amount of his practice on consumer law and litigation, with a special focus on class action litigation, including mortgage loan servicing, truth in lending, insurance, deceptive practices, and consumer statutory violations. He is presently the chairperson of the Florida Bar’s Consumer Protection Law Committee, a member of the National Associate of Consumer Advocates (serving as its membership committee co-chair), a strong supporter of and advocate for legal services (serving as a volunteer pro bono attorney), and has served on the Board of Directors of Bay Area Legal Services, Inc., as well as serving on its Development Council.  He graduated with honors from the University of Florida (UF), College of Law, and receiving his Bachelors of Science from UF.

Robert S. Sola is the founding member of Robert S. Sola, P.C., a consumer law firm based in Portland, Oregon. He has been handling FCRA cases since 1996. He represents consumers across the country and has litigated FCRA cases in states as co-counsel with many NACA members. Mr. Sola has obtained jury verdicts against all three major credit reporting agencies. In 2002, he was lead counsel in Thomas v. Trans Union, where the jury awarded the consumer $5.3 million. In 2007, he was co-counsel in Williams v. Equifax, which resulted in a judgment of $3.4 million. Mr. Sola was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2003 by the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

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.

Stephanie Tatar has been a consumer advocate since graduating cum laude from DePaul University, College of Law. Prior to founding The Tatar Law Firm, Ms. Tatar gained extensive litigation and appellate experience with firms in Chicago and Los Angeles. During her career, she has successfully fought debt collectors, credit reporting agencies, creditors, manufacturers, and car dealers.

Adam Thoresen is a senior staff attorney with the public interest law firm, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. He has worked at JALA for over ten years, and his practice is currently focused on FCRA litigation related to landlord/tenant debts and other inaccuracies in tenant screening reports. Adam has litigated cases with all of the Big Three Consumer Reporting Agencies as well as specialty debt collectors whose focus is the collection of residential landlord/tenant debts. Adam handles cases on an individual and class basis under the FCRA, FDCPA, FCCPA, and other consumer protection statutes.

Ronald Wilcox has been a consumer protection attorney since 1995, with an office in San Jose. Ron is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College and has tried consumer protection cases in federal and state court, as well as JAMS and AAA. He is a member of the CAOC, CAALA, and NACBA. He has presented webinars and spoken at national conferences on consumer law and arbitration. He was awarded Santa Clara University’s Community Law Center’s Community Service Award. Ron is the author of “Conducting Individual Arbitrations” in NCLC's Consumer Arbitration Agreements.