Litigating & Defending FCRA Claims

The more than 40 years since the enactment of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) have brought major changes to the consumer credit industry.  The purposes of FCRA were to ensure accurate and fair credit reporting, an efficient banking system, and consumer privacy.  While initially FCRA governed consumer reporting agencies, its scope has expanded significantly over the last four decades to now impose requirements and prohibitions on a wide range of parties, including merchants, collection agencies, employers, and furnishers of credit information.  In recent years, there has been a marked increase in FCRA-based litigation, including in putative class actions.  Our presenters will provide an overview of FCRA’s major provisions and discuss recent developments in class litigation under it with perspective from both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s side.  In addition, the webinar will discuss the recent wave of litigation against employers relating to the use of background checks to make hiring and personnel decisions, and identify opportunities for employers to fortify FCRA compliance in order to mitigate FCRA risk.

Faculty:
John McGuinness is a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP in the Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles offices. He has extensive experience representing corporate and individual clients from a wide range of industries, such as auto finance, mortgage, banking and retail, in high-stakes litigation, enforcement, trial, and appellate matters.

Micah Adkins represents identity theft victims and consumers with credit report or background report errors. Mr. Adkins’ practice is 100% litigation in federal court and he is dedicated to protecting consumers’ rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Mr. Adkins earned his Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Texas, at Dallas, with honors (cum laude), in 2000.  He earned his juris doctorate from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2005.  While in law school, Mr. Adkins was honored by his classmates as the Peer Scholarship Recipient and served as an Associate Justice on the Honor Court. Mr. Adkins was named one of Birmingham’s top consumer lawyers by peer review for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.  He was also recognized by Super Lawyers in 2014 and 2015 as a Rising Star.

Esra Hudson’s practice at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, focuses on all aspects of employment law and related litigation. She represents companies in state and federal court in claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge and related tort claims, breach of contract, trade secrets, and unfair competition, and all other employment-related matters.