Financial Services

We advise financial institutions concerning all aspects of regulatory compliance, including compliance with federal and state law applicable to consumer loans, deposit accounts, mortgage lending/brokering, credit service businesses, money transmission, credit repair, and debt adjustment/relief. Our Financial Services Team is focused on staying ahead of changes in the industry and on keeping our clients up to date and in compliance with the laws that impact them. We issue a monthly electronic newsletter, Maryland Legal Alert for Financial Services, regarding timely legal developments and news for the financial services sector. We also issue an annual update on changes to Maryland law.

Attorneys on the Team also represent banks, developers and governmental entities in the mid-Atlantic region in connection with real estate matters, including for retail, multi-family, land acquisition and development and construction projects. We have a depth of knowledge in zoning and land use issues as well as title insurance issues. We are an experienced resource for issues that arise when financing commercial property projects, acquisitions and loans and mortgages, including HUD financing.

Rapidly changing technology and consumer demand for faster and easier service delivery channels continues to fuel the growth of alternative payment providers, lending platforms and technology firms that provide tools and infrastructure for financial service providers and other companies in the FinTech space. We understand the opportunities created by the development and implementation of new technologies as well as the risks generated by increasing regulatory scrutiny.

We represent financial service providers in a wide range of litigation. Members of our Team defend single and multiparty complex claims, including consumer class action suits, before federal and state courts, as well as federal and state agency proceedings and alternative dispute proceedings. These disputes range in subject matter from UCC disputes, to lender liability claims, to regulatory compliance violations (TILA, ECOA, FCRA, FDCPA, UDAAP, etc.), to Maryland credit law claims, and more. We have been asked to serve as special counsel and as expert witnesses in complex cases concerning insurance fraud and in cases where compliance is at issue. Financial services providers rely on our Financial Services Team for representation in all stages of administrative proceedings before Maryland's Commissioner of Financial Regulation and its Insurance Commissioner. We also have a long-established practice in representation of many banking institutions and corporations on bankruptcy and reorganization matters, workouts and participation arrangements.

We also assist regulated financial services providers in connection with corporate and transactional work, including acquisitions, mergers, conversions, dissolutions, liquidations, receiverships and the creation of subsidiaries, holding companies and joint ventures. Our attorneys have a wide range of skills needed by regulated financial services providers, including attorneys with active practices in complex institutional financings and asset-based commercial lending, public and private securities law, bankruptcy and workout, real estate, environmental law, and insurance regulatory advice.