Christopher R. Rahl, Member
Chris is Chair of the firm's Financial Services practice group and a member of the following teams: Financial Services, Health Care and EMERGE.
He is a trusted advisor who serves as outside general counsel to several highly regulated enterprises. To that end, Chris helps clients manage risk and identify and implement proactive solutions to complex problems.
Chris has extensive in-house counsel experience that includes having served as general counsel for an enterprise holding company and its subsidiaries and as corporate counsel in the financial services industry. His familiarity with the challenges and demands of the in-house counsel role uniquely positions him to help companies develop and implement creative strategies to reach their business goals efficiently and effectively.
Chris helps clients with:
- Federal and state deposit and lending regulatory compliance
- Licensing requirements and applications
- Negotiation of vendor agreements
- Marketing compliance
- New product structure and documentation
- Development of online policies (terms of use and privacy policies) and online application portals
- Business entity choice, entity formation and preparation of corporate documents
- Physician employment/independent contractor arrangements
- Federal and state health care self-referral and anti-kickback compliance
- Development of health care management structures
- HIPAA compliance
- Data breach responses
- Negotiation of lease agreements
- E-signature disclosures/compliance
After graduating from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1996, Chris served as a Clerk for the Hon. Joseph F. Murphy, Jr., then-Chief Judge of the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.
Chris is the co-author of an ongoing series covering activities identified as unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAPs) by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, state attorneys general and consumer financial services regulators using federal UDAAP powers created by the Dodd-Frank Act.
Honors
AV® Preeminent™ Rating in Martindale-Hubbell
Named to The Best Lawyers in America® for Banking and Finance Law and Financial Services Regulation Law, 2021 and 2022
Recipient, Leadership in Law Award, The Daily Record, 2018
Recipient, Lexology Client Choice Award, 2016
News
Professional and Civic Involvement
Volunteer of the Month, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS), November 2021
Adjunct Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law
Board Member, St. Ignatius Loyola Academy
Member, Maryland State Bar Association; Co-Chair, Consumer Credit/Financial Institutions Committee
Member, American Bar Association
Past Chair, Board Member, MVLS; Past President; Co-Chair, Advisory Board
Publications and Lectures
Co-author, "Reading the Tea Leaves: UDAAP Data, Trends, and Predictions," American Bar Association (ABA), Consumer Financial Services Committee Newsletter, September 2021
Webinar co-presenter, “Spotting UDAAP Trends: Reading the Tea Leaves of Recent CFPB Enforcement Activity,” ABA, August 2021
Presenter, Mid Atlantic Regulatory Committee Lunch Meeting, May 15, 2020
Practical Law Finance Thomson Reuters - Consumer Financial Regulation: Maryland
- Consumer Financial Regulation: Maryland, November 13, 2019
- 2018 Survey of Activities Identified as Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Under the Dodd-Frank Act, Part Two, January 11, 2019
- 2018 Survey of Activities Identified as Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Under the Dodd-Frank Act, Part One, September 10, 2018
- Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report 2018, Volume 72, Number 1 (2017 Survey of Activities Identified as Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Under the Dodd-Frank Act, Parts One & Two), August 27, 2018
- Avoiding Overdraft Litigation, Rowles & Company Community Bankers Conference, April 28, 2016
- Legal Hot Topics: Indirect Auto Fair Lending Concerns, Rowles & Company Community Bankers Conference, April 24, 2014
Links
Teams
EMERGE
Financial Services
Health Care
Mergers & Acquisitions
Technology & Intellectual Property
Education
J.D., University of Baltimore School of Law, 1996
B.A., University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1991
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Court of Appeals of Maryland
Bar Admissions
Maryland, 1996