Consumer Rights Talk - Northeast Law Group, LLC Adam Deutsch

On the show today is Mike Landis, the litigation director of U.S. PIRG the Public Interest Research Group. What makes Mike particularly special is the diversity of his experience and depth of his resume at such a young age. Considering the fact that Mike is in his mid 30’s the list is impressive and includes two years volunteering in Honduras with the Peace Corps, a dual JD and Masters degree in international political economy and development, a state appellate court clerkship, a federal district court clerkship, two and a half years as a litigation associate at a large New Jersey law firm, and then of course, his current role as litigation director of PIRG.
At PIRG, Mike’s job involves taking a macro view of issues facing the general public, most often from a consumer perspective. While most consumer rights attorneys are focusing individual client cases and relationships, Mike is looking for broad patterns where impact litigation can be achieved. PIRG pursues its own cases, but also provides a lot of support to a network of non-profit organizations across the country that are pursuing consumer protection cases.
The story shows that anyone can move between the non-profit and private law sectors and that doing so can make you a more impactful and valuable asset to the consumer rights world.

Jeremy Golden left the cold of Minnesota to study law in the sunshine of California. Originally the plan was to practice intellectual property law, but a job opportunity after law school lead Jeremy to discover the world of consumer law. Fifteen years later, he has a successful law firm outside of San Diego focused on debt defense, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act cases. Jeremy and I discuss small firm management, identity theft cases and the growing need for lawyers to take on student loan cases.

Michael Fuller, the Underdog Lawyer is a consumer rights attorney in Portland Oregon. He discusses his background, passion for representing the underserved and how to use media to achieve goals.

Josh Cohen is one of the foremost experts in student loan law. He is taking on the growing crises by expanding his own litigation practice to train other attorneys in multi-day seminars. Additionally, Josh has created a software program that helps borrowers and their attorneys assess the best repayment options for borrowers of federal loans. More information about Josh can be found at www.thestudentloanlawer.com and information about his seminars can be obtained at www.studentloanlawworkshop.net

Ron Burdge is a trailblazer.  Ron started his legal career doing trial work at a small Ohio firm.  Early in his career the partners of his law firm handed Ron an auto fraud case.  The chance circumstance gave rise to a career that saw the rise of lemon laws and consumer rights in the auto industry.  A key to Ron’s success is his love of story telling and a gift for connecting with juries.

In addition to excelling at litigation, Ron has a gift for marketing. As an early adopter of the internet, Ron acquired key domain names including www.ohiolemonlaw.com. He began posting videos on the internet early on and it helped to drive clients and business to his firm.

Aside from influencing the growth of auto fraud litigation, Ron is the founder of the United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey. The survey is hosted at www.attorneyfeestudy.com and gives a detailed assessment of hourly rates billed by attorneys broken down by years of practice, size of firm and geography. The survey is a key tool for consumer rights attorneys that work with fee shifting statutes. Cited in Federal Courts across the country, the survey has been critical to lawyers extending access to justice in an affordable way.

Ron can be reached on twitter @ronburdge

In less than ten years of practice as an attorney, Carla Sanchez-Adams has earned a well-deserved reputation as an attorney focused on creating change in communities impacted by poverty. Carla’s role as a lawyer often walks the line from advocate to social worker. We discuss Carla’s background, the challenges of public service law, and how consumer rights law differs when there are issues of domestic abuse and immigration concerns added to the picture.