Attorneys and “Financial Reform” – Something Wicked This Way Comes

The newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will undoubtedly prove a rich source of business for attorneys, as the resulting regulations will most likely be as difficult to understand as they will be to implement; designed, as it were, to improve and monitor the financial environment. According to the article, an unnamed source was quoted as calling the Dodd-Frank bill the “full employment act for derivatives lawyers.” Indeed.

Another prime example of the business to which the article refers to is the settlement plaintiffs were awarded in the case of Bank of America (BOA) charging excessive overdraft fees for electronic transfers. Though the class action will see some 1 million plaintiffs awarded about $400 each. The settlement was $410 million and attorneys collected over $120 million in fees, which is an approximate 30% of the settlement. Spread out over a couple dozen attorneys, that's a nice, albeit, disproportionate chunk of change.


Another major source of business for attorneys, and sadly, inequity for consumers, is the scores of mortgage foreclosures and the myriad of wrongs perpetrated in that area. The millions of people who've faced foreclosure in the past few years, who, even if awarded damages in the billions of dollars, won't get much in the end, as opposed to, once again, the much, much smaller number of attorneys litigating the claims.

While the media, the legal profession, and law students alike continue to decry the legal profession's diminishing opportunities, the areas of consumer protection and securities law seem like a slam dunk – except of course, for the consumer.

For anyone who needs a refresher, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010. Hailed as the most sweeping change to financial regulation in the United States since the Great Depression, the requirements affect nearly every aspect of the American financial regulatory environment, including all federal financial regulatory agencies and nearly every aspect of the nation's financial services industry.