Employment, Media, Education and Competition Law Section
Section Head: Michael McMenamin
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Consumer Protection Defense Group |
Practice Group Chair: Mark S. Fusco
Customers are essential to your business. When it comes to satisfying all of them, few things are ever simple. Their legal rights, personal needs, and expectations provide a number of risks. The laws and regulations governing relationships between suppliers and their customers are complex, confusing, and sometimes contradictory. If you don’t know your customer’s rights, or the limitations that the law imposes on yours, productivity, profitability, and reputation in the marketplace can all suffer.
The Consumer Defense Practice Group at Walter & Haverfield understands that business success in our litigious society requires legally-sound consumer policies and practices that assist clients in identifying problems before they emerge. When disputes occur, we help you devise and implement the right strategy. Where litigation is required, our lawyers have the experience and know-how to take issues to court, fighting aggressively on your behalf. The lawyers in this group are expert in litigation, arbitration, and all forms of alternative dispute resolution. They can advise clients on all aspects of consumer law, and assist clients in avoiding or settling disputes as early as possible to avoid a claim for legal fees, which is a component of every consumer claim. Examples of recent work:
- secured a jury verdict in favor of a large roofing contractor who was accused of violating the Consumer Sales Practices Act and the Ohio Home Solicitation Sales Act;
- obtained a voluntary dismissal of a claim filed under the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act by demonstrating to opposing counsel that there was no corresponding state law imposing a civil penalty for a violation of the Federal Act;
- obtained the dismissal of a Fair Credit Reporting Act claim in federal court filed against a physician who had previously sued a patient over a disputed medical bill;
- obtained summary judgment for an automobile dealer accused of violating the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act;
- successfully defended an attorney fee claim under the Magnuson Moss Federal Warranty Act brought by a national consumer protection law firm by demonstrating that the offer made by the supplier to the consumer at the onset of litigation was more advantageous than the award the consumer ultimately received two years later.
Attorneys Practicing In This Area
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