Esther Slater McDonald

Ms. Esther McDonald is senior counsel in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She represents clients in class actions and complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts across the country. Ms. McDonald has extensive experience helping clients resolve business and commercial disputes.

Ms. McDonald’s practice includes litigation on consumer protection, contract disputes, and employment matters. She also has experience litigating financial services claims, products liability, and insurance disputes, including coverage and bad faith.

Ms. McDonald’s practice includes a special emphasis on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and other consumer protection laws. She regularly defends clients in single-plaintiff and class actions involving credit reporting and background screening.

Ms. McDonald has represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, the federal appeals and district courts, and various state and local courts. Before joining Seyfarth, she was a senior official at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ms. McDonald is the editor of and a frequent contributor to the Consumer Class Defense Blog.  She is a member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners and serves on the Best Practices and Litigation Avoidance Committees.

Education:

• J.D., University of Notre Dame Law School, summa cum laude (2003)
  • Dean Joseph O’Meara Award
  • Articles Editor, Notre Dame Law Review
• B.A., Pensacola Christian College, summa cum laude (1996)

Affiliations:

• American Bar Association