Simon Fleischmann

Simon A. Fleischmann is the leader of the litigation section for the firm’s national Consumer Finance Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on the defense of class actions and other complex litigation matters concerning all types of consumer-facing products and services. He also manages a team of lawyers responsible for handling a volume of individual or “loan level” litigation matters for consumer finance clients.

Mr. Fleischmann maintains a national litigation practice. He has acted as sole or joint lead counsel in cases in Illinois, Florida, California, New York, and other states. He has tried jury and non-jury cases, and argued several appeals in state and federal courts. He has also represented clients responding to investigations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Illinois Attorney General.

Most of the cases Mr. Fleischmann handles arise under state unfair and deceptive acts and practices laws (UDAP), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Truth In Lending Act (TILA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), other consumer protection statutes and regulations, bankruptcy laws, and the common law.

Below is a sample of the matters Mr. Fleischmann has recently handled:

• representing several social networking, energy, and finance companies in TCPA class actions
• successfully obtained a “no action” letter from the CFPB following a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) issued to a financial services client
• advised a private equity fund in assessing the risks presented by the CFPB regulation of consumer-facing businesses
• successfully represented a mortgage industry client in responding to a CID from the Illinois Attorney General
• represented a major mortgage servicer in multi-district litigation (MDL) matter involving claims of predatory lending practices against a defunct loan originator

Mr. Fleischmann also has substantial experience in the representation of commercial lenders in loan workout and restructuring matters, including litigation matters concerning lender liability, duties under U.C.C. Article 9, and the rights of secured parties under the bankruptcy code. Mr. Fleischmann has also effectively handled cases involving disputes with respect to the reasonableness of valuation reports and fairness opinions.

Mr. Fleischmann is also active in the Consumer Finance Committee for the Chicago Bar Association, as well as the Jewish United Fund’s Health and Human Services Commission. He regularly speaks and publishes articles on topics of interest to his clients.

Representative Experience :

• Defended against class claims attacking a mortgage company’s compliance with an Illinois mortgage-foreclosure reform statute.
• Represented an auto lender in a national class action challenging the imposition of late fees.
• Represented mortgage companies in nationwide class actions relating to the suspension or reduction in HELOC limits.
• Defended mortgage servicer in nationwide class action asserting that failure to provide adverse-action notices when denying loan modification requests violates ECOA.
• Representation of title insurer in multiple state class actions alleging antitrust and RESPA violations in connection with title insurance practices.
• Represented mortgage lenders and servicers in nationwide class actions asserting disclosure violations under TILA.
• Representation of mortgage originators in connection with claims of negligent and discriminatory lending practices.
• Representation of mortgage servicer in class action regarding the assessment of prepayment penalties.
• Representation of mortgage servicers in connection with claims under the Cranston-Gonzalez amendments to RESPA dealing with qualified written requests (QWR) and other servicing requirements.

Professional Affiliations :

• Governing Committee Member, Conference on Consumer Finance Law
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Chicago Bar Association

Education :

• J.D., cum laude, State University of New York at Buffalo Law School, 2001
• B.A., The Ohio State University, 1998

Admissions : Illinois, 2001

Admitted To Practice :

• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2001
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, 2002
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 2003
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar, 2005
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, 2010
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, 2014