WASHINGTON – Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is pleased to announce that Claudia Callaway has joined the firm as a Washington-based partner in its Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice. Ms. Callaway, a nationally recognized class action defense and consumer financial services lawyer, was previously a partner in the Washington office of Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP, where she was the firm’s lead consumer finance litigation partner.
Ms. Callaway’s practice focuses on complex litigation and consumer finance law, representing clients in multiple regulatory and litigation areas, including the Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z and Regulation E; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B; the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; the Fair Credit Reporting Act; the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Regulation P and state privacy laws; the FTC Act and state unfair and deceptive trade practices laws; removal of class actions to federal court under CAFA; application of the Federal Arbitration Act to consumer contracts and enforcement of class action waivers contained in consumer arbitration agreements; HOEPA, RESPA and Regulation U; state usury and consumer protection laws; federal interest rate “exportation”; and state and federal bank regulatory advocacy.
Ms. Callaway was counsel of record in two recent significant cases in which her client, CashCall Inc., was victorious. In the May 2009 case, Fluke v. CashCall, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that a class action waiver contained in a consumer loan agreement was not unconscionable under Delaware or Pennsylvania law. This decision followed a favorable ruling for Ms. Callaway’s client in March, permitting removal under CAFA and rejecting the plaintiff’s attempts to remand.
In November 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California also ruled in favor of Ms. Callaway’s client in Leckler v. CashCall, Inc. This decision vacated the court’s previous rejection of the Federal Communications Commission’s rule regarding collections calls to mobile numbers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims with prejudice.
Ms. Callaway’s practice also includes advising clients on ways to prevent class action suits before they happen. She has offered advice on numerous state and federal consumer protection matters, including privacy, collections, credit reporting and usury issues. In addition to serving as a frequent speaker on a variety of litigation-related topics, Ms. Callaway has worked on a number of financial literacy initiatives, including serving as a co-founder of the American Bar Association Financial Literacy Project. She previously served as co-chair of the Diversity in the Courtroom Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section.
Ms. Callaway has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, taught in Georgetown’s Criminal Justice Clinic, and acted as faculty advisor to the national champion Georgetown patent and copyright moot court team.
Ms. Callaway earned her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College, where she has served on the President’s Advisory Council, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Katten’s trial lawyers are adept at achieving the business objectives of their clients in cases ranging from contract disputes and regulatory matters to securities class action lawsuits and other complex commercial litigation. The firm serves its clients with a broad, national litigation practice staffed in each office by attorneys whose backgrounds and experiences are as varied as the clients they serve. As advocates and counselors, Katten’s litigators succeed by combining knowledge of their clients’ business with skill in the law and the art of advocacy. Their experience and foresight leads to sound assessments of business and legal risks, accurate estimates of costs of defense, and, when necessary, favorable settlements. As a result, Katten can deliver cost-effective services on multi-million dollar cases and efficiently respond to smaller matters.
