Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce that Leslie Sowers has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in its Financial Services & Capital Markets industry group.
Sowers works primarily with banks and other consumer lenders and advises clients on a range of federal laws and regulations pertaining to residential mortgage finance and other types of consumer finance, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA), TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures Rule (TRID), Loan Originator Compensation Rule, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), as well as other laws bearing on fair lending, financial privacy, and broad consumer finance regulatory matters.
Sowers also represents clients in preparing for and navigating supervisory examinations, develops compliance policies and procedures, counsels on the requirements of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and prepares complex regulatory analyses of matters pertaining to residential mortgage lending and servicing.
“Increasingly, federal agencies are adopting an aggressive posture in expanding the scope of consumer finance regulation, and we are excited to bring on board an experienced lawyer in Washington who can provide comprehensive advice to banks, non-bank lenders, and mortgage lenders,” said Marci Kawski, the leader of Husch Blackwell’s Consumer Financial Services practice team. “We have approximately 30 lawyers in our group spanning a dozen offices. Our team is well-positioned to help clients whenever and wherever the need arises.”
“Husch Blackwell has grown tremendously in the past few years in the consumer finance law space and provides an excellent platform for further growth,” said Sowers. “I look forward to working with such a talented group of colleagues, and I know my clients will be excited to have access to the firm’s combined resources.”