Q: In your career what are the biggest changes you have seen in how legal work is done? How are things still similar?
A: About 20 years ago we had a mortgage fraud case where we sued 16 defendants. Each time we did a mailing, we had to make 16 copies, stuff 16 envelopes, pay for 16 sets of postage, and make sure the photocopier was always fired up and ready to go. In contrast, today we just upload our papers to the court website and they are automatically distributed to all parties in the case. This has saved resources and allowed the entire system to focus more on substance and less on logistics. I do not even own a photocopier any more.
What is similar: Despite the explosion in technology, most legal disputes are really human disputes, where the need for people skills and creative problem solving is always at a premium. As my father always said: "common sense is sometimes surprisingly uncommon" and it never goes out of style.
Q: What are some of your most important cases that you filed and why?
A: We have represented several people who, due to illness, job loss or divorce, had to declare bankruptcy and give up their house. Their debts were then discharged by the bankruptcy judge. Despite this, banks sometimes insist that a person still owes them money, even though the bankruptcy court discharged the debt. In these cases, the banks send collection letters, and make collection calls. We have handled cases involving literally thousands of collection calls. In the process of handling these cases I discovered just how unreliable banking records can be, and how much emotional destruction collectors can cause on people who literally do not owe any money. The rule of law is what makes this country great. I am always proud to make sure that we have a level playing field and that bullies don't harass people and violate their legal rights.
Q: Do you think the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has the ability to help consumers more in the Biden Administration versus the previous one?
A: Yes. Under new leadership the CFPB is getting back to its roots, and already we have seen better enforcement of the law, and hence better voluntary compliance as well.
Q: What has been the most dramatic change your practice has seen during Covid-19?
A: Zoom. Without a doubt. Pre-Covid I was flying all over the country to take depositions, and almost all client meetings and all court hearings were in person. Zoom proved that all of that was not absolutely essential, and in the process it saved a lot of time and hopefully is a bit friendlier to the environment.
Q: Why did you decide to focus your practice primarily on consumer rights? What makes this practice different from other areas of the law?
A: I love helping people unravel the tangled web of consumer credit and collection. I like assisting people who were denied credit or a job or housing through no fault of their own; perhaps due to faulty information on their credit report. We are all consumers, and there are some really wonderful laws that are designed to protect us from the occasional scammers, fraudsters, and corner-cutters that we all encounter. Most people don’t realize it, but consumer protection laws are really there to protect the honest business person and prevent the unscrupulous ones from gaining an unfair competitive advantage. I am happy to do my part in ensuring a honest marketplace and a level playing field. In the process, I get to help some really wonderful individuals and companies.
Q: What is one thing you would like people to know about you, or what would people be surprised to know about you?
A: I spend my days in the trenches of an adversarial system. I always try to remember the maxim that I first heard from a prominent federal judge: "It is nice to be important, but its more important to be nice."
Something that might surprise people: my first time going to court, I went to the wrong courthouse. Thankfully, the clerks were nice enough to call the other courthouse to indicate that I was "on my way."
Q: Where are you from originally?
A: I was born in Buffalo. When I was 9 years old I lived with my family in Moscow, USSR. My parents were there on a medical-scientific exchange. My father, Dr. James Holland, worked with Soviet cancer doctors and my mother, Dr. Jimmie Holland, worked with Soviet psychiatrists. Eight of us lived in a five room apartment that previously had been occupied by five families – one family to a room with a shared kitchen and shared bathroom. I was then raised in Scarsdale, New York and I have been living in Maryland for many years and now consider Annapolis my home.
