Frank A. Hirsch, Jr.
Biography
Frank is the managing director of the firm’s Raleigh office, Chair of the firm’s Consumer Finance group, and a member of the Litigation and Lender Representation groups. His practice focuses on business litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution, as well as regulatory compliance issues, and class actions affecting the financial services industry. Frank has extensive experience managing state and federal banking and compliance issues, residential and commercial loan servicing, regulatory oversight issues/exams, and consumer lending investigations by state attorneys general or the FTC. His practice also includes enforcement actions (HUD, FHA, FRB, OCC, FDIC) and CFPB inquiry initiatives.
Representative Matters
- Following the “robo-signing” servicing crisis in 2010, he acted as lead independent legal counsel to the testing consultant for four of the 16 foreclosure review process look-backs (the Independent Foreclosure Reviews) mandated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) pursuant to consent orders signed in April, 2011
- Defended a furniture component and integrated solutions manufacturer in multidistrict litigation (MDL) alleging antitrust price-fixing by a group of polyurethane foam manufacturers spanning over a decade of commercial activity
- Defended a consumer financial services company in a putative nationwide class action brought by residential home loan mortgagors alleging deceptive marketing and implementation of an interest rate reset loan feature
- Defended a residential, nondepository mortgage lender and its foreign subsidiary in a putative class action alleging violations of North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act and North Carolina Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and breach of contract arising out of alleged force-placed hazard and flood insurance
- Represented the individual directors and officers of a bank with regard to an FDIC investigation and threatened lawsuit
- Defended a top nationwide consumer financial services lender in a consumer class action case alleging that the client made deceptive payday loans to over 100,000 North Carolina residents
- Acted as national coordinating counsel for a national mortgage servicer in multiple problem foreclosure cases in the Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of New York (White Plains), Los Angeles Superior Court, and state court disputes in North Carolina, Boise, Idaho, and Edmund, Oklahoma
- Defended a major loan servicing company in put-back litigation in which over 1,700 loans were the subject of multiple repurchase demands by an investor
- Defended a major loan servicing company in mortgage put-back litigation in which over 800 loans were identified in multiple repurchase demands by an investor
- Defended a major loan servicing company in put-back litigation in which hundreds of loans were purportedly in breach of multiple provisions of the loan agreements
Recognition & Honors
- Best Lawyers in America, 2008–2021, 2024
- Best Lawyers in America; Financial Services Litigation Lawyer of the Year, 2012
- AV® Rated; Martindale-Hubbell
Associations
- Law360; Banking Editorial Advisory Board, 2013-14
- North Carolina State Bar
- Consumer Financial Services Law Report; Financial Services Advisors Board, 2010-2019
- International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC); Class Action Committee, Member; Business Litigation Committee, Member
- American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers
- North Carolina Center for Banking and Finance at The University of North Carolina School of Law; Advisory Board, 2000 – Present
- North Carolina Bankers Association; Affiliate Member
- American Bar Association
Education
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; B.A., 1983
- Vanderbilt University; J.D., 1986
Press & Publications
- Consumer Finance Client Alert – CFPB Proposes New Rule on Overdraft Practices
- Consumer Finance Client Alert – CFPB Issues Report on Overdraft and NSF Fees
- Credit Union Client Alert – NC Process for Settlement of a Putative Class Action Dispute
- Credit Union Client Alert – September 2023
- 54 Kaufman & Canoles Attorneys Named Best Lawyers in America© 2024, 6 Named “Lawyer of the Year,” and 10 Named “Ones to Watch”
- Credit Union Client Alert – The New Abusiveness Framework
- Consumer Finance Client Alert – November 2022
- Litigation Client Alert – PPP Litigation/Enforcement Risks Await
- Zelle Fraud Reimbursement Demands on Banks and Credit Unions
- Analysis of Potential Appraisal and AVM Bias In Lending — PAVEing the Path to the Unknown?
- The Evolving Landscape of Bank Overdraft Fee Practices
- A Half Year After the Standing Decision in Ramirez — Where Are We Today?
- Credit Union Client Alert – Wells Fargo Must Pay $250 Million Fine
- Credit Union Client Alert – May 7, 2021
- Lender Client Alert – May 7, 2021
- Litigation Strategies – TCPA Vicarious Liability Class-Action Claims: Avoiding the ‘Dragnet’
- When the Bureau Bites: Congested Litigation with the CFPB