Financial Services

The attorneys at Prince Lobel understand that financial services institutions are facing many challenges in today’s tumultuous, rapidly changing economy – some unique and some routine.  But whether your legal needs are complex or day-to-day, we have the expertise and insight into the financial services industry to effectively and efficiently address the full spectrum of legal issues your company may be facing. 

The attorneys in Prince Lobel’s Financial Services group have extensive experience representing national and regional financial institutions, investment firms, and institutional lenders in various types of matters, ranging from lender liability issues to complex commercial and contract disputes.  Our attorneys have been at the forefront of the subprime litigation arena in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and have significant expertise defending a vast array of lender liability claims, including Massachusetts chapter 93A consumer protection and related claims.  Indeed, the attorneys at Prince Lobel have been actively involved in most of the recent lender liability decisions issued by Massachusetts courts, which are shaping and reshaping the law in this area virtually every day.

We routinely represent financial services institutions and their officers in actions asserting claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and the duty of good faith and fair dealing, unconscionability, breach of contract, and statutory violations under the Fair Debt Collections Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Massachusetts Credit Cost Consumer Act and the Predatory Home Loan Practices Act.  We are also well-versed in the federal securities and blue sky laws as well as SEC regulations, and we often provide counseling services and fiduciary advice to banks and trustees.  Our attorneys appear regularly in federal and state courts as well as before regulatory commissions and administrative tribunals.  We have represented a variety of clients in regulatory investigations, including SEC enforcement actions, DOJ investigations concerning alleged violations of the Federal False Claims Act, and state investigations concerning the Massachusetts False Claims Act.

Our broad knowledge of the financial services industry, combined with our sharp legal skills and depth of litigation experience, enables our clients to more effectively manage, control and anticipate the wide range of complex issues that are likely to arise within today’s ever-changing legal landscape.  We are committed to staying current on industry trends and the legislative and judicial developments that affect our clients, and we pride ourselves on our ability to develop effective strategies for achieving our clients’ goals by implementing creative, cost-conscious approaches to problem-solving.  Our seasoned litigators recognize that optimal value is delivered to our clients by understanding their business needs, and that each client’s specific objectives must guide the strategic approach, whether it takes the form of counseling, compromise and settlement, or hard-fought litigation taken all the way to trial. 

Prince Lobel’s culture of collaboration allows us to offer our clients high-quality, highly effective representation that is even greater than the sum of its parts.  Our financial services attorneys have direct access to the talent and skills of attorneys in our Employment, Corporate and other practice groups, thus ensuring that we provide our clients with the breadth of legal experience needed in the competitive and dynamic financial services arena.

We would be pleased to share further details about our services and experience. To find out more, please contact Rich Briansky at rbriansky@PrinceLobel.com or 617 456 8052.

Representative Matters

• Prince Lobel obtained a favorable decision in a Suffolk Superior Court case that is among the first published opinions in Massachusetts to apply the principle that an assignee of a mortgage loan cannot be held affirmatively liable for the assignor’s alleged wrongful conduct.
• We obtained summary judgment on behalf of our client, a large mortgage company, which resulted in a judgment dismissing the complaint with prejudice. This case clarified an earlier decision which held that a mortgage company that was not currently the mortgagee of record had standing to seek judgment against the borrower under the Service Members Civil Relief Act. This ruling also confirmed that borrowers that had defaulted under loan prior to May 1, 2008 were not entitled to an extended right to cure period even if the foreclosure occurred after May 2008.
• A United States District Court judge denied a request for preliminary injunctive relief seeking to stay foreclosure actions brought by our client. The plaintiff sought the stay due to an inability to tender the amount owed for rescission. The court found, among other things, that even if a violation had occurred, a borrower is not likely to prevail on a claim for rescission unless they can return the principal balance due and owing.
• We obtained a federal law ruling on behalf of our client, a mortgage services company, that there is no extended right of rescission for residential borrowers when more than three years has passed since consummation of the loan. The court also held that the borrower cannot claim lack of knowledge of the alleged violation after the date of closing, as the borrower would have possessed all the requisite information at the time of the closing.
• Our client, a full-service bank, prevailed in a case that confirmed that a borrower does not have standing to seek redress from a mortgage servicer’s alleged failure to comply with HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) guidelines. The court found that the borrowers were not intended third-party beneficiaries under service contract with the government.
• We represented a prominent financial services company in an employee whistleblower case before the United States Department of Labor and in federal court. First, Prince Lobel was able to obtain dismissal of the DOL matter through an aggressive and novel approach to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Next, we strategically attacked the federal court complaint, and at the same time amassed a myriad of evidence to negate the whistleblower allegations. In the end, Prince Lobel succeeded in creating an atmosphere conducive to favorably resolving the case for our client.
• We successfully represented a large regional mutual fund in a dispute with a competitor concerning the competitor's wholesale poaching of our client’s fund managers and sales executives.
• We successfully represented a national lending institution and two of its loan officers in an action brought under the federal securities laws in connection with a corporate acquisition.