About Robert
Robert practices in Financial Services Litigation with an emphasis in mortgage litigation and compliance and commercial/real estate litigation. He is a Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) and is one of only a handful of attorneys in the nation who have achieved this status. His national practice focuses primarily on representing two specific industries: financial institutions and mortgage companies. Robert's representation of clients in the financial institutions and mortgage industry is both trial practice and compliance. The trial practice has led Robert to trial and appellate courts in over 40 different states from Florida to California, and from Washington to Washington, D.C. These cases involve numerous causes of action including TILA, HOEPA, FDCPA, FCRA, RESPA, RICO, predatory lending, mortgage related fees and services, insurance packing and state deceptive trade practice laws. In addition, Robert has litigated all facets of the mortgage industry: origination, warehouse lending, pooling and servicing agreements, loan repurchase disputes, investor disputes, secondary market representations and warranties, servicing matters, commercial mortgages, settlement services issues and mortgage fraud. These matters are in various contexts including pre-litigation complaints by borrowers, state agencies and consumer advocacy groups, class action, consumer litigation, bankruptcy and representing the investor/servicer as plaintiff in seeking recovery for fraud, title insurance coverage, repurchase and contract/commercial disputes. Robert adopted “best practices” from working with multiple clients and patterned his practice to maximize client contact and provide a consistent level of client communication on the current status of the files entrusted to the firm. These “best practices” include the following: (1) An Initial Litigation Analysis and Budget (“ILAB”) within 30 days of opening a litigated matter. (2) Monthly Status Reports which detail what has taken place in the matter during the previous month. (3) Closing Memos which outline the name of the file, date opened, date closed, amount of legal fees, and how the matter was resolved or settled.Robert leverages technology for the benefit of the firm clients. His entire practice – pleadings, correspondence, research, legislation, invoices, etc – is placed on an extranet. Security is a priority - Access is password protected and allows both clients and BABC practice group members the ability to obtain documents from multiple files regardless of location. Each client is given the ability to determine who in their organization is allowed access, then they go through a 10 -15 minute webinar tutorial with a member of the practice group. Then the extranet file is set up to be a virtual file with court pleadings, discovery, documents produced during the litigation, correspondence, court orders, briefs, deposition transcripts, expert reports and administrative documents including engagement letters and invoices.Robert is a regular speaker at national mortgage programs and financial services industry conferences. Robert teaches with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) as a Faculty Fellow on Real Estate Law and Regulatory Compliance at the School of Mortgage Banking (SOMB), Predatory Lending and Mortgage Fraud at the Regulatory Compliance Institute, Servicing at the State and Local Litigation Conference, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Compliance and Default Servicing at the School of Mortgage Servicing (SOMS) and has been a presenter or panelist at the Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, Quality Assurance and Residential Underwriting Conference, the Regulatory Compliance Conference, and the National Fraud Conference.Robert is an Adjunct Professor at the Cumberland School of Law, where he teaches Real Estate Transfer, Finance and Development during the spring semester and State Constitutional Law during the fall semester. Previously, he was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law from 2001 to 2006 and from 1998 to 2007 he taught both graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. These courses included: State Constitutional Law, America on Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, Racial Issues in American Constitutional History, Fundamental Rights: The United States Supreme Court Under Warren and Burger, Speech, Religion and the Press: History of the First Amendment, Gangster Culture in America, The Death Penalty: Perspectives on the American Institution, Southern Society: Law, Literature and Film and Modern American History.
Robert practices in Financial Services Litigation with an emphasis in mortgage litigation and compliance and commercial/real estate litigation. He is a Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) and is one of only a handful of attorneys in the nation who have achieved this status. His national practice focuses primarily on representing two specific industries: financial institutions and mortgage companies. Robert's representation of clients in the financial institutions and mortgage industry is both trial practice and compliance. The trial practice has led Robert to trial and appellate courts in over 40 different states from Florida to California, and from Washington to Washington, D.C. These cases involve numerous causes of action including TILA, HOEPA, FDCPA, FCRA, RESPA, RICO, predatory lending, mortgage related fees and services, insurance packing and state deceptive trade practice laws. In addition, Robert has litigated all facets of the mortgage industry: origination, warehouse lending, pooling and servicing agreements, loan repurchase disputes, investor disputes, secondary market representations and warranties, servicing matters, commercial mortgages, settlement services issues and mortgage fraud. These matters are in various contexts including pre-litigation complaints by borrowers, state agencies and consumer advocacy groups, class action, consumer litigation, bankruptcy and representing the investor/servicer as plaintiff in seeking recovery for fraud, title insurance coverage, repurchase and contract/commercial disputes. Robert adopted “best practices” from working with multiple clients and patterned his practice to maximize client contact and provide a consistent level of client communication on the current status of the files entrusted to the firm. These “best practices” include the following: (1) An Initial Litigation Analysis and Budget (“ILAB”) within 30 days of opening a litigated matter. (2) Monthly Status Reports which detail what has taken place in the matter during the previous month. (3) Closing Memos which outline the name of the file, date opened, date closed, amount of legal fees, and how the matter was resolved or settled.Robert leverages technology for the benefit of the firm clients. His entire practice – pleadings, correspondence, research, legislation, invoices, etc – is placed on an extranet. Security is a priority - Access is password protected and allows both clients and BABC practice group members the ability to obtain documents from multiple files regardless of location. Each client is given the ability to determine who in their organization is allowed access, then they go through a 10 -15 minute webinar tutorial with a member of the practice group. Then the extranet file is set up to be a virtual file with court pleadings, discovery, documents produced during the litigation, correspondence, court orders, briefs, deposition transcripts, expert reports and administrative documents including engagement letters and invoices.Robert is a regular speaker at national mortgage programs and financial services industry conferences. Robert teaches with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) as a Faculty Fellow on Real Estate Law and Regulatory Compliance at the School of Mortgage Banking (SOMB), Predatory Lending and Mortgage Fraud at the Regulatory Compliance Institute, Servicing at the State and Local Litigation Conference, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Compliance and Default Servicing at the School of Mortgage Servicing (SOMS) and has been a presenter or panelist at the Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, Quality Assurance and Residential Underwriting Conference, the Regulatory Compliance Conference, and the National Fraud Conference.Robert is an Adjunct Professor at the Cumberland School of Law, where he teaches Real Estate Transfer, Finance and Development during the spring semester and State Constitutional Law during the fall semester. Previously, he was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law from 2001 to 2006 and from 1998 to 2007 he taught both graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. These courses included: State Constitutional Law, America on Trial: American History Through Court Proceedings and Hearings, Racial Issues in American Constitutional History, Fundamental Rights: The United States Supreme Court Under Warren and Burger, Speech, Religion and the Press: History of the First Amendment, Gangster Culture in America, The Death Penalty: Perspectives on the American Institution, Southern Society: Law, Literature and Film and Modern American History.
