Christopher J. Willis

Partner

Atlanta

Tel 678.420.9436
Fax 678.420.9301

Christopher J. Willis is the Practice Co-Leader of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group. He devotes his practice to assisting financial services institutions facing state and federal government investigations and examinations, counseling them on compliance issues including UDAP/UDAAP, credit reporting, debt collection and fair lending, and defending them in individual and class action lawsuits brought by consumers and enforcement actions brought by government agencies.

Chris also brings his litigation and enforcement experience to bear in assisting clients in designing and evaluating new products and processes, including product structure, advertising, online application flows, underwriting, and collection and loss mitigation strategies.

Services

Experience

Representative Matters

Led a project to assist a client in developing a new online-delivered installment loan product from scratch, including the product’s structure, the advertising methods for the product, its underwriting methods, and its servicing/collection strategy
Defending clients in investigations brought by state attorneys general (including Massachusetts, California and other states), investigations and examinations from state financial services regulators (including the New York Department of Financial Services), and litigating a contested enforcement action against the Pennsylvania Attorney General
Represented multiple financial services companies in responding to civil investigative demands issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in areas including auto finance, short-term lending, student loan servicing, mortgages, credit cards, payment processing, credit card add-on products, and debt collection

Professional Highlights

Pro Bono Experience

Chris has represented Zoo Atlanta pro bono since 2007.

Judicial Clerkships

Hon. James H. Hancock, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, 1996-1997

Professional Activities

American Bar Association, Consumer Financial Services Committee, Chair of the Fair Access to Services Subcommittee (2018-2020)

Atlanta Bar Association

Recognition & Accomplishments

American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, Fellow

Chambers USA, financial services regulation: consumer finance, litigation (Nationwide), 2014-2021; financial services regulation: consumer finance, enforcement & investigations (Nationwide), 2021

The Best Lawyers in America, banking and finance litigation, commercial litigation, 2013-2021; "Lawyer of the Year," litigation-banking and finance (Atlanta), 2021

The Legal 500, finance - financial services regulation, 2021

Presenter at numerous in-house seminars for clients, including UDAAP/UDAP Principles and their Application, Reasonable Investigations Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Regulatory and Litigation Trends Affecting the Consumer Financial Services Industry, and Protecting the Attorney-Client Privilege.

Speaking Engagements

Chris regularly speaks at national-level seminars on topics relating to consumer financial services litigation, such as CFPB regulations and enforcement, unfair and deceptive trade practices litigation, credit reporting and debt collection issues, and mortgage lending litigation. Recent presentations include:

Panelist, “On the Radar for CFPB Supervision,” Consumer Bankers Association CBA Live Conference, August 17, 2021

Panelist, “Under New Management: CFPB and Debt Collection,” Consumer Bankers Association CBA Live Conference, August 16, 2021

Panelist, “UDAAP and Fair Lending,” Student Borrower Protection Center Virtual Conference, June 28, 2021

Co-Chair and Panelist, “Federal Regulatory Landscape and Developments,” Practicing Law Institute's Consumer Financial Services Q2 Update, June 17, 2021

Panelist, “Hot Legal Topics in Fair Housing and Fair Lending,” Real Estate Services Providers Council (RESPRO) Webinar, June 17, 2021

Speaker, Risk Management Association’s Chief Compliance Officer Roundtable, May 5, 2021

Co-Chairperson, Practicing Law Institute's Consumer Financial Services Post-Election Update, March 30, 2021

Speaker, “Special Purpose Lending Programs,” Risk Management Association Webinar, March 22, 2021

Panelist, “Racial Inequity in Lending Practices,” Loyola University’s Consumer Law Review Symposium, March 5, 2021

Speaker, “CFPB Final Collection Rules,” Risk Management Association Webinar, February 17, 2021

Speaker, “Election Impacts on the Financial Industry,” Risk Management Association Webinar, January 12, 2021

Speaker, “The Rapidly Evolving Landscape for FinTech,” Practicing Law Institute's 25th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, December 15, 2020

Speaker, “Big Data, AI, Social Media, and Alternative Data,” George Mason University and Conference on Consumer Finance Law (CCFL) Webinar, December 9, 2020

Speaker, “Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Enforcement,” Association of Consumer Vehicle Leasing Virtual Conference, September 23, 2020

Speaker, “Safely Assessing Ability to Repay in a Pandemic,” American Bar Association Business Section Annual Conference, September 22, 2020

Speaker, “Federal and State COVID-19 Regulatory Report,” Association of Consumer Vehicle Leasing Virtual Conference, September 16, 2020

Panelist, “Consumer Protection: What’s Happening at the FDIC,” Practicing Law Institute Webinar, June 30, 2020

Speaker, “Debt Collection During the Pandemic and Beyond,” National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) Webinar, June 8, 2020

Panelist, “Consumer Finance and COVID-19: Regulatory Enforcement Priorities and Industry Compliance Strategies, with Richard Cordray and Shennan Kavanagh,” Practicing Law Institute Webinar, June 2, 2020

Panelist, “Fair Credit Reporting and Debt Collection Issues,” and “The Rapidly Evolving Landscape for FinTech,” Practicing Law Institute's 24th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, San Francisco, CA, December 9, 2019

Panelist, "The Fair Lending Implications of AI Underwriting,” and “Legislative Developments in State Consumer Protection Laws,” American Bar Association's Business Section Spring Meeting, Vancouver, BC, March 28-29, 2019

Speaker, Practicing Law Institute's 24th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, New York, NY, March 25, 2019

Moderator, "Discouragement, Redlining and Targeting: Where Fair Lending and Advertising Meet," American Bar Association's Consumer Financial Services Committee 2018 Winter Meeting, Park City, UT, January 9, 2018

Panelist, "CFPB Developments," Annual Consumer Financial Services Conference, Fort Worth, November 2, 2017

Panelist, "Installment Lending: Payday, Title, Indirect Auto, and Student Loans," American Bar Association's Consumer Financial Services Committee National Institute, Washington, D.C., October 20, 2017

Board Memberships & Community Service

Zoo Atlanta, Board of Directors, Member, Facilities Committee

Publications

Co-author, Chapter on Fair Lending in the American Bar Association’s Consumer Finance Law, 2021

Co-author, "The Changing Environment: The Hanna Consent Order and Its Implications for Debt Buyers," DBA the Magazine, Spring 2016

Co-author, "Divided U.S. Supreme Court Holds Disparate Impact Claims Cognizable under FHA, but Subject to Safeguards Against Abusive Disparate Impact Claims," CCFL Quarterly Report, Vol. 68, No. 4

Related Insights

Credentials

Education

Samford University, Cumberland School of Law (J.D., summa cum laude, 1996)
Articles Editor, Cumberland Law Review; Graduated first in class

University of Alabama at Birmingham (B.A 1993)

Admissions

Alabama

Georgia

U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama

U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit