Student Loan Servicing Challenges in the COVID-19 Context and Beyond

Paul concentrates his practice in the area of consumer financial services and retail banking. He represents banks, thrift institutions, credit unions, mortgage companies, loan servicers, finance companies, secondary market investors, real estate and title insurance companies, and other financial services providers and investors.

Paul presents regularly to national financial services and related service provider organizations, including the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, American Bankers Association, Pennsylvania Bankers Association, Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers, Pennsylvania Credit Union Association, Real Estate Settlement Providers Council (RESPRO), October Research and the American Conference Institute.

Paul is widely published on finance issues and is the co-author of The Lender’s Guide to Consumer Compliance and Anti-Discrimination Laws, co-author of Pratt’s State Regulation of Second Mortgages and Home Equity Loans and is the original author of the Allregs© State Law Compliance Module. Paul has authored over 30 articles for both industry and legal publications. He is quoted regularly in trade publications, including, for example, “Consumer Bureau Shaking Things Up,” published in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Prior to entering private practice in 1986, Paul served as the executive director of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association in Washington, D.C. He was also a legislative assistant in Governor Hugh Carey’s New York State Office of Federal Affairs and to Congressman James Scheuer.

Vaishali Rao focuses her practice in two primary areas: first, defending companies in regulatory investigations and litigation brought by governmental bodies; second, compliance counseling related to statutes intended to protect consumers. She has advised a range of financial institutions—small and large banks, online lenders, and fintech businesses—on these issues and also maintains strong relationships with Illinois banking regulators.

Vaishali has defended companies facing inquiries, requests for information, subpoenas, civil investigative demands, supervisory examinations, or lawsuits brought by government entities like state attorneys general, state and municipal regulators, state banking examiners, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the U.S. Department of Justice.

She has extensive experience resolving complex unfair and deceptive trade practice cases either through litigation or negotiated settlements. She is also skilled in the drafting and implementation of agreements or court orders requiring substantial business reform.

Vaishali has helped companies identify and manage risk by counseling them through issues intersecting with consumer protection, including the: Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), state telemarketing laws, federal and state privacy requirements—including Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)—data breach management, student loan licensing, and other state law requirements.

As a complement to risk management, Vaishali drafts opinion letters, and seeks formal or informal interpretative opinions from government agencies.

Prior to joining Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, Vaishali served as a supervising attorney in the Consumer Fraud Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. During her tenure, she frequently led multi-state investigations and litigation related to advertising, marketing, and promotion.

Keith Anderson has wide-ranging experience across multiple jurisdictions and concentrates his practice on representing financial institutions in the financial services industry, as well as representing employers in employment matters.

His financial services practice includes representing financial institutions, mortgage lenders and servicers, student loan lenders and servicers, auto-finance lenders in defensive litigation throughout the country. Keith has handled causes of action and advised on matters including TILA, RESPA, HOEPA, FDCPA, FCRA, predatory lending, wrongful foreclosure, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), mortgage-related fees and services, origination, pooling and servicing agreements, deceptive trade practices' claims, loan repurchase disputes, investor disputes, servicing matters, mortgage fraud, lender-placed insurance, Texas home equity loans, class actions, bankruptcy adversary proceedings, student lending compliance, and contentious foreclosure actions.

Keith has extensive experience related to the SCRA in both providing regulatory guidance to clients for compliance and in defending litigated cases.

In his employment practice, he has handled multiple litigated matters under the FLSA, ADA, ADEA, FMLA and claims of discrimination and retaliation, as well as counseling employers on compliance and effective employment policies.

Before joining Bradley, Keith graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with academic, military, and athletic distinction. He served as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force, where he handled dozens of court-martials and administrative boards as both a prosecuting and defense attorney.