The Mandarich Law Group Explained
Mandarich Law Group, LLP, is a law firm headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA. Further offices are located in Atlanta, GA, which primarily services Georgia and South Carolina; Tampa, FL, which primarily services Florida; New York, NY, which primarily services New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania; and Houston, TX, which primarily services Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. It has also been found on occasion to engage in collection activity in Michigan, California, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, and Nevada . Originally founded in 1998, the firm specializes itself exclusively in the collection of debts. It additionally contracts with third-party debt collectors, who frequently enter into various forms of working arrangements with Mandarich. The firm bills itself as using "intelligent lawyering" to get the maximum results for its clients. Mandarich represents large (generally publicly held) corporations, including Capital One, Synchrony Bank, and Comenity Capital Bank, all of whom are also parties to the lawsuit.
The Class Action Against Mandarich Law Group
Details of the Mandarich Law Group Class Action Lawsuit
The proposed class action is Hills, et. al. v. Mandarich Law Group LLP, Mandarich Law Group, LLP, et al., case number 13-cv-4910, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs contend that Mandarich Law Group, LLC has violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to "follow reasonable procedures" for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the information provided by consumers in connection with credit applications. Mandarich denies this and states that the lawsuit is "without merit".
The plaintiffs allege that the defendant, Mandarich Law Group, LLC, has had a pattern of willfully non-compliance with the FCRA requirements to "follow reasonable procedures" for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the information provided by consumers in connection with credit applications and that they failed to confirm the accuracy of statements made in supporting court documents. These issues were cited in response to debt collection cases filed by Mandarich Law Group, LLC in the state of Illinois. It is alleged that, on numerous occasions, Mandarich Law Group, LLC and its agents and employees, further to the use of a deceptive and misleading court and judicial record scheme, filed inaccurate or misleading debt claim documents onto the public record and sought to obtain judgments based upon the inaccuracy of such documents.
The defense contends that these types of allegations concerning the FCRA are frequently made and that the laws are not being properly interpreted. If the plaintiffs are successful, Mandarich may be required to change their policy for obtaining information from consumers and for representing this information in court documents.
What the Class Action Means for Plaintiffs
In the Mandarich Law Group Class Action Lawsuit, there are a few legal implications for plaintiffs who are or may be included as putative class members. Procedurally, individuals do not actually become members of the class until there is a final judgment entered by the District Judge and a ruling by the Bankruptcy Court. Although earlier decisions in the case may deny the Motion to Dismiss or grant class action certification, it is not until the final judgment is entered in the California federal court (and affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals if the decision is appealed) that members actually become members of the "certified class" and can recover damage awards payment from the defendants. In addition, members of the class are bound by the results of the decision, and cannot later bring another lawsuit on the same issues for any alleged damages that occurred during the time period specified in the class action. For this reason, membership in the certified class must be carefully evaluated, and may not necessarily be advisable.
Resolution and Damages
In a successful class action lawsuit, plaintiffs may seek a variety of resolutions and types of compensation from the defendant. In the Mandarich Law Group class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs are alleging violations of consumer protection laws on the part of Mandarich and its partners and affiliates. As such, the plaintiffs are seeking relief in the form of a settlement agreement and/or a monetary award. The settlement will be negotiated in a manner that allows the plaintiffs to recoup lost wages, additional fees for services that the plaintiffs received, and in some cases, punitive damages. Attorney’s fees are separate from the judgment, and are bound by their own motions and request for approval from the court when value is assessed. As with any lawsuit, the outcome depends on the ability of the attorneys to negotiate a solid resolution for the defendant to the plaintiffs’ claims. If the Mandarich class action lawsuit is successful, the plaintiffs could expect a generous monetary settlement. These types of consumer protection term violations allow for aggravated penalties, damages, and fee application due to the violation of particular laws. Given the number of plaintiffs involved, it is likely that the attorneys will seek large compensatory damages and a sizable fee award. This is one of the reasons that attorneys are able to take these disability claims, and is a necessary consideration in order to resolve the case properly and to properly compensate the plaintiffs.
Joining the Class Action
The Mandarich Law Group class action lawsuit consists of several hundred thousand consumers across 40 states. Fortunately, it is not too late to join the class action. It is not required that you be currently represented by an attorney, or hire counsel on a frequent or ongoing basis. In fact, it is not necessary that you employ an attorney at all. If you qualify as a member of the "class," you need not take any action. The lawyer in the case will represent you and all other qualifying members of the "class" in litigating the case.
First, it is essential to determine whether you qualify as a member of the class. If your debts are reported on your credit report as being sold to an alleged debt collector called Mandarich Law Group LLC, then you are most likely a member of the class. This allegedly occurred in all 50 states. The action was filed on July 31, 2018, and we have reason to believe that the alleged illegal conduct may have been occurring for several years. Thus, if your debt is reported on a credit report as being sold to the Mandarich Law Group LLC during any part of the last 3 years, you should be a member of the class .
Next, you should fill out the short client information sheet found at this link: [link] You should provide a copy of the collection account alleged to have been sold to Mandarich Law Group LLC to [email protected]. If you have multiple debts being reported separately as being sold to Mandarich Law Group LLC, you should send us copies of all of those accounts. Lastly, you should provide a copy of your credit report for us to review. These are available at www.annualcreditreport.com and can be requested for free once per year from each of the three main credit reporting agencies. If you obtain all 3 reports at the same time, you will also receive free credit scores. We will review this information and if we believe you qualify as a member of the class, we will contact you to ask if you consent to becoming a client of our firm in the case. Because we are representing clients on a contingency basis in the case, we will need to ask you for permission to pursue a case for you if we find that you qualify for it. If you decline to represent us, then you need not take any additional action.
Mandarich Law Group in the Balance
The Mandarich Law Group has long been known for its aggressive collection strategies and a general fondness for litigation. In that context, the lawsuit is likely to have an impact on Mandarich’s short-term strategy of aggressively pursuing debt collection as much as possible.
While the class action lawsuit is a problem for the Mandarich Law Group, it is likely be a small bump in the road for a firm that has no shortage of clients or work. The questions include whether the Army will continue to support their attorneys and (more importantly) give them business, whether the judges with whom they practice will continue to give their litigators the time and respect they demand, and whether their former clients will hold them accountable for their misconduct. More likely than not, the answer to all these questions will be no; there are a number of firms that can do what the Mandarich Law Group does, and their business will simply go to those similarly situated firms.
On the other hand, this type of problem is not uncommon in any law firm, and a simple change in tactics can help the firm avoid future problems. In that context, there is no reason to think that the Mandarich Law Group will not be able to continue its prior practices after the resolution of the lawsuit, whether via settlement, dismissal or adverse judgment.
Advice to Those Affected
As a consumer, you have rights and options if you believe that you have been harmed by the practices at issue in the Mandarich Law Group Class Action Lawsuit. You may have claims for actual damages. You may also have a powerful argument that you are entitled to a refund of any amounts you have paid towards your debt under the law of "unjust enrichment"—which is usually not subject to mandatory arbitration clauses.
If you currently do not have a lawyer representing you for your legal claims, we recommend that you consult with a licensed Attorney before making any decisions about how to proceed. You should consider the impact of being subject to a mandatory arbitration clause due to the Consumer Agreement you signed and it is important to get advice about that from a lawyer who is familiar with the law .
In most cases, you can find attorneys who represent consumers on a contingency fee basis—they only charge fees that are calculated as a percentage of any recovery obtained for you. They will front their own costs until they can recover them as well. If you think you may want to consult an attorney about a potential class action lawsuit or your own claims, it is best to speak with a qualified attorney as soon as possible. Contingency fee lawyers are often most inclined to take cases early because they can spend more time working on the issues when they first come up and they can plan their case strategy more effectively.