Amicus Effort Backs NAACP in Challenge to NY Rules Preventing Access to Justice in Debt Collection Cases

March.07.2022

An Orrick appellate team has filed an amicus brief on behalf of the NAACP in support of a non-profit’s federal court challenge to New York rules that prevent non-lawyers from providing free legal advice to people facing debt collection lawsuits.

The pro bono effort sides with Upsolve, which earlier this year sued New York Attorney General Latitia James, arguing that applying the New York rules to its planned access to justice program for low-income New Yorkers violates the First Amendment. Our amicus arguments for the NAACP focus on the fact that the majority of defendants facing these debt collection actions lack legal assistance, resulting in onerous default judgments.

The brief supports Upsolve’s position that the state rules run afoul of the First Amendment and interfere with efforts to provide access for justice for those in need of legal assistance in debt collection actions.

“Moreover,” our embed brief states, “a disproportionate number of these defendants are people of color, rendering the access to justice gap particularly stark for communities of color. Debt collection actions thus exacerbate disparity in access to justice that the NAACP seeks to eliminate.”

The Orrick team is led by associates Sarah Sloan and Jodie Liu, and includes partner Danny Rubens. NAACP Empowerment Programs collaborated on the brief.

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Sarah Sloan Senior Associate, Currently on a Racial Justice Fellowship, Supreme Court & Appellate

Washington, D.C.

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Supreme Court & Appellate

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Sarah Sloan Senior Associate, Currently on a Racial Justice Fellowship

Washington, D.C.

Before joining Orrick, Sarah served as a law clerk to Justice Elena Kagan and Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court, Judge Michelle T. Friedland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Judge Alison J. Nathan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She has co-authored briefs in the First, Second, Fourth, and D.C. Circuits. Sarah also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on civil rights and criminal justice.

Sarah received her law degree from Columbia Law School, where she won the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize.

Sarah serves on the Board of Directors for the John Paul Stevens Fellowship Foundation, which supports law students who spend the summer working in unpaid public interest law internships.

Jodie Liu Senior Associate, Supreme Court & Appellate

New York

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Jodie Liu Senior Associate

New York

Before joining Orrick, Jodie served as a law clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Patricia Millett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She graduated from Harvard Law School and Columbia College.

Daniel A. Rubens Partner, Supreme Court & Appellate

New York

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Daniel A. Rubens Partner

New York

Danny's practice focuses on appellate litigation. He has led the drafting on dozens of appellate briefs, and regularly argues appeals in state and federal courts. Danny has extensive trial litigation experience as well, with an emphasis on dispositive motions, preserving appellate issues, and developing creative legal strategies.

Danny’s work has covered a wide range of subject areas, including securities, bankruptcy, intellectual property, arbitration, class actions, and criminal law. He has a deep understanding of appeals and critical motions in financial services litigation, and in recent years has played a key role in representing financial institutions in major RMBS cases brought by trustees, investors, and monoline insurers. His financial services clients include Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Mr. Cooper, and Ocwen. He also represents leading technology companies in precedent-setting cases involving antitrust law and ballot initiatives, as well as other complex commercial litigation. In addition, Danny is an experienced bankruptcy litigator, having represented various debtors and creditors in fraudulent transfer cases and other contested insolvency-related matters involving U.S. and foreign law.

Danny is a member of the Second Circuit's pro bono panel and maintains an active pro bono practice focusing on criminal, immigration, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ rights matters in the Supreme Court and other appellate courts. He was recently recognized by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association as a “Best LGBTQ+ Lawyer Under 40,” by the New York Law Journal as a Rising Star, and by LawDragon in its inaugural 500 X – The Next Generation listing. As part of his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Danny serves as a mentor for The Appellate Project, an organization focused on empowering law students of color to thrive in the appellate field. He has also served as an Orrick ambassador for the Move The Needle Fund, a collaborative effort designed by Diversity Lab to create a more diverse and inclusive legal profession.

Before joining Orrick, Danny served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Following his clerkships, he was selected to represent the American Inns of Court as a Temple Bar Scholar in London.