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Leslie Meredith

Partner

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Leslie Meredith represents corporate and individual clients across the financial services industry in litigation and enforcement matters, including government investigations, regulatory examinations, and private litigation. She also counsels clients on compliance with consumer protection laws and supervision preparedness.

Leslie is an effective communicator who is able to distill complex facts and legal concepts, and turn them into simple, compelling, and persuasive stories. She is passionate about partnering with her clients to understand their priorities and find innovative and cost-effective strategies to resolve disputes favorably and manage compliance risk effectively.

In addition to representing clients in federal and state courts around the country, she has helped clients navigate and resolve enforcement actions by state and federal regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Department of Justice (DOJ), and state attorneys general, relating to a wide range of subject matter areas, involving both traditional and alternative financial services.

Drawing on the breadth of her experience in the financial services industry, Leslie also counsels clients on compliance with consumer protection laws and supervision preparedness. Her areas of focus include:

  • Prohibitions on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAP and UDAAP)
  • 50-state consumer lending compliance
  • Federal preemption of state consumer and commercial credit laws, including rate exportation/most favored lender issues
  • Customer complaints management
  • Legal order response, including levies and garnishments
  • Codes of conduct and business ethics, including policies related to outside business interests and the Bank Bribery Act

Leslie's recent work on behalf of financial services providers includes:

  • Conducting internal investigations of suspected misconduct or violations of law and/or regulatory requirements
  • Representing institution affiliated parties (IAPs) in enforcement actions brought under 12 USC 1818(e), including actions seeking orders of prohibition
  • Assisting numerous banks, non-banks, and fintech companies in responding to examination requests, civil investigative demands, and subpoenas relating to a wide range of subject matter areas, including mortgage lending and servicing, securities based lending, ancillary credit products, and deposit accounts
  • Conducting compliance risk assessments regarding various issues arising under federal and state consumer protection statutes and consumer lending laws
  • Advising banks and non-bank financial institutions in connection with examinations by federal and state regulators, including responding to exam findings, Matters Requiring Attention (MRA/MRIA) and enforcement referrals
Prior to joining Orrick, Leslie was counsel at Buckley LLP. She also completed a six-month secondment at a large financial institution, working as a member of the private banking legal advisory group and the litigation department. Leslie is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School, and maintains an active pro bono practice focused on criminal justice and immigration matters.

  • Other representative matters:

    • Represented former executive of a fintech lender in a False Claims Act investigation involving Paycheck Protection Program lending (PPP loans)
    • Defended lender-placed insurance providers in multiple putative class actions, as well as in investigations brought by the DOJ, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and state insurance regulators, including the NYDFS and the Massachusetts Attorney General
    • Represented group of non-bank alternative financial services providers in enforcement actions and investigations involving multiple state attorneys general, congressional inquiries, the NYDFS, and the CFPB related to unfair trade practices
    • Represented specialty home lender in investigations by the CFPB and DOJ into its lending and servicing practices. Matter was closed with no action taken
    • Represented large national bank, in a joint CFPB and DOJ settlement resolving allegations that discretionary pricing policies in its mortgage lending business disparately impacted minority borrowers. The settlement imposed no civil money penalties and no forward-looking injunctive relief
    • Represented bankruptcy trustee of a thrift holding company in an adversary proceeding regarding breach of fiduciary duty claims in connection with the thrift's failure
    • Represented Universal Entertainment Corp., a large Japanese gaming manufacturer, and its subsidiary, Aruze USA, Inc., in FCPA-related litigation brought by Wynn Resorts Ltd., as well as in related parallel enforcement matters. The case involved one of the first examples of a private party using allegations of FCPA violations as an affirmative weapon to gain an upper hand in an unrelated contract dispute. After six years of litigation – during which the parties produced millions of documents, argued more than a dozen appeals and scores of motions, and took nearly 100 depositions – Wynn Resorts agreed to pay $2.6 billion to our clients just a month before trial
    • Represented the Navajo Nation in a landmark lawsuit against the U.S. government. The Nation alleged that the U.S. had breached its fiduciary duties to the tribe by failing to properly manage, invest, and account for funds and resources the U.S. held in trust for the tribe. After many years of litigation involving facts, circumstances, and documents stretching back six decades, the firm secured a $554 million settlement on behalf of the tribe. It is the largest settlement obtained against the U.S. in any action by a single Native American tribe