I have always loved thinking and problem-solving within a set of rules, the essence of litigation and regulatory compliance. As a boy, I wanted to be responsible for, of all things, airline operations. Practicing law is similar – I take extremely complex issues, distill them into actionable, concise questions, and suggest and implement effective solutions.
Sandy has been a licensed attorney in California for more than 35 years, and has litigated cases involving commercial law, real estate, and consumer financial services, focusing on mortgage-related issues, and offered regulatory and compliance advice to clients throughout the country.
Having handled more than 100 non-jury trials and numerous substantial jury trials in both state and federal courts, Sandy is an effective advocate no matter the course of litigation. With experience supervising litigation teams in the in-house and law firm context, Sandy evaluates and synthesizes complex issues, analyzes conflicting statutes and regulations to distill them to their essence, and implements practical solutions. In short, he knows what the case is about, how it should resolve, and develops effective trial themes to enhance jury and bench understanding.
Sandy also manages appellate cases, both for cases on which the firm has done underlying trial work and for matters other firms handled during the trial phase. He has worked on appeals in Florida and California at the state and federal levels.
In 1998, Sandy joined Countrywide Home Loans where he organized and established that company’s California In-House Litigation Group. Sandy focused on mortgage-related litigation and has tried numerous cases to verdict. In 2008, after Bank of America acquired Countrywide, he managed outside counsel on a pool of hundreds of litigation cases, and helped develop case resolution strategies.
In 2010, he returned to private practice, and now works on litigation and regulatory issues. The majority of Sandy’s work focuses on mortgage-related and privacy issues, including mortgage originations and servicing, default strategies, customer service, reverse mortgages, and regulatory compliance issues under various federal and state consumer protection laws, including the Truth In Lending Act (TILA), The Homeowner and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
Sandy is active in leadership roles in several industry organizations. He organizes conferences, panels, and webinars, trains other attorneys, publishes papers and articles, and helps foster knowledge and understanding of financial services issues.