NARCA Spring Collection Conference to Offer FDCPA Mock Trial

The National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA) will hold its Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) Mock Trial at its Spring Collection Conference, May 15-17, 2003. Lawsuits brought by debtors under the FDCPA can be time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to defend. Hopefully most collection attorneys will never experience a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) trial for real. For NARCA members, however, compliance with the FDCPA is a top-priority. NARCA believes the program will provide attorneys with insight into the FDCPA trial process and allow attendees to evaluate their in-house collection operations without experiencing litigation first hand.

NARCA focuses much of its attention and many of its educational sessions on helping members learn more about and comply with applicable laws, especially the FDCPA. Past conference sessions have focused on new FDCPA litigation trends and, more recently, how to prepare for an FDCPA trial. This year, NARCA will produce a full-scale trial complete with plaintiffs, defendants, jurors, and a judge. Attendees will even have the opportunity to watch the jury deliberate live.

Manuel “Manny” Newburger of Barron & Newburger (Austin, TX) will lead this program, playing the plaintiff’s attorney. Newburger has presented a number of FDCPA programs at previous NARCA conferences as well as other industry events. He is a well-known expert on Creditors’ Rights and FDCPA law. A judge will preside over proceedings, accompanied by a jury selected from the local area.

“This is a first for NARCA and I think a first for our industry. Our attendees are concerned with FDCPA compliance and showing them what a trial really looks like is going to be incredible. Of course, we hope that this experience will help them avoid litigation in the future,” said Kevin Brosnahan, NARCA’s Executive Director.

Scheduled for Saturday, May 17, the trial is to be the culmination of two days of educational programming. Other sessions at the conference will focus on technology applications such as electronic filing and document scanning and issues facing each practice such as Meaningful Involvement/attorney review, including separate educational tracks for Canadian law firms and Credit Grantors.

NARCA’s Spring Conference takes place in New Orleans, May 15-17, 2003. For more information visit www.narca.org or call 800-633-6069.