Bruce N. Menkes

EDUCATION:
J.D., University of Chicago - 1984
B.A., William & Mary - 1981 (with highest honors)

EXPERIENCE:
Mr. Menkes is a founding partner of Mandell Menkes. Mr. Menkes represents businesses, including some of the nation's largest retailers, consumer lenders, and hospitals and other health care providers. He has handled co-brand and other credit card agreements for retailers. He defends consumer class actions, including suits alleging violations of the Consumer Fraud Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Truth in Lending Act; negotiates and documents lending, real estate, corporate, health care and other transactions; and forms and advises captive insurance companies and purchasing groups. Mr. Menkes:

• Helped several major retailers put together successful co-brand credit card arrangements with issuers;
• Obtained first decision holding that creditors generally cannot be liable under the FDCPA where they do not pretend to be outside debt collectors;
• Obtained one of the first decisions holding that a class alleging TILA claims cannot be certified where interests of certain borrowers will not coincide with the interests of other borrowers;
• Obtained dismissal of class actions by arguing that because a class representative had been a debtor in a Chapter 7 case, the debtor’s cause of action belongs to the trustee; and
• Regularly represents lenders, sellers, buyers, lessors and lenders in large-scale commercial real estate transactions.

Mr. Menkes is the Chair of the Debt Collection Practices and Bankruptcy Subcommittee of the Consumer Financial Services Committee of the Business Law Section of the ABA (2006 to present). He frequently speaks to lawyers and industry participants on the law concerning credit, gift and other payment cards, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, other consumer finance issues, and commercial lending.

Mr. Menkes’ recent publications include The FDCPA Takes a New Direction: Federal Review of State Court Litigation Practices (The Business Lawyer, 2008); Federal and State Debt Collection Practices Law Developments (The Business Lawyers, 2007); Fundamentals of Commercial Lending (NBI, 2006); "Ensuring Compliance with Debt Collection Practices", (NBI, 2007). In 2007, Mr. Menkes was quoted in the National Law Journal on consumer finance issues.

Mr. Menkes is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (member of the Trial Bar) and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.