Jeff Ehrlich, who served as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s deputy enforcement director for more than eight years, has joined McGuireWoods’ financial services litigation practice as a partner in Washington, D.C.
Ehrlich joined the CFPB in 2011 and was promoted to deputy enforcement director in 2013. In that role, he led the CFPB’s Field Litigation Team, managing investigations and litigation in the CFPB’s regional offices and headquarters. He directed more than 100 enforcement actions against financial services providers, often partnering with other federal regulatory and enforcement agencies and state attorneys general.
Before joining the CFPB, Ehrlich was a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice, an assistant county attorney for Miami-Dade County, Florida, and an associate at Sidley Austin in D.C. He started his career as a law clerk to United States District Judge James Lawrence King in the Southern District of Florida.
Ehrlich joins a McGuireWoods practice that represents the world’s most prominent financial institutions in civil investigations and enforcement proceedings and in class action litigation in courts throughout the country.
“Jeff’s experience in consumer finance law and CFPB investigations is unmatched,” said Cheryl Haas, chair of the firm’s Financial Services Litigation Department. “His perspective will provide powerful advantages to our financial services and retail clients who are navigating formal investigations or need guidance to ensure that their products and services comply with consumer protection laws.”
Ehrlich’s arrival follows the recent addition of partner Kevin Frankel, former assistant attorney general for the state of New York, who joined the firm’s financial services litigation practice in San Francisco.
“Jeff knows how regulators assess consumer financial products and has the judgment and skill to help our financial services clients manage regulatory and litigation risk and achieve their business goals,” said Dion Hayes, deputy managing partner of the firm’s litigation practice. “Jeff’s perspective gained as a pioneering enforcement leader at the CFPB and his broad litigation experience will be of great benefit to our fintech, banking and other clients that extend financial products and services to consumers.”
Todd Mullins, managing partner of McGuireWoods’ D.C. office, added: “The insight Jeff gained as a senior official at the CFPB makes him a perfect fit, enhancing our deep bench of regulatory investigations and enforcement lawyers with high-level government experience.”
McGuireWoods was among an exclusive group of law firms that corporate counsel identified as a commercial litigation powerhouse in “BTI Litigation Outlook 2022: Post Pandemic and Beyond.”Law360 has twice named McGuireWoods a “Banking Practice Group of the Year” for excellence representing financial services institutions in litigation, regulatory and transactional matters.
“McGuireWoods has a highly respected team of accomplished litigators and former regulators helping financial services clients manage complex and evolving regulatory issues,” Ehrlich said. “I am excited to join this global practice with a well-deserved reputation for excellence.”