Gregory N. Blase

/My focus

My practice is focused on counseling clients on avoidance of litigation risk in the area of consumer financial services. I advise clients on the development of integrated solutions for risk mitigation in industries that have consumer-facing business operations. I counsel companies to identify regulatory and litigation risk and to advise in-house legal departments and management on best practices for responding to that risk. My clients include leading companies in the financial services, energy, media and telecommunications, manufacturing, and consumer products industries. I provide regulatory compliance advice and policy and procedure reviews. In addition, I oversee audits and internal investigations and respond to government investigations.

I also defend against complex individual and class action suits brought under state and federal law, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), and various state unfair and deceptive practices statutes.

I take a holistic approach to addressing legal risk, recognizing the importance of bringing stakeholders together to solve problems collectively. Clients appreciate my ability to explain complex legal concepts in lay terms that are easy for business people and other stakeholders to understand.

/Representative experience

The below experience includes representations from a previous law firm.

• Successfully argued case to New York Court of Appeals in matter of first impression
• Through a secondment to a large national bank client, hands-on experience in assisting clients with the management of teams of lawyers and paralegals to handle a large volume of routine and repeat cases
• Denial of class certification in a putative nationwide class action under the FDCPA
• Dismissal of putative nationwide class action against national bank, alleging breach of contract and violations of FDCPA arising out of allegedly improper lender-placed insurance
• Defense of loan servicer in putative class actions under the TCPA
• Advice to clients on recent changes and challenges to Massachusetts foreclosure laws and applicable state and federal regulations
• Defense of loan servicer and others in a multidistrict litigation proceeding established to address claims related to the identification of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. on residential mortgages and deeds of trust in non-judicial foreclosure states
• Part of a team advising a national bank in cases alleging certain improprieties in connection with the execution and notarization of foreclosure-related documents

/Looking ahead

The financial services industry is undergoing a significant transformation in which technology companies are playing a larger role and, in some cases, looking to compete directly with established institutions. This transformation creates new risks and challenges for financial services providers. While there has been a pull-back in enforcement and supervision at the federal level, it is anticipated that the states and private plaintiffs will have a larger impact on the industry.

/Insights

Publications

• “Staying The Course On Consumer Financial Law Compliance,” Law360, April 21, 2025
• “The New ‘Open Banking’ Regime: Primer, Fact Sheet and Its Likely Future,” The Banking Law Journal, April 2025
• “Call For Input Shows How Banks, Fintechs Can Address Risks,” Law360, November 7, 2024
• “Applying Loper Bright, the Seventh Circuit Holds that ECOA Protects Prospective Applicants,” Westlaw Today, August, 12 2024 
• “Third Time Is the Charm: Eleventh Circuit Allows Creditor’s Use of Commercial Mail Vendor,” The Banking Law Journal, January 2023 (co-author)
• “Mortgage Lending to Nontraditional Borrowers: The Opportunities and Compliance Points of Mortgage Lending to DACA Recipients, Recent Immigrants, and Limited-English Proficiency Borrowers,” The Banking Law Journal, April 2019 (co-author)
• “Massachusetts State Senators Seek to Enact Biometric Data Protection Law,” The National Law Review, February 2019 (co-author)
• “In Spokeo Remand, Ninth Circuit Adopts Hybrid Approach to Statutory-Standing Analysis,” Washington Legal Foundation, October 2017 (co-author)
• “A Closer Look At Midland Funding v. Johnson,” Law360, June 2017 (co-author)
• “The Credit Card Surcharge Fight Isn’t Over Yet,” Law360, April 2017 (co-author)
• “Federal Courts Follow Two Approaches Post-Spokeo When Analyzing Standing,” Washington Legal Foundation, Legal Backgrounder, Vol. 32, No. 3, January 2017 (co-author)