Apr. 21, 2016
Elizabeth L. McKeen
See more on Elizabeth L. McKeenO'Melveny & Myers LLP | Newport Beach
With 15 years of litigation experience, McKeen is a go-to attorney when mortgage lenders, banks and credit reporting agencies want to understand their legal options. The 38-year-old co-chair of O'Melveny & Myers LLP's financial services practice combines an understanding of regulation and compliance with a track record of success.
"A lot of folks in financial services approach negotiation with regulators as a captive situation," McKeen said. "I want a deal, but my leverage is being willing to litigate. My clients are not going to have something forced down their throats. It's about getting to the point where you want to settle." Working as lead counsel representing Ditech Financial LLC, McKeen negotiated the first joint settlement and consent order between a mortgage servicer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission.
"That was an interesting time when the FTC and CFPB were straddling between who led the investigation," McKeen said. "We worked to gather a deep understanding of how those entities were interacting. There was a turf war and it affected the negotiations."
McKeen's representation of OneWest Bank N.A. stood out in March 2015 when a Northern California district judge dismissed a lender-placed insurance putative class action. The ruling was unique as other entities facing similar claims uniformly reached multi-million dollar settlements. A litigator since joining O'Melveny as a 23-year-old, McKeen developed her regulatory practice during the financial collapse.
"One of the greatest pleasures of my practices is serving clients willing to litigate aggressively," McKeen said.
- Phil Johnson
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