New York Appleseed releases groundbreaking study on reforms in consumer credit cases

Client(s) New York Appleseed

New York Appleseed, a local nonprofit, and pro bono partner Jones Day, have examined trends in consumer debt litigation, which culminated with the release of a groundbreaking report, "Due Process and Consumer Debt: Eliminating Barriers to Justice in Consumer Credit Cases." This report proposes innovative, low-cost ways to level the legal playing field and eliminate barriers to justice so that every consumer credit defendant receives due process. The report's principle author, Marguerite Dougherty, headed up the team from Jones Day New York who collectively reviewed nearly 700 court filings and interviewed numerous judges, court staff, civil court advocates and staff in developing the proposed reforms.

"Initially, our primary focus was developing strategies for getting civil debt defendants to go to court. But, the problem goes much deeper. The primary source of the inequities between plaintiffs and defendants is the lack of information." said Marguerite. "Ultimately, we looked at ways to make the whole court process more understandable and, we hope, more equal."

City Council recently used the report as a key part in its effort to pass new legislation – requiring all process servers to carry GPS devices to help verify that service was proper and actual.