I am delighted to report that Alan Kaplinsky has received the prestigious Senator William Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. The award is granted periodically to a person whose career has produced many years of distinguished accomplishments and contributions to the field of consumer financial services law. Alan received the award at the College’s 18th Annual Dinner in Montreal this past Saturday evening. As the formal written presentation appropriately observed about Alan: “He has forever altered the course of consumer financial services law.”
It was because of Alan’s immediate recognition of how significant the Dodd-Frank Act’s enactment and the CFPB’s creation would be for the consumer financial services industry that we launched our blog, CFPB Monitor, on July 21, 2011, the day the CFPB opened its doors for business. Last year, Alan was twice selected by the CFPB to testify as an industry representative at field hearings related to the CFPB’s arbitration study and rulemaking.
Alan is a most deserving recipient of the Proxmire Award. His notable achievements in the area of consumer financial services law include defending many of the first consumer class actions brought against financial institutions and pioneering the use of pre-dispute arbitration provisions in consumer contracts.
Since 2006, Alan has been recognized annually by Chambers USA as a Band One leading lawyer in consumer financial services law. Alan was selected as one of the National Law Journal’s 2015 Litigation Trailblazers for his pioneering work regarding consumer arbitration. He is currently an adviser to the American Law Institute (ALI) in connection with its ongoing project to create a Restatement of the Law Third, Consumer Contracts.
As leader of Ballard’s more than 110-member Consumer Financial Services Group, Alan is an inspiration to all of the firm’s consumer finance lawyers. Here’s a photo of Alan receiving the Proxmire Award: