Executive Change: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Attorney James Kim Joins Ballard Spahr in NYC

Ballard Spahr is pleased to announce the arrival of James Kim, a well-known consumer financial services litigator and regulatory attorney, to our office in New York City. In addition to his experience in private practice, Mr. Kim recently served as a senior enforcement attorney with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and is uniquely positioned to help clients avoid or navigate CFPB investigations.

Mr. Kim has extensive experience with federal consumer finance laws, including UDAAP, TILA, RESPA, EFTA, and the FDCPA. He also has particular skill and experience in helping consumer finance clients with matters involving technology, such as financial technology (FinTech) and the launch of card and smartphone-related products.

In addition to his regulatory work, Mr. Kim has tried, as first or second chair, more than 20 cases to verdict and has briefed criminal and civil appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the New York State Appellate Division. He joins the firm from the New York office of Arnold & Porter.

As an enforcement attorney at the CFPB, Mr. Kim led nationwide investigations involving consumer credit, mobile financial services, emerging payment systems, mortgage origination, and debt collection. He was lead counsel in the CFPB’s first enforcement actions involving mobile payments and was a member of the credit card/prepaid card/emerging payments issue team that helped coordinate enforcement activity with other offices at the Bureau.

Also while at the Bureau, Mr. Kim helped manage relationships with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, state attorneys general, and state banking regulators and he drafted sections of the Office of Enforcement’s internal policies and procedures. At Ballard Spahr, Mr. Kim joins a nationally recognized Consumer Financial Services Group of more than 100 attorneys across the country.

Mr. Kim is the third attorney to join the practice from the CFPB. Bowen “Bo” Ranney, who also is resident in Ballard Spahr’s New York office, was an examiner-in-charge with the CFPB, working in both supervision and enforcement. Tristram Q. Wolf was a CFPB investigator who assessed complaints from consumers claiming violations of consumer protection laws involving consumer reporting, auto finance and servicemember lending. Mr. Wolf also provided counsel on internal operational matters involving the consumer complaint database, the publication of consumer narratives, and the company guidance manual.

About Ballard Spahr

Ballard Spahr, a national law firm with more than 500 lawyers in 14 offices in the United States, provides a range of services in litigation, business and finance, real estate, intellectual property, and public finance. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, life sciences and technology companies, health systems, investors and developers, government agencies and sponsored enterprises, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. The firm combines a national scope of practice with strong regional market knowledge. For more information, please visit www.ballardspahr.com.