Joseph M. DeFazio

Joseph is a partner in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, with a primary focus in financial services litigation. He has vast experience representing large-scale public- and private-sector corporations against individual and class consumer claims arising under federal and state laws. He also advises financial institutions and servicers on regulatory compliance matters.

Recognized as “One to Watch” in banking and finance law as well as financial services regulation, Joseph defends banks, financial institutions, lenders, trusts, servicers, creditors, and fintechs against individual and class consumer claims brought under the alphabet soup of federal consumer protection and financial services statutes, including the FCRA, RESPA, TILA, ECOA, HOEPA, TCPA, and FDCPA, as well as RICO and their state counterparts. His defense of clients facing FCRA claims includes a recent high-profile Eleventh Circuit appeal whose outcome reaffirmed that consumer reporting agencies are not liable under the FCRA absent objectively and readily verifiable inaccuracies. Joseph has appeared and argued extensively in federal and state courts at the trial and appellate levels in New York, New Jersey, and numerous other jurisdictions. He notably serves as counsel of record for a private equity client involved in a nearly decade-running cross-border civil fraud litigation stemming from the going-private acquisition of a publicly traded health care company, a matter resulting in summary judgment for the client on the majority of its fraud-related claims before proceeding to trial in late 2025.

Joseph’s mortgage-related work spans defending against claims to rescind or reform mortgages as well as state-level predatory lending, fraud, and deceptive practices statutes. He has experience defending servicers and lenders in loan workout, default, and foreclosure-related litigation.

His commercial litigation experience also includes breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, business torts, fraud, misrepresentation, real estate, creditor rights and collections, and intellectual property. He also represents banks and servicers in bankruptcy proceedings.

• Serves as counsel of record for a private investment firm that executes multibillion-dollar deals. Member of the team litigating the firm’s ongoing civil fraud litigation arising from a cross-border, going-private acquisition of a publicly traded health care company; the firm and a court-appointed trustee pursued civil fraud, conspiracy, and breach of fiduciary duty claims against the company’s founder, in which the court granted motion to dismiss defendant counterclaims and later granted summary judgment on the vast majority of fraud-related claims before the case proceeded to trial on remaining claims and damages in 2025.
• Secured summary judgment in the District of Arizona for a consumer reporting agency defending claims under the FCRA’s reinvestigation and accuracy provisions.
• Successfully defended a consumer reporting agency against FCRA claims stemming from forced consumer checking account closure on appeal before the Eleventh Circuit. Dismissal affirmed in 2025; court reinforced that consumer reporting agencies are not liable absent inaccuracies that are objectively and readily verifiable.
• Fully prevailed on a motion to dismiss in a class action case for a national consumer reporting agency in the Northern District of California involving various allegations under the FCRA.
• Represented national banking institutions and mortgage servicing companies in Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings.
• Defended national banks and mortgage servicers in complex commercial litigation related to defaulted commercial loans.
• Secured dismissal in a foreclosure-related putative class action in the Eastern District of New York. The case, which had potentially industrywide implications, alleged inflated interest calculations in New York foreclosure sales under the FDCPA, RICO, and New York law.
• Represented a large-scale company with portfolio in excess of $380 billion and more than 2 million customers in negotiations concerning the settlement of claims on defaulting loans.
• Successfully defend national banks, trusts, and mortgage servicers against quiet title actions and other debt elimination schemes.
• Represented numerous fintech lenders, banks, and bank partners in state and federal courts defending individual and class actions involving sophisticated consumer claims, including representing a national fintech in a CFPB enforcement action alleging violations of the Military Lending Act.
• Represented fintech companies regarding Earned Wage Access claims on a range of litigation and regulatory matters, including favorable mass arbitration outcomes.

Pro Bono

• Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project
• VLANY

• Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch: Banking and Finance Law (2026-2027), Financial Services Regulation Law (2026-2027)