Julie Hoffmeister Smith

Julie is a partner primarily focusing on financial services litigation. She defends consumer-facing companies of all types in individual claims and class actions, including claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Julie also applies her litigation knowledge in assisting businesses in developing compliance processes and procedures for the myriad federal consumer protection laws.

Julie provides ongoing analysis and commentary on legal and business developments in the consumer financial services industry through the Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor blog at cfslawmonitor.com.

• Defeated plaintiff’s motion for class certification on behalf of a national data analytics company in the Eastern District of Virginia, with the court finding the proposed class definitions attempting to apply the FCRA to its identity theft and fraud prevention products were procedurally improper and prejudicial to the defendant.
• Serving as lead counsel for a national data analytics and technology company in FCRA nationwide class actions and single-plaintiff FCRA cases.
• Serving as counsel for a consumer reporting agency in MDL proceeding aggregating more than 30 class actions arising out of alleged consumer privacy violations.
• Defeated class certification in a nationwide putative class action alleging DPPA violations.
• Counseled client regarding DPPA implementation and compliance.
• Successfully moved to dismiss nationwide putative class action claims alleging state and federal privacy violations.
• Defended a credit repair company in various nationwide TCPA individual matters and class actions.
• Represented a major national debt collector in multiple individual and class action FDCPA and TCPA cases.
• Resolved a TCPA putative class action against a national bank on an individual basis.
• Represented a major bank in a federal court putative class action under the UCC; resolved the case through an individual settlement after a successful preliminary motion.

• Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch: Banking and Finance Law (2021-2026), Corporate Law (2021-2026), Financial Services Regulation Law (2021-2026), Litigation – Banking and Finance (2021-2026), Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants (2021-2026), Privacy and Data Security Law (2021-2026)
• Virginia Lawyers Media, “Up & Coming Lawyers” (2020)