Financial Services

Working with a deep understanding of the financial industry, Coblentz deftly handles complex litigation matters for banks and other financial institutions, associations, and services, defending them against a vast range of disputes and claims. We have also developed a national reputation for our defense of consumer-based class actions against the financial industry.

Whatever the case at hand, we always work to pursue a strategy that puts our clients’ goals and best interests at the forefront, bringing all of our experience to bear to secure a favorable outcome. We litigate with vigor at trial, while also always looking for opportunities to negotiate an advantageous settlement of an issue in the early stages.

We have defended cases at both the trial and appellate levels, including alleging banks’ failure to detect and prevent fiduciary fraud; money laundering, forgeries, and embezzlements; improper bank charges and set-offs; lender liability; and claims of unfair competition and violations of consumer protection laws.

In the course of our representation of these and other types of cases, and particularly with the appellate work we’ve done, we have developed distinct experience in the defenses available to banks under the Uniform Commercial Code, the Financial Code, preemptive federal statutes, regulations, and safe harbors. Because of our reputation for outstanding representation, we are often retained by banking associations to represent the industry as amicus curiae in cases of importance to California banks.

In addition to defending bank operations litigation, we are frequently engaged to provide pre- and post-litigation advice, claims analysis, and compliance counseling to in-house legal staff, loss investigation and loss prevention personnel, Bank Secrecy Act officers, and retail operations officers.

We are proud of the challenging work we do and the honors that peers and industry alike have given to our litigators. In 2009, the California Bankers Association honored partner Jonathan R. Bass with the Robert Frandzel Award in recognition of “superior and noteworthy legal assistance by an outside counsel to the California banking industry.”