A local lawyer represented a consumer in a small-claims debt-collection case. The lawyer alleged that the parties in that case had reached a settlement, but through the wrongful acts of defense counsel (including the submission of default final judgment papers), the plaintiff was defaulted.
The lawyer then brought a lawsuit in his own name against the defendant in the previous lawsuit and their counsel, primarily relying on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692. The FDCPA authorizes lawsuits by “any person” harmed by a debt collector’s prohibited conduct. Title of this post aside, the Eleventh Circuit held that the lawyer-turned-plaintiff had no Article III standing.
Opinion can be found here.
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