pbland@publicjustice.net

F. Paul Bland, Jr., a Staff Attorney at Public Justice since 1997, is responsible for developing, handling, and helping Public Justice’s cooperating attorneys litigate a diverse docket of public interest cases. 

Paul has argued and won more than 20 cases that have led to reported decisions for consumers, employees or whistleblowers in four of the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the high courts of six different states.  He is currently handling or assisting with appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; the California, Florida, Kentucky and Nevada Supreme Courts; and the Maryland Court of Appeals. 

Paul was the 2006 Recipient of the National Consumer Law Center’s Vern Countryman Award, which “honors the accomplishments of an exceptional consumer attorney who, through the practice of consumer law, has contributed significantly to the well being of vulnerable consumers.”  He was also the 2002 San Francisco co-Trial Lawyer of the Year and the 2001 Maryland Trial Lawyer of the Year.  He is a former co-chair and member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates

Paul has argued and won a number of appeals where courts struck down contract terms banning consumers from bringing class actions, including: Ting v. AT&T, 319 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 124 S. Ct. 53 (2003) (also striking from AT&T’s arbitration clause secrecy term and terms imposing excessive costs upon consumers); Discover Bank v. Superior Court (Boehr), 113 P.3d 1100 (Cal. 2005)(co-argued with co-counsel Brian Strange); Scott v. Cingular Wireless, 161 P.3d 1000 (Wash. 2007); Fiser v. Dell Computer Corp.,188 P.3d 1215 (N.M. 2008) (argued as amici, co-argued with plaintiffs’ counsel Austin Tighe).

Paul has also successfully argued several appeals where courts rejected claims that various federal laws preempted state laws that would benefit consumers:  Singh v. Prudential Health Care Plan, Inc., 335 F.3d 278 (4th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1073 (2003) (claims under Maryland HMO Act were within ERISA’s Savings Clause and did not conflict with ERISA’s Enforcement Clause); Ting v. AT&T, 319 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 124 S. Ct. 53 (2003) (Federal Communication Act does not preempt state contract law); McKee v. AT&T Corp., 191 P.3d 845 (Wash. 2008) (same);  Sweeney v. Savings First Mortgage, 897 A.2d 1037 (Md. 2005) (federal law does not preempt state statute limiting mortgage brokers’ fees); Wells v. Chevy Chase Bank, 832 A.2d 812 (Md. 2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 983 (2004) (Home Owners Lending Act does not preempt state contract law claims against credit card issuer).

His other successful oral arguments include the following decisions:

• United States v. United States ex rel Thornton, 207 F.3d 769 (5th Cir. 2000) (relators under qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act are entitled to receive a statutory share of the value of some non-cash proceeds of a settlement between the U.S. and the defendants).
• Dua v. Comcast/Harvey v. Kaiser, 805 A.2d 1061 (Md. 2002) (statute that retroactively stripped consumers of accrued cause of action violated several provisions of state constitution).
• Toppings v. Meritech Mortgage, 569 S.E.2d 149 (W.Va. 2002) (co-argued with Dan Hedges of Mountain State Justice) (where a lender’s arbitration clause designates an arbitration forum that is paid through a case volume fee system, and the arbitration forum’s income is dependent on continued referrals from the creditor, this so impinges on neutrality and fundamental fairness that the clause is unconscionable and unenforceable).
• Raymond James Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Saldukas, 896 So.2d 707 (Fl. 2005) (broker waived right to compel arbitration, even though investor proved no prejudice); Lewallen v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 487 F.3d 1085 (8th Cir. 2007) (also finding waiver of right to compel arbitration by a lender).
• Riemer v. Columbia Medical Plan, 358 Md. 222, 747 A.2d 677 (Md. 2000) (unanimously holding that the Maryland HMO Act prohibits HMOs from pursuing members for subrogation of recoveries members receive from third parties, on the grounds that HMOs offer pre-paid care and may not charge consumers a second time for such care.)

He is a 1986 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1983 “magna cum laude” graduate of Georgetown University, where he received a B.A. in Government.  Prior to coming to Public Justice, Paul was Chief Nominations Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and worked for nearly seven years with Kieron F. Quinn in Baltimore, Maryland, where he handled consumer and toxic tort class actions, prosecuted qui tam suits and defended libel suits.