brianodell100.gif

D. Brian O

Partner

Brian’s practice focuses on financial services litigation and regulatory compliance, with an emphasis in residential mortgages. In 2012, Brian was named a “Rising Star” by Alabama Super Lawyers in the Real Estate Section. Brian has also earned his Accredited Mortgage Professional designation through the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and is one of a small number of lawyers who have achieved this status. Brian is a regular instructor for the MBA at the Schools of Mortgage Banking I and II, teaching Regulatory Compliance, Laws Affecting the Mortgagee’s Interest in Property, and Ethics in the Financial Services Industry. Brian also teaches Secured Real Property as an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama School of Law. Brian has represented numerous clients relating to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Consent Orders. This representation includes developing, drafting, and implementing third party vendor management policies and procedures, providing legal support to independent consultants under the Foreclosure Review section of the Orders, including the creation of compliance test plans for all 50 states, and improving and expanding policies and procedures related to document execution and notary observance. Brian was also involved in the $25 billion national mortgage settlement that was finalized on March 12, 2012. Over the past eleven months, BABC worked with the 49 states' attorneys general and the Department of Justice in resolving issues surrounding allegedly deficient on improper documentation related to residential mortgage default servicing. BABC also helped in negotiating the national servicing standards that will govern residential mortgage servicing on a go-forward basis. Brian is licensed in eight states (Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, and Texas) and represents financial services clients in federal and state courts nationwide. Brian has litigated cases involving causes of action of TILA, RESPA, FDCPA, FCRA, RICO, predatory lending, mortgage related fees and services, title insurance, wrongful foreclosure, and state deceptive trade practices law. Brian has also litigated all facets of the financial services industry, including origination, warehouse lending, pooling and servicing agreements, loan repurchase disputes, investor disputes, servicing matters, and mortgage fraud. In addition, Brian has managed class actions in Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, and Nevada. Brian leverages technology for the benefit of firm clients through an extranet, whereby clients have access to a BABC website that allows them to retrieve and open documents from multiple files. The extranet acts as a real-time, paperless file that can be accessed at all times regardless of location. Because security is a priority, the site is password protected and maintained by BABC’s Information Technology Department.