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Walter Zalenski Quoted in Bloomberg BNA Article, "Scalia's Death May Tilt High-Stakes Loan Case"

Walter E. Zalenski

Walter Zalenski was quoted in Chris Bruce's Bloomberg BNA article, "Scalia's Death May Tilt High-Stakes Loan Case," on February 16, 2016. 

The Feb. 13 death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia may delay action on whether to hear a case with important implications for the secondary credit market, and perhaps even tilt the outcome in favor of the plaintiffs, lawyers and analysts said (Midland Funding LLC v. Madden, U.S., No. 15-cv-00610, brief filed, 2/12/16).

At issue is a petition by Midland Funding LLC, a debt-buying unit of San Diego-based Encore Capital Group. In November, Midland Funding asked the justices to review a May ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that said the National Bank Act (NBA) does not preempt state-law claims by borrowers on loans that Midland acquired from a national bank.

Walter E. Zalenski, a partner with Buckley Sandler in Washington, D.C., who represents financial institutions, said Scalia often favored federal preemption when applied to the regulation of interstate commerce.

“His record is largely consistent with an early public statement he made advocating against a reflexive anti-preemption stance and instead urging a ‘two-front war’ against over-burdensome regulation at the state no less than the federal levels,” Zalenski told Bloomberg BNA Feb. 15. “Hence, I think that Justice Scalia's death tilts in favor of the Plaintiff-Respondent in Madden.”

Click here to read the full article at www.bna.com.