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Walter Zalenski Quoted in Bloomberg BNA Article, "SCOTUS Action on Midland Case Still Possible Despite SG's Brief"

Walter Zalenski was quoted in Chris Bruce's Bloomberg BNA article, "SCOTUS Action on Midland Case Still Possible Despite SG's Brief," on May 26, 2016. 

The Solicitor General's recommendation for the U.S. Supreme Court to sidestep a much-followed preemption and interest-rate controversy is no guarantee that the justices won't take it anyway, lawyers said (Midland Funding LLC v. Madden, U.S., No. 15-cv-00610, brief filed 5/24/16).

At issue is a petition by Midland Funding, a debt-buying unit of San Diego-based Encore Capital Group, seeking the court's review of a May 2015 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that said the National Bank Act doesn't preempt state-law usury claims brought by Saliha Madden.

The SG's office filed a highly anticipated brief May 24, saying the Second Circuit erred, but that there's no need for the justices to grant Midland Funding's petition.

Walter Zalenski, a partner with Buckley Sandler in Washington, D.C., who represents financial institutions, said the SG's brief has plenty of good news for banks.

“The Solicitor General’s amicus brief, in which the OCC participated, is a resounding victory on the merits,” Zalenski told Bloomberg BNA May 24. “It concludes that Section 85 of the National Bank Act plainly encompasses the national bank’s power to convey to an assignee the right to enforce the interest rate set forth in the bank’s loan agreements. Moreover, the Solicitor offered a thorough and multifaceted — and frankly fairly devastating — critique of the Second Circuit’s decision in Madden,” he said.

Click here to read the full article at www.bna.com (subscription required).