Relman Colfax is pleased to announce that Stephen Hayes has joined the partnership. Stephen originally came to the firm in 2011 and returned in 2018 after several years at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He practices in both the civil rights counseling and litigation groups, with an emphasis on fair lending and fair housing, consumer protection, regulatory compliance, and FinTech issues.
As an attorney at Relman Colfax, Stephen has developed and encouraged adoption of best-in-class practices on a range of civil rights and consumer protection issues, including increasing access to responsible credit for historically underserved populations. He has contributed to efforts to prevent the roll-back of important civil rights laws and represented individuals and organizations in discrimination actions, including as part of a team that successfully advocated on behalf of students in a reverse redlining class action against a for-profit college.
Stephen is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was awarded the John Ordronaux Prize for the highest academic average in his class. After graduation, he clerked for the Hon. Marsha S. Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. At the CFPB, Stephen contributed to the payday lending rulemaking, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rulemakings, and the Bureau’s No-Action Letter program. Stephen also worked on UDAAP, ECOA, FCRA and other supervisory and enforcement actions.
Please join us in welcoming Stephen to the partnership.