PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Mr. Klein is a nationally recognized expert on consumer protection law, financial services, civil rights, and complex litigation. He is currently serving as Director of the Covid Eviction Legal Help Project (CELHP) for Greater Boston Legal Services, a project which is working to prevent evictions in Boston and surrounding communities. Previously, Mr. Klein was Senior Trial Counsel at the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General, Maura Healey. His responsibilities included projects in the areas of consumer protection, civil rights and public safety. Among other things, he coordinated the office's work to protect consumers in the areas of on-line gaming and gun safety.
In private practice prior to joining the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Klein litigated complex federal class actions in jurisdictions across the country and was lead or co-lead counsel in seven federal multidistrict litigation proceedings. He pursued groundbreaking cases against the nation’s largest banks, seeking relief for homeowners who have been unfairly denied mortgage modifications in government sponsored programs. He also successfully litigated ten national class action cases that ultimately returned hundreds of millions of dollars to minority homeowners who had been charged higher interest rates than their similarly situated white neighbors. Much of his work involved creative uses of data and technology to achieve successful client outcomes.
Mr. Klein’s career has been shaped by empathy for less fortunate Americans. As a consumer advocate and educator, he has sought progressive change designed to level the playing field in low- and moderate-income communities nationwide. He has helped to write laws to prevent high-rate home mortgage lending, has trained scores of advocates in legal services programs across the country, has written numerous books and articles, and has developed a variety of policy initiatives in collaboration with the state and federal governments, community service organizations, and local bar associations.
WORK EXPERIENCE
GKLEIN CONSULTING
March 2018 - Present
As a consultant, Mr. Klein is working on advocacy and litigation in the areas of consumer protection, housing sustainability, class actions, civil rights and gun violence prevention. He is frequently engaged as an expert witness on issues including mortgage servicing abuses, preservation of home ownership credit overcharges, and gun safety.
CONSULTANT, SPECIAL PROJECTS AND LITIGATION; INTERIM LITIGATION DIRECTOR, GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES
April 2021 - Present
Mr. Klein has worked on a variety of special projects including advocacy and appellate litigation for low-income tenants. Since January 2021, Mr. Klein has been temporarily serving as litigation director for GBLS.
DIRECTOR, COVID EVICTION LEGAL HELP PROJECT, GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES
December 2020 - March 2021
As Director of CELHP, Mr. Klein worked with a staff of attorneys and paralegals to prevent Covid-related evictions for tenants in the Greater Boston area. The project is part of the Massachusetts’ emergency response to the Covid pandemic.
VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER — WASHINGTON, DC
January 2020 - Present
Mr. Klein is a research fellow for the Violence Policy Center, a Washington, DC based non-profit. He is currently doing research and preparing papers on gun violence prevention, including on policies designed to prevent unintentional shootings. Most recently, the VPC published Mr. Klein’s report on the the need for federal oversight of gun safety: Misfire: The Gun Industry’s Lack of Accountability for Defective Firearms.
OFFICE OF MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY – BOSTON, MA
September 2015 - December 2020
Mr. Klein served as Senior Trial Counsel in the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau and as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Administrative Law division. He directed a wide range of projects on issues including compliance with the Commonwealth’s law regulating gun sales, automobile sales and financing, mortgage lending and servicing, and internet gaming.
KLEIN KAVANAGH COSTELLO, LLP – BOSTON, MA
January 2012 – August 2015
Mr. Klein was the lead partner in this national litigation firm specializing in consumer class actions and litigation, with a particular focus on unfair banking practices, civil rights and products liability. Mr. Klein is or has been among court appointed lead counsel in seven multidistrict litigation proceedings.
RODDY KLEIN & RYAN – BOSTON, MA
January 2001 – December 2011
As a partner at RKR, Mr. Klein successfully litigated a series ground-breaking consumer class actions seeking relief for low-income and minority homeowners and consumers, many of which resulted in court decisions on issues of first impression as described below.
G.KLEIN CONSULTING – MEDFORD, MA
January 2001 – present
Mr. Klein has provided consulting and expert testimony on a variety of consumer credit issues to lawyers and litigants across the country. He has also testified on numerous issues before Congress and the Massachusetts legislature.
NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER -- BOSTON, MA
1991 – 2000
Mr. Klein was a Senior Attorney and Director of the Center’s Sustainable Homeownership Initiative. He was responsible for managing a wide range of grants and contracts, for writing many of the Center’s well known publications on consumer law, and for various consulting and advocacy projects. His legislative advocacy included successfully lobbying Congress in 1994 in support of the Homeownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) and organizing opposition to credit industry efforts to revise the nation’s bankruptcy laws. Mr. Klein also served as co-counsel or as a consultant in more than 200 class action and individual consumer cases.
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGAL ASSISTANCE – MANCHESTER, NH.
1991
Mr. Klein was managing attorney supervising an office of six attorneys and three legal advocates. He litigated predatory lending cases and contested bankruptcy issues.
COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES, INC. -- PHILADELPHIA, PA.
1985 – 1991
Mr. Klein specialized in housing, consumer, bankruptcy, utility, and domestic violence law for low-income Philadelphians in a preeminent legal services program. During his tenure, Mr. Klein tried more than 30 cases in various courts, primarily addressing consumers' claims against finance companies for unfair lending practices.
LAW CLERK TO THE HONORABLE BRUCE I. FOX, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
September, 1987 - September, 1988
EDUCATION
J.D. Rutgers University - Newark, 1985
(Editor in Chief: Civil Rights Law Journal; Business Editor, Computer and Technology Law Journal; Winner, G.A. Moore, Jr. Prize for excellence in the field employment discrimination; Awarded New Jersey Graduate Merit Scholarship and Rutgers University Scholars Award)
B.A. Yale College, 1980
BAR ADMISSIONS
United States Supreme Court
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
United States District Court, District of Massachusetts
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (inactive)
Supreme Court of New Hampshire (inactive)
Supreme Court of New Jersey (inactive)
First, Third, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
· Boston Bar Association (current member Delivery of Legal Service Committee; former Co-chair Class Action Committee)
· Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association (Former Member, Board of Directors, Fundraising Committee)
· American Bankruptcy Institute (former member, Board of Directors)
· Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Education (former member, Board of Directors)
· National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (former member, Board of Directors)
· National Association of Consumer Attorneys (former member, issues committee)
· Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Hsg. and Homelessness (former Steering Committee member)
· Public Justice (member) (nominee for Trial Lawyer of the Year –2004)
· Loyola Consumer Law Review (Advisory Board Member)
· St. John’s University, LL.M in Bankruptcy Program (Advisory Board Member)
· Peer Rated AV Preeminent and a Massachusetts “Super Lawyer”
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Representative Litigation Projects
Court Appointed Lead Counsel, In re JPMorgan Chase Mortgage Modification Litigation, 11-md-02290 RGS (D. Mass) (challenge to Chase’s failure to permanently modify troubled mortgages).
Court Appointed Lead Counsel, In Re: Citimortgage, Inc. Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”) Litigation, Case No. 11-ml-2274 DSF (PLAx) (C.D. Cal.) (challenge to Citi’s’s failure to honor commitments to modify mortgages in the HAMP program).
Court Appointed Lead Counsel, In re Bank of America Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) Contract Litigation, 10-md-02193 RWZ (D. Mass) (challenge to BOA’s failure to honor commitments to modify mortgages).
Court Appointed Lead Counsel, In re Porsche Cars North America, Inc. Plastic Coolant Tubes Products Liability Litigation, 11-md-2233 (S.D. Ohio) (products liability case challenging Porsche’s failure to replace defective coolant tubes).
Court Appointed Lead Counsel, In Re Ameriquest Mortgage Co. Mortgage Lending Practices Litigation, MDL No. 1715 (N.D. Ill.) (challenge to subprime mortgage lending practices).
Court Appointed Co-Lead Counsel, In re Wells Fargo Mortgage Lending Practices Litigation, 08-cv-1930 MMC (N.D. Cal.) (challenges to discriminatory mortgage lending practices).
Court Appointed Lead Counsel, In re Countrywide Financial Corp. Mortgage Lending Practices Litigation, MDL No. 1974 (W.D. Ky.) (pending challenges to discriminatory mortgage lending practices).
Lead Counsel, Ramirez v. Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Inc., C08-0369 (N.D. Cal.) (class action settlement of mortgage lending discrimination claims asserting disparate impact of lender’s discretionary loan mark-up policies).
Lead Counsel, Allen v. Decision One Mortgage Co., 07-cv-11669-GAO (D. Mass.) (class action settlement of lending discrimination claims).
Co-Lead Counsel, Payares v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., 2:07-cv-05540-AG-AN (C.D. Cal.) (settlement of nationwide class action alleging mortgage lending discrimination).
In re Household Lending Litigation, Case No. C 02-1240 CW (N.D. Cal.) (settlement of nationwide class action based on predatory lending practices).
Curry v. Fairbanks Capital Corporation, 2004 WL 3322609, 03-10875-DPW (D. Mass.) (settlement of nationwide class action based on predatory loan servicing practices).
Coleman v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., et al., 3-98-0211 (M.D.Tenn.) (class action settlement in case of first impression on the application of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to discriminatory auto financing practices).
Mey v. Herbalife International, Inc., Civil Action Number, 01-263M (Ohio County, W. VA) (class settlement of claims under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act).
Pettway v. Harmon Law Offices PC, C.A. No. 03-10932 (D. Mass) (class settlement of claims for overcharges against foreclosure law firm).
Vieau v. AGFA Corp. et al., C.A. No. 06-11320 (D. Mass) (class action settlement in connection with failure to provide necessary maintenance and service to lessors of digital photographic processing equipment).
Mendez v. Island Finance Corporation, 03-1075-JAF (D. P.R.) (settlement of class action alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act).
Kent et al. v. Western Massachusetts Electric Co., HAMPCV 2001-00232 (Ma. Sup.) (settlement of consumer claims related to utility overcharge based on misclassification of billing rate).
Dwyer et al. v. NSTAR, Inc. et al., No. SUCV2001-01817 (Ma. Sup.) (settlement of consumer claims for utility overcharge).
Cason v. Nissan Motors Acceptance Corp., et al., 3-98-0223 (M.D.Tenn.) (settlement of class action case on the application of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to discriminatory auto financing practices).
Mazola, et al. v. May Co. Dep’t. Stores, Inc., C.A. 97-10872 NG (D. Mass.) (restitution for unlawful bankruptcy reaffirmation practices).
Sample Reported Decisions
Worman v. Healey, 293 F. Supp. 3d 251 (D. Mass. 2018) aff’d 922 F.3d 26 (1st Cir. 2019) cert denied 141 S. Ct .109 (2020) (establishing the constitutionality of the Commonwealth’s assault weapons law).
Pullman Arms v. Healey, 301 F. Supp. 3d 227 (D. Mass. 2018).
Pollard v. Remington Arms Co., 896 F.3rd 900 (8th Cir. 2018).
Counsel for Amicus Curiae, Lopez v. City of Lawrence, 823 F.3d 102 (1st Cir. 2016).
Garber v. Office of The Commissioner of Baseball, 2016 WL 749950 (S.D. N.Y. 2016).
In re JPMorgan Chase Mortg. Modification Litigation, 2014 WL 2205493 (D. Mass. 2014).
In Re Sony Gaming Networks Data Breach Litigation, 2014 WL 7800046, (S.D. Cal. 2014).
In re JPMorgan Chase Mortg. Modification Litigation, 880 F.Supp.2d 220 (D.Mass. 2012).
In re Rodriguez, 695 F.3d 360 (5th Cir. 2012).
In re Porsche Cars North America, Inc., 880 F.Supp.2d 801 (S.D.Ohio, 2012).
Young v. Citimortgage, Inc., 2012 WL 4371532 (D.Conn., 2012).
Coble v. Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, 824 F.Supp.2d 568 (S.D.N.Y., 2011).
Counsel for Amicus Curiae, U.S. Bank Nat. Ass'n v. Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637, 941 N.E.2d 40 (Mass., 2011).
Bosque v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 762 F. Supp. 2d 342 (D.Mass., 2011).
Durmic v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2010 WL 4825632 (D. Mass 2010).
Ramirez v. Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Inc., 633 F. Supp. 2d 922 (N.D. Cal. 2010).
Miller v. Countrywide Bank, NA, 571 F. Supp. 2d 251 (D. Mass. 2009).
In re Cano, 410 B.R. 506 (Bankr. S.D.Tex., 2009).
In re Rodriguez, 421 B.R. 356 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Tex., 2009).
In re: Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC Mortgage Servicing Litigation, 491 F.3d 638 (7th Cir. 2007).
In re Ameriquest Mortgage Co. Mortgage Lending Practices Litigation, 2007 WL 1202544 (N.D.Ill., 2007).
Pettway v. Harmon Law Offices, P.C., 2005 WL 2365331, (D. Mass. 2005).
Scott v. Fairbanks Credit Corp., 284 F. Supp. 2d 880 (S. D. Ohio, 2003).
In re Hoskins, 102 F.3d 311 (7th Cir. 1996).
Lomas Mortgage Co. v. Louis, 82 F. 3rd 1 (1st Cir. 1995).
Counsel for Amicus Curiae, Field v. Mans, 516 U.S. 59 (1995).
Myers v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Co., 175 B.R. 122 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1994).
In re Fleet, 122 B.R. 910 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 1990).
In re Milbourne, 108 B.R. 522 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 1989).
In re Russell, 72 B.R. 855 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 1987).
Expert Witness
United States Congress, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Protecting the American Dream II: Combating Predatory Lending Under the Fair Housing Act (April, 2010).
United States Congress, Senate Banking Committee, Consumer Credit and Bankruptcy (April, 1999).
United States Congress, Joint Subcommittee on Court Oversight, House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Reforming American Bankruptcy Laws (March, 1999). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-106jhrg61368/html/CHRG-106jhrg61368.htm
Mallory v. Mortgage America, et al., United States District Court for the District of West Virginia, (February, 1999) (mortgage lending abuses).
United States Congress, Senate Committee on Aging, Consumer Counseling and Prevention of Lending Abuses Involving Elderly Homeowners (January, 1999).
Interclaim Holdings Ltd, et al. v. Down et al., Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Supreme Court of British Columbia (1999) (telemarketing fraud claims by United States residents against insolvent Canadian companies).
Lopez v. Delta Funding, et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (December, 1998) (high rate home equity lending abuses affecting elderly borrowers).
United States Congress, Senate Banking Committee, Senate Oversight Hearing on Bankruptcy (March 1998).
National Bankruptcy Review Commission, Reforming the Consumer Bankruptcy System (hearings during January, 1997 to October, 1997).
United States Congress, Senate Judiciary Committee, Proposed Consumer Bankruptcy Amendments (June, 1994).
Representative Publications
“50 State Actions to Reduce Gun Violence,” Violence Policy Center (December 14, 2022).
“What the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment Expansion Means for Gun Safety,” Commonwealth Magazine (July 2, 2022).
“In the Hands of the Maker: The Failure of Consumer Product Safety Oversight of Guns,” Loyola Consumer Law Review, Volume 33, No. 1 (May, 2021).
Gary Klein and Jack McDevitt, “Our State Gun Laws Need Some Updates,” Commonwealth Magazine (May 5, 2021).
“Misfire: The Gun Industry’s Lack of Accountability for Defective Firearms,” Violence Policy Center (March, 2021).
“The Rise and (Potential) Fall of Disparate Impact Lending Litigation” Evidence and Innovation in Housing Law and Policy, Cambridge University Press (2017) (with Ian Ayres and Jeffrey West)
“Fair Credit Reporting Act; Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act — Data Security and Privacy In Massachusetts,” MCLE (2021) (with Jared Rineheimer)
“Causes of the Subprime Foreclosure Crisis and the Availability of Class Action Responses” 2 Northeastern University Law Journal 137 (Spring 2010) (with Shennan Kavanagh).
Editor, Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice, The Consumer Credit and Legal Practice Series (National Consumer Law Center, 2000).
Repossessions and Foreclosures, (National Consumer Law Center, 4th ed. 1999).
Surviving Debt: A Guide for Consumers, (3rd ed. 1999).
“Remedies for Discharge Violations” American Bankruptcy Institute Law Journal (November/December 2000).
“Means Tested Bankruptcy: What Would It Mean?” 28 U. Memphis Law Rev. 711 (Spring,1998).
“Preventing Home Equity Lending Fraud,” 7 Loyola Consumer Law Rev. 126 (Summer, 1995).
“Self Representation in the Bankruptcy Courts: The Massachusetts Experience”, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges Endowment for Education (1994).
Representative Seminars and Public Presentations
Moderator, “After Bruen: Gun Laws and Gun Safety” Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy, Boston College Law School (October, 2022).
Moderator, “The Current State of Access to Credit” Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy, Boston College Law School (September, 2016).
“The Rise and False of Reverse Redlining Mortgage Litigation” Kreisman Initiative on Housing Law and Policy, University of Chicago Law School, (June 2016).
Panelist, “Unintentional Discrimination in Consumer Finance” Harvard Law School (April, 2016)
“Foreclosures: The Great Untold Story” Harvard Joint Center for Housing, Harvard Kennedy School, (March, 2013).
“Successful Mediation Techniques in Class Actions” Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (November, 2011).
“Mortgage Discrimination Litigation” Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (November, 2010).
“The Color of Credit: Combating Disparate Impact in Consumer Finance” Open Society Institute, The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (September, 2010).
“Mortgage Lending Update,” Consumer Financial Services Litigation Institute, Practising Law Institute (March, 2008, March, 2009, February, 2010).
“Litigation Update,” Subprime Credit Crisis: Everything You Need to Know, Practising Law Institute (March, 2008).
“Introduction to Consumer Class Actions,” Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (October, 2007).
“Predatory Lending,” Consumer Financial Services Litigation Seminar, Practicing Law Institute (April, 2005).
“Predatory Lending as a Fair Housing Issue,” New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (June 2004).
“Preventing Predatory Lending,” Milwaukee Fair Housing Center (June 2004).
“Mortgage Servicing Issues,” Consumer Financial Services Litigation Seminar, Practicing Law Institute (April, 2004).
“Predatory Mortgage Loans and Bankruptcy,” American Bankruptcy Institute (July, 2003).
“Preserving the American Dream,” A series of seminars on foreclosure prevention and financial literacy for Housing Counselors, Neighborhood Reinvestment Institute (1998-2000).
“Consumers in Debt: The Personal Bankruptcy Crisis,” American Bar Association, (April, 1998).
“Preserving the American Dream: Loss Mitigation for Homeowners,” A series of ten trainings for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (1997 – 1998).