Wiley Rein Receives "Petition of the Day" Honors from SCOTUSblog

October 28, 2011

On October 28, the widely read Supreme Court publication SCOTUSblog named as its "petition of the day" a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Wiley Rein partners Richard A. Simpson and John E. Barry.

Earlier this month, Wiley Rein, along with co-counsel Maurice & Needleman, PC, filed a petition with the Supreme Court on behalf of the Law Offices of Mitchell N. Kay, P.C., seeking review of a recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. At issue is the proper interpretation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq. (FDCPA), which regulates the content of debt collection letters.

Wiley Rein's petition argues that Supreme Court review is warranted because conflicting decisions among the circuits and many district courts that have addressed the issues presented have cast substantial doubt on whether a law firm may participate in routine debt collection at all without exposing itself to FDCPA liability.

The quandary that law firms and lawyers confront is particularly acute because the Supreme Court's recent decision in Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie,Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA, 130 S. Ct. 1605 (2010), stripped debt collectors of the ability to rely on a mistake of law defense under the FDCPA.

To read the petition, please click here.