Derek W. Edwards

Derek Edwards is a financial services attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office. Mr. Edwards assists public and private companies, acquirers, payment processors, financial institutions, ATM operators and others with various financial technology (FinTech) matters. For more than 15 years, he has advised them on consumer, merchant and inter-company disputes, as well as defended consumer lawsuits and class action litigation, including the following:

• Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA), Regulation E
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
• Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

Mr. Edwards responds as novel legal issues arise. For example, he is a frequent speaker concerning mitigating litigation risk for ATM operations and financial services companies complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has presented at meetings of the ATM Industry Association, including at its annual meeting, and to the Tennessee Bankers Association.

Not only do financial service companies call upon Mr. Edwards to defend consumer class action lawsuits, but they also seek his counsel on matters of their day-to-day operations, including contract enforcement, payment disputes, creditor rights and identity theft concerns. Payment processors, independent service organizations (ISOs), acquirers and sponsor banks all have sought Mr. Edwards to defend and prosecute their lawsuits in federal courts across the country. He has defended hundreds of inter-company disputes, consumer complaints and consumer class actions, from California to Massachusetts, Illinois to Texas, Mississippi to Delaware. He has also obtained multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for punitive damages for contract interference and competitive injuries.

Clients depend on Mr. Edwards to be responsive, efficient, creative and tough. They benefit greatly from his depth of knowledge of financial services legislation and that his time for them is spent crafting solutions, not learning the law.