How we help:
PLP focuses its advocacy efforts on preserving and protecting equity for low- and moderate-income homeowners; combating abuses in the consumer financial services industry; and ensuring equal and fair access to credit markets. The practice is primarily litigation and involves consumer, bankruptcy, real estate, banking, and tort law. The Clinic defends homeowners against foreclosure and commences complex litigation in Federal District Court, Bankruptcy Court, and Massachusetts Superior Court against subprime lenders, banking institutions, mortgage brokers, loan servicers, and foreclosure rescue scam artists. The Clinic also maintains a vibrant consumer law practice in which students defend against unlawful debt collection practices in state district court and represent consumers seeking a fresh start through petitions for bankruptcy.
Apply for Assistance:
Prospective clients can apply for assistance from PLP by calling (617) 522-3003.
Commonly Asked Questions:
Content coming soon.
Legal Disclaimer:
Please Note: This website is neither a solicitation nor an offer to represent you concerning any legal problem. The information conveyed on this website is not legal advice, and is not intended to and does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and the Legal Services Center or any attorney at LSC. This website is does not constitute an agreement to represent you. Please be aware that unsolicited letters, emails, and faxes do not create an attorney-client relationship, and you should not send any confidential information to LSC or any attorney at LSC unless and until you and LSC enter into a formal agreement establishing an attorney-client relationship.
Team Overview:
Roger Bertling
Clinical Instructor in the Predatory Lending/Consumer Protection Clinic and Lecturer on Law
rbertlin@law.harvard.edu
617.390.2572
Roger joined the Center’s Housing Law Clinic in 1993. He is now a Clinical Instructor and Attorney in the Predatory Lending / Consumer Protection Unit of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center and a Lecturer on Law at HLS. He supervises students negotiating and litigating predatory mortgage, bankruptcy, and consumer cases. Additionally, Roger teaches a Predatory Lending Workshop and has co-taught Consumer Law at HLS. He has given numerous presentations to national and state wide groups on mortgage and consumer issues.
Prior to his work at the Legal Services Center, Roger was an attorney in Legal Services in Missouri and Massachusetts, specializing in consumer cases, elder cases and complex litigation. His work included an emphasis on mortgage problems and foreclosures. Roger received his J.D. at the University of Iowa.
Toby Merrill
Attorney/Skadden Fellow in the Predatory Lending Practice
Toby joined the Center’s Predatory Lending Practice in 2012 as a Skadden Fellow. She represents low-income victims of predatory lending by for-profit colleges. Toby received her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she participated in the Center’s Employment and Predatory Lending Clinics. Upon graduating, she clerked for The Honorable Janet C. Hall of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Before attending law school, Toby worked for an education non-profit in New York City. She holds a B.A. from Yale in English and Ethics, Politics, & Economics.
Max Weinstein
Clinical Instructor in the Predatory Lending Practice
mmweinstein@law.harvard.edu
617.390.2694
Since 2008, Max Weinstein has been a clinical instructor in the Predatory Lending/Consumer Protection Clinic at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center. Max’s practice focuses on the deceptive and unfair marketing and underwriting of subprime mortgages which gave rise to the housing bubble and the foreclosure crisis. He currently represents low- and moderate-income homeowners in numerous state and federal lawsuits against subprime mortgage lenders, their assignees, brokers and attorneys, for violations of consumer protection law. Max began his career as a Skadden Fellow and staff attorney at the East New York office of Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, where he represented victims of fraudulent property flipping schemes; and elderly and disabled homeowners who lost title to their homes in so-called “foreclosure rescue” or “deed theft” schemes. Max was also the beneficiary of an energetic clinical legal education at Yale Law School, where he participated in the Community Lawyering, Landlord/Tenant, Prison Legal Services and Immigration/Asylum Legal Services Clinics. At Yale, Max was a recipient of the Stephen J. Massey Prize for work on behalf of clients best exemplifying the values of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School.
Contact Information:
For information about PLP, please contact Roger Bertling, rbertlin@law.harvard.edu, (617) 390-2572
