Patricia Mulvoy Kipnis

Trish Kipnis is the Practice Group Leader of the firm’s nationwide Consumer Litigation Practice Group and concentrates her practice on consumer class actions, complex litigation, and appellate advocacy. As an experienced litigator, she pursues consumer claims on behalf of state and national classes. Trish regularly handles cases stemming from a full range of deceptive, unfair, and fraudulent business practices. In recent years, Trish has been one of the firm’s leaders in challenging “Pay-to-Pay” and other “junk fees” imposed on consumers by mortgage servicers and other debt collectors through class action litigation in state and federal courts around the country.

Trish particularly enjoys the research, innovation, and writing components of her legal practice: from developing and alleging claims, persuading the courts and adversaries of the merits of those claims, and achieving results for her clients in the courtroom or at the negotiating table. She has served on class counsel teams for dozens of certified class actions and helped successfully resolve many of these matters.

Trish is also a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and has been a volunteer at the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia for 20 years.

Awards & Accolades

2017 Distinguished Advocate Award, Support Center for Child Advocates

Clerkships

• Law Clerk, Hon. Anita B. Brody, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2003 - 2004)

Government Service / Previous Employment

• Adjunct Professor of Legal Analysis, Writing and Research, Rutgers School of Law – Camden (2011 - 2012)
• Judicial Intern, Hon. Edmund V. Ludwig, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2001)

Representative Matters

• Court awarded class more than $2.6 million after granting affirmative summary judgment in mortgage loan case alleging violations of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (Dijkstra v. Carenbauer (N.D. W. Va.))
• Court certified class and awarded each class member $3,500 for defendant’s practice of sending appraisers estimated home values; presently on appeal (Alig v. Quicken (N.D. W. Va))
• Obtained class action settlement for $1.975 million in case alleging debt collection violations under West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act (Henry v. Ocwen (S.D. W. Va.))
• Obtained reversal of summary judgment before Florida’s District Court of Appeal, arguing novel issue of qualified civil immunity in wrongful death case (Martinez v. Taurus Int’l Mfg., 251 So.3d 328 (Fla. DCA 3d 2018))
• Obtained reversal in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit when the court found that that under § 1681i(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a consumer may recover actual damages even if the defendant credit reporting agency did not publish the consumer’s false credit information to a third party (Collins v. Experian)

News & Insights

Community and Professional Activities

Lecturer in Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Volunteer on behalf of abused and neglected children referred to the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia