Hinshaw & Culbertson has opened a New Orleans office with a five-partner consumer financial services, litigation and bankruptcy team from McGlinchey Stafford, which is based in New Orleans. 

"Hinshaw's national footprint allows us to better serve our clients, which go beyond New Orleans and Louisiana," Lauren Campisi, the partner-in-charge of the new office, said. "We want to be where our clients need us to be."

The five partners—Campisi, Stephen Strohschein, Stewart Spielman, Eric Simonson and Heather LaSalle Alexis—represent lenders, including financial service companies and banks, for whom they handle consumer finance regulatory compliance and litigation, consumer and commercial bankruptcies, workouts and distressed debt turnarounds.

Their clients include national mortgage lenders, automotive and personal property finance companies. Campisi declined to name specific clients, as the group is still in transition. 

Campisi said the expected increase in loan disputes, defaults, workouts and bankruptcies as a result of the economic shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic was part of the reason the group decided to make the move. The team is advising clients on compliance with laws and emergency orders related to COVID-19 relief.

"With the larger firm we gain the benefit of Hinshaw's sophistication and expertise, especially with their insurance regulatory practice," Campisi said. She also noted the firm's greater depth on the consumer financial services side.

"Understanding the increasing needs of our clients and the opportunities that we see on the horizon, it was important for us to have the additional infrastructure and support for our clients," Campisi said. 

Hinshaw, an Am Law Second Hundred firm with about 425 lawyers, in February hired five lawyers from McGlinchey Stafford for its consumer financial services practice in New York, led by partner Brian McGrath. McGlinchey, founded in New Orleans, is a defense litigation-focused firm with about 170 lawyers in 15 offices along the Gulf Coast, plus New York, Washington, D.C., California and elsewhere.

"Our clients have an increasing need for regulatory compliance, bankruptcy and restructuring advice as more companies and businesses confront the uncertainty and economic fallout of COVID-19," Hinshaw chairman Peter Sullivan said in a Monday announcement. 

"With the addition of this team, Hinshaw is truly a one-stop shop for financial services and commercial litigation," Sullivan said, adding that it expands Hinshaw's financial service capabilities to the South. 

Campisi said her practice is focused on consumer financial services counsel, regulatory and compliance issues. She advises banks and financial service companies offering mortgage, auto, personal property loans and online lending, from product creation through examination and enforcement issues.

"Together with my Hinshaw colleagues, I look forward to growing a preeminent national regulatory compliance practice with partners who have deep experience with mortgage lending and servicing," Campisi said.

Simonson has a consumer financial services litigation practice, mainly defending mortgage lenders and servicers. The other three partners, Strohschein, Spielman and Alexis, have a commercial finance practice focused on bankruptcy, creditors' rights and restructuring issues.

"We believe that with Hinshaw's resources we will be able to expand our restructuring and commercial lending practice, in particular our work with all aspects of floor plan lending, including troubled dealer workouts," Spielman said in the announcement.

Campisi started her career at McGlinchey Stafford in 2005 after law school at Loyola University. Like Campisi, Spielman joined after law school in 2003, as did Alexis in 2007. Simonson had been there more than 20 years and Strohschein for 27 years. 

Hinshaw's New Orleans office is located at 900 Camp St., in the Warehouse District.