Esther SlaterMcDonald

Consumer Class Actions

Clients look to Esther for practical solutions to the legal, strategic, and operational challenges presented by consumer-protection and data-privacy laws and for aggressive defense and early, efficient resolution of consumer class actions and single-plaintiff litigation. Esther represents companies in various industries, including telemarketing, direct sales, data collection, financial services, and food and beverage. She defends clients against claims of unfair competition, false advertising, invasion of privacy, and deceptive trade practices, as well as claims for violations of federal statutes, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Esther's practice includes a special emphasis on the FCRA and related federal, state, and local laws. She has litigated these matters in federal and state courts at all levels, from trial court to the Supreme Court of the United States, and she is a frequent speaker on credit reporting and background screening.

Regulatory Investigations

Esther's experience as a senior official with the United States Department of Justice provides her with unique insight into the legal and regulatory challenges that businesses face and the constitutional and procedural implications arising when federal, state, and local governments seek to regulate the same conduct. As a former official, Esther understands how regulators work, what they look for, and how they expect businesses to respond to oversight. She advises companies and entrepreneurs on how to structure their businesses to ensure compliance and regulatory approval, and, if a regulatory inquiry arises, she negotiates with regulators to get them what they need, while minimizing the burden and expense to her clients.

Appeals and Critical Motions

Similarly, Esther's background as an appellate litigator and clerk gave her extensive knowledge of various substantive areas of law, an understanding of the practical implications of varying judicial philosophies, and keen insight on using civil procedure to win cases, particularly those with difficult facts. As a result, she has an interdisciplinary approach to the law and a knack for finding creative solutions for winning complex cases and winning them early. For example, Esther has used targeted dispositive motions on matters like standing, personal jurisdiction, and minimum pleading requirements to obtain dismissals of class actions before discovery. In one case, she used her understanding of constitutional law and states' rights to obtain a judgment that state law prohibited certifying a class on a state-law claim pending in federal court. In another, she negotiated a class action settlement early before discovery, enabling the client to avoid the costs of protracted litigation, and invasive discovery. Because of her skill in resolving cases, Esther is often brought into pending cases to find solutions that others have missed.

Counseling

Outside of litigation, Esther counsels clients on compliance and provides compliance reviews with gap analyses. She provides guidance on how to use technology to streamline compliance and to simplify business practices and how to ensure any existing uses of technology comply with current law. For instance, she has advised clients on using biometric data for identity verification, information security, background screening, customer service, and employee access. She has also advised entrepreneurs on innovative uses of blockchain technology to connect workers, suppliers, and customers securely and safely.

Esther enjoys finding simple solutions to complex problems, especially when that involves entrepreneurial clients and emerging technologies, and she relishes the challenge of winning the unwinnable case. She also likes predicting how small shifts in one area of law will create a ripple effect, and then identifying how to navigate those changes to her clients' benefit.

Pro Bono

Most of all, Esther is grateful for the opportunities she has to serve as pro bono counsel to nonprofits and to individuals unable to afford counsel. She's proud that Seyfarth supports its attorneys giving back to the community. Outside of work, Esther likes volunteering with local community organizations and traveling to any place she's never been before.