Jonathan B. Engel

Jonathan Engel is the co-leader of the enforcement and investigations practice within Davis Wright Tremaine's banking and financial services group. He assists clients with consumer financial services investigations, enforcement, counseling, and litigation. As a former enforcement attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Assistant Attorney General in Massachusetts, Jonathan brings a former regulator’s perspective and experience leading large, complex, investigations and enforcement proceedings at both the federal and state levels. He has investigated, litigated, and settled matters related to payment processing, debt collection, mortgage origination and servicing, real estate settlement, student lending and a massive data security breach.

Jonathan has extensive experience investigating and litigating allegations of unfair, deceptive, or abusive conduct under federal and state laws and alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. At the CFPB, Jonathan helped develop enforcement strategies related to credit cards, payments, money services and auto lending.

Jonathan has worked on enforcement matters in collaboration with the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, and multi-state groups of attorneys general. In addition to litigating in federal courts, Jonathan has tried cases and argued appeals in state courts.

His years of experience at the CFPB and at the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General enable Jonathan to advise clients on how best to respond to federal and state government investigations, supervisory inquiries, and enforcement actions; how most effectively to communicate with regulators in a manner designed to resolve issues prior to escalation; and, if necessary, how to litigate aggressively but judiciously to protect clients’ rights and shareholder value.