Speakers O – Z

Attorney, O'Meara Law Office

Michael O’Meara

Michael O’Meara has been a professional in the collection industry since 1990 and has held virtually every job the industry offers. Michael has been active in the ACA and the Washington Collectors Association and is a past-President of the WCA and his local bar association. He has achieved several designations offered through ACA, including 3CO and IFCCE, and obtaining his Scholar and Fellow Degrees through the ACA. He is a recent recipient of the Kirschner instructor Achievement Award. Michael has been active in several ACA committees and is committed to the protection and growth of the industry and our association.

Vice President - Business Development, FLOCK Specialty Finance

Greg Paulo

Greg Paulo is the Vice President of Business Development at FLOCK Specialty Finance. Greg has 25 years of operational and sales experience in the Accounts Receivable Management Industry. Most recently, Greg worked at Navient as a Sr. Director managing the Campus, State and Municipal collection sales teams.

Director of Business Development, TCN

Bryce Payne

Bryce Payne spearheads all global partner and channel efforts at TCN. With more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Bryce has significantly contributed to the company’s rapid growth by successfully building partnerships across multiple industries and acquiring new customers globally.

Chief Compliance Officer, Frost-Arnett

Judd Peak

W. Judd Peak is responsible for the creation, implementation and continual oversight of the enterprise-wide Compliance Management System (CMS) at the Frost-Arnett Company. In this role, he ensures that the compliance program aligns with the overall corporate strategy, business plan and code of ethics of Frost-Arnett. Judd also oversees multiple compliance information, tracking and monitoring systems. Prior to his role as Chief Compliance Officer, Judd spent sixteen years as an attorney in private practice, specializing in employee relations issues.

Vice President of Operations, RGS Financial

Ken Peck

Ken Peck is the Vice President of Operations at RGS Financial. He has spent the past 17 years in the credit and collection industry, working his way up from a collection manager to overseeing the entire collection operation at RGS. Ken has spent the past two years at RGS, joining the company after spending nearly four years as the Director of Business Development at Southwest Credit Systems. Along with his work in the collection industry, Ken is also a motivational speaker.

Partner, Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck

Rick Perr

Rick Perr is the Co-Managing Partner of the Philadelphia office of the law firm Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck. He also chairs the firm’s national Consumer Financial Services Practice Group. He is a nationally recognized authority and lecturer on creditor’s rights, representing creditors, law firms and agencies against individual and class action allegations invoking federal and state consumer protection laws, including the FDCPA, the FCRA, and the TCPA. Rick is a Past President of ACA International and currently sits on its Board of Directors.

Attorney, Ballard Spahr

Kim Phan

Kim Phan counsels financial institutions on federal and state privacy and data security laws and regulations including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Regulations. Kim’s practice also focuses on providing guidance to clients when navigating supervisory, enforcement, and investigatory interactions with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, other federal regulatory agencies, and state attorneys general and departments of consumer protection. Kim also has provided extensive e-commerce and mobile counseling with clients, including adapting products and services for the mobile environment, conducting online behavioral advertising assessments of websites in order to update and enhance website privacy policies, and establishing employee training on social media interactions with consumers.

Chief Compliance Officer, Finance System, Inc.

Dave Reeder

Dave Reeder is certified by the American Collector’s Association International as a Credit & Collections Compliance Officer, and is the Chief Compliance Officer for Finance System, Inc. Dave has been in the accounts receivable industry for more than 20 years and his experience spans skip-tracing to compliance.

Director of Marketing | National Accounts, InterProse

Aaron Reiter

Chief Customer Officer, MRS BPO

Chris Repholz

Chris Repholz is Chief Customer Officer for MRS BPO LLC, a New Jersey based, nationally recognized accounts receivable management firm specializing in first party servicing and third party recoveries in a variety of verticals. He first started working in the contact center industry in 1994 and co-founded TPG TeleManagement, Inc., a contact center consulting firm, in 1996. In 2004, he joined Zenta, an international BPO. In 2011, after Accenture acquired Zenta, Chris joined IntelliSource as SVP of their call center outsourcing division, managing operations in customer service, collections, fraud management and commercial sales. Chris joined MRS as Chief Operating Officer in 2014 and transitioned to his current role in 2016, where he is responsible for Client Services, Sales & Marketing, Corporate Development and Acquisitions.

President, Creditors Bureau USA

Courtney Reynaud

Courtney Reynaud is President of Creditors Bureau USA and is the 3rd generation to own and operate her company.  Her professional experience is rooted in the healthcare industry, with a special understanding of law and consumer rights.  Courtney has participated as speaker and panelist on multiple Compliance-related in-person and web-based education events. She maintains several active certifications from ACA International, including Credit and Collection Compliance Officer (CCCO), Health Care Collection Management (HCM) and Trainer Specialist Program (TSP) certifications. Courtney was recently named as one of the Top 20 Most Powerful Women in Collections by Collection Advisor. She is currently serving as President of the California Association of Collectors.

Co-Owner, Senior Vice President - Third Party Operations, Chief Compliance Officer, Credit Solutions

Chrissy Rioux

Chrissy Rioux is a co-owner and Senior Vice President of Third Party Operations and Chief Compliance Officer at Credit Solutions. Before coming to Credit Solutions, Chrissy starting working in the collection industry at the age of 16, in charge of collecting television fees for the local hospitals in Lewiston, Maine. Chrissy is certified as a Collector, a Credit and Collection Compliance Officer, a Collection Floor Manager and received a Scholar Designation from ACA International.

Attorney, Venable

Shahin Rothermel

Shahin Rothermel advises clients on day-to-day issues arising out of telemarketing and text messaging promotions. Her familiarity with the ever-changing landscape of TCPA developments helps her provide clients with creative solutions to achieve their goals, while minimizing the risk of regulatory enforcement actions and TCPA class actions.

Attorney, Venable

Ari Rothman

Ari Rothman represents clients nationwide in all aspects of TCPA compliance and litigation matters. His extensive litigation experience includes obtaining a defense jury verdict in favor of his client who faced a $2 billion dollar exposure in a certified TCPA class action, as well as defeating class certification and obtaining other favorable defense outcomes in courts across the country. That experience enables him, based on real life examples that played out in litigation and other adversarial settings, to devise and implement protocols designed to eliminate TCPA risk, negotiate contracts to mitigate exposure, and defend clients in all phases of TCPA litigation.

Director of Training, Williams and Fudge

Greg Ruffino

Greg Ruffino is the Director of Training at Williams and Fudge. Greg has worked at Williams and Fudge for the past eight years, starting as a collector and working his way up the ladder to director of training. Greg recently spoke at ACA International’s conference on the topic of training. He is a certified training specialist with ACA International.

CEO, Acer Capital Recovery

Ed Saleh

Ed Saleh is the owner of Acer Capital Recovery, a collection agency that specializes in medical and healthcare accounts. Ed has been an active member of the collections industry for nearly two decades, having worked his way up to owning his own collection agency. He has played an active role within ACA International and is a very respected member of the ARM industry.

Team Lead, American Profit Recovery

Sabrine Salti

Sabrine Salti has been a member of American Profit Recovery since 2017 and is currently a work team lead at the company. She was awarded Rookie of the Year after her first year at the company, displaying qualities of leadership, integrity, and high level of collections. Prior to APR Sabrine earned a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Sign Language Interpreting and Deaf Studies at Madonna University. She has worked as an interpreter and maintained a great reputation in the Deaf and Interpreting communities. She has been able to use her trilingual skill to her advantage, collecting on accounts of consumers that are Deaf—through their interpreters, and consumers that only speak Arabic–through her native tongue.

CEO, TrueAccord

Ohad Samet

Ohad Samet is the co-founder and CEO of TrueAccord, a company using machine learning and behavioral analytics to change the debt collection process. He was recently appointed to the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board and is serving as an Advisor for Aspen Institute. Prior to that, Ohad headed fraud analytics for FraudSciences, a company that was acquired by PayPal in 2008. After leaving PayPal in 2010, Ohad started two companies. Signifyd is a leading fraud prevention vendor and Analyzd, which developed fraud prevention and risk management strategies for online retailers and payment platforms.

Partner, Barron & Newburger

Arthur Sanders

Arthur Sanders manages the New York office of Barron & Newburger, P.C. and works in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Law Practice Group. His practice is devoted primarily to the defense of collection agencies, law firms, and creditors engaged in the practice of debt collection. His expertise in compliance issues is a result of over a quarter of a century in representing creditors and debt collectors. He serves as national counsel for certain debt purchasers and law firms, providing advice on compliance, regulatory, and other legal issues.

Senior Counsel, National Consumer Law Center

Margot Saunders

Margot Saunders is currently Senior Counsel to the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) after serving as managing attorney of NCLC’s Washington, D.C. office from 1991 to 2005. Margot has testified before Congress more than two dozen times and has served as an expert witness in over 50 consumer credit cases in more than 20 states. She is a co-author of NCLC’s Consumer Banking and Payments Law, many articles, and a contributor to numerous other manuals. Prior to joining NCLC, she was the consumer law specialist for North Carolina Legal Services. In 1991, Margot was the second recipient of the Vern Countryman Award. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Probate Manager, SIMM Associates

Dawn Schollian

Dawn Schollian began her career in the ARM industry as a Probate Care Specialist in 1989 with deceased collection agency pioneer Estate Recovery Inc. (ERI). ERI was one of the first collection agencies to offer Probate Collection Servicing. Over her career spanning 30 years, Dawn has created multiple databases to assist with recovering estate information as well as systemic processes to handle claim filings against estates based on various State and County laws. Dawn currently holds the position of Senior Collection Manager in the Probate Collection Department of SIMM Associates, Inc. SIMM is a full service nationally licensed ARM company providing best in class deceased care solutions that encompass decedent verification, estate location scrub, proprietary Probate Tracker SM claim filing process and an empathetic survivor recovery solution all performed with brand sensitivity and regulatory compliance in mind.

Attorney, Simburg Ketter Sheppard & Purdy

Andrew Shafer

Andrew Shafer is Of Counsel to Simburg Ketter Sheppard & Purdy in Seattle, WA. Andy is a commercial lawyer with almost 40 years of battle scars. He has defended collection agencies and provided risk management consulting services to the industry since since 2002. He is active in ACA as the Washington Lawyer Representative and is a member of ACA’s CNR Panel.

Chief Compliance Officer, AMCOL Systems

Sam Shannon

Sam Shannon has been in the collection industry for over 35 years. He started as a collector in 1982 for a small lending company in Dallas, Texas. He then helped develop a legal network for OSI Portfolio Services and later was promoted to Senior Manager of Compliance for OSI Collection Services. Sam has served as the Vice President of Legal Compliance for a New York City law firm as well as traveled the country completing pre-CFPB audits with his own company ARM-Consulting. Most recently Sam has taken on the position of Chief Compliance Officer for AMCOL Systems, Inc. Sam is a Certified Internal Auditor; certified Credit and Collections Compliance Officer, and a certified Business Impact Analyst.

Partner, Lewis Brisbois

David Sherman

David Sherman is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Lewis Brisbois. He counsels clients across business sectors on commercially reasonable data privacy and information security practices. Before an information security incident occurs, David facilitates incident response planning and risk assessments to enhance enterprise security posture and mitigate potential exposure. David assesses clients’ existing service provider agreements to evaluate and optimize contractual allocation of risks, rights and obligations set forth in provisions that may give rise to exposure in the event of a data security incident. He holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) credential.

President & CEO, Midstate Collection Solutions

Mary Shores

Mary Shores is the president & CEO of Midstate Collection Solutions, a collection agency based in Champaign, Ill. Mary has been the CEO of the agency for nearly two decades and that experience has made her a sought-after speaker and author. Her book, Conscious Communications, was recently published and is rising to the top of the best-seller lists on Amazon.com. The book aims to help people harness the power of words to change their minds, their choices, and their lives.

Partner, Ballard Spahr

John Socknat

John Socknat is the Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr ‘s Mortgage Banking Group, and a member of the firm’s Marketplace Lending Task Force. John also leads Ballard Spahr’s licensing practice. He devotes his practice to counseling financial services institutions on compliance and licensing matters under state and federal law, preparing them for examinations and audits by state and federal regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and defending them in enforcement actions. John assists clients with developing compliance programs and implementing and operationalizing new regulations. John is a frequent presenter at industry conferences and is a member of the Advisory Council to the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR), the SRR Industry Advisory Council, and a Fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.

Head of Operations Strategy, Best Egg

Rich Stahler

Rich Stahler is the Head of Operations Strategy at Best Egg, an online marketplace lender. Rich was a core member of the small team, who launched the fintech company in late 2013. Since inception, Best Egg has originated over $10 Billion in unsecured, personal loans. Rich and his team of strategy analysts are responsible for enhancing the customer experience, mitigating credit losses, reducing expense, and driving the product roadmap across all of Best Egg’s operational units. Prior to Best Egg, Rich spent nine years at Barclays, holding analytical positions in Customer Care, Collections, and Credit Risk.

Senior Associate, Farella Braun + Martel

Rebecca Stephens

Rebecca Stephens is a Senior Associate in Farella Braun + Martel LLP’s Employment Practice Group. Rebecca counsels clients on all aspects of employment law, including developing and implementing sound workplace policies, conducting investigations, handling challenging leave of absence and accommodation issues, and administering separations from employment. She also represents clients before administrative agencies including the DLSE, the EEOC, and the DFEH. Rebecca also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing and advising several education-focused non-profit organizations in employment matters. Rebecca is the Chair of the Barristers Labor & Employment Section Executive Committee for the Bar Association of San Francisco; a member of the American Bar Association Labor & Employment Section, where she is on the planning committee for the National Symposium on Technology in Labor & Employment; and a Board Member for the Northwestern Law Alumni Club of San Francisco.

Vice President - Market Development, Applied Innovation

Harry Strausser

Harry Strausser is currently a freelance speaker and consultant within the ARM industry. He is a second-generation collection professional and held the position of President of two successful collection firms until they were sold in May 2017. He is President of his own educational and consulting business, Interact Training and Development. He has been active in ACA International for over 30 years in which he is a Senior Certified Trainer. He has served on the ACA International Executive Committee and held the position of President in 2004-2005.

Partner, Messer Strickler

Nicole Strickler

Nicole Strickler focuses her practice in the defense of consumer litigation, including the FDCPA, Fair Credit Reporting Act, TCPA, and the Illinois Collection Agency Act. Her clients include corporations, lending institutions, collection agencies, asset purchasers, lawyers as well as individuals. She is an active member of ACA International, the Consumer Financial Division of the American Bar Association, and holds a position on the Board of Directors of NARCA, The National Creditors’ Bar Association.

CEO, Continental Credit Control

Shawn Suhr

Shawn Suhr is currently the California Association of Collectors Vice President. He is a third generation Santa Barbarain, debtor collector and sports fisherman. Shawn worked on the advisor board of Dakcs Software and as Operations Manager for Continental Credit Control for a decade before becoming CEO and co-owner in 2010.

Attorney, Barron & Newburger

Brit Suttell

Brit Suttell works in the Pennsylvania office of Barron & Newburger, P.C. She is a member of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Law Practice Group.

Director of Operations and Technology, National Enterprise Systems

Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor is the Director of Operations and Technology at National Enterprise Systems. He has more than 15 years of financial services experience managing large, complex projects. A respected leader, Chris’ expertise in developing, implementing, and integrating processes with technology has positioned him as a top performer in the collection and call center industry. Chris started his career at NES as a developer in July of 2005. His dedication to his position and fellow employees, in addition to his technical savvy, has resulted in a steady increase in responsibility.

Director of Internal Audit, ERC

Paige Tortorich

Paige Tortorich has over 15 years of auditing experience and is a current member of ACA International and InsideARM’s Compliance Professionals Forum. She has been an auditor in different industries but found her home in the vast compliance world of collections – where she has spent the last 6 years. She was an external auditor for over two years conducting remote and onsite audits on 3rd party collection agencies and is now the Director of Internal Audit at ERC. Paige’s time on both sides of the audit table provides her with the experience to know which audits should be done and why.

Compliance Counsel, Performant Recovery

Lauren Valenzuela

Lauren Valenzuela is Compliance Counsel at Performant Recovery, Inc., where she advises on compliance with consumer protection laws, government regulation, licensing, litigation defense, and transactional matters. Prior to joining Performant, she was General Counsel and Director of Compliance for Collection Technology, Inc.

Marketing & Communications Executive, Simon's Agency

John Viggiano

John is the lead marketing and design executive for Simon’s Agency, Inc. for the past 4 years.  He is an all-around marketing professional with a great deal of experience in marketing, graphic design, website design, content management, search engine optimization, and more.  He works directly with the sales team to execute Simon’s overall marketing strategy and works closely with Simon’s brand as well as their online and traditional marketing presence. John has over 15 years of experience in working within the ARM industry.

Chief Technology & Security Officer, State Collection Service

Jim Warner

Jim Warner is the chief technology and security officer at State Collection Service. He provides vision and leadership for all Information Technology & Security activities across the organization. He has worked at State Collection Service for the past 12 years. Prior to joining State, Jim was IT Director at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. He graduated from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1949, State Collection Service has continually enjoyed above average growth by preparing for the future and maintaining a firm foundation built upon the trust and confidence of long-standing clients.

President, Southern Oregon Credit Service

Brian Watkins

Brian Watkins began in the collection industry as a salesperson for Southern Oregon Credit Service in 1990. In 2001, Brian and his wife Denise purchased the company when the original owners wanted to retire. Brian has twice served as president of the Oregon Collectors Association, has served on the Legislative Committee for his state unit since 1997, and currently is Chairman. He has twice earned the Unit Leader of the Year Award from ACA International.

COO, CACi

Roger Weiss

Roger Weiss is the Chief Operating Officer of CACi, and also runs The Collections Coach. Roger has been involved in the collections industry since 1992 and is a frequent speaker at events and conferences.

Head of Collections, Credit Solutions

Dwayne Wells

Dwayne Wells has been at Credit Solutions, LLC in Lexington, Kentucky, for 8 years. For the past 5 years he has been the trainer and for the past six years, he has overseen the collections development.

Founder, Xcelsior Payments

David Whitely

David Whitely recently started his own company, based out of Los Angeles, focusing on providing software vendors the first full end to end ACH & card platform with instant settlements and the ability to automate the acquiring/payment processing elements of their business. David started his experience in management, leading top producing sales teams within the telecom, real estate and banking industries before moving into the payments space. Working for major processors such as Global Payments and has worked along side two companies, in risk, underwriting, compliance and operations roles, as the companies scaled and exited or sold their businesses to larger processors.

Partner, Barron & Newburger

Mitch Williamson

Mitchell L. Williamson is a graduate of Rutgers University and New York Law School and manages the New Jersey office of Barron & Newburger, P.C. where he specializes in defense of claims brought under the FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA and other consumer financial related consumer protection laws and regulations as well as representing clients under CFPB and FTC investigations or in litigation.

Partner, Ballard Spahr

Chris Willis

Christopher Willis is the Practice Leader of the Consumer Financial Services Litigation Group at Ballard Spahr. He devotes his practice to assisting financial services institutions facing government investigations and examinations, counseling them on fair lending risk and compliance assessments, and defending them in individual and class action lawsuits brought by consumers and enforcement actions brought by government agencies.

Winn Law Group

Brian Winn

Brian Winn was the first president of the California Creditors Bar Association in 2004. Along with exclusively representing lending institutions, both Commercial and Consumer, for more than 30 years, he is a frequent lecturer to the creditor community with recent presentations on collecting judgments, replevins, and the FDCPA.

Vice President, Columbia Collectors

Ryan Wiswall

Ryan Wiswall is the Vice President and 3rd generation to lead Columbia Collectors, a collection agency in the Pacific Northwest with over 60 years in the industry. Ryan came to join Columbia Collectors after his career in the Air Force. He was first hired on as a collector and he has also held positions as an Account Executive and System Administrator. With his current position as Vice President, he oversees five critical departments within the organization. He specializes in research and development, hiring key talent, developing company strategy and benchmarking for the organization.

When Ryan is not working, he spends his free time with his family. He is married to his wife Ksenia for 12 years and runs a successful photography business on the side with her since 2007. They have a beautiful four-year-old daughter named Mila. Ryan also enjoys many northwest activities such as fishing, kayaking, swimming, and rock climbing. If you’d like to reach out to Ryan, you can reach him via email at ryan@columbiacollectors.com.

Lead In-House Compliance Consultant, Ontario Systems

Sara Woggerman

Sara Woggerman is the lead in-house Compliance Consultant for Ontario Systems. She provides consulting solutions for banks, collection agencies, and other financial service providers to prepare them for regulatory examinations, manage litigation risk, and improve the consumer experience. Sara has spent over 11 years in the accounts receivables management industry, managing nearly 200 collection service providers for debt purchasers and serving as the relationship manager to creditors.

Senior Director, Neustar

Matthew Wolk

Matt Wolk is a Senior Director on Neustar’s Fraud, Risk and Compliance team. He is a 21-year veteran of call center analysis and operations specializing in the outsourcing of collections to improve revenue performance for both clients and vendors. Prior to Neustar, Matt worked at Capital One for 10 years managing the collection agency outsourcing along with legal collection outsourcing. After Capital One, Matt was responsible for the network of attorneys along with strategy and analysis for TRAKAmerica. He most recently was responsible for operations, client management and business development for a division of CBE Companies. Matt has a BBA, along with a minor in Math and History, from Radford University.

Director of Product Engineering, Ontario Systems

Dan Womack

Dan Womack is the Director of Product Engineering at Ontario Systems, where he oversees product development, quality assurance, and technical communications.

Partner. Blank Rome

Scott E. Wortman

Scott E. Wortman focuses his practice on consumer financial services litigation, including individual and class action defense, regulatory proceedings, and administrative investigations. Additionally, he represents and counsels clients on corporate and regulatory compliance procedures in a wide variety of consumer financial areas. Scott is also a strategic advisor to FinTech and other digital business clients on privacy issues, data and cyber security, vendor management, and consumer protection.

Consultant

Mike Wright

With over 15 years of IT and cybersecurity experience focused on the ARM space, Michael Wright is one of the industry’s leading cybersecurity experts. Most recently, Wright served as the Chief Security Officer for TECH LOCK, a firm specializing in financial services and healthcare cybersecurity consulting. He has spent the past decade assisting many of the industry’s leading agencies reduce their cybersecurity risks, improve their security posture and ensure compliance with the myriad of applicable laws and regulations. Today, he is a cybersecurity evangelist-at-large and is uniquely qualified to help organizations address the cybersecurity threats of tomorrow.

Principal, Maurice Wutscher LLP

Brent Yarborough

Brent Yarborough is a principal with Maurice Wutscher LLP, a national financial services law firm, and is based in the firm’s Birmingham, Alabama office. He primarily focuses his practice on regulatory compliance and the defense of consumer law claims.

Executive Director of Identity Risk Solutions, Neustar

Mitchell Young

Mitchell Young is an Executive Director of Identity Risk Solutions at Neustar, where he oversees the Collections, Utilities, Tech/Internet, Call Center and Data verticals. Mitchell has been at Neustar for 15 years helping companies leverage real-time identity data and analytic insights to improve operational efficiencies and manage risk and compliance. Prior to joining Neustar, Mitchell was the Senior Director of Risk at TARGUSInfo, which was acquired by Neustar in 2011, where he helped develop several markets. Mitchell has an undergraduate degree from Penn State and an MBA from New York University.