AGA AAP – UPICLC Speakers

AGA AAP/UPCICL WORKSHOP: COUNTRY COLLABORATORS AND PRESENTERS 21 SEPTEMBER 2020

COUNTRY COLLABORATORS

UPICLC (South Africa): Prof. Jacolien Barnard

 

 

Jacolien Barnard is associate professor in the Department Mercantile of Law, Law Faculty at the University of Pretoria, and holds the degrees LLB (Pret), LLM (UNISA) and LLD (Pret). She was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 2002. She is also an NRF-rated researcher, holding a C2 rating. Jacolien practiced as an attorney and joined the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2002 as a Senior Legal Researcher to the judges of the High Court of Pretoria. She had her own practice and was a financial advisor at Private Wealth Management until 2007. She joined the Department of Mercantile Law, University of Pretoria in 2008 on a full-time basis. She completed her doctoral thesis with honours entitled: “The influence of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 on the common law of sale” in 2013. She is also co-author of Van Eeden and Barnard Consumer Protection Law in South Africa 2nd edition (2017) ISBN 978 0 409 12922 9; E-book ISBN number: 978 0 409 07819 0. Jacolien is one of the managing editors for the 3-volume book series De Serie Legenda: Developments in Commercial Law (2019) Vol I: ISBN 9780 6390 08844, Vol II: ISBN 9780 6390 08868 and Vol III: ISBN 9780 639008882) She was also volume editor for Vol II “Specific Contracts and Consumer Protection Law”. Subjects she has taught include: Business Law, Commercial Law, Consumer Protection Law, Law of Specific Contracts, Advanced Consumer Protection Law and Advanced International Consumer Protection Law. Her main areas of interest are Consumer Protection Law (national and international); Law of Specific Contracts (Sale, Lease, Agency Surety) and Product Liability Law. Room 3-22 Law Building, Hatfield campus, University of Pretoria. Email address: [email protected].

 

AGA AAP (US): John Ukegbu, Esq.

 

 

John Ukegbu is an Attorney-at-Law in Jersey City, New Jersey office. He is admitted to practice in the State of New Jersey, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of International Trade, the United States Tax Court and the United States of Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims. Mr. Ukegbu is an experienced litigator that has represented debtors in consumer financial related matters such as debt collection, credit reporting, automobile repossession, and deficiency cases. Mr. Ukegbu also represents consumer debtors in Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy cases. Mr. Ukegbu has represented tenants and homeowners in eviction and foreclosure cases. He is a facilitator for the

Conference of Western Attorney Generals (CWAG) Attorney General Alliance/Africa Alliance Partnership. Mr. Ukegbu has served as a member of the District Ethics Committee for Hudson County and served as a Trustee for the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. He is currently a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Special Civil Part Practice. Mr. Ukegbu is a Trustee of the Hudson County Bar Association and a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Consumer Protection Law Committee, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Bankruptcy Inn of Court, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Mr. Ukegbu is the Secretary of the Consumer League of New Jersey. Mr. Ukegbu has

litigated and won a number of significant cases on behalf of his clients including Montgomery Gateway East v. Herrera, 261 N.J. Super. 235 (App. Div. 1992); Housing Authority of Hoboken v. Alicea, 297 N.J. Super. 310 (App. Div. 1997), Housing Authority of Jersey City v. Thomas, 318 N.J. Super. 191 (App. Div. 1999), Franklin Tower One, LLC v. N.M., 304 N.J. Super. 586 (App. Div. 1997) affirmed by the New Jersey Supreme Court 157 N.J. 602 (1999). He represented Northeast New Jersey Legal Services as amicus curiae in New Century Financial Services, Inc. v. Ahlam Oughla, 437 N.J. Super. 299 (App. Div. 2014). Mr. Ukegbu is a graduate of Western New England University, School of Law, Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Ukegbu is a member of the Chartered

Institute of Arbitrators he has successfully completed the fellowship course and intends interviewing for his fellowship. In recognition of his service, Legal Services of New Jersey awarded Mr. Ukegbu the J. Harris Award for Career Service to People in Poverty in 2011 and the Ronald B. Atlas Attorney Award in 1996. John is a resident of Weehawken, New Jersey he enjoys traveling, chess and the arts. John Ukegbu, Esq., MCIArb, Senior Staff Attorney, Northeast New Jersey Legal Services, 574 Summit Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306 T: (201)792-6363 Ext. 3243│F: (201)798-8780  [email protected].

 

PRESENTERS TOPIC 1: DEBT COLLECTION AND CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY

US: Neil Fogarty, Esq.

 

 

Neil Fogarty is Managing Attorney, Consumer Unit, Northeast New Jersey Legal Services, Jersey City, N.J. where he has been practicing consumer law and bankruptcy to help poor people with their financial problems for more than forty years. His legal education includes: New York University School of Law, JD 1976; and Fordham University, BA 1973, Summa cum laude. He is admitted to the Bars of New Jersey; New York; United States Supreme Court; and Third Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. District Courts: D.N.J.; S.D.N.Y.; E.D.N.Y. Whilst on the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council (member for three years), Neil made presentations on: Check hold delays; Home equity loans; and Truth in Lending rescission. He was also a member of the N.J. Supreme Court Committee on the Special Civil Part (for five years) and drafted the form “How to calculate proper garnishment amount,” as adopted by the Supreme Court. He is part of the Consumers League of New Jersey where he served as President for eighteen years, Treasurer as well as a Board Member. Mr. Fogarty is a lecturer at Continuing Legal Education Programs sponsored by the National Consumer Law Center, N.J. Institute of Continuing Legal Education; N.J. State Bar Association, Bankruptcy Bench Bar Conference, Legal Services of New Jersey, Northeast New Jersey Legal Services. He was also the organizer of a series of legal CD-ROMs, including Consumer Law in a Box, published by the National Consumer Law Center, Boston, 1999-2007. Notable cases that Mr. Fogarty has been involved in include: Midland Funding LLC v. Thiel, Acevedo, Johnson, 446 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2016)(Uniform Commercial Code’s four-year statute of limitations for “any contract for sale” held to apply  to credit cards usable only to buy goods in a chain store; Financing by bank did not matter; Partial payment did not re-start running of statute of limitations; Debt collector violated Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by filing a time-barred suit); New Century Financial Services, Inc. v. McNamara, A–2556–12, 2014 WL 1057076 (App. Div. Mar. 20, 2014)(U.C.C. statute of limitations applies to furniture store credit card financed by bank); Perez v. Rent-a-Center, 186 N.J. 188 (2006)( N.J. Supreme Court held rent to own contracts are subject to N.J. Retail Installment Sales Act, the 30% Criminal Usury Law, and the N.J. Consumer Fraud Act; Drafted amicus brief for Consumers League of N.J.; and Pulley v. Legriede,  295 B.R. 28 (Bankr. D.N.J. 2003), aff'd 303 B.R. 81 (D.N.J. 2003)(Established that New Jersey insurance surcharges were dischargeable in bankruptcy; As a result many motorists regained their driver licenses, which were needed to drive to work.). Mr. Fogarty has Professional Memberships with both the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. He was received awards from Legal Services of New Jersey including: James B. Larsen Award (1991); Harris David Award for Career Service to People in Poverty (2007) and the Richard Mastro Consumer Litigation Award (2016). Northeast New Jersey Legal Services, 574 Summit Avenue, Jersey City, N.J. 07306. [email protected].

 

US: Yongmoon Kim, Esq.

 

 

Yongmoon Kim is the managing attorney of a consumer protection firm in New Jersey, concentrating in consumer protection class actions throughout the country. He currently serves as a member of the Consumer Protection Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, advocating on behalf of consumers on pending legislation in the State of New Jersey, and as a member of the Class Actions Committee of the NJSBA. Mr. Kim also serves as co-chair of the Consumer Law Committee of the Bergen County Bar Association. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Consumers League of New Jersey—a nonprofit, membership organization founded in 1900—where the CLNJ educates and advocates on behalf of consumers. He also represents the CLNJ on the Special Civil Part Practice Committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court, participating in the proposal and amendments of the New Jersey Court Rules governing the Special Civil Part. He has also been recognized for his pro bono contributions and has been awarded Equal Justice Medal’s from the Legal Services of New Jersey, as well as the Champions of Justice Award from the Northeast New Jersey Legal Services. Mr. Kim can be reached at (201) 273-7117 and [email protected].

 

Africa (SA): Prof. Stefan Renke (UP)

 

After completing his BLC degree through the University of Pretoria, Stéfan Renke did his article clerkship. During this time he completed his LLB degree, also at the University of Pretoria. Stéfan thereafter commenced with national service in the SA National Defence Force and joined the Permanent Force as a military legal officer in the same year. In 1992 he was admitted as attorney of the High Court of South Africa. After 12 year’s service in the SA National Defence Force Stéfan took a severance package at the end of 1998. He was then employed as part time lecturer for 3 years in the Departments of Procedural- and Mercantile Law at the University of Pretoria during which time he completed his LLM degree in Mercantile Law at the same University. In 2002 he was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Mercantile Law on a full time basis and was promoted to senior lecturer with effect 1 January 2004. Stéfan completed his doctorate entitled “An evaluation of debt prevention measures in terms of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005” and was promoted to associate professor in January 2016. Stéfan is an NRF-rated researcher, holding a C2 rating and co-author of chapters in the Guide to the National Credit Act. Stéfan specialises in consumer protection law (more in particular consumer credit law) and presents courses on undergraduate and postgraduate level in this field. He also presents lectures in this area at the University of Pretoria Law School for candidate attorneys. Stéfan has co-presented seminars and short courses on the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 and wrote various publications on the subject. He has presented papers at national and international conferences and is a member of the International Consumer Law Association. Room 3-26 Law Building, Hatfield Campus, University of Pretoria. E-mail address: [email protected].

 

PRESENTERS TOPIC 2: SECURED TRANSACTIONS OF MOVABLE GOODS

 

US: Robert W. Murphy, Esq.

 

Robert W. Murphy is in private practice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, focusing on consumer class action litigation. He presently serves as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville Florida. He is a past chair of the Consumer Protection Law Committee of The Florida Bar and was a Board Member, Secretary and Florida State Chairperson for the National Association of Consumer Advocates.  He has spoken at many seminars and conferences hosted by a variety of state and national organizations, including The Florida Bar, The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the National Consumer Law Center, the National Association of Legal Aid and Public Defenders, and the United States Military Judge Advocate Corps as well as college and law schools. In 2016, the Florida Bar recognized Mr. Murphy as the Consumer Attorney of the Year. Mr. Murphy attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and received his B.A. cum laude from Wake Forest University in 1984 and his J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1987.  He is admitted to practice in Florida and Georgia as well as various US District Courts. He has served as lead or co-lead counsel in over 200 certified representative actions providing over a billion dollars in settlement benefits. The range of his class litigation includes actions against auto manufacturers, mortgage companies, banks, telemarketers, and most recently fin-tech lenders. Mr. Murphy maintains his South Florida office at 1212 SE 2nd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Telephone (954)763-8660, E-mail [email protected].

 

US: Attorney General Letitia James (Attorney General New York)

 

 

Biography/Short CV TBA

 

Africa (Nigeria): Anthony Idigbe

Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) is currently the Senior Partner of PUNUKA Attorneys & Solicitors, Nigeria and President, PUNUKA Consulting Inc. in Toronto, Canada. A seasoned legal practitioner and board room guru with over 37 years’ experience in diverse areas of law, he holds a GPLLM degree from the University of Toronto, Toronto Canada, masters’ in Law (LLM) from Robert Gordon University Wales (Construction and Arbitration Law), and from the University of Lagos respectively. He also holds a master’s in business administration (MBA), while his first degree is from the University of Ife in 1982. He is also currently a Doctoral Research Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada. His area of research interest is the intersection between norms and law and the role of non-state entities in global norm and law making in cross-border insolvency. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1983 and licensed to practice law in Ontario, Canada in 2016. He was also appointed a Notary Public in 1989. Chief Anthony Idigbe was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in July 2000, before the age of 40, and has since earned a reputation for being a thoroughbred legal practitioner. His practice areas include but not limited to: Insolvency; Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR); Consultancy & Process Advisory Services; Public-Private Partnership; Capital Markets; Banking and Finance; Mergers & Acquisitions; Construction Law; Aviation Law and Telecommunication law amongst.

 

 

PRESENTERS TOPIC 3: CONSUMER PRIVACY

US: Scott C Borison, Esq.

 

 

Scott C Borison devotes his time, energy, passion and over 30 years of experience as a lawyer to representing consumers to see they receive the protections they are entitled to under the law and help them enforce the rights they have against debt buyers, debt collectors, lenders, banks and mortgage companies. He recently started a network of attorneys across the country who share the same passion to help consumers: lawzebra.com. He has represented thousands of consumers across the country in trials and appeals. Many of his cases are cutting edge and have resulted in over 100 cases chosen to be published by courts. His trial experience includes trying class actions and individual cases before state and federal courts. He is a graduate of the Trial Lawyers College. He is licensed in California, District of Columbia and Maryland. He is also admitted before the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 9th 10th and 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and various federal district courts across the country.

 

US: Attorney General Maura Healy (Attorney General Massachusetts)

 

Biography/Short CV TBA

 

 

Africa (SA): Dr. Sylvia Papadopoulos (UP)

Sylvia Papadopoulos is a full-time senior lecturer in the Department of Mercantile Law at the University of Pretoria. She holds the degrees BLC, LLB, LLM (cum laude) and LLD from the University of Pretoria. Her thesis was entitled “Selected Aspects of E-Commerce, Digital Content and Consumer Protection in South Africa.”.  She has also been admitted as an advocate of the High Court of South Africa.  
After graduating with her LLB from the University of Pretoria, she joined the Department of Land Affairs as a legal researcher in the Restitution of Land Division, researching and validating restitution land claims. In 2003 she taught at the Damelin School of Banking and in 2004 she joined the Department of Mercantile Law, University of Pretoria as an assistant researcher and part-time lecturer.  Sylvia teaches in the fields of Payment Methods and ICT and Cyber Law and has published a number of peer-reviewed publications, presented at both national and international conferences and has made regular appearances on television and radio.  She is also an author and the editor of a leading book on law and technology in South Africa, Cyberlaw @ SA III: The Law of the Internet in South Africa (2012), Cyberlaw @ SA IV: The Law of the Internet in South Africa (2020) published by Van Schaiks and has advised the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on  aspects of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. She is also the current chair of the New Technologies and the Law Working Group for the prestigious Law Schools Global League (LSGL - https://lawschoolsgloballeague.com/ ) and attended by invite sessions with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group IV (Electronic Commerce) 51st session New York 2015.

 

Important Dates
Conference Duration
21 September 2020 08:00 - 23 September 2020 16:00
Registration
13 February 2020 - 18 September 2020 [CLOSED]
Call For Abstracts
10 February 2020 - 14 September 2020
Organiser
Name
Jani van Wyk
Contact Email
[email protected]
Contact Number
124205418
Streams
  • General Consumer Protection
  • Financial Consumer Protection
  • Credit Law
  • E-commerce and Consumer Protection
  • AGA African Realities