Leah Dempsey Joins Brownstein’s Government Relations Practice

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is pleased to announce the addition of Leah Dempsey as a shareholder in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Dempsey is a well-connected financial services industry professional who leads efforts bridging policy, consumer financial laws and regulations, and politics. 

“Leah is a great addition to our financial services team,” said Marc Lampkin, Brownstein’s Government Relations Department chair. “As we continue to see a shift toward increased regulations, her experience working with financial services industry participants and businesses throughout the rulemaking, regulatory and legislative process will be a huge benefit to our clients.”

Dempsey advocates at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, Department of Labor, the U.S. Treasury, as well as several banking regulators. One focus of her work is leading clients through the CFPB rulemaking process for Regulation F, the first regulation to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act since 1977. Dempsey helps the debt collection industry, financial service providers, hospitals and other creditors understand this, and other consumer finance issues, and has advocated for reforms to dozens of federal rulemakings and related legislation in Congress on their behalf.

With executive and leadership roles at several financial trade associations representing the debt collection, credit union and nonbank lending industries, Leah was most recently vice president and senior counsel for federal advocacy at ACA International, where she led efforts to develop and implement the debt collection industry agenda for third-party agencies, debt buyers, vendors and creditors. Leah also served as senior director of advocacy and counsel at Credit Union National Association (CUNA), leading its Consumer Protection Advocacy team. Prior, she worked on the legal team for several Republican candidates, including Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) presidential campaign. 

“I have seen firsthand through joint efforts with Brownstein, when representing the debt collection and credit union industries throughout the country, how effective the firm’s approach of combining deep regulatory expertise with political acumen is at both the state and federal levels,” said Dempsey. “I’m excited to be joining this dynamic, bipartisan team.”

Dempsey is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.