Andrew M. Milz

Andy Milz was raised in a union household in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where he was taught by his parents' example to never stop pursuing economic fairness and social justice. He has dedicated his career as a trial lawyer to fighting for American consumers and workers who have been victimized by corporate greed.

Mr. Milz specializes in representing people harmed by consumer finance fraud, debt collection harassment, improper repossessions, and inaccurate credit reporting. He has also handled litigation involving a variety of other issues, including auto fraud, abusive robocalls, solar panel scams, product defects, data security and identity theft, invasion of consumer privacy, civil rights abuses, securities fraud, and employee benefit plans.

Andy attended local colleges and is active in state and national organizations that fight to advance consumer rights. He proudly supports local legal aid organizations and is honored to join them as co-counsel or pro bono counsel in litigation involving important consumer rights issues. Media outlets ranging from ABC News, NPR, Salon, Consumer Reports and Bankrate.com have sought Andy's legal input on consumer issues.

Mr. Milz has represented thousands of consumers in hundreds of successful individual cases. He has also been plaintiffs' counsel in more than two dozen class actions, obtaining over $100 million dollars in relief for consumers.

Education

J.D., Temple University 

Executive Editor, Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review

M.A. in English Literature, University of Scranton

B.A. in English Literature, King’s College

Cum laude 

Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, WY

Publications

Coverage, Consumer Rights and Remedies Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), PBI No. 2016-9436

Pennsylvania Bar Institute 2016, co-author

Carolyn Carter, et.al, Pennsylvania Consumer Law

(Geo. Bisel Pub. Co. 2002 ed., 2015 Supplement)

Lead author and editor of the chapter “Odometer Fraud” and co-author of chapters “Repossessions” and “Attorney Fees in Consumer Litigation”

Basics of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, PBI No. 2014-8241

Pennsylvania Bar Institute 2014, co-author

Robert Hobbs, et. al, Consumer Law Pleadings 

National Consumer Law Center 19th ed., 2013 

Contributed segments on the Federal Odometer Act and consumer arbitration agreements

Coverage, Consumer Rights and Remedies Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, PBI No. 2013-7904

Pennsylvania Bar Institute 2013, co-author

But Names Will Never Hurt Me? El-Hakem v. BJY, Inc. and Title VII Liability for Race Discrimination Based on an Employee's Name 

16 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 283 (2006)   

Bar Admissions

Pennsylvania Bar

New Jersey Bar

United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

United States District Courts for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

United States District Courts for the Western District of Pennsylvania

United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Awards and Honors

Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, 2006 - 2007

Temple University Beasley School of Law

Executive Editor

SuperLawyers

SuperLawyer, 2019 - 2020
Rising Star, 2014-2018

View Andrew Milz' SuperLawyers Profile

AVVO

Andrew Milz has a 10 out of 10 rating. 

View Andrew Milz on Avvo

Lawyers.com

View Andrew Milz' profile on Lawyers.com

Associations

Mr. Milz is a member of the American, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Montgomery Bar Associations.  He is an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), and is involved in NACA’s Military Consumer Justice Project, which educates our military service members on issues of financial literacy and consumer protections.  Mr. Milz has been invited to lecture on consumer law subjects in PA, NJ, and around the country.  

Representative Matters

Hyman v. Devlin
No. 17-00089 (W.D. Pa.)

Wrongful repossession and civil rights case where the jury awarded a verdict of $500,000 in punitive damage against a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper for unlawfully aiding in the repossession of a consumer's vehicle, in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Droney v. Vivint Solar
2018 WL 6191887 (D.N.J. Nov. 28, 2018)

Door-to Door sales solar panel seller must fact trial on whether it defrauded consumer refusing to enforce arbitration clause that waives the right to a jury trial.

Shaw v. Law Offices of Hayt Hayt & Landau
2018 WL 1634829 (D.N.J. Apr. 5, 2018)

Debt Collector must face trial over whether it maliciously used/abused the court system to unlawfully garnish consumers' bank accounts on debts that belonged to someone else.

Schultz v. Midland Credit Management
905 F.3d 159 (3d Cir. 2018)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the trial court and reinstated our clients' class action claim of deception against debt collection giant Midland Credit, who sent our clients a collection letter that threatened reporting of a debt to the IRS, when there was no possibility of reporting ever coming to pass.

Kakley v. Southeast Toyota Finance
Arbitration 2018

Arbitration award of $115,000 plus attorney fees and costs for our client - a young man whose front tooth was knocked out by a repo man's sucker punch.

Daniels v. Hollister Co.
113 A.3d 796 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2015)

In a case of first impression, appeals court held there is no “ascertainablility” requirement under NJ's class action rules, affirming the trial court’s class certification.  

Douglass v. Convergent Outsourcing
765 F.3d 299 (3d Cir. 2014)

In this important privacy rights decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held for the first time that a debt collector violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) by displaying a consumer's account number through the glassine window of a collection envelope.

Gager v. Dell Financial Services 
727 F. 3d 265 (3d Cir. 2013)

In the first case of its kind, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that cellphone customers may block annoying robocalls to their cellphones, a decision benefiting hundreds of millions of American consumers.

Cubler v. Trumark Fin. Credit Union 
83 A.3d 235 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013)

The appeals court held that a 6 year statute of limitations applies Pennsylvania’s law governing car repossession, reversing dismissal of this consumer class action.

Cappuccio v. Prime Capital Funding, LLC
649 F.3d 180 (3rd Cir. 2011)

At the height of the mortgage meltdown in 2008, we obtained a jury verdict for punitive damages against mortgage giant Countrywide for defrauding our client.  During the appeal that followed, we made positive new case law for consumers facing predatory loans.  Our client was later invited to the White House, where she discussed her ordeal with President Obama.

In re Hansen, No. 11-10472-SR
Bkrtcy. E.D. Pa. bench ruling dated June 7, 2011

During a two-day long evidentiary hearing, our firm successfully unraveled a sophisticated accounting scam to recover $1 million in stolen insurance proceeds for our client, a widow defrauded by a business owner.

Presentations

Andrew Milz has been invited to speak to lawyers around the country on a variety of consumer law issues, such as abusive collection practices, credit reporting privacy and accuracy, illegal vehicle repossessions, and finance fraud.

2020

Credit Reporting
Damages in Fair Credit Reporting Act Cases
National Association of Consumer Advocates' Spring Training (webinar)

2019

Repossession
Repossessions: FDCPA Claims, Breach of the Peace, and Big Verdicts
National Consumer Law Center Annual Conference, Boston, MA
TCPA
Effective Use of the TCPA for Individual Cases Challenging Debt Collection Harassment
National Consumer Law Center Annual Conference, Boston, MA
Collection Abuse
CFPB Community Roundtable on the FDCPA
with Director, Kathy Kraninger, Philadelphia, PA
Repossession
Repossession Law Developments 2019
National Association of Consumer Advocates, Pennsylvania Chapter, Philadelphia, PA

2018

Collection Abuse
Abusive Attorney Collection Practices
National Consumer Law Center, FDCPA Conference, Chicago, IL
FDCPA Defensive Strategies (Part 1)
National Consumer Law Center, FDCPA Conference, Chicago, IL
Consumer Protection
Military Consumer Justice Project 2018 for JAG Officers
U.S. Military Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Wrightstown, NJ
Dover Air Force Base, Dover, DE

2017

TCPA
Maximizing the Value of Individual TCPA Cases
National Consumer Law Center, FDCPA Conf., New Orleans, LA
National Consumer Law Center Annual Conf., Washington, DC

Consumer Law
The Legal Process: From Collection to Lawsuit
Mt. Airy USA, Philadelphia, PA
Turn the Table: Affirmative Consumer Law Claims Arising from Debt Collection
North Penn Legal Services Annual Conf., Scranton, PA

2016

Consumer Law
What it Takes to be a Lawyer & Live a Happy Life
Pennsylvania State University, Wilkes Barre, PA
Evolving Issues in Fair Debt Collection: FDCPA, FCRA & TCPA & Beyond
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Repossession               
Claim Spotting in Repossessions and Auto Loan Collection
National Consumer Law Center, FDCPA Conference, Miami, FL

2015

Class Action
Ethical Issues Presented by Individual & Class Action Retainer Agreements
National Consumer Law Center, FDCPA Conference, Washington, DC
Military Consumer Law Readiness Project
U.S. Military Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Trenton, NJ

Collection Abuse
Consumer Debt Collection
U.S.Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School, Charlottesville, VA

Repossession
Breach of Peace: Police Involvement in Repossessions
National Consumer Law Center Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX

Consumer Law
A Consumer Litigator’s Guide to Clients’ Use of Social Media
National Association of Consumer Advocates, PA Chapter,Philadelphia, PA

2014

Consumer Law
Significant Consumer Decisions in the Past Six Months
National Association of Consumer Advocates, PA Chapter, Villanova, PA
Credit Reporting
Primer on Fair Credit Reporting Act
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, PA & Mechanicsburg, PA
Identity Theft
Identity Theft Statutes & Consumer Remedies
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Mechanicsburg, PA

2013

Consumer Law
Effective Fee Petitions
National Association of Consumer Advocates, PA Chapter, Philadelphia, PA

Predatory Lending & Truth in Lending Act Rescission
Delaware Law School, Widener University, Wilmington, DE

Collection Abuse
Primer on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

2012

Consumer Law
Consumer Law Triage
North Penn Legal Services, Wilkes Barre, PA

Discovery & Trial in the Consumer Protection Case
Delaware Law School, Widener University, Wilmington, DE

Trial of the Consumer Protection Case
Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA

2011

Consumer Law
Military Consumer Law Readiness Project
U.S. Military Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Trenton, NJ

Repossession
Repossession & Defending the Deficiency Suit
National Association of Consumer Advocates, PA Chapter, Harrisburg, PA