Navigate the Maze: State-Specific Medical Debt Collection Laws

Leslie Bender Related Seminars and Products

Senior Counsel

Eversheds Sutherland

Leslie Bender counsels financial services and healthcare clients on a broad range of privacy, data security, and consumer financial protection laws.

She provides counsel on matters including privacy, consumer financial protection, HIPAA, data security, labor and employment, litigation, contracts, alternative dispute resolution and mediation, government affairs, regulatory relations, and change and project management. Leslie has more than two decades of experience in privacy and consumer financial protection and related regulatory relations before various federal and state regulators.

In addition, Leslie has more than 30 years of experience working with financial institutions, collection agencies, and as a compliance consultant and trainer for hospitals. Recognized as a national authority on information privacy and security law, she was one of the first privacy officers accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional. She is both a credentialed privacy officer, a CIPP/US, and a credentialed credit/collection professional, IFCCE (International Fellowship of Credit and Collections Executives).

Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, Leslie served as the Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel for BCA Financial Services, Inc. Before that, she was general counsel and vice president of government affairs at ARS National Services in Escondido, California.

Audra Funk Related Seminars and Products

Barron & Newburger, P.C.

Audra has over 20 years of experience as a dedicated creditor rights attorney including 15 years of practice in the areas of bankruptcy, insurance subrogation, retail collections on the creditor’s side in the state of Ohio. In 2016, Audra transitioned to the role of General Counsel and Compliance Officer for a national collection agency headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. In that capacity, Audra handled regulatory and compliance matters, consumer complaints and litigation as well as contract drafting, negotiation and vendor management. She advocated for and represented the business during customer, regulatory and licensing audits and worked with the business to remediate any findings.

Audra continued to serve as General Counsel and oversaw compliance at the collection agency she joined through its later divestiture, name change and multiple mergers and acquisitions during the Covid pandemic and significant regulatory reform, namely the enactment of Regulation F under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Audra also possesses expertise in issues pertaining to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, data security and privacy. In addition to her legal knowledge, she demonstrates an ability to provide clear and practical advice to business members that advance business goals while addressing and mitigating regulatory risks.