Levi Swank is a partner in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution practices. Levi represents banks, non-bank financial institutions, and fintech companies in complex litigation and government enforcement matters. He has served as counsel of record in federal and state courts around the country and has represented numerous banks and fintech companies in investigations and contested enforcement actions brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the United States Department of Justice, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Levi is particularly expert in advising clients and defending matters related to the False Claims Act (FCA), Fair Housing Act (FHA), and the alphabet soup of federal and state consumer finance laws, including RESPA, FCRA, ECOA, TILA, FDCPA, and UDAAP. Levi also co-lead’s Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights blog, the marketplace’s first resource for real-time reporting on the full range of public federal and state consumer finance enforcement activity, and co-founded and co-author’s Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Year in Review. Levi joined Goodwin in 2015 following his service as a law clerk to Chief Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Experience
- Counsel of record in multiple contested CFPB enforcement actions currently pending in federal court
- Counsel for numerous fintech companies in CFPB investigations concerning credit reporting, payment processing, small-dollar lending, and real estate settlement services
- Counsel for national bank defending multiple separate class action and complex litigation matters alleging racial discrimination and FHA violations in mortgage lending and servicing
- Counsel for multiple nationwide financial institutions in defending nine-figure FCA investigations and enforcement actions brought by DOJ
- Counsel for national bank and reinsurance subsidiaries in multiple RICO matters concerning mortgage insurance and reinsurance practices
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Goodwin, Levi served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Recognition
In law school, Levi served as an Executive Editor of the Virginia Law Review, and was a member of the Virginia Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.
Credentials
Education
JD2013
University of Virginia School of Law
(Order of the Coif)
BA2010
Patrick Henry College
(summa cum laude)
Clerkships
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Honorable Alice Batchelder
Admissions
Bars
- District of Columbia
- Virginia
Courts
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Recognition & Awards
Publications
Levi’s speaking engagements include:
- Speaker, “Scorched Earth: What Your Clients Need to Know About Litigating Against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB),” Goodwin CLE Week 2025, January 2025
- Speaker, “CFPB 1033: Compliance Challenges for the CFPB’s “Open Banking” Rule,” Goodwin Webinar, November, 2024
- Speaker, “Chevron Overturned: Implications of Loper Bright and Relentless for Consumer Financial Services,” Goodwin Webinar, July 2024
- Speaker, “Key Updates – Changes in Administrative Law and the Impact on Compliance,” Mortgage Bankers Association Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, May 2024
- Speaker, “Consumer Financial Services: Emerging Issues for 2024,” Goodwin Webinar, March 2024
- Speaker, “HUD and CFPB Administrative Adjudication Proceedings: Background, Recent Updates, and Legal Challenges,” Mortgage Bankers Association Regulatory Compliance Conference, September 2022
- Speaker, “CFPB Updates on handling of RESPA violations and Kickbacks,” New York Association of Mortgage Brokers (NYAMB), May 2022
- Speaker, “CFPB Targets Unfair Discrimination in Consumer Finance,” Goodwin Webinar, April 2022
- Speaker, “Developing a Consumer Complaint Response Strategy for Fintech Companies,” Webinar, September 2020
- Speaker, “Financial Services Forward Focus: Top of Mind Regulatory and Enforcement Issues Facing Fintech Companies in the Current Climate,” Webinar, July 2020
- Speaker, Mortgage Bankers Association Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, 2019 May 2019
- Speaker, Mortgage Bankers Association Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, 2018 April 2018
Levi’s recent publications include:
- Co-Author, “CRA Plays Role in DOJ Fight Against Redlining,” Law 360, July 2023
- Co-Author, “2020 Year in Review: Consumer Finance,” Goodwin Blog, February 2021
- Co-Author, “10 Key Takeaways From California’s New Consumer Finance Regulatory and Enforcement Regime,” Goodwin Finance Flash, November 2020
- Co-Author, “Consumer Finance 2019 Year in Review,” Goodwin Insights, March 2020
- Co-Author, “Compliance in UDAAP Risk Environment,” The Review of Banking & Financial Services, September 2019