Michael Merar

Bio 6900 N. Dallas Pkwy Ste. 800 Plano, TX 75024 mmerar@qslwm.com 214-560-5443

Practice Areas

Financial Litigation

Commercial Litigation

Consumer Financial Litigation & Compliance

Education

The University of Michigan (B.A., April 2012, with distinction)
Emory University School of Law (J.D., May 2015)

Admitted to Practice

State Bar of Texas
State Bar of Georgia
U.S. District Court for the Northern, Western, Eastern, and Southern Districts of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Focus of Practice

Commercial litigation
Financial litigation
Construction litigation

Affiliations and Memberships

Member of Texas Bar
Member of Georgia Bar
Active in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dallas

Practice Description

Mike Merar is an experienced litigator who has represented a wide variety of commercial, financial, individual, and other clients in state and federal courts across the country. He currently focuses his practice on consumer financial litigation, representing a national consumer reporting agency in litigation brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In addition to his FCRA work, he also regularly represents lenders and other businesses in complex commercial litigation matters, TCPA arbitrations, and construction litigation cases.

Representative Experience

Successfully defended class certification action in S.D. Tex. against national consumer reporting agency
Secured summary judgment for national consumer reporting agency
Won a Motion to Dismiss for national consumer reporting agency on frivolous claims

Industry News Publications

Attorneys Beware – The FCRA is a Consumer Protection Statute, Not a Mechanism for Greed - Michael Merar

Attorneys Beware – The FCRA is a Consumer Protection Statute, Not a Mechanism for Greed

By: Michael Merar

Denise Miller v. Trident Asset Mgmt., LLC., et al.; No. 1:18-cv-02538-ADC (Dec. 4, 2019) (Order Granting Defendant’s Motion for Sanctions)

In a scathing opinion, the District of Maryland recently awarded attorneys’ fees and costs to Defendant Trident Asset Management for having to defend what it characterized as “Plaintiff’s fraud upon this Court.” Denise Miller v. Trident Asset Mgmt., LLC., et al.; No. ADC-18-2538, Dkt. 168 at *3. In Miller, a consumer alleged a Verizon account was opened without her authorization or knowledge. Id. at *1. The Verizon account ultimately was charged off, with the outstanding $190 balance sent to Trident for collection, who thereafter began reporting the account on Plaintiff’s credit files. Id. Plaintiff disputed the reporting with the national consumer reporting agencies, repeatedly claiming the account was the product of fraud. Id.

In its Order, the Court vehemently rebuked Plaintiff’s actions, her paralegal’s actions, and her attorney’s actions. Id. at *3. “It would also be imprudent to ignore the role of counsel in this case, who even after being faced with his client’s admission of the debt, the false reporting of identity theft, and her lack of knowledge of whether the reporting was accurate, continued to press the litigation.” Id. at *4. Equally as concerning was the court’s emphasis on the behavior of Miller’s paralegal, Thomas Alston, whom also happens to be Ms. Miller’s landlord. Id. at *3. “‘[T]he Alston family is engaged in, and profiting from, an enterprise of [FCRA] litigation.’” Id. at *4 (quoting Alston v. Branch Banking & Trust Co., 1:15-cv-3100-GLH, 2016 WL 4521651, at *1 n.1 (D. Md. Aug. 26, 2016) (internal citation omitted).

The Miller decision serves as an important reminder ─ the Fair Credit Reporting Act, while an important vehicle to correct actual errors in consumers’ credit reports, is not to be used as a mechanism for greed by bringing frivolous, fraudulent lawsuits.