Hudson Cook now has a legal team in the Lone Star State.

This week, Hudson Cook expanded its nationwide footprint by adding a new office in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The office in downtown Fort Worth opened on Aug. 16. This location is the firm’s first office in Texas and 13th office nationwide.

Partner Hurshell Brown and of counsel Curtis Linscott will anchor the office along with associate Andrea Cottrell. Before joining Hudson Cook, Brown and Cottrell had their own firm of Brown & Cottrell, while Linscott most recently worked at Cash America.

“We are excited to be moving into the thriving Texas legal market,” Hudson Cook chairman Michael Benoit said. “The DFW office will help us better serve our existing clients, as well as bring new opportunities to the firm.”

Brown began practicing law in the consumer finance industry in 2007 as an in-house attorney for Cash America. Most recently, he served as a managing member of Brown & Cottrell, representing clients operating in the consumer financial services and FinTech industries, including installment lenders, retail installment lenders, payday lenders, pawnbrokers and service providers.

Brown assists clients in complying with state and federal consumer financial laws and represents lenders and consumer finance companies with regulatory compliance, due diligence, and developing compliance-focused solutions to business operations for both storefront and online operations.

Linscott joined Cash America in 1995 as director, associate general counsel, and served as lead counsel for the company and its subsidiaries in real estate acquisition, disposition and leasing transactions, construction matters, franchising, intellectual property and general corporate matters.

Linscott was named general counsel in 2005 and appointed executive vice president in 2006. He established the company’s first formal compliance department and built out a robust compliance management program, including developing staff, formal policies and procedures, monitoring and testing programs, and board reporting, all geared toward the complex regulatory compliance environment for the financial services industry.

Cottrell began her legal career with Brackett & Ellis where she worked in civil litigation and insurance defense. In 2010, she joined Cash America as director, corporate counsel. She was actively involved in the CFPB’s regulatory exams and supported the compliance function by counseling on exam responses, completing law reviews, revising loan documents and consulting with IT on system changes.

Cottrell has substantial knowledge of marketing and advertising law in both the traditional and digital spaces, and serves clients in those areas.  After the Cash America merger, Cottrell joined Brown & Cottrell, assisting clients in the creation, implementation and management of compliance management systems and counseled clients on responding to MRAs from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She drafted original and revised existing policies/procedures and guided clients through implementation.

Hudson Cook’s Dallas/Fort Worth office is located at 500 Main Street, Suite 310 in Fort Worth.

Free webinar on CFPB’s new arbitration rule

In other firm news, Hudson Cook is hosting a free webinar on Sept. 21, beginning at noon ET to discuss the CFPB’s new arbitration rule.

Benoit along with two other Hudson Cook partners, Eric Johnson and Nikki Munro, will use the hour-long session to highlight scope, requirements and substance of the rule, political and legal challenges to the rule, and the potential impact of the rule on the automotive finance industry.

Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and will receive a copy of the presentation materials following the live event.

Registration for the webinar can be completed here.