Our People
H. Blake Sims
Shareholder
Blake Sims is a member of the firm’s Consumer Finance Group, focusing his practice on general corporate law, including consumer finance, regulatory compliance, business organizations and planning, commercial transactions and conflicts of law, electronic transactions and Internet transactions, and privacy policies.
Mr. Sims also regularly advises loan companies, deferred presentment companies, financial institutions and banks regarding electronic payments (ACH transactions) under NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association, federal consumer finance laws and regulations, including the Federal Arbitration Act, Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B), Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E), Truth-in-Lending Act (Regulation M and Z), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Regulation P), Fair Credit Reporting Act (Regulation V), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Bank Secrecy Act, USA Patriot Act and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
Mr. Sims recently spoke on data breach issues at the Merchant Acquirers Conference in St. Louis.
Presentations
- "Product Update: What to Expect from New and Upcoming Regulation," FiSCA, 2011
- "2011 Product Update: What to Expect from New and Upcoming Regulation," CFSA Annual Conference, 2011
- "Three More Nightmares that Keep Us Awake at Night," OLA Fall Conference, Panel Moderator, 2010
- "Financial Innovation: Legal Challenges with New Products and Technology," CFSA Spring Conference, 2010
- "2010 Federal Regulatory Update: From A to Z (advertising, privacy, risk-based pricing, open-end credit and more)," CFSA Spring Conference, 2010
- "Defining the Boundaries: Impact of Data Compromises and Other Legal Issues on Risk Management," MAC Conference, 2009
- "Common Compliance Issues Involving Payday Lending FiSCA," Fall Conference, 2009
- "Incorporating New Products in a Monoline Operation," CFSA Spring Conference, 2009
Memberships
- Community Financial Services Association
- Financial Service Centers of America, Inc.
- Online Lenders Alliance
- Chattanooga Bar Association
- Cleveland - Bradley Chamber of Commerce
- State Bar of Georgia
- Tennessee Bar Association
Honors
- Leadership Cleveland, 2011 Class
- Tennessee Law Review, editorial staff, 1996-1998
Clerk to the Honorable Houston M. Goddard, presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Eastern Section
Publications
- "Tribal Loans to State Residents – The Next Test of Sovereign Immunity" Consumer Financial Services Newsletter (Winter 2011)
- "Constitutional Law: The Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel Admissibility of Testimony from a Voluntary Active Informant" Tennessee Law Review, 63 Tenn. L. Rev. 453
- "Marketing with Text Messaging" Currents Magazine
