attorneys

Eric J. Troutman

Member
ejt@severson.com | (949) 442-7110 Tel | (949) 442-7118 Fax
OFFICE
19100 Von Karman Avenue
Suite 700
Irvine
CA 92612

949-442-7110 Tel
949-442-7118 Fax

Areas of Practice

  • Financial Services
    • Financial Services Litigation

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1999
  • University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, J.D., 2003

Mr. Troutman is a member in the Firm’s Irvine office and practices in the Auto Finance, Financial Service Litigation and Labor and Employment groups. Mr. Troutman is a general practice litigator and experienced trial attorney assisting financial service companies in a wide-range of litigation. He represents financial institutions in suits relating to operations and protocols, statutory violations as well as suits by individual consumers seeking recovery on common law theories. For the firm's money center bank clients he defends cases related to bank operations and the enforcement of statutory warranties. He also advises financial institutions as to banking operations, the Uniform Commercial Code, and fair debt collection practice statutes. For automotive finance companies, Mr. Troutman enforces secured financing arrangements and defends various lender liability claims. He has also defended captive finance lenders in suits by dealerships for fraud and breach of contract. For Severson’s consumer credit reporting agencies, Mr. Troutman defends claims of violations of State and Federal Consumer Reporting Acts. Mr. Troutman also defends furnishers of information against purported liability under these same enactments. For the firm's mortgage lender clients, Mr. Troutman assists in enforcing servicing rights and defends suits by consumers seeking to delay or set aside foreclosures. Mr. Troutman also defends the firm's clients in class action suits related to purported violations of consumer protection statutes.

Mr. Troutman’s professional litigation experience includes practice in both state and federal courts, as well as bankruptcy and appellate matters. Mr. Troutman obtained his J.D. from U.C.L.A. School of Law in 2003.

Mr. Troutman's primary legal practice areas include:

Commercial and financial institution litigation, mortgage lending, and bankruptcy.

Mr. Troutman's specific experience includes:

Financial Institution Litigation: Representation of financial institutions, primarily mortgage lenders, loan servicers, and auto finance companies, in suits raising a variety of lender liability claims.

Representation of national deposit institutions pertaining to bank operations, Check 21 compliance and negotiable instrument liability under the UCC.

Advises clients and litigates matters regarding FCRA violations and compliance for both information furnishers and CRA clients.

Consumer Bankruptcy: Representation of automotive finance companies in consumer bankruptcy cases of Chapter 7, 11 and 13 debtors.

Lender Liability: Defended various financial institutions in individual actions involving allegations of wrongful foreclosure, improper handling of escrow accounts, inadequate disclosures, fraud, and discriminatory/predatory lending practices.

Biographical Information:

Employment History: Joined Severson & Werson in 2006. Previously associate with Borton Petrini & Conron.

Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1999; J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, 2003.

Admitted to Practice: California, 2003

Professional Affiliations: Member, State Bar of California; Los Angeles County Bar Association; Orange County Bar Association; American Bar Association

  • Obtained trial victories in wide-ranging subject areas including enforcing statutory indemnity rights for financial institutions; ascertaining the enforceability of promissory notes in securitized pools; defending identity theft claims against financial institutions relative to HELOCs; resolving a title dispute involving the marital property presumptions and the amanuensis doctrine; and defense of a Lanham Act claim based upon false advertising.

  • In what may be the largest auto dealer finance case ever tried to jury verdict, Severson & Werson defended Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. against $250 million in “lender liability” damage claims by a failed auto dealer group and prevailed with a $40 million judgment against the dealer after 5 weeks of trial. Nissan reports that this is the largest judgment it has ever obtained. The trial team included Duane Geck, Mark Kenney, Eric Troutman and Drew Elliott.   

  • Represents financial institutions in nationwide consumer class action lawsuits across the country.

  • Represented a finance company in pursuit of $60,000,000.00 deficiency judgment and defense of cross-complaint by dealership group seeking over a hundred million in damages

  • Represented major banks in numerous operations cases with exposure in excess of $1,000,000.00

  • Obtained summary Judgment victories in favor of a financial institution in wide ranging cases including in defense of a banker alleged to have participated in a ponzi scheme and in favor of a bank against a fidelity insurer on the doctrine of superior equities.

  • Served as national counsel to a consumer credit reporting agency reporting on consumer deposit account experience and defended numerous lawsuits brought pursuant to FCRA and state law corollaries.

  • Represented consumer finance companies in numerous lawsuits tethered to alphabet-soup consumer protection statutes including TCPA, FCRA, RFDCPA, FDCPA, CLRA, RESPA, and TILA.

  • Severson & Werson is pleased to announce Suzanne Hankins and Eric Troutman as new members of the firm.
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  • Severson defended Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. against $250 million in “lender liability” damage claims by a failed auto dealer group and prevailed with a $40 million judgment against the dealer.
    Read Detail »