by Kathy Para
JBA Pro Bono Committee Chair
In a world where money means power, and where power often tilts the scales of justice, Rusty Collins finds great satisfaction in working for free and trying to keep things in balance.
“As much as I enjoy getting paid to do legal work, there is a part of me that does not like the inherent unfairness of what happens in litigation, especially debt litigation,” Collins says. “Sometimes, whoever has the most expensive attorney wins.”
Collins is the managing partner of a two attorney firm that specializes in real estate transactions, consumer defense and criminal and family law, but what he really likes is helping regular people stay in their homes or work their way out of a credit trap that threatens their way of life. It’s this drive that has made Collins one of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s most dedicated volunteers, and it’s the reason he’s been selected JALA’s “Pro Bono Attorney of the Month” for May.
“I love being a lawyer,” he says. “I became a lawyer at 46. I would do this for free if I was able to meet my other goals, such as paying the bills.”
Despite those other goals, Collins has found time to conduct great quantities of pro bono work.
“Our consumer law program would not be nearly as successful as it is without Rusty,” says Megan Wall, Managing Attorney of St. Johns County Legal Aid, a branch of JALA. “He takes the lion’s share of the case referrals, assists with client interviews and even does public speaking on various legal topics to educate the community,” she said.
“He works hand in hand with Joy Bryant, the St. Johns Housing Partnership credit and loan modification counselor, and together they have saved hundreds of family homesteads in the last year. I cannot say enough about Rusty’s dedication to his clients and this community. We are all so lucky he chose to practice law! He has accomplished all this and has only been a member of the Florida Bar for a little over a year – it’s just amazing!,” said Wall.
While attending law school, Collins never gave debt defense or foreclosure much thought. But when the recession hit and people started losing their homes, it just seemed like a natural place for an attorney with a conscience. Though not yet a member of the Florida Bar, Collins signed up for a JALA mortgage defense class run by foreclosure expert April Charney. Right after receiving his membership, Collins was ready to go to work.
“Later that month, I was admitted to the Bar and I immediately had a case from a real estate agent to defend a foreclosure sale. My defense worked. I was hooked. I started attending the Consumer Law class presented by Jim Kowalski in St. Augustine and started taking more cases.”
Collins says he particularly likes foreclosure defense.
“I had a client in my first month that had a $350,000 house in foreclosure. She was a person who worked at a nail salon. There was no way she could afford that house. The builder got paid. The mortgage broker got paid. The real estate agents got paid. The person who bundled the loans into mortgage-backed securities got paid. But my client lost her home.”
That doesn’t mean Collins thinks everyone should get a free pass.
“I think the universe is a better place overall when people keep their promises,” he said. “However, we are in a situation where others’ greed has caused some of the financial debt problems people are facing.”
Credit card debt is another arena in which Collins thrives.
“I have clients who have been threatened with jail if they do not pay a credit card debt. There are some who use their social security money to pay old debts that are not otherwise collectible. They are sometimes paying credit card debt instead of eating. … This will not do,” said Collins.
In one such case, a 60-some-year-old woman couldn’t even remember owning the credit card in question. During the trial, Collins was able to discover from the “custodian” of the company’s business records that the records were not the company’s but someone else’s. Collins won a directed verdict.
“It brought me great joy to say to my client that the case was ‘all done’ and ‘finished’ and then write to her on a pad that the plaintiff can never collect this alleged debt from you,” said Collins.
But in addition to the warm and fuzzy moments of helping others, Collins says his pro bono work provides him with many practical benefits as well.
“Yeah, I get to feel good about myself. Endorphins are always nice to get,” he says. “But it also, and more importantly, gets me in front of my local judges. Face time with judges is invaluable. I get to argue. I get shot down. I get positive rulings. I get to learn how the judges analyze certain types of cases. I sometimes even get positive comments from judges in front of colleagues in open court.”
One of his favorite professional moments came in a pro bono credit card defense. After getting the plaintiff’s witness to establish the charge off date of July 2004, and confirm that the agreement attached to the complaint was, indeed, the correct agreement, Collins got to experience his own “Perry Mason” moment.
Collins asked the witness to read the bottom line of the 14th page of the credit card agreement, which was copyrighted in 2006. He then proceeded to inquire, “how is it that the credit card was issued pursuant to an agreement created two years after the alleged credit card was charged off?”
“At that point the trial was over. It was a beautiful moment for me,” said Collins.
As it was, no doubt, for the client. And many more people could experience such victories, Collins says, but they don’t because they wilt in the face of overwhelming money and power – just like the credit card and mortgage companies expect them to do.
“I go to many small claims credit card pre-trial conferences and I just want to tell everyone: STOP! Don’t admit anything! You may have defenses,” said Collins.
Area attorneys interested in taking one pro bono case should contact JALA Pro Bono Development Coordinator Kathy Para at [email protected], or call 356-8371 ext. 363. There are two-hour, CLE courses available for check out in a variety of civil substantive areas, including credit card defense.