| Mark Dapier | OF COUNSEL |
| 736 N. Western Avenue, Suite 164 | Regulatory Compliance |
| Lake Forest, IL 60045 | |
| TEL 888-339-5282, ext 703 • FAX 866-581-9302 | |
| MDapier@rw-llp.com |
Mark Dapier’s practice focuses on representing consumer lenders and automobile finance companies in licensing, regulatory and compliance matters, as well as performing transactional and real estate related work for businesses and high-net worth individuals. He also works to help his clients avoid litigation through compliance audits, review, revision and drafting of internal procedures, and also provides cost effective case management and advice on the resolution of litigation prone disputes. He represents the consumer lending industry in legislative matters as the Executive Director of the Independent Finance Association of Illinois, and serves as outside general counsel to a variety of companies engaged in consumer finance and other types of businesses.
Mark has substantial experience in counseling clients in responding to government requests for information and in resolving consumer and governmental complaints. As executive vice president and general counsel of a publicly traded consumer lender doing business nationally, he successfully managed and resolved individual and class action lawsuits in jurisdictions throughout the country which alleged among other things, violation of federal and state disclosure statutes, fraud, wrongful collection and repossession practices, violation of various employment and wage payment laws and unfair and deceptive practices. He has helped clients develop effective claim management and response procedures to help control costs, provide quick resolution of many disputes, and position them to more effectively defend litigation.
In addition to his work in the consumer credit field, Mark represents a variety of clients in real estate and other transactional work, and holds an Illinois real estate broker’s license. While serving as in-house counsel and as outside counsel to several manufacturers, sellers and distributors of a variety of products, he has negotiated, drafted and closed transactions for the sale, purchase and lease of residential, commercial and industrial property, structured agreements with distributors, agents, purchasing organizations and similar organizations, taken action to protect copyrights, trademarks and confidential information, and managed the purchase, sale and liquidation of various businesses.
He is the chair of the Corporate Counsel Committee of the Lake County, Illinois Bar Association, and a member of the Corporate Finance and Consumer Credit Committees of the Chicago Bar Association. He served as president of the Independent Finance Association of Illinois and is an adjunct professor of business law at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He has testified on behalf of clients before the Illinois Legislature, various state regulatory agencies and spoken in support of legislation to limit punitive damages in financial injury cases before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition he was a member of the Directors Task Force for the Consumer Installment Loan Act and Related Statutes sponsored by the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions and he frequently speaks to bar and trade associations on consumer lending, litigation developments and real estate practice and procedure. He has published numerous articles in trade publications on those and other matters.
Mark received his Juris Doctor from Chicago's John Marshall Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton. He is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.