Arbitration 101 eCourse

David Marco is one of the founding partners of SmithMarco, P.C., and he has devoted the overwhelming majority of his professional career to the practice of consumer litigation and to protecting consumers' rights. He has many years of litigation experience and currently represents consumers in individual and class action cases arising out of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Illinois Consumer Fraud & Deceptive Business Practices Act, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, and other consumer-related statutes. David has successfully briefed and argued myriad motions on a wide range of issues, arbitrated hundreds of cases, and tried countless cases to verdict, including an approximately $250,000 arbitration award against Citibank for violating the Electronic Fund Transfer Act

Larry P. Smith is a consumer attorney, handling matters involving the FCRA, FDCPA, and EFTA, as well as state consumer fraud/UDAP matters for over eighteen years. He is the managing partner at SmithMarco, P.C., which he established in 2005. Mr. Smith has tried dozens of consumer rights cases to verdict in the state and federal courts of Illinois, Georgia, and Wisconsin and has arbitrated over 700 cases. Additionally, he has amicably resolved over 4,000 consumer fraud, FCRA, and FDCPA cases via settlement. Mr. Smith earned his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in 1993. He earned his B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1990. Mr. Smith has been a member of NACA for the past twelve years and has served as Illinois state chair

Jarrett Faber is an Associate with Kneupper & Covey and has been practicing law since 2021. During his time with Kneupper & Covey, Jarrett has gained experience representing consumers in state and federal court, as well as in arbitration proceedings. Jarrett has focused his practice thus far on cases related to debt collection, warranty disputes, and unfair and deceptive business practices.

Tashia Zeigler practices in Georgia.  She worked for over a decade as a public interest lawyer in State government and now practices with The Zeigler Firm in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dawn McCraw is passionate about consumer rights and the increasing need for consumers to fight inaccurate and damaging credit reporting and illegal debt collection. Her experience in credit and debt goes back more than fifteen years when she co-owned a company which helped consumers with credit and debt issues. Dawn has acted as the lead attorney in hundreds of FCRA cases and is currently Senior Counsel at the Consumer Justice Law Firm.

Sparky Abraham is a former legal aid and government lawyer. He now has a solo practice called Jubilee Legal based in Oxnard, California.

Matt Osborne practices in Northglenn, CO. His practice focuses on FCRA, auto fraud, and bad faith insurance. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he served five years in the Navy. Matt went to law school at Michigan State. He is married with four kids. His main hobby is suing big corporations.

Erika Heath fights for economic justice on behalf of consumers and employees, with a particular focus on erroneous credit/background reports, unlawful debt collection practices, bank fraud, ID theft, and other unfair trade practices. Erika is particularly passionate about assisting fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community through those employment and consumer legal challenges. She is currently Of Counsel to Francis Mailman Soumilas, P.C., and a Lecturer at Berkeley Law. 

Raina Bayas is a seasoned litigator and CEO of The Bayas Firm, PLLC, a consumer protection firm focused on Lemon Law, Auto Fraud, Diminished Value Claims. She started her litigation career at a nationwide law firm in California defending airbag and seatbelt manufacturers in product liability cases. Finding her life lacked purpose and becoming completely depressed, she set off on a year’s long existential search that led her to Denver, Colorado. She took the Colorado bar after volunteering for an organization that spoke to her soul, Rocky Mountain Victim’s Law Center.  She became a Project Director and eventually Legal Director. In 2013, she became a Deputy District Attorney in Boulder, County. During her five year career there, she became a part of the Consumer Protection Division, and prosecuted cases against at-risk individuals and white collar crimes. In late 2021, she melded her passion for fighting for justice (this time for consumers) and her interest in entrepreneurship to create The Bayas Firm, PLLC. Since starting the Bayas Firm, she has succeeded in obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars for her clients.  

Raina is active the consumer protection community, as the Colorado Chair for NACA, a former member of the Consumer Law Committee of the Colorado Bar Association, and a member of the Colorado Consumer Protection Coalition. She has testified before the Colorado legislature, defending a bill to end onerous requirement for Colorado’s UDAP and participated in Colorado’s Advocacy Week, meeting with US Congresspeople from Colorado to defend the CFPB. She loves to dish with her NACA colleagues on all things consumer protection related and is grateful for and humbled by this community.

Ron Wilcox is a former NACA Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College and has tried more than 12 cases to a Final Arbitration Award, where in many of them the consumers were awarded punitive and/or treble damages.