Lynne Barr, a partner in Goodwin Procter's Financial Services Group and chair of its Consumer Financial Services Practice, focuses on banking and financial services law. She advises banks, bank holding companies, brokerage concerns, mortgage companies, trade associations and other entities on general corporate matters, including the operation and offering of their products and services, particularly in the context of federal and state regulation of financial institutions and their activities. Ms. Barr has extensive experience in credit and mortgage lending matters (including licensing, disclosure, documentation, interest rate limitations and credit reporting), fair lending and equal credit opportunity issues, credit and deposit services, electronic banking and Internet services, and insurance products.
WORK FOR CLIENTS
Ms. Barr advises financial institutions on transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions and conversions from mutual to stock form, the operation of payments networks and the offering of debit card, Internet and electronic funds transfer (EFT) services and other products. She conducts contract negotiations for product development, licensing, automated clearinghouse, computer systems and network agreements and represents clients on federal and state legislative and regulatory matters, including privacy.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Ms. Barr is the Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association's Business Law Section and is a member of its Council. She is also a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Business Lawyer, the Section's scholarly journal. Ms. Barr is the former chair of the ABA's Consumer Financial Services Committee. In addition, she is the former chair of the Financial Holding Company Subcommittee of the ABA's Banking Law Committee and the ABA's Consumer Financial Services Subcommittees on Deposit Accounts and Programs.
Ms. Barr is a past President of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association and the Consumer Bankers Association Lawyers Committee. Ms. Barr is also a member of the American Law Institute.
MEDIA AND PRESENTATIONS
Ms. Barr is a frequent speaker on banking and consumer financial services issues for trade association and legal education seminars. She is the author of numerous articles on banking, consumer credit, EFTs and deposit account issues.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Barr was a senior attorney in the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where she worked on consumer credit, electronic funds transfer and consumer leasing matters.
She is also a former faculty member of the Boston University Law School Graduate Program in Banking Law.
RECOGNITION
In 2010, Ms. Barr was the recipient of the Senator William Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award. Given by the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, the award is granted to a person who has made significant contributions in the field of consumer financial services. In 2005, Ms. Barr received the prestigious Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award from the American Bar Association Business Law Section, presented annually to an exceptional woman business lawyer who has made a significant contribution both to the profession and to the Section of Business Law.
Ms. Barr has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America.
EDUCATION
- J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 1975 (with honors)
- B.A., The George Washington University, 1972
Ms. Barr also attended the University of California at Berkeley.
BAR ADMISSIONS
- District of Columbia
- Massachusetts