BAY AREA LEGAL SERVICES LAUNCHES CONSUMER AND FEDERAL LITIGATION PRACTICE

Consumer legal issues are among the top three areas of rising legal needs identified in Bay Area Legal Services’ 2026 Legal Needs Assessment. Bay Area Legal Services is meeting this need head-on with a new Consumer and Federal Litigation area of practice, led by Amanda J. Allen.

The assessment, conducted earlier this year, found significant increases in applications for help with consumer-related legal issues in recent years, including a 226% increase in applications involving collections or creditor harassment, a 190% increase in applications related to bankruptcy and debt relief, and a 104% increase in applications involving contracts and warranty problems.

"When the economy suffers, consumer issues rise," Allen said. "We're seeing that firsthand in the people who come to us for help."

The new Consumer and Federal Litigation practice area is supported by funding from the Funding Florida Legal Aid (FFLA) Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA) program. This new practice area will allow Bay Area Legal to take on a broader range of consumer cases, helping individual clients protect their rights and financial security, according to the organization.

Allen previously served as a staff attorney with Bay Area Legal's Major General Ernest A. and Marilyn Bedke Veterans Law Center and the Veterans Legal Helpline. Before joining Bay Area Legal, she practiced at a large law firm and later co-founded a private practice. Over the course of her 15-year legal career, she has spent 13 years focused exclusively on federal consumer litigation and has received national recognition for her work protecting the rights of consumers.

“[Consumer issues] touch nearly every area of our work, from veterans and seniors, to housing and disaster recovery,” Allen said. “Consumer protection is woven into so many of the challenges our clients are facing."

She said consumer issues Bay Area Legal can help with include:

• Deceptive or unfair business practices

• Credit reporting violations

• Exploitative door-to-door solicitation

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