Law Firm’s Role Renews Focus on Contentious Student Loan Bid Protest

One firm’s lawyers are representing different companies in a contentious Education Department student debt collection bid protest, which has already been marked by conflict-of-interest allegations.

Two of the 20 consolidated plaintiffs in the protest—Williams & Fudge and Central Credit Services—now are represented by Reed Smith attorneys.

The dual Reed Smith representation—and the circumstances surrounding the way the law firm gained one of its clients—have again highlighted the unusual nature of the case, FMS Investment Corp. v. United States, in which a judge has already disqualified a different law firm from participating because of a conflict issue. The protest also ...