Charles Delbaum

Charles M. Delbaum worked full-time as a consumer class action litigator at the National Consumer Law Center from 2005 until July, 2022, when he largely retired — he is currently still co-counseling three class actions for NCLC. At NCLC, he has successfully pursued dozens of class actions to remedy abusive conduct by student loan lenders, mortgage servicers, payday lenders, debt collectors and credit reporting agencies. He was also an author and editor of NCLC’s nationally-recognized treatises, including Consumer Class Actions, Fair Credit Reporting, Credit Discrimination and Fair Debt Collection.  

Charles began his career as a law clerk for the Hon. Malcom Muir, U.S. District Court, M.D. Pa., and then was a staff attorney in the law reform unit of the Cleveland (Ohio) Legal Aid Society from 1975 to 1979. There, he pursued class actions for disadvantage individuals, including several cases on behalf of nursing home patients, for example forcing nursing homes to provide better medical care, and stopping nursing homes that were providing good care from discharging patients when they converted from private pay to Medicaid coverage. Later, as Director of Litigation at New Orleans Legal Assistance from 1992-2005, he successfully pursued actions on behalf of Medicaid applicants whose applications were not being timely processed, public housing tenants whose children were being poisoned by lead paint, and others.

As an Access to Justice Fellow, Charles is excited to serve as an active member of the Litigation Advisory Council of the Health Law Advocates. The Council supports HLA’s Head of Litigation, a new position at HLA being filled in September, 2022. The Council will assist the Head of Litigation in developing causes of action for impact litigation, review pleadings, and consult on litigation strategy.