Walter E. Zalenski is a partner in the Washington DC office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He has practiced in the area of consumer financial services and banking law for over 20 years.
Mr. Zalenski is engaged in a broad practice consisting of retail banking, residential real estate finance, consumer privacy law, electronic consumer finance, and due diligence counseling in connection with mergers & acquisitions. He also has represented creditors in connection with class action litigation involving claims under federal and state consumer credit protection legislation. Similarly, he has represented financial service providers in connection with enforcement actions by the bank regulatory agencies, DOJ, FTC, and HUD. His practice also includes the representation of various premier service providers to the lending industry.
Mr. Zalenski served as Special Counsel to Shawmut National Corporation responsible for mortgage banking, fair lending, and retail banking compliance.
Mr. Zalenski brings his broad knowledge of banking law and consumer financial services to bear as a member of Weil’s Financial Regulatory Reform Working Group. He advises financial institutions concerning multiple areas of law impacted by recent financial reform legislation.
Mr. Zalenski has lectured and written on a wide variety of issues such as electronic finance, privacy laws, Truth in Lending, fair lending laws, arbitration clauses, bank interstate expansion, RESPA, home equity lines of credit, assignee liability, asset-based financing, preemption of state law, lender liability, loan participations, and the impact of tax reform on consumer credit.
Mr. Zalenski is a member of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Consumer Financial Services (former chair of its Real Estate Finance Subcommittee) and a member of the New York City Bar's Banking Law Committee. He is also a Fellow and Regent of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.
Mr. Zalenski was ranked in the top tier for his work in the area of Financial Services Regulation by Chambers USA 2008-2011. Clients noted that Mr. Zalenski is a "true consumer finance expert" and has “substantial knowledge, provides targeted, practical advise and is a really pleasant guy to boot." Chambers USA also described him as “a fine lawyer and a great counselor [with a] very commercial approach, which gets you to where you need to be quickly.” He has “outstanding knowledge – he can provide a lot of the advice off the top of his head.”