John Alan Jones and G. Chris Olson Honored by Justice Center

John Alan Jones and G. Chris Olson have been selected by the North Carolina Justice Center for the 11th Annual Defenders of Justice Award for Litigators.  The North Carolina Justice Center is a non-profit research and advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the rights of disadvantaged North Carolinians and working families.

Jones and Olson were selected as the 2009 Defenders of Justice Award Recipients in Litigation for their work as lead counsel on two predatory lending class action lawsuits against large national money center banks.  The class actions were filed in 2002 and resolved in early 2009 for a combined total of $81.25 million.  Pursuant to the settlements, more than 10,000 North Carolina borrowers will receive substantial settlement payments.  The subprime borrowers eligible for the settlement payments are primarily low to middle-income working class individuals.

According to the Justice Center, the award honors Jones and Olson "for using their impressive legal skills to pursue cases that expand consumer protections so all North Carolinians can pursue effective recourse for unfair business practices."

The settlements and cases were the subject of a recent headline article in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.  The Defenders of Justice Awards were presented at a banquet on October 8, 2009, in Durham at the American Tobacco Campus.