Derek W. Edwards

With over 20 years of experience, Derek Edwards is a trusted advisor to retail banks and equity-backed companies in the financial services and payments industries. His practice spans financial technology, merchant services, and payment processing, with a focus on resolving complex inter-company disputes and consumer, merchant, and class-action litigation. His deep understanding of these industries proves valuable when litigation becomes unavoidable. He excels in strategic legal management, helping medium to large businesses minimize unnecessary expenses while providing comprehensive operational guidance.

Derek's unique advantage lies in his extensive knowledge of the payments ecosystem – a vast network encompassing merchants, processors, gateways, technology providers, and financial institutions. This insight allows him to craft efficient solutions in state and federal courts, arbitration, and multidistrict litigation without the learning curve typically associated with these complex industries.
Focusing on high-stakes disputes involving wrongful solicitation, indemnification, tortious interference, and breaches of fiduciary duties and contracts, Derek navigates multi-forum, interrelated actions often involving tens of millions of dollars. His client roster includes multinational public companies with legal departments across North and South America and Europe, cementing his reputation as a go-to practitioner in the field.

Derek is admitted to the State Bars of California and Tennessee but has extensive litigation experience in courtrooms and before panels of arbitrators nationwide, appearing from Oregon to Massachusetts and Illinois to Texas. Across these forums, he defends financial services companies from consumer and class-action litigation arising from the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), Regulation E, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). He also works on the plaintiff’s side when companies have suffered competitive injuries, contract interference, and breaches of fiduciary duties, often obtaining multimillion-dollar results.

Derek also has addressed financial services industry groups concerning mitigating the risk of litigation.

Before starting his legal career, Derek served as a U.S. Navy Lieutenant on the USS Gettysburg, where he received numerous medals of honor, including the Navy Achievement Medal, National Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and NATO Medal.