Q&A
Debate over Mastro's career choices and public service commitment
7:16:41
·
7 min
Council Member Feliz challenges Mastro's commitment to public service, questioning why he didn't pursue a career as a civil rights lawyer. Mastro defends his career choices and the two engage in a heated debate about Mastro's representation of PRA.
- Feliz questions why Mastro didn't become a civil rights lawyer after leaving the mayor's office
- Mastro explains his decision was influenced by financial responsibilities to his family
- The discussion becomes contentious as they debate the specifics of Mastro's involvement in the PRA case
- Council Member Powers intervenes to maintain order in the questioning
Oswald Feliz
7:16:41
So why if you're so committed to public service, did you not leave the mayor's office to become a civil rights lawyer?
Randy Mastro
7:16:48
Thank thank you for asking that.
7:16:52
Because I I I think back on my career, I loved public service.
7:16:59
I was a a new father.
7:17:03
I got married.
7:17:04
I had a kid.
7:17:05
Okay.
7:17:06
So don't question my commitment to public service with a public interest.
7:17:12
I had to support my wife and my kid, and I was broke because I had been almost my entire career in public service up till that point and time.
7:17:21
So please understand if I could have I would have been but I think and I wanna come back I
Oswald Feliz
7:17:27
think if you're representing big corporations, if you're representing big corporations that are going after vulnerable people and communities, I think we have a lot of quest legitimate questions.
Randy Mastro
7:17:35
Did not
Oswald Feliz
7:17:36
go after more related to
Keith Powers
7:17:37
Let let the counselor finish his question.
Oswald Feliz
7:17:40
Another question.
7:17:41
Given your track record of representing predatory companies, including the PRA, a classic example of a predatory company, why should we believe that you're now motivated to serve the public.
Randy Mastro
7:17:52
Okay.
7:17:53
Again, you are there seems to be a fundamental disconnect that
Oswald Feliz
7:17:57
There's a lot of questions about the amendment.
Randy Mastro
7:17:59
Public service.
7:17:59
Please, please.
Oswald Feliz
7:18:01
And there lives
Randy Mastro
7:18:01
the lawyers in this room who've been waiting 8 hours.
7:18:05
Yeah.
Oswald Feliz
7:18:05
I'm one of them, by the way.
Randy Mastro
7:18:06
Test.
7:18:06
I'm one of the
Oswald Feliz
7:18:07
lawyers that has been waiting to ask this question.
Randy Mastro
7:18:09
What lawyers do in private practice, where in a service business where we serve our firm's clients, they come to us with our with their problems, and we try to responsibly, ethically represent them to address those problems.
7:18:24
With PRA, I could not have acted more responsibly, reaching a settlement that worked for all sides, including AG's financial settlement and remedial reforms.
7:18:38
That's actually in the public interest.
7:18:40
But the fact of the matter is in private practice, you take your clients' problems as you find them and you serve ethically and responsibly.
7:18:49
And if there is no defense, you do not and you can't make a good faith defense.
UNKNOWN
7:18:54
So I
Randy Mastro
7:18:54
just want to represent them.
Oswald Feliz
7:18:55
Yeah.
7:18:56
So I just want to stick to the issues in the PRA case because I think those allegations were serious.
7:19:02
If a client didn't say they weren't serious
Keith Powers
7:19:04
Let him finish the question.
Randy Mastro
7:19:05
I'm sorry.
7:19:05
If a client, but I didn't say they weren't serious.
Oswald Feliz
7:19:07
If a client was similar problems, as the PRA asked you to represent them today, will you represent them?
Randy Mastro
7:19:18
In private practice, we take our clients problems as we find them.
7:19:23
And if we think there's a path forward, a principled path forward, being a partner at a law firm, you represent the firm's clients.
7:19:31
I have turned down many clients over the years.
7:19:36
In that particular situation, I think we did something responsible that provided relief, financial, and remedial relief.
7:19:46
So we reached a settlement that all parties agreed to.
7:19:49
That's not a bad thing.
7:19:51
That's a good thing, and good lawyers in private practice help do that to get to good results even if their client has done something THAT ULTIMATELY REQUIRES THEM TO MAKE FINANCIAL RESTAUTION.
Oswald Feliz
7:20:04
SO I Just WANT TO GO OVER SOME OF THE FACT THAT WE'RE EVENTUALLY PROVEN IN COURT ON THE PRA CASE.
7:20:09
I Just WANT TO REPRESENTATIVE.
Randy Mastro
7:20:10
Reporter: MY CASE DID GO TO COURSE.
7:20:11
MY CASE DID GO TO COURSE.
Oswald Feliz
7:20:12
I'M SURE WHAT KIND IS RECLAIN IS RECLAING MY TIME.
Randy Mastro
7:20:15
Okay.
7:20:15
But I would be honest with you.
Keith Powers
7:20:16
Let him answer the question.
7:20:17
You can respond and state the facts of the cases.
UNKNOWN
7:20:20
I do see it.
Randy Mastro
7:20:20
That case.
7:20:21
But go ahead.
Oswald Feliz
7:20:22
In 2015, the CFPB, an independent federal agency found that the the company collected on unproven inaccurate debts.
7:20:31
They filed misleading affidavits in in debt collection actions.
7:20:36
They misrepresented that they intended to approve debts if consumers can test it on.
7:20:40
They misrepresented that the company had legally enforceable claims.
7:20:44
To deaths outside of the applicable statues of limitations.
7:20:47
Again, telling consumers that you had claims to deaths that you knew you couldn't recover that.
7:20:51
To me, personally, that sounds like a scam.
7:20:53
So but basically, you're saying that you have no regrets taking on that PRA case.
Randy Mastro
7:20:58
I didn't do that case, so I don't know why you're raising it.
7:21:01
That was not my case with the CFPB.
Oswald Feliz
7:21:04
So you never defended the PRA?
Randy Mastro
7:21:07
I did defend PRA.
UNKNOWN
7:21:08
So
Oswald Feliz
7:21:08
what exactly did you defend them on?
Randy Mastro
7:21:11
They they had claims and issues with certain AGs and private plaintiff classes.
UNKNOWN
7:21:16
The
Oswald Feliz
7:21:17
ones that I just mentioned.
7:21:18
Right?
Randy Mastro
7:21:18
You you mentioned some of them, and the cases that I was responsible for, which is a finite my firm, which responsible for, was a finite subset of what you've described finite, and we resolve them.
7:21:31
They were settled.
7:21:32
They were settled.
7:21:33
We didn't represent them on all litigation issues across the board.
7:21:38
We did not.
7:21:40
Okay.
7:21:40
But I I appreciate your questions, and I I I'm trying to give you the the best answer I can, which is that we settled those cases.
Oswald Feliz
7:21:51
But can we agree that after they did everything they did everything that I just described, you defended them in their lawsuit.
7:21:57
Right?
Randy Mastro
7:21:58
We didn't actually end up, you know, litigating
Oswald Feliz
7:22:02
cases that generally settled.
7:22:04
Generally, there's a stipulation with the 2 parties to be on something.
7:22:06
But after the engaged in those abusive practices, you defended them in that case.
7:22:11
Right?
Randy Mastro
7:22:13
No.
7:22:13
That's not what I So
Oswald Feliz
7:22:14
what exactly did you do with this?
7:22:15
It's not what I What exactly
Randy Mastro
7:22:17
was it?
7:22:17
There were certain allegations made, certain class action allegations, and AG involvement, and we settled those cases.
7:22:28
They never went to trial.
Oswald Feliz
7:22:31
But you defended them in the court.
7:22:32
They didn't go to trial.
7:22:33
Eventually, the case was
Keith Powers
7:22:35
His his question is, did you represent them?
Oswald Feliz
7:22:36
I think I think what you're concerned
Randy Mastro
7:22:38
I represented them on some small subset of what you're talking about, and we resolved the cases.
7:22:45
And they resolved in a settlement.
7:22:46
They never went to trial.
Oswald Feliz
7:22:48
Alright.
7:22:48
I think we're playing word games at the end of the day.
7:22:50
You were you were you were the lawyer.
7:22:52
On the case defending them when they were
Keith Powers
7:22:53
This is right.
7:22:54
I I think the question is straightforward.
7:22:57
I think his question is whether you represented that client in those matters, whether it went to when whether you settled or went to court.
7:23:05
I I think it's I think it's a little bit semantics.
7:23:08
I think you understand that.
Randy Mastro
7:23:09
Not semantics.
7:23:09
I represented Gibson Dunn, represented that client on some matters, not all the ones you're talking about.
7:23:18
Okay?
7:23:18
You're talking about every case they had before and after me, I was involved in a in particular matters that got settled.
7:23:30
So that's the
Oswald Feliz
7:23:31
And I am actually describing the terms of that settlement, the case that you represent the settlement.
UNKNOWN
7:23:35
Okay.
Oswald Feliz
7:23:36
So for those that are watching, that case is easily obtainable.
7:23:38
You just got a a Google
Randy Mastro
7:23:39
way.
7:23:40
Yes.
7:23:40
It's an app
Oswald Feliz
7:23:40
that you obtainable.
7:23:41
And we obtainable on Google.
Randy Mastro
7:23:42
We sell.
Oswald Feliz
7:23:43
You could learn the details of the consent order.
Randy Mastro
7:23:45
We definitely see
Oswald Feliz
7:23:46
that the PRA violated.