Olivia Kelman
Olivia Kelman
- Fair Lending
- Litigation & Enforcement
- Regulatory Compliance
Biography
Olivia Kelman focuses her practice on representing clients in litigation, compliance, and enforcement matters, with a concentration on fair housing and fair and responsible lending and servicing. She regularly advises clients seeking to identify and mitigate fair housing and fair lending risk, or in defending fair lending claims, in areas relevant to the client’s business, including redlining, branching, pricing, underwriting, marketing, steering, servicing, modeling, and reasonable accommodations.
With a deep understanding of the business practices of a wide variety of financial services and housing industry participants, Olivia has represented clients large and small, including national and community banks, non-bank mortgage lenders, fintech lenders, commercial and small business lenders, auto lenders, appraisers and appraisal management companies, loan servicers, private mortgage insurers, investors, broker-dealers, residential and senior living real estate owners and property managers, and industry trade groups. She is recognized for crafting tailor-made solutions to manage risk that appropriately balance business considerations and ever-changing regulatory requirements.
Olivia has successfully litigated government, individual, and class action matters in federal district and circuit courts, as well as in state trial and appellate courts. She also defends investigations, examinations, and enforcement actions by the United States Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission and various state regulators, including the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, the New York Department of Financial Services, and Massachusetts Division of Banks. Her experience includes matters implicating various federal laws (and state counterparts), including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Housing Act, Community Reinvestment Act, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Olivia supports the efforts of her clients to proactively manage fair housing and fair lending risk through comprehensive and sustainable compliance management systems. She has experience developing new fair lending compliance programs and evaluating the sufficiency of existing compliance programs, and she supports due diligence reviews undertaken in connection with contemplated acquisitions and mergers. Olivia also conducts fair lending and fair housing training seminars for Boards of Directors and senior management officials that meet regulatory expectations and provide an elevated forum for C-suite engagement on key areas of risk presented by each institution’s unique business model.
In addition to her representation of industry clients, Olivia is dedicated to advancing civil rights through pro bono representations. She has represented individual and organizational clients on a pro bono basis in federal trial and appellate courts on a variety of issues of national importance, including school desegregation, religious freedom for prison inmates, residential segregation, and voting discrimination.
Previous Experience
K&L Gates LLP
Judicial Intern for the Hon. United States District Judge Alan S. Gold in the Southern District of Florida
Judicial Intern for the Hon. United States Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres in the Southern District of Florida
Judicial Intern for the Hon. Frank A. Shepherd in the Florida Third District Court of Appeal
Distinctions
Top Up & Comer, South Florida Legal Guide, 2018–2022
Florida Rising Stars list, 2016 - 2023
Pro Bono Award, Indian River County, Florida Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 29th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet, 2019
The Daily Business Review Most Effective Lawyers Pro Bono Award, 2019
Legal Elite Up & Comer, Florida Trend, 2019
Order of the Coif
The Order of Barristers
Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges, 2013
Thought Leadership
Olivia is a regular speaker at industry conferences, seminars, and colloquia on fair lending, fair housing, CRA, and UDAAP hot topics and private litigation and government enforcement trends
Olivia frequently authors articles and alerts published by industry and legal news outlets
Fun Facts
Favorite Apps
Uber
Soundcloud
Lululemon Studio (the “Mirror”)
Superpower
Advanced conversationalist: “[She] spoke not only naturally and intelligently, but intelligently and casually, … giving great value to the thoughts of the one she was talking to.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Favorite Thing to Binge Watch
Tiny Desk
The Newsroom
The West Wing
Passions
My daughter, Amira
Phish
Reading (novels, biographies, and articles written by colleagues and friends)
Education
J.D., University of Miami School of Law, 2013 (magna cum laude; University of Miami Law Review, Articles & Comments Editor)
B.A., Boston University, 2010 (cum laude; Arché: Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy at Boston University, Editor)