Practice Focus on the Capital Side
Carl runs the firm's contested-matter practice and is the partner most venture-backed and sponsor-backed companies engage when a regulatory inquiry, a class claim, or a contested commercial matter surfaces. The work he does on the consumer-protection plaintiff side (suing under the FCRA, FDCPA, TCPA, EFTA, FCBA, and New York General Business Law Section 349) is the same body of law that creates risk for fintech, BNPL, subscription, and D2C operations on the company side. The result is a defense practice grounded in active offensive familiarity with how plaintiffs construct these cases.
What Sponsors and Founders Engage Carl For
- Pre-litigation risk review. Diligence-stage and pre-launch review of consumer-facing operations (complaint scripts, dispute-handling procedures, autodialer architecture, marketing language, subscription cancellation flows) against the active class-claim landscape under the FCRA, FDCPA, TCPA, and GBL Section 349, plus the FAIR Business Practices Act expansion of GBL 349 to unfair and abusive conduct effective February 17, 2026 (enforceable by the New York Attorney General). Class exposure under GBL 349 remains principally a private-action question under the deceptive prong; the new categories drive AG-enforcement risk in addition.
- Class-claim defense. Lead defense or co-counsel coordination in TCPA, FCRA, FDCPA, EFTA, and FCBA actions, including the recurring fact patterns: debt-validation letter mechanics under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g, FCRA reasonable-procedures challenges under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b), dispute-investigation duties under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, and adverse-action notice claims under 15 U.S.C. § 1681m.
- State Attorney General response and regulatory inquiry support. Pre-investigation cooperation strategy, document production, scope negotiation, and resolution counsel.
- Commercial and stockholder disputes. Contested-matter representation in stockholder, employment, IP, and commercial litigation arising in the ordinary course of operating a venture-backed company.
- Settlement and disclosure mechanics. Negotiating resolutions in a way that preserves the company's reporting and disclosure posture with its investors and lenders.
Background
Carl earned his Juris Doctor from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from James Madison University. Following law school, he served as Principal Law Clerk to the Honorable Tara Schillari Rich, J.S.C. of the New Jersey Superior Court, gaining firsthand judicial perspective on how courts evaluate evidence and weigh arguments. That experience directly informs his approach to motion practice and settlement posture today. He is a co-founding partner of Rausa Russo Law, PLLC.
Admissions
- New York
- New Jersey
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Education
- Juris Doctor, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, James Madison University