Jerry Miller

Education

J.D., Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. B.A. in Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago. Participated in the consumer law clinic and served as a staff editor on the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy. Focused coursework on creditor-debtor issues and consumer statutory frameworks.

Experience

15 years in consumer debt disputes and collection enforcement. Started at Whitfield & Keane, a Chicago consumer advocacy firm, litigating FDCPA and TCPA cases in federal court for five years — primarily representing consumers against third-party debt collectors and credit reporting agencies. Spent two years at Lindgren Novak LLP, a two-partner practice handling predatory lending disputes and auto finance enforcement actions. Joined BMA Law to focus on arbitration after concluding that the cost of litigation made it impractical for most consumers with valid claims. Has handled over 250 consumer debt and billing-related arbitration matters — FDCPA violations, credit reporting errors, predatory lending claims, and unauthorized collection fee disputes across the Chicago area.

Arbitration Focus Areas

Debt collection enforcement, consumer billing disputes, FDCPA compliance, credit bureau dispute procedures, and fee disclosure failures. Most of his cases involve disputes where repayment terms and fee structures were contested between consumers and creditors.

Bar Admission & Memberships

Illinois State Bar. Member, American Arbitration Association; National Association of Consumer Advocates; Chicago Bar Association.

Publications

Published in the Chicago Bar Record and the Journal of Consumer & Commercial Law on debt collection arbitration, consumer protection trends, and collection fee enforceability.

Community Involvement

Volunteers with Working Credit NFP, a Chicago financial literacy nonprofit serving underbanked communities. Pro bono mediator through the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago.

Based in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Holds Cicerone Certified Beer Server status and judges at the Great American Beer Festival. Collects and paints Warhammer 40k miniatures with intricate detailing. Drafts Magic: The Gathering with friends and climbs at indoor rock gyms on weekends. Follows the Chicago Bears.

A Case That Stayed With Jerry

One of the more complex matters Jerry handled involved a patient in 2023 who was sent to collections over a $1,200 hospital charge that had already been paid seven months earlier. The servicer had applied the payment to the wrong account number, and the correction request sat in a processing queue for eleven months while the balance accrued $340 in fees and a collections entry destroyed the patient’s credit score. The arbitration took three months. The patient recovered the full $1,540 plus $4,200 in statutory damages under the FDCPA, and the collections entry was removed.

What Shaped His Approach

Jerry credits a consumer rights attorney at Whitfield & Keane who made every new associate spend their first month reading nothing but collection agency compliance manuals and servicer procedure guides. It was miserable. It was also the single most useful exercise Jerry completed in his first five years of practice — he still references those manuals when preparing cases.

Where He Draws the Line

Jerry was approached in 2022 by a payday lending company offering a $70,000 annual retainer for arbitration representation. The interest rates on their standard loan products ranged from 340% to 520% APR. The legal arguments for enforcement were viable. He declined in under ten minutes.

Building Something That Lasts

Beyond individual cases, Jerry has developed a fee-audit methodology for consumer debt arbitration in 2021 that has been cited in two published arbitration decisions as a model for how billing disputes should be documented. The methodology has been used in over 80 matters and has identified an average of $2,300 in improper fees per case.

The Path to Law

Jerry worked as a debt collector for two years before law school — calling people at dinner, reading scripts designed to create urgency, tracking skip traces. He does not enjoy talking about it. But those two years gave him an understanding of how the collection system actually works that no law school course could replicate. He earned $11.50 an hour. His first consumer rights case at Northwestern’s clinic was worth more to him than the entire experience.

Beyond the Practice

Jerry co-founded a financial literacy workshop series in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood in 2019 that has served over 380 families — teaching basic debt rights, credit reporting, and how to respond to collection notices. Three of the workshop volunteers are former clients.

How He Works

Jerry maintains a strict policy of never charging consultation fees to consumers trying to figure out whether they have a case. He estimates this costs him roughly 200 unbilled hours per year. The people who need help most are usually the ones who can least afford to ask for it, and a thirty-minute conversation can save someone from making a $5,000 mistake.

Jerry taught himself credit reporting system architecture in 2020 — Metro 2 format, dispute processing workflows, e-OSCAR routing — to understand how errors propagate across bureaus. Within six months, that technical knowledge changed how he builds evidence in credit dispute cases, cutting average document preparation time by forty percent.

Practice Notes

Jerry has particular depth in financial agreements. In his experience, debt collection are among the most frequent triggers. One thing he frequently explains: fees compound fast.

Verify This Professional

Need Help With a Dispute?

If you’re dealing with a dispute and want to explore arbitration, BMA Law can help you understand your options and get started.

Start Your Case — $199