About Vildan

Vildan has spent most of her legal career advocating for fair and just business practices in consumer transactions. She began working on consumer class actions while she was in law school and has continued to do so for over 25 years. She has litigated state and national class actions, representing consumers against major corporations as well as other businesses that contract with consumers. She has worked on claims involving violations of the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act (SCRA), deceptive trade practices, consumer fraud, usury, breach of contract, federal and state consumer lending statutes, warranty issues, breach of fiduciary duties, credit insurance issues, illegal debt collection practices, and foreclosure issues. Vildan has represented clients in numerous class action suits involving cutting edge consumer legal issues.

Vildan advocates for her clients in courts around the country as well as before legislative bodies. She testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the effect of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the ability of consumers, servicemembers, and employees to access justice in our country’s court system.

As part of her consumer financial litigation practice she represents our military men and women in SCRA matters in individual and class actions. She has served as lead counsel in SCRA class actions, including cases regarding the 6% interest rate cap, repossession of servicemember vehicles, foreclosures on servicemembers’ homes, and other SCRA violations dealing with financial transactions and loan contracts. She was court-appointed lead counsel in a servicemember class action resulting in a $2.35 million settlement, Olson v. Citibank, N.A. et al. Vildan was also lead counsel in a class case she brought on behalf of servicemembers whose vehicles were repossessed while they were on active duty, in violation of the SCRA, litigating the case to a favorable settlement.

Awards and Recognition

Vildan was selected as the national recipient of the Federal Bar Association’s Robyn J. Spalter Outstanding Achievement Award, presented in San Juan, Puerto Rico at its annual convention.

Vildan has been selected as a SuperLawyer by Minnesota SuperLawyer Magazine each year since 2015. And she has been honored as a Top 100 Minnesota Lawyer and Top 50 Women Lawyer for three years in a row, since 2018. Her work was recently featured in the 2020 edition of  Super Lawyer Magazine. The article can be found here.

In 2018, Vildan was selected by Minnesota Lawyer Magazine as an Honoree for its prestigious Diversity and Inclusion Award, recognizing her efforts in increasing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

Public Service, Presentations and Publications

Vildan actively serves in a number of capacities in the legal community. Vildan has been involved in judicial selection efforts for several years.  She was appointed by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to their Federal Judicial Selection Commission in 2016-17 when U.S. District Court Judges Donovan W. Frank and Ann D. Montgomery went on senior status, opening two positions in the District of Minnesota.  She was honored to be appointed to the commission again in 2019-20 by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith when U.S. District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen transitioned to senior status.

Throughout her career, Vildan has served in the leadership of local and national bar associations, boards, committees, and programs. She is an active member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and has spoken for several years at the annual National Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, and the Class Action Symposium. She is a contributing author of the National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Class Actions (8th, 9th and 10th Editions). She has been invited a number of times to give presentations on the Servicemember Civil Relief Act and its protections of our active duty servicemembers at continuing legal education seminars for lawyers and other professionals. Vildan has served on the National Steering Committee for the Military Consumer Justice Project of NACA, the Minnesota Military Pro Bono Panel, as well as elected to the Council for the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Military and Veteran’s Affairs Section.

Vildan is a Past-President of The Infinity Project, an organization of lawyers and judges that advocates for gender equity on the federal and state bench. Since her presidency in 2016, she has continued to serve on its Executive Committee.

Over the past 25 years, Vildan has served in various leadership roles within the Federal Bar Association (FBA). She is currently the President of the FBA Minnesota Chapter, the second largest chapter in the country. In previous years, she has served on the National Board as well as the National Executive Committee of the FBA, the editorial board of The Federal Lawyer magazine, and served as National Chair of the FBA Younger Lawyers Division. She began the Newer Lawyers Committee for the Minnesota Chapter of the FBA in 1996-1997, creating programs and networking opportunities for newer attorneys, as well as serving on the Minnesota Chapter’s board of directors.Vildan was also the national program Chair for the Michael and Ilene Shaw Public Service Grant (from 1998 through 2003), helping to select local federal bar associations around the country to receive grants for public service projects.

Additionally, she is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Hennepin County Bar Association. the Minnesota chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association (MN-NELA), and the Georgia State Bar Association. She has served on the MSBA’s Consumer Litigation Section Council as an officer since 2018 and as Chair of the MSBA’s Military and Veteran’s Affairs Section in 2019-20.  She continues to serve on both Councils.

Education

Vildan is a 1993 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, cum laude. She was a member of the Phillip C. Jessup International Moot Court, winning the best brief award. During her second year of law school she externed with the Honorable Robert G. Schieffelbein of Hennepin County District Court. She is a 1990 graduate of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota (B.S.B. with double emphases in Finance and Marketing). She was one of four graduates selected for the Alpha Kappa Psi Tablet Award for excellence in academics, leadership and community service. She was also a recipient of the University of Minnesota President’s Award, given to half of one percent of graduating seniors by the faculty and administration.

Bar Admissions

Vildan is admitted to practice before the following courts:

•  Minnesota state courts
• Georgia state courts
• U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eight Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit