The Frederick Fisher Memorial Program is held in conjunction with the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee at the spring meeting of the Business Law Section. The Program format typically consists of a panel debate among leading consumer advocates, regulators, and finance industry representatives on a topical issue in consumer finance. The lively, informative presentation is moderated by the CCFL Chair.
The program is open to CCFL members and registrants at the ABA Business Law Section Spring meeting.
Frederick Fisher
Frederick Fisher gained international fame as a young associate at Hale & Dorr L.L.P in Boston when his name was unjustly besmirched by Senator Joe McCarthy in the first nationally televised hearings by a congressional committee. It was this attack that triggered the famous “Have you no shame, sir” speech in defense of Fred by Hale and Dorr partner, Joe Welch, who was representing the United States Army in the hearings. This speech on national television resulted in resounding applause by the Senate Gallery and was the catalyst for ending McCarthy’s reign of terror and his censure by the full United States Senate a few months later.
Fisher spent his entire professional career at Hale & Dorr where one of early mentors was his senior partner, Reginald Heber Smith, the father of Legal Aid. Fred was a member and officer of the Governing Committee of the Conference for many years and was Chairman of the Conference at the time of his sudden death in the late 1980s. His warm and colorful personality made him much loved by the members of the Governing Committee.
2026 Fisher Program
The Fisher Memorial Program was held on April 17, 2025, at the American Bar Association’s Business Law Spring Meeting in Atlanta, GA.
The topic was “Buy Now, Pay Later: Innovation or Indebtedness? The Future of Consumer Credit in a Fragmented Regulatory Landscape.”
The moderator was Eric Johnson, Chairman, Conference on Consumer Finance Law.
The panelists were:
- Mark J. Furletti, Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke
- Martha Fulford, Assistant Deputy Attorney General at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office
- Ellen Harnick, Executive Vice President and Director of State Policy, Center for Responsible Lending