Three former senior enforcement lawyers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are taking on a new role in consumer advocacy. Eric Halperin, Cara Petersen, and Tara Mikkilineni have joined Protect Borrowers as senior fellows to launch a strategic enforcement project aimed at challenging what they describe as harmful corporate practices affecting workers, consumers, and small businesses.
The announcement highlights a broader trend of former CFPB officials moving into advocacy roles, particularly as consumer groups argue that federal enforcement has weakened. The project will rely on the trio’s experience leading high profile enforcement actions between 2021 and 2025. During their time at the CFPB, they helped secure more than nine billion dollars in penalties and consumer relief and coordinated enforcement actions with state and local regulators.
Protect Borrowers says the new project will develop litigation designed to address entrenched industry practices. The initiative seeks to partner with private firms, state attorneys general, and advocacy groups to challenge a wide range of alleged abuses. This includes targeting tech-driven practices, emerging financial products, and conduct the organization believes exploits individuals trying to manage everyday economic pressures.
“With federal law enforcers asleep at the wheel, corporations have been given a free pass to ignore the law and trample on Americans’ rights. We need an all-hands-on-deck approach to protecting working people from these abuses,” said Mike Pierce, executive director of Protect Borrowers, in a statement. “Eric, Cara, and Tara are three tremendously accomplished consumer protection and civil rights attorneys who will bring cutting-edge legal strategies to the fight against unchecked corporate power, tech-powered surveillance, and rank corruption.”
Halperin, meanwhile, said indicators of economic distress among workers and consumers are more pronounced while corporate profitability remains high. He argued that the absence of federal oversight makes it easier for companies to take advantage of the public.
Protect Borrowers has already been active in litigation that has secured more than $1 billion dollars in debt relief and returned hundreds of millions to borrowers in recent years.
About the three:
- Halperin served as the CFPB’s Enforcement Director from 2021 to 2025 and has more than 25 years of experience in consumer protection and civil rights enforcement. He previously led fair lending work at the Justice Department following the financial crisis, including landmark discrimination and foreclosure cases.
- Petersen was part of the founding team at the CFPB and held multiple senior roles, most recently serving as Principal Deputy Enforcement Director from 2018 to 2025. She has nearly 25 years of litigation experience across private practice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the CFPB.
- Mikkilineni served as a senior advisor within CFPB Enforcement and is an experienced civil rights litigator and former public defender.
