Ronald L. Burdge is a nationally known private attorney who handled over 7,000 fee shifting civil cases for almost 50 years before retiring from the practice to devote his full time to expert witness and consulting work in the field of Attorney’s Fees Dispute Law. As a trial lawyer of nearly 50 years with 20 years as a SuperLawyer, and a robust litigation practice, representing clients in a range of fee shifting cases, he handled a variety of cases from small to large, simple to complex disputes. In his 35 years of concentrated attorney fee dispute research, writing, and lecturing at over 100 legal education seminars nationwide, Mr. Burdge has testified and provided evidence in over 400 state and federal courts across the nation as an expert witness on Attorney Fees issues, the Business of Law, and Law Firm Practices and Procedures. Mr. Burdge has also provided testimony before the Ohio legislature on attorney fee shifting principles and practices and related issues. A former Board Examiner for the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Mr. Burdge is a Faculty Member of the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis, the nation’s only independent Legal Fee Experts and has authored numerous articles on Attorney Fee issues, the Business of Law, and Law Firm Practices and Procedures and is a longtime member of the American Society of Legal Writers and the Legal Writing Institute. His publications include How to Plan, Prepare, and Handle Attorney Fee Motions, the United States Consumer Law Attorney Fee Survey Report series of books from 2000 to 2000, and numerous articles on all aspects of attorney fee disputes and the business of practicing law.

Eric Zell is the litigation director at the National Association of Consumer Advocates. In that role, Eric develops and coordinates the approach to national litigation, organizes NACA’s amicus strategy, and supports NACA members in litigating more cases on their own behalf. He also serves as co-counsel in class action cases that are pending around the country as well as in cases filed under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act using plaintiffs that are able to maintain organizational standing. Eric focuses on a wide range of consumer protection matters and works to address consumer issues on a broader, more systemic basis in order to try to resolve the root causes of those problems. He has litigated cases in both state and federal court as well as in arbitration proceedings. Prior to joining NACA, Eric worked in the economic justice unit at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, where he focused his practice on consumer law. He worked for a large law firm based in Cleveland, Ohio in its commercial litigation department before joining Legal Aid. Eric received his law degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. During his time at Legal Aid, Eric served as the Chairperson of the organization’s internal litigation committee in addition to his position as a supervising attorney in the economic justice unit. In these positions, Eric both led and participated in affirmative litigation efforts, many of which were focused on fee-shifting claims and other cases seeking to create systemic change.