Wayne Watkinson, Of Counsel to the Firm, is an attorney whose practice, since 1996, has concentrated on representing mortgage lenders and brokers in compliance, transactional, corporate and litigation matters. In addition, he assists clients in establishing mortgage companies, and in obtaining mortgage banking licenses throughout the country. In another area of concentration, Mr. Watkinson counsels clients on the proper manner of creating affiliated business arrangements with real estate brokers, title agencies and others, which comply with RESPA and other state and federal laws and regulations.

Mr. Watkinson is the instructor for the New Jersey Mortgage Bankers Association/New Jersey Association of Mortgage Brokers ("MBA/NJAMB") licensing and compliance course, which prepares students for the New Jersey Division of Banking’s mortgage banker and secondary lender licensing exams. He also is the editor of the MBA/NJAMB Mortgage Finance Regulatory Manual, a compendium of state laws and regulations.

Wayne Watkinson served from 1991 to 1996 as Deputy Attorney General assigned to represent the New Jersey Banking Department. In this position, he represented the Department in appellate and administrative courts, and in regulatory and advice matters. Most significantly, he represented the Division of Banking in NJMBA v. New Jersey Real Estate Commission, 283 N.J. Super. 233 (App. Div. 1995), a complex appeal concerning the ability of real estate licensees to engage in mortgage banking, in which the court affirmed the Department of Banking’s role in regulating the lending activities of real estate licensees. In addition, he appeared on behalf of the Department as amicus in Trico v. Ferero, 275 N.J. Super. 91 (App. Div. 1994), certif. den 139 N.J. 186 (1994), a case in which the court affirmed the Department’s position that refinancing transactions are regulated under the Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Act, not the Secondary Mortgage Loan Act.

Mr. Watkinson also assisted the Department and Legislature in drafting the Interstate Banking and Branching Act, L. 1996, c.17, the law which permitted foreign and out-of-state banks to branch into New Jersey for the first time, and the Licensed Lenders Act, L.1996, c.157. This latter law combines the licensing of mortgage bankers, secondary lenders, consumer lenders and sales finance companies, thereby reducing regulatory burden. Mr. Watkinson served as a Regulatory Officer for the Department of Banking from 1988 to 1991, drafting Department regulations for banks, thrifts, mortgage bankers and other licensees. He was a legal assistant for Central Appellate Research, Administrative Office of the Courts, from 1986 to 1988, providing research and memoranda for the judges of the Superior Court, Appellate Division.

Mr. Watkinson is a director in J.H. Cohn Professional Mortgage Consultants, LLC. He serves as the Vice Chair of the Banking Law Section of the N.J. Bar Association, and is the former Chair of the Legislative Committee and the Consumer Finance Committee. He has lectured on various regulatory issues before the Institute for Continuing Legal Education ("ICLE"), the NJ Mortgage Bankers Association and the Banking Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Since 1993, he has participated in several ICLE forums on Consumer Credit Regulation, and he organized ICLE panels on the Consumer Fraud Act (1998) and on Mortgage Basics (1999). He received his B.A. degree in Economics from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and his J.D. law degree from Stetson University Law School in St. Petersburg, Florida.