Craig Edward Bertschi

Mr. Bertschi began his legal career in 1990 as an associate with the law firm of Kilpatrick & Cody in Atlanta.  He was elected to the Partnership in January of 1998 and remained with that firm, which is now known as Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, LLP until March of 2015. 

For the last 25 years, Mr. Bertschi focused his practice on litigating complex business disputes and defending consumer class action lawsuits under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer protection statutes.  Mr. Bertschi has represented Fortune 500 companies in the telecommunications, financial services and aerospace industries and has served as lead counsel in lawsuits nationwide, including cases in the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits.  He also has extensive experience litigating in the state courts of Georgia, before the American Arbitration Association and in private arbitrations.

Mr. Bertschi has nearly 15 years of experience handling class action and single plaintiff cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”).  His FCRA clients have included a large national credit reporting agency, numerous consumer reporting agencies providing pre-employment background screening services and various businesses accused of having violated the FCRA.  In addition, Mr. Bertschi has served on the Education Committee of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (“NAPBS”) and was the primary developer of NAPBS’ FCRA Basic and Advanced FCRA Certification Programs.

Mr. Bertschi was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in 2014 for Banking & Finance Litigation, and he is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.*

In March 2015, Mr. Bertschi formed a partnership with another Kilpatrick & Cody alum, Mara McRae.  As a founding partner of McRae Bertschi LLC, Mr. Bertschi continues to provide the highest quality representation to clients in commercial and business disputes.  In addition, Mr. Bertschi now represents consumers in class action and single plaintiff litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

Mr. Bertschi is an Atlanta native, having grown up in Gwinnett County.  He was the Georgia State Champion in academic debate in 1983.  He attended Emory University as the Alben W. Barkley Merit Scholar and was twice named Emory’s Outstanding Debater.  Mr. Bertschi was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1986 and graduated from Emory University magna cum laude in 1987.  He attended the University of Georgia School of Law as a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar and served on the Editorial Board of the Georgia Law Review.  Mr. Bertschi graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law magna cum laude in 1990 and is a member of the Order of the Coif.

Mr. Bertschi is a frequent author and lecturer on the topics of commercial litigation and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  His recent publications and presentations include the following:

• “The Spokeo case: Will it open the floodgates to more FCRA litigation?”  NAPBS JOURNAL, January 2015.
• Quoted in “Search and Verify: Why Criminal Background Checks May Not Be As Accurate As You Think,” HR Magazine, December 2012.
• “Class Actions Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,” The Safe Hiring Manual, Rev. 2d ed. (2012).
• “The NAPBS FCRA Advanced Certification Program: Building on Success” NAPBS JOURNAL, January-February 2012.
• “California Opens the Floodgates, Supreme Court Decision Applies Retroactively,” Executive Counsel, August/September 2011, vol. 8, no. 4.
• “EEOC v. PeopleMark:  A Tale Of Regulatory Overreach,” NAPBS JOURNAL, April-May 2011.  (April 29, 2011).
• “FCRA Class Action Lawsuits: The Sharks Are Circling,” NAPBS JOURNAL, January-February 2011.  (February 21, 2011).
• “TCPA regulates text marketing campaigns,” Atlanta Business Chronicle, February 16, 2011.
• “Beware EFTA Notice Requirements,” Law 360, September 30, 2010.
• “Background Checks Could Lead To Litigation,” Fulton County Daily Report, February 23, 2010.
• “Metadata: What you don’t know can hurt you,” Fulton County Daily Report, March 17, 2008.
• “Merchants: Beware five-digit trap.  Thanks to FACTA, credit card receipts could lead to a wave of class actions,” Fulton County Daily Report, May 6, 2008.
• “Metadata:  Taking on added urgency for attorneys,” Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 18, 2007. 

*CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedure's standards and policies.