Denise Hatem advises debt collection agencies, creditors, debt buyers, and others in the credit and collection industry on federal and state regulatory compliance. Her practice focuses on helping clients navigate complex and evolving consumer financial protection laws and develop practical compliance solutions that align legal requirements with business operations.
Before joining Frost Echols, Denise served as Associate General Counsel and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at a national debt purchaser, where she provided legal and regulatory guidance on a broad range of compliance matters. In that role, she advised on federal and state consumer protection, debt collection, and credit reporting laws. Her work included compliance governance and policy development, regulatory risk assessment, third-party compliance oversight, regulatory examination and inquiry handling, consumer communications review, vendor contract negotiation, and legal and regulatory assessment of new market opportunities.
Denise also has significant experience with emerging regulatory issues involving data privacy and artificial intelligence. She has led assessments of AI tools, advised on legal and regulatory considerations surrounding new technologies, and participated in industry working groups addressing AI developments affecting the credit and collection industry. She holds multiple professional certifications from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), including the Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP), Certified Information Privacy Professional/US (CIPP/US), Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E), and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) credentials.
Denise previously served as Senior Regulatory Counsel at a global technology company, where she advised senior and executive management on regulatory developments, translated law into functional requirements for product development, and worked with cross-functional teams to address regulatory issues affecting a client base that included more than half of the Fortune 500.
Earlier in her career, Denise practiced criminal defense and appellate law, briefing and arguing appeals and post-conviction matters before Massachusetts appellate courts and handling complex criminal litigation.
Denise is actively involved in the credit and collection industry. She holds the Certified Receivables Compliance Professional (CRCP) designation from Receivables Management Association International (RMAI) and the Credit and Collection Compliance Officer (CCCO) designation from ACA International. She has served on the RMAI Legal Affairs Working Group, 50 State Legislative Committee, and Artificial Intelligence Committee, as well as the New York City Bar Association Consumer Affairs Committee.
Bar Admission
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Education
- Notre Dame Law School, J.D.
- University of Connecticut, B.A., cum laude
