Suzanne Martindale

Suzanne Martindale serves as Senior Policy Counsel for Consumer Reports in the organization’s West Coast office. Suzanne is part of the Financial Services Campaign team, where she engages in policy and legislative advocacy on a range of consumer finance issues. Her areas of expertise include student loans, banking, payments, debt collection and small-dollar credit. She has served on rulemaking committees and task forces at multiple federal agencies, and frequently lobbies before the California Legislature on consumer protection and economic justice issues. She is also the author of several publications, including “Campus Banking Products: Students Face Hurdles to Accessing Clear Information and Accounts that Meet Their Needs” (August 2014), “Pay Me How? What You Should Know About Payroll Cards” (July-August 2014), and “Degrees of Debt: Stories from Student Loan Borrowers Highlight Urgent Need for Reform” (November 2013).

While in law school, Suzanne was a clinical student for two years at the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC), a legal services clinic affiliated with Berkeley Law. At EBCLC, she ran tenants’ rights clinics, defended low-income clients in eviction and debt collection lawsuits, and trained other law students to do direct services work. She was also a senior editor for the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law and served on its executive committee.

Prior to law school, Suzanne was an adjunct instructor at two community colleges in the Chicago metropolitan area, teaching courses in philosophy and humanities. 

Education

J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (2010)
M.A., Humanities, The University of Chicago (2005)
B.A., Philosophy, UC Berkeley (2003)