Nicolas Peck

Cole is an Associate in Maynard Nexsen’s Litigation section and a member of the Business Litigation practice, a team dedicated to representing companies, their owners, and shareholders in legal disputes involving fraud, tortious interference, securities, sales and acquisitions, trademark infringement, shareholder oppression, hostile takeovers, contracts, cryptocurrency and brokerage fees, just to name a few.

Cole earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he served on the Vanderbilt Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. He holds a B.A., magna cum laude, in Politics with a minor in Africana Studies from Washington and Lee University.

• Representing national and state trade associations in Administrative Procedure Act lawsuit of national consequence against the United States Department of Energy (represented by the Department of Justice) challenging DOE’s 2022 Energy Conservation Standards for Manufacturing Housing, 87 Fed. Reg. 32,728. Manufactured Hous. Inst. v. United States Dep't of Energy, 2024 WL 3337376 (W.D. Tex. May 1, 2024). Thus far, the trade associations have defeated DOE’s motion to dismiss, the lawsuit has secured a multi-year delay of compliance dates, and the lawsuit has prompted substantive reconsideration of, and possible revisions to, the final regulatory standards in favor of the industry.  The lawsuit has been covered by the Wall Street Journal (additionally, it appeared in a WSJ Editorial Board Opinion) and Law360, among other national media outlets.

• Changed the law of land use regulation in Tennessee for a division of Berkshire Hathaway. Developed favorable record at trial, secured desired relief at the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and defeated further appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court.    Douglas v. Five Star Properties, No. E2024-63-SC-R11-CV in the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

• Assisted a Berkshire Hathaway division with strategy related to a multi-year governmental investigation of lending practices by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and obtained dismissal with prejudice of subsequently filed enforcement action alleging violation of TILA’s ability-to-repay requirements.  This filing and dismissal of this lawsuit were extensively covered by various national news outlets, including Reuters, AP and NPR, among others. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. (E.D. Tenn.)