Life Coaching, Business Coaching & Self-Help Scams: Consumer Rights & Remedies

Life coaching is a $2 billion dollar industry that has grown by over a third since 2015. The global wellness industry is estimated to be worth $1.5 trillion. Online marketing is expected to continue to grow at an estimated nine percent per year. The self-help industry is not going away anytime soon.

While these statistics reflect innovative and legitimate solutions to meet consumers’ needs for more optimal lives, it’s still a wild west where wellness and coaching businesses are not specifically regulated.

This makes it very difficult for even educated consumers to discern legitimate personal development programs from quacks, grifters, and price gougers. Consumers are getting ripped off in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars and have been groomed to blame themselves when they don’t get their money’s worth.

NACA lawyers are in the best position to help them, and today you’ll find out how.

What You Will Learn

• What is wrong with the self-help industry and how we got here
• How to spot common coaching & wellness rip-offs
• Which claims to plead to best solve your clients’ problems

Speakers

SaraEllen Hutchison is a consumer rights trial lawyer and a NACA member since 2011. She stands up for the rights of individuals who are victims of false credit reporting or otherwise have significant emotional and economic injuries, resulting in significant relief to her clients and the clients of her colleagues and collaborators. Her most notable trial cases include Sedric Ward v. Shelby County, Western District of Tennessee Case No. 2:20-cv-2407-JPM-cgc; jury finding that Shelby County’s USERRA violations were willfully affirmed by Court. See, 2:20-cv-2407-JPM-cgc Dkt. 191, and Brandt v. Columbia Credit Servs.,Western District of Washington Case No. 2:17-cv-703-RSM (judgment against debt collector Woehler under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; see also 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 164445). SaraEllen is also a lifelong personal development geek with two life coaching certifications, and knows the good, the bad, and the ugly in the wellness world. SaraEllen is licensed in Washington State and Alaska. She is a December 2004 graduate of Georgia State University College of Law. Law Office of SaraEllen Hutchison, PLLC is her solo firm based in Tacoma, Washington. You can find her at lifecoachlawsuit.com and saraellenhutchison.com.

Rachel Bentley has dedicated her practice to advocating on behalf of consumers who have been victims of corporate wrongdoing and scams. Ms. Bentley is an attorney with Gordon and Partners class action team and litigates consumer protection cases, mass torts, and complex consumer fraud class action cases. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Bentley prosecuted violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act as an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division of the Florida Attorney General’s Office. Before serving as an Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Bentley was the Senior Staff Attorney of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc.’s Consumer Advocacy Unit, where she protected the rights of disadvantaged members of the community and represented indigent consumers who were wronged by businesses and fraudsters. Ms. Bentley is a Vice-Chair of the Florida Bar’s Consumer Protection Law Committee and serves as Chair of the Palm Beach County Justice Association Young Lawyers Board of Directors.