Ellen Traupman Berge
Partner
Advertising, Marketing, and Sales Counsel
Ellen’s practice is deeply rooted in advertising and marketing law, with a focus on compliance and risk management for consumer-facing programs and business-to-business sales. She offers extensive experience with:
- Federal and state regulatory frameworks, including rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCA), the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the telemarketing sales rules (TSR), and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), as well as compliance for automatic renewal, subscription billing, and lead generation
- Representing clients in investigations and enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), state attorneys general, and self-regulatory bodies such as the National Advertising Division (NAD) and Better Business Bureau (BBB)
- Conducting mock compliance audits and examinations, designing internal compliance programs, and developing marketing policies for omnichannel campaigns
- Reviewing a wide array of marketing collateral—TV, digital, email, social, mobile, and e-commerce—for claims substantiation, endorsement disclosures, sweepstakes, and social media promotions
- Serving as a trusted resource to in-house counsel on matters involving telemarketing, texting, email marketing, sponsorships, customer service, and consumer complaint response
- Managing global marketing compliance, including coordination with international counsel for cross-border campaigns
Payments and Fintech Advisory
A core part of Ellen’s practice is advising fintechs, payment processors, independent sales organizations (ISOs), payment facilitators, and banks on the legal nuances regulatory compliance, risk management, business counseling, litigation, and law enforcement. Her work includes:
- Counseling on merchant onboarding, know your customer guidelines (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML), high-risk verticals, and compliance with consumer finance laws
- Advising fintech clients on money transmission licensing, card brand rule compliance, and banking-as-a-service structures
- Supporting business operations with drafting and negotiation of critical commercial agreements, including ISO agreements, PayFac agreements, ISV and SaaS contracts, and merchant services terms
- Handling and resolving responses to civil investigative demands (CIDS) and other investigative requests initiated by the FTC, Department of Justice (DOJ), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), CFPB, bank regulators, state attorneys general, state consumer protection regulators, and other state financial services regulators
Ellen is a recognized thought leader and frequent speaker on topics spanning advertising law, subscription marketing, telemarketing, payment processing, merchant services, and government enforcement trends. She co-chairs the Government Relations Strategic Interest Group of the Association of Payment Professionals and is an active member of the Electronic Transactions Association.
Related Practices
Experience
Experience
Representative Matters
Advertising, Marketing, and Sales Matters
- Represented numerous companies in defending subscription-based offerings against state attorney general actions to enforce state automatic renewal and subscriptions law (Ongoing)
- Defended a marketer of business coaching programs in FTC action over earning and product claims (Settlement)
- Defended a health and wellness company in FTC investigation under ROSCA (Settlement)
- Represented a subscription-based marketing company in FTC contempt investigation tied to a prior order (Closed without action)
- Defended a dietary supplement company in FTC probe over weight loss claims (Closed without action)
- Represented a large supplement company in state AG inquiry into trial and subscription offer compliance with auto-renewal laws (Closed without action)
- Defended a nonprofit in a state AG civil investigative demand (CID) concerning legality of undercover investigative reporting (Closed without action)
Payments and Fintech Matters
- Defended a large payment processor in FTC action over sales agent conduct toward small business merchants (Settlement)
- Represented a global PayFac’s executives in resolving FTC claims tied to support of high-risk merchants (Settlement)
- Represented an ISO in FTC complaint alleging unfair conduct for processing payments for deceptive merchants (Settlement)
- Defended a processor in FTC investigation over merchant activity on its platform (Closed without action)
- Defended an ISO in FTC investigation into liability for assisting allegedly unlawful marketing (Closed without action)
- Defended a fintech company in TSR investigation for allegedly supporting telemarketing violations (Closed without action)
- Represented a payment processor in U.S. Postal Inspection Service inquiry into marketing mailers (Closed without action)
- Defended a processor in CFPB litigation alleging facilitation of fraudulent debt collection (Dismissed with prejudice)
Insights
Insights
Credentials
Credentials
Education
- J.D. magna cum laude Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law 2002
- Certificate, Institute of Communications Law Studies Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law 2002
- Webmaster, CommLaw Conspectus, Journal of Communications Law and Policy
- B.A. University of Virginia 1996
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Brand Activation Association
- Electronic Transactions Association
- Merchant Acquirers Committee (MAC)
Recognition
Recognition
Ellen is known for her "deep expertise in the financial services industry," which enables her to help clients "quickly benchmark and solve complex, high-risk issues" (Legal 500, 2021).
- The Best Lawyers in America, Advertising Law, 2023 – 2025
- International Law Office, Client Choice Award, E-Commerce, District of Columbia and nationwide, 2014
- Legal 500
- Finance – Financial Services Regulation, 2022 – 2025
- Media, Technology and Telecoms – Advertising and Marketing – Transactional, 2013 – 2014, 2019 – 2020, 2023, 2025
- Chambers USA
- Advertising: Transactional & Regulatory, Nationwide, 2024 - 2025
- Up and Coming, Advertising: Transactional & Regulatory, Nationwide, 2022 – 2023
- Chambers Fintech USA, Payments & Lending, 2023 – 2024