In Memoriam: Bob Hobbs, ‘Founding Father’ of Consumer Law Community

November 24, 2025 — Article

Robert “Bob” Hobbs, who served as deputy director of the National Consumer Law Center for 27 years, passed away in November 2025. He shaped the consumer law movement, helping create the Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (CRLC) and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He was a leading authority on fair debt collection, drafting the Model Consumer Credit Act and writing parts of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 

Bob joined the fledgling NCLC in 1972 after working in legal services at New Orleans Legal Assistance. A staff attorney for 15 years, he became deputy director in 1987.

“Bob was truly a founding father of this consumer law community,” said Richard Dubois, NCLC executive director. “We all owe Bob a tremendous debt of gratitude. He accomplished so much for NCLC, for this community, and for consumers across the nation. And he did it with dignity and grace.”

He was an author of NCLC’s Fair Debt Collection manual and former editor of Consumer Law Pleadings. Bob was on the Board of Directors and the Treasurer of the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and is a former member of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council. He participated in FTC rulemaking on creditor practices and the holder in due course rule. 

When Bob retired from NCLC in 2014 after 42 years, NCLC launched the Hobbs Fellowship in his honor. NCLC awards the fellowship annually to a second-year law student who has demonstrated a passion for, and commitment to, consumer advocacy and the pursuit of a public interest career.

Upon Bob’s retirement, former NCLC Executive Director Willard Ogburn said, “Without Bob, there would be no NCLC. There would be no CRLC or NACA. And the face of consumer law and justice for consumers would be vastly different and vastly diminished. And we would not share the privilege of being here as part of a community of people who devote their professional lives to representing the little guy and standing up to power and money, greed and malice; to always do what is right and just; and to give voice to that sense of justice within us all.”