Continental-National Services Corp. (“CNSC”), a specialized broker of finance and insurance services and products for the automobile dealership industry, has hired James S. Ganther, Esquire, as vice president and general counsel. Mr. Ganther has served CNSC as outside counsel for the past eight years, and accepted the in-house position as part of CNSC’s growth strategy.

“Adding Jim was more for the benefit of our dealership clients than for CNSC itself,” said Mark Krejci, president of CNSC. “He will, of course, continue to perform legal work on behalf of this company. But his real value is as a resource we can provide to our clients.”

For example, with the addition of an in-house lawyer CNSC can now offer its clients legal compliance audits. “Some of our clients have been the target of civil lawsuits and Attorney General’s investigations,” explained Ganther. “In the current litigation environment, we find our clients eager for compliance reviews and training. So, that’s a big part of my job description. Also, I am getting lots of calls concerning the impact of the new FTC Safeguards Rule, implementing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.”

CNSC has sponsored Dealership Legal Seminars for the past five years, with Mr. Ganther as the main speaker, and that will continue. CNSC is also teaming with the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals (“AFIP”) to train F&I personnel across Florida and help them achieve AFIP certification. All of these efforts are intended to coordinate F&I sales practices with legal compliance, and provide a broader range of services to CNSC’s client base.

“Adding the services of an in-house attorney familiar with the laws affecting our clients’ business really sets us apart from our competition,” commented Krejci. “Our clients’ response has been incredibly positive.”