As political battles over financial reform rage in Washington, legislators and attorneys at the state level are confronting the fallout from the subprime crisis by passing new laws and pursuing innovative litigation.

Suffolk Law School's Advanced Legal Studies program and the Macaronis Institute for Trial and Appellate Advocacy will explore relevant legal issues in the daylong program "States in the Vanguard: Protecting Consumers During the Financial Crisis." The course, co-sponsored with the National Consumer Law Center for the Moakley Institute, will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 9, at Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston.

Panelists include judges involved in the seminal Massachusetts v. Fremont Investment & Loan decision, an attorney who was involved in New York’s successful effort to limit preemption by bank regulators, and a representative from the Illinois Attorney General’s office, which has brought a lawsuit against a depository institution.

The seminar also will address the latest on the second crisis: foreclosures. States are wrestling with toxic titles, borrowers’ access to federal loan modification programs, tenants being evicted when their landlords lose their property, foreclosure rescue scams, and collecting judgments on home loans.

Speakers also will discuss efforts to protect consumers when it comes to medical debt and short-term loan products.

James E. Tierney of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School will give the opening address, and James H. Carr, chief operating officer of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, will deliver the keynote speech.