About Us

Nicholas J. Bontrager (Nick) has been a consumer advocate for his entire career of nearly 20 years.  Nick studied at UC Santa Barbara, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Law & Society, and a Minor Degree in Global Peace and Security in 2004.  It was during this time that he found his passion for the law and helping individuals overcome conflicts with big corporations. Nick then went on to obtain his law degree from the University of LaVerne  in 2007, where he was a multiple recipient of Dean’s List honors as well as being selected to the university Moot Court Honors program.  Nick has been admitted to the State Bar of California since 2007, and is admitted to practice in all Federal District Courts in California, the District Court of Colorado, the District Court for Northern Florida, the District Court for Western Wisconsin, the District Courts for Northern and Southern Illinois as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nick got his start in law at only 25 years old. Spending 4 years as Department Head of a leading national consumer law firm where he managed the firm’s nationwide FDCPA practice. This practice started with only 30 cases and only Nick working on them and ended up handling nearly 2,000 cases a year with a team of 30 employees when Nick exited. From there he went on to manage the consumer finance department of another of the nation’s leading consumer law firms for nearly three years.  This is where he added several years of lead class action counsel experience to his resume, including acting as counsel in national TCPA class actions brought against the Los Angeles Clippers, T-Mobile, Comenity Bank, Credit One Bank, and dozens of other large national corporations.   Prior to founding Bontrager Law, APC, Nick co-founded a thriving boutique consumer law practice with a friend and colleague which handled thousands of cases in its nearly 12 years of existence. 

Over the course of his career, Nick has acted as lead or co-counsel in nearly 20,000 individual and class action consumer claims which have either successfully settled prior to litigation, settled during litigation or prevailed at trial.   Nick has been awarded as a Super Lawyer Rising Star (bestowed to the top 2.5% of attorneys in Southern California under the age of 40) from 2016 through 2021 – including receiving “Top 100” recognition in 2018, 2019, and 2021.  He was selected as a Super Lawyer (bestowed to the top 5% of all attorneys in Southern California) in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Nick has presented as a guest speaker to sections of the California State Bar on issues of consumer protection, has been invited as a guest speaker to the collection industry on issues of non-compliance in treating consumers with fairness and within the confines of the law, and in 2009 (at only 28 years old) was recognized as the 2nd “Most Active” FDCPA attorney in the United States, representing well over 300 consumers in federal courts alone in a single year. 

At Bontrager Law, APC, Nick works on all matters for our clients in every aspect of their matters.  From initial intake through settlement, or trial,  Nick approaches each case with an aggressive, yet practical, approach seeking to achieve the best results for our clients in the most efficient way possible.  No case is too big or too small for Nick and Bontrager Law, APC.  Nick and the Firm are here to help anyone and everyone we can.  If you feel you are a consumer who has been wronged by a bank, debt collector, credit reporting agency, repo agent, telemarketer, or other corporations, please call us at (844) 4-NICKLAW or email us at Intake@njb.legal.  We are here to make your rights a reality!