CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A federal judge ruled against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a lawsuit it filed against a Cleveland debt collection firm that said the firm misled debtors about the involvement of attorneys in collecting debts.

Senior U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent wrote in an opinion released Wednesday that the CFPB did not prove that Weltman, Weinberg & Reis sent demand letters that were false, misleading or deceptive.

The CFPB sued Cleveland firm Weltman, Weinberg & Reis in April 2017, saying the firm's attorneys were not sufficiently involved in sending out the letters, even though the letters prominently mention they were sent out by a law firm and occasionally raise the possibility of legal action for unpaid debts.

The judge said the firm's attorneys were meaningfully involved in the debt collection process. Nugent also wrote there was no evidence that any debtor's decision to pay a debt was influenced by attorney identifiers on the demand letter and that the CFPB provided no evidence that debtors were harmed by the letters.

(You can read the full ruling here or at the bottom of this story.)

The ruling came after a jury in May issued a verdict saying the firm's initial demand letters contained "false, deceptive or misleading representations or means." It also said that the CFPB did not prove that the firm's attorneys were not meaningfully involved in the debt collection process.

The verdict came after a trial, but Nugent used the jury in an advisory capacity, meaning he considered the jury's decision and made his own ruling based on what happened in court and existing case law.

Attorneys for Weltman, Weinberg & Reis argued at trial that the collection firm's attorneys were involved in issuing debt collection letters, from vetting the clients it takes to ensuring the language in the letters complied with federal law.

Nugent also wrote that Weltman, Weinberg & Reis sent out similar letters when Alan Weinberg was hired to collect debts for the state of Ohio between 2009 and 2011 under then-Attorney General Richard Cordray.

The point was significant because Cordray, a Democrat who is campaigning for Ohio governor, was the head of the CFPB between 2012 and last year. He was at the federal agency when it sued Weltman, Weinberg & Reis and authorized the lawsuit, the judge wrote.

The Cleveland firm considered calling Cordray as a witness during the trial, which took place before and after Ohio's primary elections, but chose not to do so.

"The Weltman, Weinberg & Reis firm is a firm with a great reputation," said Jim Wooley, an attorney at the Jones Day law firm who represented the firm at trial. "This is a complete vindication and showed they behaved in a completely lawful manner with respect to these demand letters."

Managing partner Scott Weltman called the allegations in the lawsuit "unfounded" in a news release.

The CFPB did not respond to a request for comment.