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Meet the Rulers of the TCPA World

Our Incredible TCPA Defense Team is Truly World-Class. We have one of the most experienced and knowledgeable TCPA defense teams in the world– backed by one of the most powerful legal names in the world– Squire Patton Boggs. Led by TCPAWorld’s lead author and editor–Eric J. Troutman– members of SPB’s…Continue reading “Meet the Rulers of the TCPA World”

Just A Reminder to Stay With Us: Decisions From Coast to Coast Continue to Stay TCPA Cases pending SCOTUS Review

As we’ve been covering, the briefing in the big Facebook ATDS SCOTUS appeal is almost complete and oral argument is…

21Oct 202021 Oct 2020

The Big Money Keeps Flowing: $9.5MM TCPA Settlement Approved for Mortgage Servicer

Another day, another multi-million dollar TCPA settlement. As I explained earlier this month, these big-dollar TCPA settlements are (finally) on…

21Oct 202021 Oct 2020

Porch Corporate Officers Stuck in $54MM TCPA Lawsuit: Claim that Each “Approved” Conduct Violating TCPA Enough to Allow Personal Liability

I’ve described it as the most unfair rule in the American legal system: corporate officers being held directly liable for…

GAME CHANGER: The Government Agrees the TCPA Only Covers Random-Fire Dialers– So What Are We Still Doing Here?

7 Sep 202010 Sep 2020

I guess I should have seen this coming but I didn't. After forcefully battling to keep the TCPA on the books just last term, the U.S. Government has weighed in…

Synesis Over Syntax: A Deeper Dive into the Grammararian Arguments that Will Decide the Fate of the TCPA

20 Oct 202021 Oct 2020

For many years my favorite book was the Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate. Derive what you will from that admission, but you have no idea the joy it…

COVID Polling Texts Lead to TCPA Major Class Action: Mass Texts Inviting Voters to Take Survey Potentially Violate the TCPA

19 Oct 202021 Oct 2020

The TCPA has a major impact on the political season, as we have covered here, here and here. But it is not just campaigns that are being impacted by the…

“ROBOCALLERS WOULD HAVE FREE REIGN…”: Consumer Lawyers Have Their TCPA SCOTUS Say With Scathing Rebuke of Facebook’s ATDS Position

16 Oct 202020 Oct 2020

This will get your attention. Reading the briefs submitted by Facebook and the Government to the Supreme Court in connection with the big TCPA ATDS review, it is crystal clear…

Chairman Pai: FCC to Address Social Media Immunity Under Section 230

15 Oct 202016 Oct 2020

Here's big news for social media companies and other operators of online forums. Chairman Pai today agreed to pick up the Trump administration's request for "clarity" around the immunity granted…

Hitting the Brakes: Auto Dealership Text Messages to Consumers Result in Classwide TCPA Settlement

15 Oct 202016 Oct 2020

Car dealerships—like most businesses in America-are constantly looking for ways to better engage with consumers. Consumers, by and large, just don’t pick up their phones anymore-I wonder why-leading to the…

Horton Hears a TCPA Loss: “America’s Largest Homebuilder” Stuck in Robotext Class Suit Arising from Use of CallFire Dialer

15 Oct 202016 Oct 2020

I love it when the universe winks at you. Just yesterday I reported on a big class action settlement involving a Plaintiff named Horton and this morning I get to…

Huge CBA Live TCPA Presentation Now Available: TCPAWorld Given Permission to Share This Critical Content With Its Readers

14 Oct 202015 Oct 2020

Well as I teased a couple weeks ago, the Czarina and I teamed up with Capital One's Kingmaker--TCPA SME Jeremy Gladstone--to break down all the huge TCPA developments exclusively for…

Horton Hears a TCPA Class Settlement: Latest $6MM Resolution May Be Among the Last of its Kind

14 Oct 202015 Oct 2020

As we’ve explained in the past, the TCPA has produced more multi-million dollar settlements-and therefore more millionaire plaintiff’s lawyers-than any other statute in American history. Unsurprisingly, these lawyers find ways…

Back to School Robocalls: September Saw a Huge Spike in Substitute Teacher Notifications and One School District Made Nearly 3MM Robocalls

13 Oct 202014 Oct 2020

Real quick-- is COVID to blame for this? September, 2020 saw a massive uptick in "substitute teacher alerts" by Frontline Education (formerly Aesop) informing potential educators of opportunities to step…

RIGHT TO COMPEL ARBITRATION PRESERVED, NOT WAIVED

Is there a “deadline” for triggering an arbitration clause in TCPA litigation? Is it necessary to call for arbitration right out of the box? What steps can preserve an arbitration…

Square Peg: TCPA Defendant’s Standing Argument Badly Misses the Mark—but Case Stayed Anyway in Light of Facebook

12 Oct 202013 Oct 2020

I know it seems like a minor point to most folks but, for purists, making substantive merits arguments as part of a "standing" play at the pleadings stage is a…

TCPA Discount?: Court Cuts Attorney Fee Request from $20k to $800.00 Against Caller—but Shouldn’t It Have Been Zero?

12 Oct 202013 Oct 2020

The TCPA is a dangerous little statute that sometimes allows for the recovery of crippling damages for conduct that causes very little harm. Bad stuff. But there is one difference…

FCC SETS COMMENT DATES IN REVIEW TCPA REGULATORY EXEMPTIONS PER TRACED ACT

TCPWorld recently reported on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) notice of proposed rulemaking to implement Section 8 of the TRACED Act. (https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-140A1.pdf). Therein, Congress directed the FCC to “ensure that…

Bragging CHECK OUT THIS POWERFUL TEAM: If You Haven’t Considered Hiring SPB’s TCPA Team Recently– Maybe You Should

9 Oct 20209 Oct 2020

So the oddest thing happened the other day. I had just wrapped up another virtual session when I receive a call. The guy--who will stay nameless-- says: "You're a great…

AND THE SURVEY SAID? – NO ADVERTISMENT!

Earlier this year TCPAWorld reported on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Third Circuit) decision in Fischbein v. Olson Research Group (https://tcpaworld.com/2020/05/18/survey-faxes-offering-honorarium-contain-advertisement-for-tcpa-purposes/). Therein, Mr. Fischbein received…

Off Target: Major Retailer Dismissed from TCPA Suit Initiated By Questionable Revocation Effort

7 Oct 202012 Oct 2020

One of my least favorite “scams” in TCPAWorld—and it is a scam in my opinion— is when a consumer’s lawyer sends a vaguely worded or incomplete letter requesting calls to…

TCPA Quick Hitter: Yes, Debt Collectors Can Call Still Call Numbers Supplied to Creditors as Part of Underlying Transaction

Really quick one for you. TCPAWorld is so topsy turvey that it is good to level set and remind ourselves of some basics once in a while. Here’s some bedrock—debt…

TCPAWorld After Dark: loanDepot Airs Awesome Commercial, Dennis Brown Reaches Out, Shelton Wants More Sanctions…

6 Oct 202012 Oct 2020

A few quick late-breaking TCPAWorld developments: Our awesome, fast-growing, and extremely compliance/consumer-oriented client loanDepot entered the big leagues today with a splendid National commercial message played during the NBA finals.…

Class Actions…

Ignoring TCPA Class Action is a BAD Strategy

6 Oct 20206 Oct 2020

We get it. TCPA class actions cause headaches, or worse. Courts agree. The Eleventh Circuit recently described the in terrorem character of the TCPA class action, observing the "pressure to…

Meanwhile, in Maryland: Disbarred Attorney Seeks Sanctions Against TCPA Defendant for Arguing that His Number Belonged to a Law Firm

6 Oct 20206 Oct 2020

Here’s the latest from the ever-colorful TCPAWorld. A disbarred lawyer received calls on his cell phone. He claims it is his personal cell phone. But the number appeared on a…

FCC TO REVIEW TCPA REGULATORY EXEMPTIONS PER TRACED ACT

In its continuing actions to implement the TRACED Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to address Section 8 of the statute (https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-140A1.pdf).…

$710,000.00 for the Attorneys– $11.25 for the Class Representative: Welcome to Post-Johnson TCPA Settlements in Florida

5 Oct 20206 Oct 2020

Well the “no incentive” class action (TCPA)world is now upon us. As we reported a few weeks back, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has cancelled all incentive awards in…

A Perfect Sunday Afternoon Read: Dennis Brown’s Self-Published TCPA Masterpiece

4 Oct 20206 Oct 2020

So I know this isn't going to help me with the "all Eric thinks about is the TCPA" cliché, but I've been reading this book about the TCPA and it…

CLEAN SLATE?: New Decision Suggests the Nation’s Robocallers May Be Off the Hook

2 Oct 20204 Oct 2020

Aww the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Ostensibly designed to prevent robocalls, books have been written in honor of its strangeness. Chief Justice Roberts once remarked that it is the oddest…

WOAH!: Court Holds TCPA Unconstitutional as Applied to Calls Made Before July 6, 2020 and Our Minds Are All the Way Blown

2 Oct 20204 Oct 2020

It always happens. I go on vacation for a handful of days and arguably the biggest TCPA news of the year breaks. Eesh. A federal district court in Louisiana held…

BREAKING: TCPAWorld Team Smashes CBA Live Presentation– Kingmaker In Attendance

1 Oct 20202 Oct 2020

Well that was a ton of fun. For those of you who just missed the LIVE event, the Czarina and the Kingmaker--Capital One's own Jeremy Gladstone-- joined me at a…

“Zero, zip, zilch:” Squire Patton Boggs Team Earns First-in-Nation Ruling Finding No Injury for Single Fax Attached to Email

28 Sep 202028 Sep 2020

What does an allegation of “wasted time” mean in a standing analysis under the Junk Fax provision of the TCPA when a fax is received by email and not a…

“Pure Applesauce”: Court Chastises TCPA Defendant for “Silly” Disputes Regarding Deposition of Plaintiff’s Expert Aaron Woolfson

28 Sep 20201 Oct 2020

Happy Monday TCPAWorld. Here's one to get the week started off right. It is not often a Court characterizes the dispute of parties to litigation as “silly.” It is perhaps…

TCPA Discovery…

“Preliminary Peek” Reveals Probable Jurisdiction Over Nebraska and Utah Defendants in Nevada, and so No Stay in Real Estate Lead Generator Case

Particularly in the TCPA context, properly managing discovery is critical. A TCPA defendant will often seek and obtain a stay pending the court's resolution of a dispositive motion. The United…

STACKED DECK?: Trump Nominates Judge that Has Already Ruled on TCPA’s ATDS Definition to Supreme Court Just In Time For Facebook ATDS Appeal

27 Sep 20201 Oct 2020

As you (should have) already heard by now, Trump has nominated the Hon. Amy Cony Barrett for the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated in the wake of…

TCPAWorld Giveth and Taketh Away: Porch is Told the TCPA Does Apply to its Calls After Another Court Said the Opposite Just Earlier this Month

25 Sep 20201 Oct 2020

TCPAWorld is a finicky place. One day you’re on top of the (TCPA)world and the next, you’re knocked flat on your back. Take our friends at Porch, for instance. Earlier…

“Cavalier and Unprofessional”: Court Blasts TCPA Plaintiff for Failing to Allege Key Facts; Dismisses Complaint

25 Sep 202027 Sep 2020

So just last week I wrote a story about Todd Bank and the $75k he pocketed in a suit against Verde Energy. Well this week he suffered a very different…

FCC Bureau Rejects “Strict Liability” Regime for Fax Advertisements

23 Sep 202024 Sep 2020

The TCPA prohibits any person from sending an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine. The Commission's rules define "sender" as "the person or entity on whose behalf a facsimile…

P2P Texting this Election Cycle: What Political Campaigns Need to Know About the TCPA Right Now

23 Sep 202025 Sep 2020

Its election season and--as we all know-- political robocalls and texts are spiking. But we also know that suing candidates of the opposite political persuasion for purportedly illegal robocalls is…

REPUBLISHED: My Latest “Expert Analysis” for Law360: Ginsburg’s Passing Could Usher In A Narrower TCPA

22 Sep 202025 Sep 2020

Editor's Note: I was honored to have been selected to write this "Expert Analysis" piece for Law360 that ran today. The article is republished here with the publication's permission. *Editor's…

Zillow Rockets Up the List of Top Robocallers: 9MM Calls in August, 2020 Make Zillow 5th Largest Robocaller in the Nation (Maybe)

22 Sep 202025 Sep 2020

So I was perusing YouMail's ever popular robocall index today between phone calls and I noticed a very curious addition. There at number 5 was popular real estate market data…

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We’ll break all the TCPA news–usually before anyone else does–with witty and informative articles that break the mold of stuffy law firm analysis. Yet the analysis you’ll find will always be dead on and steeped in our decades of combined TCPA defense experience.

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