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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”

15Oct 201915 Oct 2019

TCPAWorld Special–Proposed CCPA Regulations: Initial Overview and Highlights

The CCPA and TCPA live dangerously parallel lives. As one of the most experienced consumer class litigation outfits in the…

TCPA Quick Hitter: Court Bifurcates TCPA Discovery in a Class Action but Orders Data Preservation

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times, class discovery in TCPA cases often determines the course…

Ringless Voicemail…

Whatever Happened to that Big Ringless Voicemail Decision We Were All Expecting? It Was a Nothing Burger—For Now

14 Oct 201915 Oct 2019

You’ll recall a few weeks back TCPAWorld.com featured analysis of efforts by VoApps—makers of the DirectDrop ringless voicemail platform—to stem the tide of negative TCPA rulings addressing ringless voicemail technologies.…

No Sale: Court Finds Texts Promoting Speaking Tour Not Dual Purpose Solicitations Under the TCPA

11 Oct 201914 Oct 2019

So I’m going to start texting all of you to remind you about my big speaking tour coming up. Turns out those texts are just to provide you with critical…

Marks Limited?: First Court in Ninth Circuit Footprint Finds LiveVox HCI Does Not meet Marks ATDS Definition

10 Oct 201914 Oct 2019

Well folks the first domino may have just fallen. As I wrote just days ago, the Marks ATDS formulation is not as monolithic as it may first appear. Yes it…

ACA Int’l Releases Huge TCPA Podcast: Czar and Archduke Join BCA Financial GC to Discuss Impact of TCPA On Debt Collection Industry

8 Oct 201910 Oct 2019

Hold on to our hats folks. Well I don't agree to be interviewed on just anybody's podcast--in fact, I've never done it before--but when debt collection industry education giant ACA…

TCPA Coffee Break: Another California Court Follows Marks Because, Well, It has To

7 Oct 20198 Oct 2019

Here’s a pumpkin-spiced TCPA musing for the afternoon coffee break: I’m not sure why Defendants continue to bring motions to dismiss ATDS allegations in federal district courts in California but…

Class Actions…

Big TCPA Win For Debt Collector—Court Refuses to Certify TCPA Case Against Debt Collector Allegedly Calling Wrong Numbers Because Data Lies and So Do People

7 Oct 20198 Oct 2019

TCPAWorld followers have heard me crow a time or two about my big win in Tillman in which my client defeated certification in a TCPA wrong number code class case…

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR SIGNS ROBOCALL LEGISLATION

3 Oct 201910 Oct 2019

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 208, the Consumer Call Protection Act of 2019, to, among other things, “identify those engaging in deceptive robocalls and protect Californians, especially vulnerable…

WHO “MADE” THE CALL? – MINOR ROLE IN CAUSAL CHAIN NOT ENOUGH

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), it is unlawful to “make any call” (other than an emergency call or one made with prior express consent) to a cellphone using…

First Amendment…

En Vague: Court Holds TCPA Is Not Void For Vagueness For Reasons That Are Not Entirely Clear

3 Oct 20197 Oct 2019

As I have reported over the last few days, the calamity of inconsistent ATDS decisions has officially reached fever pitch. Courts are now reaching inconsistent decisions on the application of…

Motion to Strike Granted: Plaintiff’s Individual TCPA Claim May Proceed But Class TCPA Claims Are Dismissed

3 Oct 20197 Oct 2019

Earlier this week, in Whittum v. Acceptance, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167990 (D. Nev. Sept. 30, 2019), the court granted in part and denied in part a defendant’s motion to…

TCPA Quick Hitter: Court Dismisses TCPA Complaint Against Jiffy Lube Finding It Lacks Contacts With State Where Franchisee Operated (Plus Another ATDS Win)

2 Oct 20192 Oct 2019

Here’s an interesting case to end the day with. Imagine you’re nationwide franchise—say Jiffy Lube. You have franchisees all across the country, some of whom do goofy things like (allegedly)…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

LESSONS IN TCPA PLEADING: PARROTING STATUTORY LANGUAGE WON’T FLY

2 Oct 20193 Oct 2019

The general Federal pleading rule on its face would not seem to demand much to set forth a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claim. Rule 8 of the Federal Rules…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

TCPA Vagueness In Action: Three New Decisions Issued on the Same Day Apply Three Different ATDS Standards to Text Message Platforms—And So It Goes

2 Oct 20193 Oct 2019

Back in the 1970s (simpler times?) the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108-09 (1972) identifying that a statute that is…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Texts “Violated the Spirit but Not the Letter of the TCPA”: TCPA Suit Against User of EZ Texting System Dismissed Due to Human Intervention

1 Oct 20192 Oct 2019

No sooner do I deem the 2003 and 2008 predictive dialer rulings dead than does a case come and apply them anew. Sort of. As I have stated repeatedly on…

TCPA Bites Again: Court Trebles TCPA Damages Against Debt Collector Awarding Nearly $300k on Summary Judgment

30 Sep 20191 Oct 2019

Even as courts are increasingly moving toward applying a narrow ATDS definition, the TCPA remains extremely dangerous—particularly in the Ninth Circuit where Marks holds sway. You won’t find many cases…

TCPA Quick Hitter—Court Rejects $6mm TCPA Class Settlement Because Class Definition Includes “Unascetainable” ATDS Reference

27 Sep 201930 Sep 2019

Although there have been a couple of notable exceptions, most multi-million dollar TCPA settlements go sailing through approval. When they do get hung up, it is usually because the dollars…

TCPA Coffee Break: Yet Another Court Finds TCPA Is Unconstitutional Restriction on Free Speech—Upholds it

26 Sep 201927 Sep 2019

Quick one to digest along with an almond biscotti. First, a short but incisive rant: Free speech isn’t what it used to be. In the old days if a statute…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

R.I.P. 2003 and 2008 Predictive Dialer Rulings: District Court Reverses TCPA ATDS Ruling—Sinks Final Nail into Coffin of Once Popular TCPA Argument

26 Sep 201930 Sep 2019

Just this week I explained how a tentative majority position is developing in TCPAWorld, with the statutory ATDS approach really gaining steam. Well here’s yet another big win for the…

Robocall Legislation Update: PA Passes Bill Requiring Permanent Maintenance of Do Not Call Requests

26 Sep 201927 Sep 2019

Real quick—if you are calling folks in Pennsylvania go ahead and hold onto any “do not call” requests you receive. Like, forever. The bill, HB-318 passed the PA House back…

“Boil or dice the potatoes, using a knife”: Why the Fate of the TCPA’s ATDS Definition May Hang on a Comma, Obscure Rules of Grammar, and One Bad Analogy

24 Sep 201926 Sep 2019

As long as the TCPAWorld has been spinning it has been subject to much and dire controversy. No controversy is more fundamental—and seemingly less likely—than that of the meaning of…

No Escape: Court Asked to Find TCPA Judgment Against Corporate Officer Non-Dischargeable In Bankruptcy

23 Sep 201924 Sep 2019

We’re still a month away from Halloween, but TCPAWorld has just become even scarier. I have frequently remarked on the unfairness of individual corporate officers being held individually and personally…

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE SENDS ROBOCALL MESSAGE

While the language in Congressional legislative reports does not have statutory force, Federal agencies pay attention. This is particularly the case when the message is sent by the Committee overseeing…

TCPA Nitty Gritty: Plaintiff’s Use of A Fake British Accent Did Not Revoke Consent and an Agent Admitting That An “Autodialer” Was Used Does Not Prove ATDS Usage in TCPA Cases

23 Sep 201924 Sep 2019

The Archduke covered one important piece of Capital One’s win in the Johnson case last week—the Court’s application of the statutory ATDS definition and entry of partial summary judgment in…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Wither Marks v. Crunch: District Courts In Florida And Texas Hold Random Or Sequential Number Generation Is Required Exactly One Year After The Ninth Circuit’s Troubling Decision.

20 Sep 201923 Sep 2019

One of the most oft-cited circuit court decisions, if not the most oft-cited, is Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206 (11th Cir. 1981), in which the newly formed…

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