Abbas Is Back! Godfather of TCPA Class Actions Talks First Amendment and CCPA–Yes That CCPA– on Unprecedented Podcast

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Well the Godfather of TCPA class actions–Abbas Kazerounian— joined us on Unprecedented this week and it turns out he is also something of the Godfather of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”).

Abbas sits on a board of plaintiff’s lawyers here in California that was asked to review drafts of the CCPA while it was under consideration. As Abbas humbly puts it he helped “draft” the statute and fought hard against industry-side groups that wanted to remove the private right of action.

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Abbas Kazerounian

In an interview that gets a bit heated at times, I push him on the vague language of the CCPA and query whether the “gotcha” language poses a trap for well-meaning businesses. Abbas defends the statute and breaks it down from a Plaintiff-side perspective. He explains the “sliding scale” approach to reasonableness he expects to be applied and asserts that the vague language is essential given the competing interests being balanced in enacting the statute. He also explains how he hopes to leverage the statute and how it is intended to be used.

If the CCPA intersects with your line of work in any way you absolutely must listen hear from Abbas. As one of the most feared consumer lawyers in the nation– and one of the drafters of the CCPA– his insights are critical and he was extremely candid with his thoughts on Unprecedented. You will not want to miss it.

Of course, as one of the country’s leaders in privacy law and defending consumer class actions in the privacy space, you can also count on Squire Patton Boggs to bring you 360 degree analysis and coverage of CCPA developments – and this interview with Abbas is just the start.

But don’t worry TCPAWorld, we didn’t spend the entire interview talking about CCPA. I also take Abbas to task on First Amendment issues and the remarkable fact that consumer lawyers are chipping away at our constitutional rights by advocating for a watered-down version of strict scrutiny in TCPA cases. As I argue to Abbas– the precedent created in these cases damages the First Amendment landscape for all of us in every context. Abbas fights back hard at times, but even he sees the inherent danger of eroding our Constitutional protections in the name of stopping robocalls.

Before we get to the interview we breakdown Commissioner O’Reilly’s big speech–and how best to leverage it–and of course you cannot miss our take on the TRACED Act. We break it down and explain exactly what to expect if (and when!) the bill becomes law.

All in a week’s work TCPAWorld. Enjoy!

 

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.