BREAKING: SCOTUS Says FCC’s Hobbs Act TCPA Authority “Difficult to Answer”– Sends PDR Resources Case Back for More Work

3 Comments

The US Supreme Court issued its big opinion in PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris, today. Found here: PDR Resources The opinion–which was expected to answer the question of whether the FCC actually had the long-assumed power to exclusively implement the TCPA– ended up falling short of providing an answer.

Instead SCOTUS–in a rather remarkable admission– found it “difficult to answer this question”–  and has sent the case back to the circuit court of appeal for further determinations on two very interesting preliminary issues.

Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion makes a compelling case for the idea that the Hobbs Act only affords exclusive jurisdiction to consider pre-enforcement facial challenges, but as applied challenges to agency action can still occur in private litigation. Very interesting stuff.

More analysis shortly.

Categories:

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.

3 Comments

  1. Pingback: TCPA Developments In Review: Unprecedented Podcast Breaks Down Congressional Developments with Former Hill Staffer Margaret Daum – TCPAWorld
  2. Pingback: Too Soon?: TCPA Defendant’s Hopes of Unwinding Negative ATDS Ruling Leveraging PDR Resources Goes Bust – TCPAWorld
  3. Pingback: FINAL AND BINDING: Court Finds a Bureau Level Decision is Binding FCC Rule Under the Hobbs Act – TCPAWorld

Leave a Reply