Too Good A Deal?: Court Eyes Rejecting TCPA Settlement That Only Provides $18.00 Per Class Member

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One of the most unexpected parts about running tcpaworld.com—at least to me—is the large number of folks that visit the website to find information about TCPA class action settlements.

I really did not intend to become a general information source of the public on these settlement but, I guess that’s what I am these days. And as a result I am privy to a good amount of comment-some of them a bit troubling—from consumers who are genuinely confused why they’re getting so little money from these settlements. (As always consumers who are class members and concerned about the amount of their settlement checks should contact the administrator or their counsel for more information—the Czar is a powerful defense lawyer but does not oversee such matters.)

This background probably serves to explain the Court’s hesitance to approve a class action settlement in Teblum v. Physician Compassionate Care Llc, Case No.: 2:19-cv-403-FtM-38MRM, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22107 (M.D. Fl.  January 20, 2021). There the Court actually granted preliminary approval to a ~$750k class action settlement but did so with a fairly unusual admonition to the parties that they’d better be able to explain themselves on the mere $18.00 bucks—minus expenses—that class members are slated to receive. This is likely especially true since the Plaintiff’s lawyers (the Hiraldo brothers) will undoubtedly seek (and receive) over $200k on this one.

The Court also noted that the case settlement (suspiciously?) quickly and apparently with limited discovery having been done.

It all adds up—in the Court’s view—to something that requires more review before final approval can be awarded.

We’ll keep an eye on this.

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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.

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