ITS OFFICIAL!!: U.S. President Joe Biden Nominates the Czar for Vacant FCC Commissioner Seat

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In a highly-anticipated announcement, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Telecom Lawyer extraordinaire Eric J. Troutman–better known as the “Czar”– to serve as the fifth Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission today.

The announcement comes just weeks following President Biden’s former candidate–Gigi Sohn– withdrawing her bid to be nominated as Commissioner.

Troutman, a well-known class action defense attorney who has dedicated his practice to stopping unwanted robocalls and helping companies comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, was a deemed a “perfect fit” for the position by White House correspondent Nota Realperson in a statement this morning announcing the news:

“The Czar is one of the best known and most-trusted voices on telecom legal issues in the U.S., it is only natural that he should bring his talents to the FCC.”

Legislators on both sides of the aisle seemed to agree.

“He’s a centrist candidate. Not a nut. Helps people and businesses alike” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R. Tx.) in a statement “I’m actually shocked this administration came up with someone this well qualified.”

Quasi-Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (W.V.) seemed to agree: “My office is still looking into his background, but at first glance Troutman seems to be just the sort of level-headed pragmatist this country needs helping to assure a free and fair communications infrastructure.”

Troutman’s background as a First Amendment scholar and advocate for free speech also weighed in his favor per a White House Statement:

“Troutman is absolutely dedicated to keeping free speech alive and well in this country, and that’s something folks on both sides of the aisle have to applaud.” Realperson stated.

But not everyone was enthused. The National Consumer Law Center issued a brief and somewhat cryptic statement of their own reading simply: “Ugh.”

For his part Troutman appears set for the Senate nomination process:

“Look, I am honored for the nod and I know Senators on both sides of the aisle are excited to meet the Czar. I’ll make some time for them–take some selfies for them or whatever– but I do want this process to move along quickly. I need to get in there and get some work done.”

Also this is plainly an April Fool’s day joke.

Unfortunately.

For everybody.

Although my hat is firmly in the ring… let’s see what happens.

Chat soon.

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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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