MOMENTUM: Brandon Callier Easily Defeats Motion to Dismiss by TCPA Defendants And They’re Making it Too Easy…

2 Comments

So Brandon Callier has been walking away with fists full of dollars recently.

A default here, a judgment there and the repeat-TCPA litigator is just cashing in left and right.

Now comes a case where the Defendant’s motion to dismiss was so bad it tried to dismiss claims that didn’t even exist.

I am serious.

Not even sure what to say about that.

In Callier v. Momentum Solar, 2024 WL 1813446 (W.D. Tex. April 25, 2024) the court had little trouble denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss–mostly because it attacked claims that were never asserted.

Apparently the Defendant moved to dismiss Plaintiff’s “claims under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d).” One little problem– these claims did not exist! Per the ruling:

Defendant asserts that Plaintiff’s claims under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d) should be dismissed. Mot. 7–9. However, Plaintiff has not asserted any claims under these subsections of the TCPA. See Pl.’s Original Compl. The only cause of action in Plaintiff’s complaint is under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5) and 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c (2). Id. at ¶¶ 55–60.

Good lord.

I have seen a ton of ridiculousness in my time covering TCPA cases, but this one absolutely takes the cake. Moving to dismiss a phantom claim? Is this GROSS incompetence? Or is it a law firm intentionally taking advantage of a client by willing for unnecessary work?

Not clear to me, but definitely one or the other.

Or maybe this is just another #biglaw copy and paste job gone arwy?

TCPAWORLD AFTERDARK: Lord Troutman

The Defendant also challenged the Plaintiff’s complaint on the grounds that cell phones are not residential lines for DNC purposes. This argument has been rejected repeatedly and had no chance–it lost, unsurprisingly–but, hey, at least it actually applied to the remaining claim under 227(c), so that’s a win of sorts.

Folks need to do better here. Callier can’t be waltzing to easy wins like this. Just encourages more lawsuits by the guy–and his copycats out there in Texas. No good.

BTW– the April edition of Deserve to Win Magazine is out and FREE!

ITS HERE–AND ITS FREE!!!: The April Edition of Deserve to Win Magazine is Out And FREE TO ALL!!!!

Get it before they’re gone. 🙂

Chat soon!

Discover more from TCPAWorld

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Categories:

Published by Eric "Czar" 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.

2 Comments

  1. Usually, delay works to the advantage of the defendant and the detriment of the plaintiff. Merely filing a motion, can buy from 3 to 12 months (or more) of delay. Perhaps the defendant was merely looking for some delay, so they scraped together some old arguments made by the Czar in another case and plopped them down into their motion and filed it. Voila, instant delay! Now, had they hired the Czar, we could be certain that the arguments raised in the motion would have been fresh and relevant.

    Reply

  2. Oh, and repeating my request for a copy of the “absolutely FREE TO ALL” latest edition of Deserve to Win.

    Reply

Leave a Reply