IS IT TRUE?: Source Claims Sixth Circuit COA Judge Rules On TCPA Cases– Even Though Her Son is a TCPA Class Action Attorney

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SO yesterday I reported on the big Western Express TCPA settlement.

One angle I didn’t cover was the apparent connection between class counsel Gerard Stranch IV of Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC and sitting Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, the Hon. Jane Branstetter Stranch.

Apparently Gerard has been involved in a number of TCPA class actions– although I havent personally come across him that I can recall– and Judge Stanch has ruled on a number of TCPA cases– although I can’t recall a panel she was on.

It has been suggested to me that this is a very bad thing.

I will admit it seems a bit odd to me that a sitting federal appellate court judge would be ruling on TCPA decisions if her son is directly profiting from TCPA class litigation (I will note her daughter and husband are also, apparently, partners at the firm.)

Obviously I am not suggesting wrongdoing by Judge Stanch–even assuming all of these facts are true– but it certainly looks bad.

Then again, if you’re a judge and you have lawyers in the family I suppose you wouldn’t want to recuse yourself from a ruling in every type of case the law firm might be handling. So I suppose I get it.

Still, with the huge number of dollars at issue in these TCPA cases– and the unfair application of the rules in many instances– I can understand why some would be irked by a court of appeals judge making TCPA law while her family profits from TCPA cases.

Will pay closer attention to ruling involving Judge Stanch and the TCPAWorld exploits of Gerard moving forward.

Chat soon.

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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.

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  1. There are certainly times when a judge should — in fact, must — recuse themselves from a case. But, the mere fact that a judge may have, at one time, practiced in a particular niche of the law is not one of them. (Sure, if the attorney or party coming before the judge is a family member, that would be a basis; but that is not the issue here.) Example: Many federal judges were formerly criminal prosecutors in their earlier attorney career. Does that dictate that the judge should recuse themself from any and all criminal cases that come into the courtroom? That is not the state of the law.

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