TAKE THAT!: $46,502.50 Sanctions Award Against TCPA Plaintiff’s Lawyers Highlights Importance of Mediation Privilege

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So Troutman Amin, LLP famously earned a $62k plus sanctions award against a litigation opponent last year. A very high sanction in a case that did NOT involve fake AI briefing (ha.)

Well last week Humana earned a strikingly high sanctions award against a TCPA plaintiff– and I must say it appears to have been well deserved.

In Elliot v. Humana, 3:22-CV-00329 Doc. 229 (W.D. Ky. Jan. 26, 2026) the plaintiff had submitted a declaration to the court containing a settlement offer made by the defendant at a mediation.

Now this is a HUGE no no.

It may seem strange to non-litigators but the things that are said at a mediation are absolutely confidential. There’s really no excuse for disclosing ANY content from a mediation to the court and its REALLY looked down upon to mention a settlement offer in particular.

Its like one of those unwritten rules in baseball that will get you hit by a pitch in your next at bat. Only with a sanctions order from the court.

Well in Elliot the court was absolutely pissed.

It awarded Humana the cost of the hours its attorneys worked on the sanctions motion totaling $46,502.50!

That’s a big award. But it could have been even bigger.

The court actually found $52,228.70 would have been reasonable– but Humana only sought $46,500 because it is a very classy organization. 🙂

Notably Humana’s lawyers spent 145 hours on the sanctions motion and hearing. That’s a TON of time on a single motion BUT “the Court finds no fault in the overall reasonableness of the hours spent.”

Something young lawyers (and even some old ones) need to keep in mind: good things take time. And courts understand that quality craftsmanship does not happen without many hours spent in the process.

Now, in truth, 145 hours on a sanctions motion DOES strike me as a bit high. I’d expect it would have taken us around 80 hours to accomplish the same result but the courts do NOT require absolute efficiency and precision from counsel (the way the Czar does.) So remember that folks. And do NOT feel like you have to use some sort of terrible legal tech AI solution to get a leg up– the courts WANT quality work! And will find 145 hours on a motion to be reasonable as long as the quality is there!

And the quality was definitely there for Humana. So nice work to everyone involved!

Speaking of NICE WORK have you seen the Troutman Amin, LLP 2026 TCPA Annual Review, presented by Contact Center Compliance yet? People LOVE this thing– hundreds of TCPA cases broken down and analyzed with tips and trends presented and its ALL FREE! Just ask for it!

FIRST DAY OF CZARMAS 2026: THE 2026 TROUTMAN AMIN, LLP TCPA ANNUAL REVIEW, Presented By Contact Center Compliance is now FREE for the Asking!!!!!!!!!!!

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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