POINTLESS: Trial Over Faxes From 2013 Results In Award of $1,000.00 Following 2026 Trial–And I Wonder

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Back in 2013 Barak Obama was president.

Breaking Bad was still on television.

Forzen was in theaters.

And on February 27th of that year a guy named David Abrams received two faxes he didn’t want.

He sued under the TCPA.

He pursued his case against the sender of the faxes– The Lawyers Group Advertising, Inc.–for over 13 years.

And just this week he won following a January bench trial.

His award?

$1,000.00.

One thousand measly dollars.

Now, I assume the vindication of his rights probably ha some value as well, but to pursue a piece of litigation for well over a decade to recover a sum that would barely cover ten minutes of my time seems absurd.

The case is Abrams v. Lawyers Group Advertising, 2026 WL 743144 (Civ. Crt. N.Y. March 26, 2026) and it is either a study in dogged determination or one of the absurdity in action.

The most important piece here– there are no attorneys fees available. So $1,000.00 is all Abrams will recover.

I wonder aloud, why the case wasn’t settled.

I wonder aloud, how much time was spent by Abrams to collect his award.

I wonder aloud, how the court must have felt presiding over this nonsense.

Then again, I will complete this blog and never think of the case again.

For the poor participants, however, they must live with the loss of time dumped into this pursuit for the rest of their days.

Hope it was worth it to them.

Here’s something that IS worth the time: Law Conference of Champions! The greatest line up of speakers ever to attend a legal conference– and more great speakers will be announced next week! May 4-6, 2026 in Irvine, CA. See you then!

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.

1 Comment

  1. The violations occurred in 2013, and here it now is 2026. Wow! Both parties were represented by counsel. I would love to know the true back story. Did the Court simply let this case sit in a stack? On first read, it looks to me like plaintiff’s failed to make a claim for the two apparent telemarketing calls, in addition to the unsolicited advertisements. And, given that plaintiff allegedly twice told the defendant to “bug off,” it seems like the defendant’s conduct was knowing and willful, thus giving rise to treble damages. But, I think the most interesting factoid that jumps off the page is that it appears that the defendant is no longer in business, thus raising the question as to whether the plaintiff will see one cent (although, pennies are soon to disappear) for the exercise. I have to wonder how much money the defense attorney was able to pocket from this case.

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