"TROUBLING" TCPA CONSPIRACY?: Court Orders Individuals Accused of Shutting Down Businesses and Re-Opening Them to Avoid TCPA Liability to Respond to Discovery- And Suggests Their Counsel May be a Link

At Troutman Amin, LLP we never defend scumbags– so we’re always looking for red flags at intake.

One big red flag is if a potential client says something like “hey, even if I get hit with a huge judgment we’ll just shut down the company and start a new one.”

Ummm. No. We absolutely do NOT represent clients that view the world through that lens.

One law firm, Greenspoon Marder, is apparently perfectly comfortable representing robocallers who suffer crushing defeats in court and then helping the individuals behind those companies escape liability.

At least that is the story being told by the court in Bakov v. Holiday Cruise Linc, 2026 WL 810913 (N.D. Ill. March 24, 2026) and it really is an extraordinary story about how the TCPA takes no prisoners.

In Bakov Greenspoon Marder represented the defendant in a TCPA class action and lost certification. Its client was ordered to pay over $200k in administration costs. Rather than pay that sum Greenspoon Marder withdrew from the case and the Defendant ghosted. Eventually the Court entered a judgment of over $47MM against the defendant.

Rather than pay that sum, the owners and directors of the business –James H. Verrillo, Daniel E. Lambert, Jennifer Poole, and Donna Higgins–apparently just shut down the business.

In the court’s view it is clear what is going on here:

Principals of the Defendant are attempting to wash their hands of their conduct. This conduct shows a conscious choice to litigate until loss was clear, and then attempt to hide behind corporate formalities once the bills became due. In so doing, Defendant willfully violated two Court Orders. (See Dkt. 379). The Principals and their attorneys knew what they were doing. The conduct that this Court found “troubling” continues. Supra at 14; (Dkt. 225-13). 6 The Principals’ contentions that they are now entitled to a hearing on damages, after they knowingly abandoned the litigation their corporate entity was embroiled in, lacks merit.

This is a very angry court.

The reference to their attorneys is particularly extraordinary. But we need to back up to move forward.

See this isn’t the first time (allegedly) this same group of bad actors engaged in this same sort of conduct. In the Court’s view:

The Principals engaged in a “pattern” of setting up new entities, serially violating the TCPA—by directing automated calls to thousands of citizens in Illinois for profit—and then quickly shuddering shop—only to set up a new corporation to disclaim liability or control over the old, dissolved company.

In support the court references a previous company this same group owned Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc. which was the predecessor company that had to pay over $50MM after they also lost a massive TCPA suit. Plus this same group apparently entered into a Final Judgment and Consent Decree with Illinois Attorney General after “engag[ing] in trade or commerce within the meaning of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act” by offering “vacation packages in connection with the solicitation for sale and sale of time shares to those consumers” and being subject to $1.5 million in restitution.

And the Court was cautious to note that Caribbean Cruise line was also represented by Greenspoon Marder.

So Greenspoon lost the original cases involving Caribbean Cruise line to the tune of about $50MM in settlement dollars. Then lost new the new case involving the successor entity to the rune of $47MM in a default judgment.

Eesh.

But it gets better (worse.)

Now Greenspoon is directly representing owners/directors of both cruise lines James H. Verrillo, Daniel E. Lambert, Jennifer Poole, and Donna Higgins in connection with discovery demands served to them related to the assets of Holiday Cruise– and attempted to have these demands quashed.

None of this is lost on the Court, who repeatedly mentioned the link between the principles, Greenspoon, and all the wreckage of failed entities let in the wake of their representation.

Unsurprisingly the court refused to quash the discovery and instead ordered complete production of the demanded information. And the court was not very subtle about the result if they failed to do so:

The Principals’ Motion to Quash is denied. (Dkt. 390). The Principals are hereby ordered to comply with Plaintiffs’ requests
in full and in good faith in accordance with and no later than three weeks from the date of this Order. The Court may sanction
the Principals and hold them in contempt if they fail to comply. Ill. Sup. Ct. R. 277(h). The parties must file a joint status report
three weeks from the date of this Order.

Eesh.

Bloodbath.

Pretty clear takeaways:

Thinking you can violate the TCPA and then walk away is a terrible strategy. Even if you try to shut down your business this stuff will haunt you forever;
I understand some law firms are desperate to make a buck right now but representing scumbags and helping them to avoid liability through “troubling” conduct is a great way to ruin your reputation;
Don’t walk away from a fight just because your current counsel lost. Get new–more capable–counsel. Or just hire the right counsel out of the gate. Lawyers like Troutman Amin, LLP– if you’re not a scumbag, that is.

I should note this case is still in progress. Who knows, maybe some facts will come out that these guys aren’t actually scumbags after all. Seems pretty unlikely. But who knows.

One place where there WON’T be any scumbags– Law Conference of Champions IV. There’s a reason a bunch of multi-billion dollar companies send their top legal to speak and learn at the nation’s greatest marketing and advertising law conference.