Xanadu v. Barton II: The Doom Loop Continues..

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Nobody wants to see this matchup. 

Law Conference of Champions V ticket prices as I type: $449.00 (and rising (take your time.))

Barton sues Xanadu.

Xanadu sues Barton.

Barton Sues Xanadu.

Xanadu sues Barton.

Barton wins. Xanadu wins. Barton wins.

What madness is this?

Its not even all that entertaining to be honest.

Or maybe it is.

For those who are lost, Nathen Barton is a repeat TCPA litigator who is often accused of making up his cases. He is associated with the folks at Northwest Debt Resolution, LLC– who bring some TCPA cases also–but he mostly just businesses sues on his own without a lawyer. And he is reasonably good at it.

He even won a jury trial not too long ago.

And he sues a fair number of businesses.

Among them was Xanadu Marketing, Inc.

Xanadu is run by a guy named Joe Delfgauw who utterly hates being sued and has fought back against Barton in multiple pieces of litigation for years.

Now I like Delfgauw well enough–I even had him on my podcast back in 2023:

Look how young we all were!

Barton, of course, had to have his say and I posted a “Barton wants you to know a few things” piece reciting his talking points. (I try to be fair and balanced since no one else is these days.)

Over the course of the last few years, however, these two have been locked in mortal combat (with a c not a k) and both have somehow managed to win jury trials and summary judgment against each other on various claims. Its kind of crazy.

Well in the latest iteration of the back and forth battle royale, Xanadu has now filed suit against Barton arguing Barton’s use of fake names in interactions with telemarketers constitutes wire fraud.

Now I am not taking any position on the claims here. Maybe it is wire fraud to pretend to be interested in a product to figure out who the heck is calling you. Maybe giving a fake name in an effort to lean the name of an anonymous robocaller is a RICO violation (as Xanadu claims.) But I just don’t see a jury hammering Barton for this…

So it just feels like a waste of time, money, and effort.

But maybe I am wrong.

And I guess that’s what makes the law fun.

Or boring.

And am I wrong that this whole saga is just a little dull at this point?

Barton vs. Delfgauw should not be anyone’s life obsession. I even debated not covering this story but I think I have an angle here.

I’m going to mediate this dispute.

I have invited both Barton and Delfgauw on to the podcast– we will have it be our season finale. And no I will not let them throw chairs at each other Jerry Springer style (I miss that guy). I actually plan to bring them together and resolve this whole thing.

Well I mean after the throw chairs at each other. (Metaphorically).

We’ll see if they accept.

And you should accept my invitation to check out Episode 55 of Deserve to Win with Mathew Black the founder of Mav! This dude is filthy smart.

Enjoy!

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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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