ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases

Missed Marks: Court Transfers Carpet Bagging TCPA Class for Improper Attempt to Bend Venue Rules to Take Advantage of 9th Circuit Case Law

26 May 202028 May 2020

As TCPAWorld is well aware, the 9th Circuit’s Marks decision broadly defines what constitutes an ATDS under the TCPA. And, of course, this decision has led plaintiffs to seek out…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

What a Disaster: Defendant’s Effort to Set Aside $233k Arbitrator Award Leads to Worst ATDS Decision in Over a Year

2 Apr 20203 Apr 2020

You know, sometimes TCPAWorld dwellers just have to take their lumps and move on from a bad ruling rather than risk creating bad law for all. Example: a Defendant in…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

A New ATDS Pleading Standard?: Big Motion to Dismiss May be Harbinger of Things to Come

31 Mar 20202 Apr 2020

As TCPAWorld.com readers are now well aware, the clear majority of courts favor a narrow statutory reading of ATDS in assessing TCPA claims.To prove a valid claim a Plaintiff must…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

A Three-Way Circuit Split on ATDS?: Court Recognizes Mass ATDS Confusion in Overruling TCPA Pleadings Challenge

5 Mar 20206 Mar 2020

Now how did I overlook this? I often say that no one profits from the ATDS chaos more than a guy running a TCPA-related website. Ahem. But even I, apparently,…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Seventh Circuit Joins The Party: Another Circuit Rejects Marks And Holds A Random or Sequential Number Generator Is Required For A System to be An ATDS

19 Feb 202020 Feb 2020

Turns out words do have meaning, at least in the Third, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits. Earlier today, a unanimous Seventh Circuit panel followed the plain language of the TCPA and…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

“Remember these words”: Eleventh Circuit COA Absolutely Torches Expansive TCPA Reading–Holds ATDS Requires Random or Sequential Number Generation

28 Jan 202028 Jan 2020

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") is going up in smoke before our very eyes. The statute, which is the Federal government's official anti-robocall bill and the chief weapon used…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Radio Clash: Czar Joins NPR’s “On Point” Live Christmas Eve at 10 AM Eastern/7 AM Pacific

23 Dec 201922 Mar 2020

For those of you looking for entertainment on your holiday drive, look no further than NPR's live call-in show, "On Point," at 10 AM Eastern/7 AM Pacific. The Czar will…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

TCPA Quick-Hitter: Court Finds “Artificial or Prerecorded Voice” Is Not a Legal Conclusion (But “Predictive Dialer” and “ATDS” Are!)

7 Nov 2019

In TCPA World, I quickly learned that discovery is an art to the most experienced and skilled litigators. Overbroad requests and objections that lack specificity and detail won’t cut it…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases

Train Kept-A Rollin: District of Maryland Joins Growing List of Courts to Reject Marks, Stays Case Pending Fourth Circuit Action.

21 Oct 201923 Oct 2019

As the Czar remarked recently, courts outside of the Ninth Circuit continue to reject the Marks court’s overt departure from the statutory definition of an ATDS. We can now add…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

TCPA in Review: Updated ATDS Scorecard Shows Marks Approach Losing Ground– But “Capacity” And “System” Vagueness Remains

18 Oct 201918 Oct 2019

As I reported yesterday, a court within the Ninth Circuit's footprint recently issued a ruling dismissing a TCPA claim without referencing Marks. This is not as surprising as it may sound…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Revolution Brewing?: California District Court Dismisses TCPA Claim for Lack of ATDS Allegations—Cites Statutory Definition and Not Marks for ATDS Standard

17 Oct 201918 Oct 2019

Ok, I’m probably reading too much into this but did you all catch the ruling in Tuck v. Portfolio Recovery Assocs., Case No.: 19-CV-1270-CAB-AHG, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179274 (S.D.…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

LESSONS IN TCPA PLEADING: PARROTING STATUTORY LANGUAGE WON’T FLY

2 Oct 20193 Oct 2019

The general Federal pleading rule on its face would not seem to demand much to set forth a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claim. Rule 8 of the Federal Rules…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

TCPA Vagueness In Action: Three New Decisions Issued on the Same Day Apply Three Different ATDS Standards to Text Message Platforms—And So It Goes

2 Oct 20193 Oct 2019

Back in the 1970s (simpler times?) the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108-09 (1972) identifying that a statute that is…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

R.I.P. 2003 and 2008 Predictive Dialer Rulings: District Court Reverses TCPA ATDS Ruling—Sinks Final Nail into Coffin of Once Popular TCPA Argument

26 Sep 201930 Sep 2019

Just this week I explained how a tentative majority position is developing in TCPAWorld, with the statutory ATDS approach really gaining steam. Well here’s yet another big win for the…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Wither Marks v. Crunch: District Courts In Florida And Texas Hold Random Or Sequential Number Generation Is Required Exactly One Year After The Ninth Circuit’s Troubling Decision.

20 Sep 201923 Sep 2019

One of the most oft-cited circuit court decisions, if not the most oft-cited, is Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206 (11th Cir. 1981), in which the newly formed…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

REPUBLISHED: Happy First Birthday to Marks–Taking Stock of TCPAWorld One Year After the TCPA ATDS Decision That Changed Everything

20 Sep 201923 Sep 2019

Editor's Note: This piece originally ran as an "Expert Analysis" piece in Law360 entitled "The State Of TCPA Litigation 1 Year After Marks V. Crunch." It is re-published here with…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

TCPA Calm Before the Storm?: Another ND Ill Case Applies Statutory Definition—But all Eyes Are On Gadelhak

10 Sep 201911 Sep 2019

In what has become a common theme of late another court in the Northern District of Illinois has held that a dialer must operate randomly or sequentially to qualify as…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Did It or Didn’t It?: Big TCPA ATDS Win Affirmed by Sixth Circuit—But Opinion Leaves Room For Debate as to Scope of Decision

9 Sep 201910 Sep 2019

Just what TCPAWorld needed—something else to debate. We’re going to need a replay review on this one folks. And no, I’m not talking about football. In Gary v. Trueblue, Inc.,…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Marks Rejected By Pennsylvania Federal Court: A Predictive Dialer Is Not Per Se An ATDS In The Third Circuit

7 Aug 20198 Aug 2019

Well, TCPAWorld, the Keystone State has again opined on the issue of predictive dialers – this time, however, by faithfully following circuit precedent. In Smith v. Navient Solutions, LLC, 2019…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases

The Lone Star State Speaks: Northern District of Texas Holds Predictive Dialers Are Not An ATDS

31 Jul 20191 Aug 2019

In the post-ACA battle over the definition of an ATDS, Texas was one of the few large states not to address the issue. Until now. In a first-in-the-state result, the…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

Hedging Bets: Court Finds Sufficient Allegations of ATDS without Taking Clear Stance on Standard

19 Jul 201922 Jul 2019

Photo by Mídia on Pexels.com The Western District of Oklahoma weighed in on the pleading standard for an ATDS earlier this week, denying a defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

Good News In Bad Reyes: Southern District of Florida Stays Case Pending FCC Rulemaking

10 Jul 201915 Jul 2019

Everyone in TCPAWorld is familiar with the two Reyes cases. In Good Reyes, the Second Circuit held that contractual consent cannot be revoked unilaterally. Which makes sense, because contracts are…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Two In A Row: Second New Ruling Holds Random and Sequential Number Generation Required to State TCPA Claim—Dismisses Case With Prejudice

17 Jun 201919 Jun 2019

As the Jester just reported, another court in the Northern District of Illinois found that random and sequential number generation is required to state an ATDS claim, restoring balance to…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Counter-punch: Northern District of Illinois Pulls Back From Marks By Holding (Again) That An ATDS Requires Allegations Of Random Or Sequential Number Generation To Survive An Early Dispositive Motion

17 Jun 201919 Jun 2019

Early last week, as the Czar reported, TCPAWorld was a little taken aback by the Northern District of Illinois’s apparent abrupt departure from the district’s 2018 Pinkus decision, which had…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Outlier: As Robocall Battle Rages On Marks TCPA Analysis Followed for the First Time In the Northern District of Illinois

12 Jun 201913 Jun 2019

It is no secret that the Courts are spit to high heaven on the proper definition of automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) found within the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. (“TCPA.”)…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

Not A Relaxing Message: Plaintiff Defeats Motion to Dismiss Her TCPA Action Claiming Spa’s Use Of An ATDS To Send Text Advert

10 Jun 201911 Jun 2019

A decision last week from the Southern District of Florida illustrates the level of pleading detail necessary to survive dismissal of a TCPA claim predicated on the sending of text…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases

A TCPA call is “made”: Successful Attempt Or Actual Receipt?

7 Jun 201910 Jun 2019

This was the central question addressed by the Eastern District of New York earlier this week in M.A. v. Nra Group, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93444, 17–cv-7483 (NG) (RLM) (filed…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases

Continuing The Trend: Northern District of Illinois Again Holds A Predictive Dialer Must Have A Random Or Sequential Number Generator To Be An ATDS

21 May 201923 May 2019

The Northern District of Illinois was one of the first courts after ACA International to hold that a telephonic system must have a random or sequential number generator to be…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

Second Bite at the Apple: Pro Se Plaintiff Cures Pleadings in His Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss

10 May 2019

Darrell Stamper, proceeding pro se, alleged that Medicredit, Inc. made fifteen telephone calls to his home phone number, seeking to collect a debt. Stamper v. Medicredit, Inc., No. 7:18-1407-BHH-KFM, 2019…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

A Reluctant TCPA Ruling- Court Finds ATDS Allegations Survive Pleading Stage With a Nod Toward Need for FCC Guidance

9 May 201913 May 2019

As we wrote a while back, the time is now for courts to defer to the FCC on the definition of ATDS within the TCPA. With a nearly-year-long Public Notice…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Text Me 6 Times, Shame on Me; Text Me 30 Times, Shame on You: Court Holds TCPA Plaintiff Plausibly Alleged That Defendant Exceeded the Scope of Consent

6 May 20197 May 2019

Although they often get lost in the morass surrounding the definition of an ATDS, significant TCPA cases continue to turn on the scope of consent. Hudson v. Ralph Lauren Corp.…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases

Another First For Marks: Court Within First Circuit Court of Appeals Adopts Marks ATDS Definition for the First Time

11 Apr 201912 Apr 2019

The shadow of Marks continues to extend across the country and you never know where it will fall next. As we reported last week, the Northern District of Illinois refused…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Mucho Gracias! Northern District of Illinois Rejects Expansive Definition of Autodialer for Spanish Survey Texts

3 Apr 20194 Apr 2019

In the midst of chaos over the proper definition of the statutory term “automated telephone dialing system,” the Northern District of Illinois reminds us that the plain language of the…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

All that is Old is New Again: Court Reaches Back to 2003 Predictive Dialer Ruling to Find Dialer an ATDS

30 Mar 20191 Apr 2019

Well, as the saying goes, the TCPA giveth and it taketh away. It has been over a year since ACA Int'l was handed down and yet--almost unbelievably-- the seesaw battle over the…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

Dangerous TCPA Win: Court Grants Defendant MSJ on ATDS Issue But Suggests Manually Dialed Calls Can Violate TCPA

18 Mar 201919 Mar 2019

Well that was scary. One would think that using an outbound manual call process that included physical desk phones and that required agents to enter all 10 digits of a…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Deference No More: What BNSF Railway v. Loos Teaches About Future Hobbs Act Challenges to FCC TCPA Orders And The Definition Of An ATDS.

6 Mar 20197 Mar 2019

At first blush, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in BNSF Railway v. Loos would seem to have little relevance to TCPA World. The case, after all, involves whether compensation paid…