ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases Archives

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…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Time Warp: Court Adopts Old ATDS Reasoning in Denying Motion to Dismiss

28 Feb 201928 Feb 2019

All that is old is new again in TCPAworld. In Asher v. Quicken Loans, Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-1203, 2019 WL 131854 (D. Utah Jan. 8, 2019) ruled that allegations the…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

Do Not Pass Go: Morgan & Morgan Form TCPA Complaint Tossed at the Pleadings Stage

28 Feb 2019

We all love the guys over at Morgan & Morgan. You know, the way we love a nice deep paper cut. So this is marginally enjoyable to report on. In Broughton…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

LaBoom Goes the Dynamite: New York District Court Grants Defendant Judgment in TCPA Case because Text Message System Did Not Automatically Determine Time Texts Were to be Sent

28 Feb 20191 Mar 2019

Timing really is everything. As TCPAWorld continues to struggle with the evolving definition of the TCPA’s critical “automated telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”) language, a court in New York has given…

ATDS/Predictive Dialer Cases…

No Way Around It: Another ATDS Ruling in the Ninth Circuit Footprint Follows Marks

24 Jan 20197 Mar 2019

We know it has to happen, but it still hurts every time a district court in the Ninth Circuit follows Marks. Here's a quick report on the Hon. Cathy Ann…

ATDS/Human Intervention…

Marks Stopper: Iowa District Court Rejects Ninth Circuit’s “Overly Broad” ATDS Definition

11 Jan 20197 Mar 2019

Sometimes it takes courage to do the right thing. In Harbach v. Usaa Fed. Sav. Bank, Case No. 15-CV-2098-CJW-KEM, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3687 (N.D. Iowa Jan. 9, 2019) the…