The TCPA: Deep Dive: Details, Class Actions, Regulations, and Defense Strategies
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Assoc., Inc. v. McKesson Corp., district courts have begun to respond by declining to follow the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s interpretation of...more
Following in the wake of last years’ Loper Bright and Relentless, Inc. decisions that ended agency deference, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday in McLaughlin Chiropractic Assoc., Inc. v. McKesson Corp. that the Hobbs Act...more
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a major source of consumer privacy litigation against companies that engage in telemarketing. This past year, there was little change in the status quo of what constitutes an...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion denying class certification in a case under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) finding common issues did not predominate the individual...more
Just a few months after the United States Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn the long-standing and widely applied legal precedent known as “Chevron deference,” it has agreed to hear a case that could entirely shift the...more
In what is shaping up to be an increasingly active term for judicial scrutiny of agency deference, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in McLaughlin Chiropractic Assoc. v. McKesson Corp., No. 23-1226 (U.S. Oct. 4,...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, gave further insight into what “unsolicited advertisement” means under the TCPA....more
The 4th Circuit held that offering a free eBook could violate the TCPA’s prohibition on “unsolicited advertisements.” PDR Network publishes the Physicians’ Desk Reference, which is “a compilation of medical prescribing...more
The 7th Circuit recently issued a decision in Smith v. First Hospital Laboratories, Inc., holding that in some “narrow situations” a fax offering to buy a product or service might be considered an advertisement under the TCPA...more
When it comes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) often has a lot to say. Unfortunately, the FCC’s pronouncements are often vague, ambiguous, and conflicting....more
On May 11, 2023, US District Court, M.D. Florida found a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) violation can occur even where the intended human recipient of a fax did not print and review the fax or did not know that...more
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently reaffirmed that an objective “four corners” standard governs whether faxes are “advertisements” that must meet the TCPA’s consent requirement. Separately, any fax that compares...more
On January 19, 2023 the Third Circuit dismissed a TCPA class action lawsuit (Mauthe v. Millennium Health LLC) against a company that had sent a one-page promotional fax to consumers without their prior consent about a free...more
On January 19, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit unanimously affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act claim arising from allegedly illegal faxes about a free educational...more
Invites to free webinars are not unsolicited advertisements, says Maryland federal court - The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits sending an “unsolicited advertisement” to a fax machine, absent certain...more
The Second Circuit recently addressed whether a faxed invitation to participate in a market research survey is an “unsolicited advertisement” actionable under the TCPA. In Bruce Katz, M.D., P.C. v. Focus Forward LLC, 22...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted summary judgment for a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) that allegedly violated the TCPA by sending unsolicited advertisements via fax to...more
Welcome to the summer edition of the Class Action & MDL Roundup, covering significant decisions and settlements from the second quarter of 2021. In this edition, plaintiffs are doing their own science (badly), SCOTUS...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently re-affirmed its position that manufacturers of products advertised in unsolicited fax messages do not face strict liability under the TCPA’s junk-fax provision. To...more
At the time this is published, all the rage in the TCPA realm right now is talking about the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Facebook. And it was clearly a critical and much needed decision....more
Recently, the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a TCPA putative class action without prejudice, finding that faxes inviting recipients to attend free continuing education veterinary seminars did not constitute...more
In Vandenberg & Sons Furniture, Inc. v. Alliance Funding Grp., Judge Quist of the District Court for the Western District of Michigan granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff’s motion for class certification arising...more
On September 21, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a declaratory ruling clarifying that businesses advertised via fax should not face “sender liability” for unsolicited faxes sent without prior...more
On September 21, 2020, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a Declaratory Ruling resolving a petition that sought confirmation that in instances in which an advertiser is “stripped of [its] ability to...more
Since the enactment of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the FCC has long held that persons who knowingly and voluntarily release their telephone numbers have provided prior express consent to be called. But...more