Do text messages sent by a chatbot fall within the provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibiting unsolicited calls made using an “artificial or prerecorded voice?” According to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the answer to that question is no.
In Risher v. Adecco, Inc., the litigation
On October 12, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision, reversing the dismissal of a lawsuit on the grounds that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) does not extend to unwanted business texts. In Chennette v. Porch.com, the Ninth Circuit held TCPA statutory protections extend not only to individuals, but also to business entities.
Effective September 1, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) has finally updated its Commercial Rules and Mediation Procedures, concluding a two-year internal review. The amendments provide greater procedural discretion to arbitrators, further streamline expedited arbitrations, change the amount-in-controversy requirements for certain arbitration paths, and provide express confidentiality protections, among other things.
First, the amended
Escalating efforts to crack down on illegal robocalls, state attorneys general announced on August 2 that they have established a nationwide Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force. The task force comprises attorneys general from all 50 states and will investigate and prosecute companies suspected of allowing or using illegal robocalls from foreign entities. While the states have
Class-action plaintiffs do not get a free pass on constitutional standing requirements, as the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reminded litigants sua sponte in Drazen and Godaddy.com, LLC v. Pinto last week when it vacated a district court’s approval of a $35 million class-action settlement. Although the parties had not briefed the issue before the
On July 6, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted final approval of a multimillion-dollar, class-action settlement in Parker v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC, et al., No. 21-740 (M.D. Fla.) to resolve claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) against furniture companies Stoneledge Furniture LLC and Southwestern Furniture of
In late June 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California gave final approval for a $2.5 million class-action settlement in Johnson v. Moss Brothers Auto Group to resolve claims brought against a motor vehicle dealer under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The settlement resolves a class action, pending since 2019,
On March 24, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion, upholding separate district court decisions finding that a system that sends promotional text messages to phone numbers randomly selected from a database of customer information is not an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The concise
On March 22, the Ninth Circuit reversed the trial court’s order and underlying decision in Wit et. al. v. United Behavioral Health and Alexander et al. v. United Behavioral Health (Case Numbers 20-17363, 20-17364, 21-15193, and 21-15194). In doing so, the court undid a pair of orders that had required UnitedHealthcare Group, Inc.’s (United) behavioral
2021 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigate an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Pepper is uniquely positioned to help its clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the curve.
In this report, we share developments on auto finance, background screening, bankruptcy, consumer class actions, consumer