Womble Bond Dickinson Ramble

The team discusses the FCC’s new rules on the reassigned number database rule that isn’t actually a reassigned number database. We also bring you up to speed on the multi-millions of dollars that have been swirling around in the class action space with some big class settlements and fee awards. And to cap off the first season of the Ramble, we bring you not one but two special interviews. This week we’re joined by Tonia Klausner, Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati who was officially anointed by the Baron as the “Queen” of the TCPA. Here Tonia and the Baron discuss views and insights on the hottest TCPA topics, including the latest on ATDS, the Supreme Court’s cert grant in the PDR case, and more! We’re also joined by Peggy Daley, Managing Director at the Berkley Research Group who tells the Czar all about the intel and other helpful services she’s able to provide to investigate class action Plaintiffs and pick apart their experts.

This week on the Ramble: The big news of the day is the just announced TRACED Act. The good news is it seeks to give the FCC the authority it has always needed–and never had–to require call identity validation and cut down on spoofed calls. The bad news is that it modifies the existing TCPA to encourage the FCC to bring more lawsuits against more businesses and gives the FCC an even heavier cudgel (sort of) to threaten folks with. A great result in Johnson v. Yahoo!, Inc., Notably, this is now the second court outside the Ninth Circuit to expressly refuse to follow Marks on the basis there’s no ambiguity in the statutory definition of ATDS. The decision in Zemel v. CSC Holdings results in one of the greatest TCPA decision one-liners ever. In a shocking development a District Court orders plaintiff to show cause why TCPA class action shouldn’t be stayed based on challenges to constitutionality in Gallion v. Charter Commc’ns, Inc. The Head of Legal and Compliance for QuinStreet, Marty Collins, joins the Ramble