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 from alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In its ruling, the court highlighted the importance of maintaining written TCPA policies.
In that case, the plaintiff received one fax from the defendant “offering a [$100,000] pre-approved line of credit” in 2012. In 2015, the plaintiff brought suit on behalf of himself and others, alleging the defendant violated the TCPA by sending the plaintiff a fax without the plaintiff’s prior consent.
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The Eleventh Circuit recently imparted an important message to the class action bar, and in particular to attorneys representing different named plaintiffs in competing class actions: there is “only one gatekeeper under Rule 23,” so any challenge to a proposed class action settlement should be presented to the district judge deciding whether to approve that settlement, not to a different judge by way of a collateral attack on the proposed settlement.
Several years ago, multiple class actions were filed against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (affectionately known here in Tampa as the Super Bowl-bound “Bucs”). The lawsuits alleged that the Bucs sent telefax advertisements in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Here is the play-by-play.
A California federal judge has shot down Royal Sea Cruises Inc.'s argument that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was essentially void from 2015, when an exemption on its robocall ban was put into place, to last year, when the U.S. Supreme Court found that exemption unconstitutional.
Auxiliary Facilities
In 2015, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to eliminate outdated rules in order to promote the conversion of analog remote pickup facilities to digital. The NPRM is available
here. The pleading cycle in this proceeding closed in 2015.
CALM Act/Loud Commercials
In 2011, Congress enacted the CALM Act with the aim of ending loud commercials on TV, and the FCC’s rules implementing the CALM Act went into effect in 2012. To comply, TV stations must use equipment that adheres to the A/85:2013 standards adopted by the Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC), a standard that has been in place since June 2015. See our summary of CALM Act requirements
Year in Review: Top Insurance Cases of 2020 Thursday, January 28, 2021
Not surprisingly, COVID-19 business interruption insurance disputes dominated media headlines for most of 2020. Nonetheless, there were a number of other insurance rulings that will undoubtedly shape the coverage landscape. Policyholders enjoyed a number of significant wins including significant victories related to COVID-19 business interruption cases. The start of a new year gives us an opportunity to highlight some of 2020’s most notable coverage decisions.
COVID-19 Business Interruption
Insurance companies’ widespread blanket denials of policyholders’ claims for business interruption due to COVID-19 for companies ranging in size from small mom-and-pop shops to large retailers prompted a flood of litigation in both state and federal courts. Although 2021 shows promise for gaining control over the disease, the resulting insurance disputes are certain to remain center stage. While insurers ma