PUSHING BACK: Briefing Set in IMC’s Challenge to FCC One-to-One Ruling–Will it Be Effective?

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While there is a ton of big news in TCPAWorld right now, undoubtedly the biggest news since December has been the FCC’s new one-to-one ruling on express consent.

If you, somehow, haven’t heard the FCC has changed the lead generation game big time by requiring that consumers choose to hear from only a single company at a time when accepting consent on a webform–and the company must be a “seller” that provides the good or service the consumer is looking for.

Additionally the FCC has required that all calls be “logically” and “topically” related to the transaction that lead to the consent.

Several entities had standing to challenge the FCC’s ruling, although to date only the Insurance Marketing Coalition has elected to do so.

For its part R.E.A.C.H. remained focused on helping small businesses to weigh in on the impact of the one-to-one ruling, hoping that diplomacy will win out and the FCC will soften its stance on the ruling in light of myriad concerns of small business.

The IMC, however, is pushing forward with its Hobbs Act challenge and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has set  briefing schedule for the appeal.

IMC’s brief is due April 15, 2024 with the FCC’s brief due May 15, 2024. IMC’s reply is due June 8, 2024.

The briefing sets up a likely oral argument in the October/November, 2024 timeframe. It is conceivable, therefore, although not likely that the ruling will be out before the effective date of the FCC’s new rule–January 26, 2025.

Officially Troutman Amin and R.E.A.C.H. are neutral on this appeal–industry needs to be moving toward more consumer-friendly lead generation tactics and the FCC’s new ruling, although not quite right, is directionally what industry needs.

It is our hope the Commission softens the impact of the rule itself, but if the Eleventh Circuit were to throw it out that would strengthen the role of R.E.A.C.H.’s industry-leading standards. So there appears to be many ways for industry (and consumers) to win here.

We will keep an eye on this.

And for more information on R.E.A.C.H.–membership applications are pouring in–be sure to visit reachmbc.com.

Chat soon.

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

2 Comments

  1. Fellow nerds might like to know that the initial case (23-14125) has been voluntarily dismissed and a second petition was docketed at 24-10277 (11th Circ.). Cheers!

    Reply
  2. Pingback: “Arbitrary and Capricious” – A Sign of Things to Come? - The National Law Forum

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