CEB Prac. Guide § 2B.35: Class Actions

Usually, when the Court starts out this way, it doesn’t end well for the defendant: After Navient Solutions, LLC and its affiliate, Student Assistance Corporation ("SAC"), called Joel Lucoff's cell phone almost 2,000 times concerning his unpaid student loan, Lucoff sued Navient and SAC alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 ("TCPA"), 47 U.S.C. § 227. The… Read More

In Chinitz v. Intero Real Estate Servs., No. 18-cv-05623-BLF, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 224999, at *8 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 1, 2020), Judge Freeman approved a class administration plan in a TCPA class action that included "reverse lookup". First, Intero objects to TransUnion running a reverse lookup on the bases that this method is not reasonably calculated to notify class members… Read More

In Neff v. Towbin Dodge LLC, No. 2:20-cv-00261-JAM-DMC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 217045 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 18, 2020), Judge Mendez found that a TCPA Plaintiff properly sued in his home venue. The parties agree venue is not proper in the Eastern District of California under § 1391(b)(1), as neither Defendant is a resident of California. See FAC ¶¶ 7-10; Towbin's… Read More

In Yates v. Checkers Drive-in Rest., Inc., No. 17 C 9219, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 205241, at *8 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 3, 2020), Judge Harjani ordered class notice be given by text message in a TCPA class action. Defendants, on the other hand, contend that "providing notice via text would not be appropriate in this case, as it would potentially… Read More

In Molinari v. Fin. Asset Mgmt. Sys., No. 18 C 1526, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134045 (N.D. Ill. July 29, 2020), Judge Ellis denied class certification in a TCPA/FDCPA class action Under Rule 23(a)(2), a party seeking class certification must show commonality by identifying "questions of law or fact common to the class." Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(2). "The key… Read More

In Grant v. Regal Auto. Grp., No. 8:19-cv-363-T-23JSS, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91897, at *7 (M.D. Fla. May 27, 2020) , the District Court certified a 'ringless voicemail' TCPA class. The plaintiff proposes administratively feasible methods for ascertaining class members. First, the plaintiff aims to use third-party records, which should determine the scope of the potential class with precision. Although… Read More

In Sandoe v. Bos. Sci. Corp., Civil Action No. 18-11826-NMG, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183886, at *9 (D. Mass. Oct. 23, 2019), Judge Gorton denied class certification of a TCPA wrong-number class. Implicit in Rule 23 is consideration of whether the identification of potential class members is "administratively feasible." Shanley v. Cadle, 277 F.R.D. 63, 67 (D. Mass. 2011). All… Read More

In Sliwa v. Bright House Networks, No. 2:16-cv-235-FtM-29MRM, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167805, at *56-63 (M.D. Fla. Sep. 27, 2019), the District Court denied class certification. Plaintiff identifies the following common questions of law or fact which he asserts will predominate over any individualized issues: whether (1) an automatic telephone dialing system or prerecorded voice technology was used; (2) Defendants'… Read More

In Moser v. Health Ins. Innovations, Inc., No. 17-cv-1127-WQH-KSC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 132790 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 2, 2019), Judge Hayes certified a TCPA class. Under the TCPA, each plaintiff was injured when an autodialed or prerecorded call was sent to their wireless or residential phone. Whether the autodialed or prerecorded call came from a device located in the offices… Read More

In Revitch v. Citibank, N.A., No. C 17-06907 WHA, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72026, at *11-14 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 28, 2019), Judge Alsup denied class certification in a TCPA "wrong number" class action. District courts have split on the propriety of class certification in similar "wrong number" TCPA actions. Plaintiff heavily relies on a line of decisions that includes West… Read More