Court Holds Serial TCPA Plaintiff — and His Lawyer — on the Hook for the Full Cost of Defending a Fraudulent Lawsuit
October 9, 2026
For years, ecommerce brands have watched a cottage industry of serial TCPA plaintiffs turn marketing compliance into a settlement business. A new order out of the Eastern District of Missouri shows what can happen when a defendant refuses to pay up — and when a court is willing to look past the complaint to the conduct behind it. On Sept 30th, Judge Schelp ordered that Fisher Investments is entitled to recover all of the reasonable attorney’s fees it spent defending against a TCPA lawsuit the court found was brought “in complete bad faith.” Just as notable: the plaintiff’s attorney and his law firm are jointly and severally liable for the entire award.…
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Fourteen Cases, One Ruling: Oregon Federal Court Slams the Class-Certification Door in Wilson v. Freeway Insurance
August 24, 2026
For nearly two years, EIA members have watched a familiar name appear atop TCPA class action complaints: Chet Michael Wilson. Last week, the fight over whether Mr. Wilson may ever serve as a class representative reached a dramatic inflection point. On August 19th, Judge Michael J. McShane granted Freeway Insurance's motion to deny class certification, denied Mr. Wilson's attempt to voluntarily dismiss his own case, and entered evidence-preservation orders reaching both the plaintiff and a non-party law firm — with a written opinion to follow. …
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Breaking: Seventh Circuit Confirms a Text Message Is Not a “Call” Under the TCPA’s Do-Not-Call Private Right of Action
July 14, 2026
The wait is over. In our earlier coverage — Seventh Circuit Weighs Whether a Text Message Is Really a "Call" Under the TCPA — we reported on oral argument in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services and the panel's pointed questions about whether a 1991 statute reaches modern text messaging. Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit answered. In a unanimous decision authored by Judge Kirsch, the court held that a text message is not a "telephone call" within the meaning of the TCPA's private right of action for Do-Not-Call violations.…
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Seventh Circuit Weighs Whether a Text Message Is Really a “Call” Under the TCPA
June 9, 2026
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services as it prepares to weigh in on the critical debate over whether a text message should be treated as a “telephone call” under the TCPA. For ecommerce businesses that rely on SMS marketing, customer engagement texts, and automated messaging tools, the outcome could have major implications for future TCPA litigation and compliance obligations.…
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65 TCPA Lawsuits, One Destroyed Computer, and a Federal Judge Who Had Enough
April 13, 2026
A Missouri federal court's devastating 26-page sanctions order in Human v. Fisher Investments offers a rare, detailed look at the predatory litigation model that has become a growing threat to legitimate businesses — including ecommerce merchants. Last week, Judge Matthew T. Schelp of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued one of the most striking TCPA sanctions orders in recent memory…
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Federal Court Gives a TCPA Troll a Taste of His Own Medicine: Specialty Medical Inc. v. Mark Dobronski
March 2, 2026
Two powerful TCPA decisions in three days is not a coincidence you get to write about very often. Just 48 hours after a federal magistrate judge in California denied Jamee Desouza's attempt to scrub her employer's name from the record in Desouza v. Ralph Lauren, a federal judge in Michigan issued an opinion that is, if anything, even more consequential for ecommerce brands tired of playing defense against professional plaintiffs. …
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