Some Commentators Suggest This Is Death Knell Of TCPA Class Actions.
In the last few years, “junk fax” class actions apparently have proliferated under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This proliferation has irked the Illinois Court of Appeal, First Judicial District, prompting some reasoning which class action lawyers likely will deplore in First Mercury Insurance v. Nationwide Security Services, Inc., No. 1-14-3924 (Ill. Ct. App., 1st Jud. Dist. May 18, 2016).
After discussing some insurance issues relating to TCPA matters, the appellate court expressly noted the proliferation of junk fax cases and observed that the matters are not about ruinous liability but instead compensating class action lawyers involved in these cases. The appellate panel noted that response rates in the claim process are low, suggesting in the future that fee requests would have to await the results of the claim process before fee recoveries could be set. Some commentators have suggested that this procedure might be the death knell of TCPA class actions.