McLaughlin Decision Means Uncertainty for TCPA Litigants: Cooley
Lawyers at Cooley warned that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a much-watched case about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, will mean increased uncertainty for both sides in future TCPA cases (see 2506200053). SCOTUS ruled that, despite the Hobbs Act, lower courts have authority to examine agencies' decisions, including those of the FCC. The case provides “expanded opportunity to challenge FCC rulings," said Cooley's Tuesday blog post.
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“The decision in McLaughlin will invite a much wider range of both offensive and defensive legal arguments in TCPA lawsuits, as parties will be free to litigate statutory interpretation issues previously thought to be foreclosed by prior agency rulings,” the lawyers said.
“The decision also suggests that district courts may consider the validity of FCC regulations in private TCPA enforcement actions even years after the 60-day period for pre-enforcement appeal under the Hobbs Act has passed.” TCPA defendants “should be free to collaterally attack the validity of FCC rules using administrative law-based arguments previously understood to be available only for a short time following a rule’s initial adoption.”