Houston Judge Signs Protective Order in 8-State Robocall Case

U.S. District Judge George Hanks for Southern Texas in Houston signed a protective order Dec. 7 (docket 4:20-cv-02021) applying to all information, documents and other materials produced during discovery in the robocall lawsuit in which eight plaintiff-states allege five robocalling defendants violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The states and four of the five defendants asked for the protective order in a joint motion Nov. 21. The defendants signaled their intention to challenge the TCPA’s constitutionality. The states -- Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas -- believe the constitutional challenge would be without merit, but are prepared to sue for violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule as a fallback if the challenge is successful. DOJ served notice in April 2021 it was intervening in the case to defend the TCPA's constitutionality.