Mark Taticchi Comments on Supreme Court’s Ruling on the TCPA

Litigation partner Mark Taticchi spoke with several legal industry publications about the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Barr v. AAPC. Bloomberg Law, Law360 and Courthouse News turned to Taticchi for insight on the decision, which struck down an exception for government debt collection in a federal ban on robocalls, leaving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in place.

In an interview with Bloomberg Law, Taticchi noted that “It’s clear that the plurality on the court wants to use this case to try to drive home a very strong severability presumption.”

Taticchi told Courthouse News that the case could have significant implications both for future TCPA challenges and unrelated cases that turn on severability – including the closely watched Obamacare challenge the court will hear next term.

In an interview with Law360, Taticchi said that it will be interesting to see how these disputes play out, since Monday's ruling didn't produce a "clear frame" for these issues.

"An alert that your life-saving medication is ready is likely to be viewed differently than one about your package being ready when it comes to talking about the importance of these exemptions," he added.

Taticchi also noted to Courthouse News that while a clear majority of justices agreed on severability, there remains significant space between the justices in how they go about reaching their decisions.

“As sometimes happens, and as especially happens this time of year with Supreme Court decisions, this case is decided but there’s a lot less than full clarity when it comes to what the court is going to do going forward,” Taticchi said.