Morrison Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog provides insights, recommendations, and timely reports on the latest defense news, developments, and trends in the most current class actions lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies. Through Class Dismissed, attorneys from our nationally recognized Consumer Class Action and Products Liability practices offer a real-time assessment of the developments in matters that are shaping the industry. This blog examines the full spectrum of consumer-related class action and product liability lawsuits ranging from false advertising, privacy, consumer product safety, ADA, food misbranding, TCPA, environment, retail, and government actions as well as nationwide and multidistrict litigation class actions.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Julie Park protects her clients’ products no matter what kind of product issue they face—whether it is planning for new product development, recalling an existing product, or defending clients against product liability or consumer class actions. Drawing on her deep technical and legal expertise, Julie counsels clients on consumer product safety regulation and pharmaceutical and medical device preemption while also managing complex and multijurisdictional litigation both in state and federal court.

Julie Y. Park

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe frameborder="0" class="sticky-video" allowfullscreen="1" title="Meet Penny Preovolos, Litigation Partner" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hv7hYn-Bl7c?rel=0&showinfo=0;vq=hd1080" title="iframe"></iframe></div>Penelope has served as lead counsel in major consumer class actions and antitrust cases for more than 35 years, successfully representing high-profile defendants in antitrust, consumer fraud, and product defect matters. Her clients span a range of industries, including consumer electronics, technology, retail, publishing, food and beverage, cosmetics, and household products. According to Chambers USA, Penelope has a “great reputation for antitrust and product liability work” and is a “superb all-around antitrust lawyer.”Penelope was named the 2019 Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by the Antitrust, UCL, and Privacy Section of the California Lawyers Association. She was co-chair of MoFo’s antitrust practice for 14 years. She has served as chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section of the State Bar of California and as a member of the Ninth Circuit Advisory Committee on Local Rules and Operations. She is an editor of and frequent contributor to Morrison & Foerster’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/">Class Dismissed blog</a>, as well as a frequent speaker about class action and antitrust issues.More About PenelopePenelope clerked for the Honorable Charles M. Merrill, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review. Penelope was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at the University of California, Berkeley. She was awarded the University Medal, the highest undergraduate honor at the university, as well as the English Departmental Citation (awarded to the outstanding graduate in that department).

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Senior Counsel

Penelope has served as lead counsel in major consumer class actions and antitrust cases for more than 35 years, successfully representing high-profile defendants in antitrust, consumer fraud, and product defect matters. Her clients span a range of industries, including consumer electronics, technology, retail, publishing, food and beverage, cosmetics, and household products.

Penelope A. Preovolos

Claudia focuses her practice on the defense of consumer class actions and on complex commercial litigation, including unfair business competition, false advertising, product liability, and privacy matters. She is currently representing numerous consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in false advertising and mislabeling class action lawsuits. Claudia also regularly counsels clients in the food, cosmetics, retail, and technology industries. She represents companies in false advertising disputes before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.<h5>More about Claudia</h5>Claudia is active in MoFo’s pro bono efforts, and recently traveled to El Paso, Texas, to work with families separated and detained at the border. She is also supervising a pro bono collaboration with Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit fighting for gender justice in work places and schools across the country. The initiative will help students who have been victims of sexual assault, attempted assault, or harassment find support and seek justice. Claudia is also a board member of Bay Area Legal Aid and a former board member of Equal Rights Advocates. Claudia is an editor and frequent contributor to MoFo’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/">Class Dismissed</a> blog, which provides reports about the latest defense news, developments, and trends in class action lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies. Her perspectives are also respected in the larger legal community: Claudia has published articles about class action and false advertising issues, and is a co-author of Chapter 7 — “Unfair Competition in California Business Litigation 2016” — of The Recorder. She also regularly speaks at conferences on class action and advertising trends. Claudia is currently serving as a Lawyer Representative for the Northern District of California. She received her J.D. degree in 2004 from Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall School of Law), where she was an associate editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.

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Claudia focuses her practice on the defense of consumer class actions and on complex commercial litigation, including unfair business competition, false advertising, product liability, and privacy matters. She is currently representing numerous consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in false advertising and mislabeling class actions.

Claudia M. Vetesi

Alexandra Barlow is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office.Alexandra litigates product liability matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automobiles, and AI. Alexandra's litigation expertise spans the entire case life cycle in both state and federal courts. She handles all phases of discovery, including fact investigation and expert discovery. Alexandra has taken over twenty-five depositions, including experts, plaintiffs, treating physicians, and third-party witnesses. She drafts and argues motions of all types, including motions for summary judgment, motions to quash, and motions for preliminary injunction.Alexandra has significant trial experience. She has first-chaired a one-week jury trial and second-chaired a five‑week jury trial, both involving multiple claims and witnesses. She also has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution, representing clients at mediations, mandatory settlement conferences, and early neutral evaluations.Alexandra enjoys tracking developments and keeping her clients updated on product liability and personal injury claims, frequently writing or presenting on emerging areas such as autonomous vehicles and smart devices. Alexandra’s experience also extends to professional liability, warranty claims, eminent domain, and construction law.Alexandra earned her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law. While in law school, the San Diego Law Review published her comment on the recovery of damages by plaintiffs in a persistent vegetative state, and she also served as a comment editor. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish. A San Diego native, she attended a Spanish immersion school through the eighth grade. Alexandra is active in the San Diego community, advising students at a local college. She is also a member of several legal organizations in San Diego, including Lawyer’s Club, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and Wallace Inn of Court.

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Alexandra Barlow is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office. Alexandra litigates product liability matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automobiles, and AI. Alexandra’s litigation expertise spans the entire case life cycle in both state and federal courts. She handles all phases of discovery, including fact investigation and expert discovery. Alexandra has taken over twenty-five depositions, including experts, plaintiffs, treating physicians, and third-party witnesses. She drafts and argues motions of all types, including motions for summary judgment, motions to quash, and motions for preliminary injunction.

Alexandra Barlow is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office. Alexandra litigates product liability matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, AI, and robotics. Alexandra's litigation expertise spans the entire case life cycle in both state and federal courts. She handles all phases of discovery, including fact investigation and expert discovery. Alexandra has taken over twenty-five depositions, including experts, plaintiffs, treating physicians, and third-party witnesses. She drafts and argues motions of all types, including motions for summary judgment, motions to quash, and motions for preliminary injunction.

Alexandra Barlow

Adam J. Hunt is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and commercial litigation.Mr. Hunt has extensive experience representing consumer products companies, financial institutions, and technology firms in class action cases and complex commercial disputes before state and federal trial courts, as well as in arbitrations. Clients seek Mr. Hunt’s counsel for his creative, strategic thinking in high-stakes, high-profile matters. He has represented clients facing claims under false advertising, antitrust, and privacy laws throughout the country, securing wins at the pleading stage, summary judgment, and trial, in addition to negotiating favorable settlements, often early in the case. Representative experience includes successfully securing rulings dismissing two putative false advertising class action cases against one of the best-known consumer electronics companies in the world; obtaining a complete win on summary judgment for a major shipping and logistics company in a multimillion-dollar commercial dispute; appearing as counsel at trial for a leading financial institution in a $100 million commercial dispute, winning a bench trial verdict; and prevailing on motions to dismiss false advertising class actions against a leading Greek yogurt company.Mr. Hunt is also an editor of the firm’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/" target="_self">Class Dismissed blog</a>, which provides insights, recommendations, and timely reports on the latest defense news, developments, and trends in the most current class action lawsuits that affect consumer-facing companies.Mr. Hunt maintains an active pro bono practice and is the recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s 2017 President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the First Judicial Department, the 2018 Public Service Award from New York University School of Law, and Morrison Foerster’s Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Services.Mr. Hunt received his B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College and his J.D. cum laude from New York University.

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Adam Hunt is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and commercial litigation.

Adam Hunt

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Barr v. Am. Ass’n of Political Consultants, Inc., 2020 WL 3633780, 591 U.S. __ (2020).[1] Earlier this month, the Supreme Court held, in a fractured decision yi

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Federally-Backed Debt Collection Exception Not the Supreme Court’s Cup of T(CPA)

Federally-Backed Debt Collection Exception Not the Supreme Court’s Cup of T(CPA) | Class Dismissed

Tiffany Cheung

Tiffani B. Figueroa

Barr v. Am. Ass’n of Political Consultants, Inc., 2020 WL 3633780, 591 U.S. __ (2020).[1]Earlier this month, the Supreme Court held, in a fractured decision yielding multiple concurring or dissenting opinions, that the 2015 government-debt exception to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the TCPA) permitting robocalls to cellphones solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the United States violated the First Amendment, affirming the Fourth Circuit’s decision. Id. at *2. Applying traditional severability principles, seven Justices concluded that, rather than invalidate the entire TCPA, the 2015 government-debt exception must be severed from the remainder of the statute. Id. The bottom line: the government-debt exception is gone; the rest of the TCPA remains.Questions Before the Supreme Court<ul><li>Is the government debt exception to the robocall ban to cell phones unconstitutional? YES</li><li>Is the exemption a content-based restriction requiring strict scrutiny? YES</li><li>If so, is severing the exemption from the TCPA the appropriate remedy? YES</li></ul>ReasoningThe initial question before the Court in its First Amendment analysis was whether the robocall restriction, with the government-debt exception, is content-based. Id. at *5. The Court answered in the affirmative because the law favored speech made for collecting government debt over political and other speech. Id. at *5. The Court rejected the government’s arguments that the TCPA drew distinctions based on speakers rather than content, that the legality of a robocall depends on whether a caller is engaged in a particular economic activity, not its content, and that if the TCPA is content-based, so are debt collection statutes. Id. Applying Reed, the Court reasoned that, because the government-debt exception is content-based, it is subject to strict scrutiny. Id. at *6 (citing Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 576 U. S. 155, 163 (2015)). The Government conceded that it could not satisfy strict scrutiny to justify the differentiation between government-debt collection speech and other categories of robocall speech, such as political speech, charitable fundraising, issue advocacy, commercial advertising, etc., and the Court agreed. Id.Having concluded that the 2015 government-debt exception created an unconstitutional exception to the TCPA, the Court was left to decide whether to invalidate the entire statute, or instead to invalidate and sever the 2015 government-debt exception. Id. at *6. In its analysis, the Court rejected plaintiffs’ broader argument that the entire TCPA is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs argued that, because Congress was willing to carve out an exception for government debt, its credibility regarding an interest in privacy was undermined. Id. at *6–7. The Court reasoned, however, that “Congress’s continuing broad prohibition of robocalls amply demonstrates Congress’s continuing interest in consumer privacy.” Id. at *7.The Court ultimately determined that it must invalidate the 2015 government-debt exception and sever that exception from the remainder of the statute. Id. at *11. The Court relied on the text of the Communications Act’s severability clause and the presumption of severability. Id. The majority disregarded Justice Gorsuch’s suggestion that the decision provided “no relief” to plaintiffs, reasoning that invalidating and severing the government-debt exception properly addressed the unequal treatment underlying plaintiffs’ claim. Id. at *13. The Court noted that Justice Gorsuch’s remedy would result in harm to “tens of millions of consumers who would be bombarded every day with nonstop robocalls notwithstanding Congress’s clear prohibition of those robocalls.” Id.Justice Sotomayor concurred in the judgment, yet reasoned that strict scrutiny should not apply to all content-based distinctions. Id. at *14. However, she concluded that the government-debt exception still failed intermediate scrutiny because it is not “narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest.” Id.Justice Breyer, with whom Justices Ginsburg and Kagan joined, concurred in the judgment with respect to severability and dissented in part. Id. at *14. Justice Breyer disagreed that the exception violates the First Amendment. Id. He reasoned that strict scrutiny was inappropriate and that intermediate scrutiny should apply. Id. at *15. Justice Breyer reasoned that not all content-based distinctions are subject to strict scrutiny regardless of context or practical effect. Id. at *19. He did agree, however, with Justice Kavanaugh’s conclusion that the provision is severable. Id.Justice Gorsuch, with whom Justice Thomas joined in part, concurred in the judgment in part and dissented in part. Justice Gorsuch agreed with Justice Kavanaugh that the government-debt exception violates the First Amendment. Id. at *19–20. However, he disagreed as to why and the remedial consequences. Id. at *20. Justice Gorsuch agreed that the exception is a content-based restriction that fails strict scrutiny, but reasoned that plaintiffs are entitled to an injunction precluding TCPA enforcement against them. Id. at *21.TakeawaysAlleged TCPA violations are the basis of an increasing number of lawsuits each year, and the statute appears to be here to stay.Because the TCPA is heavily litigated and lacks a statutory limitation or cap on the amount of damages that can be awarded for each violation, it can lead to tens of millions of dollars in potential exposure. Therefore, companies seeking to reduce their exposure to TCPA litigation should consult a legal professional for advice on compliance and mitigation of litigation risk.Morrison & Foerster has advised extensively on TCPA disputes and represented numerous Fortune 500 companies in TCPA litigation. Follow Morrison & Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog to stay informed on TCPA developments.[1] Morrison & Foerster filed an amicus brief in this case.