TCPA Attorney Sergei Lemberg Calls Forbes' Robocall "Racketeering" Article "Fake News"
Wilton, CT (PRWEB) March 17, 2017 -- Consumer attorney Sergei Lemberg (http://www.hatecalls.com) struck back against a Forbes.com March 14, 2017, post asserting that attorneys who represent consumers in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases engage in conspiracies to profit from consumer protections. "That's fake news," said Lemberg. "The post mischaracterizes robocalling companies that violate the law as victims, and consumers - the real victims - as predators. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Signed into law in 1991 by President George W. Bush, the TCPA empowers the Federal Communications Commission to enact regulations regarding the use of automated telephone dialing systems. While the Federal Trade Commission notes that it has "brought more than a hundred lawsuits against over 600 companies and individuals responsible for billions of illegal robocalls," the TCPA also provides consumers with a private right of action against illegal robocallers, enabling courts to award damages of between $500 and $1,500 per illegal robocall.
While the Forbes.com article, "Phoney Lawsuits: Attorneys Accused of Racketeering, Manufacturing Claims," asserted that TCPA lawsuits are rampant and arise from a scheme hatched between plaintiffs and their attorneys, Lemberg calls the three examples cited "bad eggs, not the whole picture." In fact, he says, "Only a fraction of the millions of Americans illegally robocalled pursue legal recourse." According to the debt collection industry publication WebRecon, a mere 402 TCPA lawsuits were filed in January. "That's hardly an avalanche," Lemberg noted. "And unfounded cases are dismissed by judges, so where is the abuse?"
Lemberg says that the avalanche comes when consumers are inundated with robocalls. In July 2015, a judge awarded Lemberg Law client Araceli King $229,500 in damages after Time Warner Cable Inc. robocalled her 153 times. In December 2016, a judge granted summary judgment to Lemberg Law's client in Manuel v. NRA Group, LLC, which robocalled Mr. Manuel 146 times.
Lemberg says that the Forbes.com post's focus on active consumer attorneys and consumers who sue multiple robocallers is disingenuous. "Corporations need to stop whining and start following the law," he said. "They're trying to bully lawyers and consumers into backing down, but the law is on the side of the little guy - not the big corporations with their autodialers."
The bottom line, according to Lemberg, is this: "If our federal judges can stop the President of the United States, they can sure clamp down on a few bad actors misusing a statute protecting millions of consumers."
This press release references Manuel v. NRA Group, LLC (Case No. 1:15-cv-274, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania) and King v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. (Case No. 1:14-cv-02018, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York).
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About Lemberg Law
The attorneys at Lemberg Law represent consumers in lemon law, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases, among others.
For more information, contact:
Sergei Lemberg, Esq.
Lemberg Law
http://www.LembergLaw.com
Sergei Lemberg, Debt & Credit Lawyer, http://debtandcreditlawyer.com, +1 (203) 653-2250 Ext: 5500, [email protected]
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