Jones Day Partner Shay Dvoretzky successfully argued the appeal in ACA Int’l v. Fed. Commc’ns Comm’n, 885 F.3d 687 (D.C. Cir. 2018) on behalf of the Petitioners challenging the TCPA’s 2015 TCPA Omnibus ruling. Now he’s talking with the Ramble podcast team about the big win and his views on the ACA Int’l ruling and its impact on the FCC’s 2003 and 2008 predictive dialer rulings.

As lead counsel for Petitioners in ACA Int’l, Counsel Dvoretzky is uniquely positioned to opine on the current split of authority as to whether or not the FCC’s predictive dialer rulings remain viable following the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling. His answer is clear:

“At this point, district courts are not bound by the 2003 and 2008 orders anymore. They are free to go back to the text of the statute and interpret what it says and decide based on that what functions do or do not make something an ATDS.”

-Shay Dvoretzky, July 5, 2017 on the Womble Bond Dickinson Ramble Podcast 

Counsel Dvoretzky was also not shy in observing that “a lot of district courts have gotten that wrong–there have been some district courts have taken the view that the ACA decision was only reviewing the 2015 order.”

While acknowledging that there has been “some confusion” on the issue, Counsel stated that it was “very important” for defense counsel to advise district courts of the full context leading up to the ACA Int’l opinion so as to help courts reach the right decision on the predictive dialer issue. He goes on to provide valuable insight and advice as to how to do just that.

Perhaps more interestingly, however, you have to hear how Shay learned about the big ruling–its a great story.

And here are his thoughts on TCPAland.com:

“Wow this is a pretty useful resource [you’re] putting together. And I’m happy to participate in it… I think this is a great site that you’re putting out.”

Thanks Shay!

And then there’s this line from Queenie:

“I’ve never seen Eric this impressed with anyone else but himself.”

Thanks Queenie!

The full interview is available here.

Listen to the interview to learn:

What’s it like arguing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court 7 times?

Did the late Justice Scalia remember Shay when he argued before him?

How did Shay get looped into arguing the appeal in ACA Int’l in the first place?

What did he think about Chief Judge Edwards’ thoughts that the use of the automated features of an ATDS are important to trigger TCPA usage

Did he think he had the win in the bag during oral argument?

What did Shay think was the most important moment in the oral argument?

How did Shay finally find out about the big win and what kept him from learning about the win immediately?

How did he celebrate?

Is Shay available to be rented out for your oral argument?

And so much more fun stuff. We are most proud of this interview. Please enjoy.

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