Telephone Consumer Protection Act

In re Enhanced Recovery Company, LLC, No. MDL 2398 (Oct. 18, 2012 JPML) Pending before the panel were various Plaintiffs' request to centralize TCPA litigation against Defendant in the Northern District of Illinois. Defendant joined the request for centralization, but argued for transfer to the Middle District of Florida. No party opposed centralization. While noting that the cases involved relatively few parties, and actions at present, the Panel concluded that centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, including with respect to class certification and conserve resources of the parties, their counsel and the judiciary. The Panel further concluded that centralization in the Middle District of Florida was most appropriate, noting that two of the court actions are pending in that district, including one of the more advanced actions, and Defendant was located in Jacksonville, Florida, which meant that relevant documents and witnesses would likely be found there. Moreover, centralizing the litigation in the Middle District of Florida also allowed the Panel to assign the litigation to a judge who is not presently presiding over other multidistrict litigation.