Two recent opinions show that litigants should always determine whether compelling arbitration is viable tactic in fighting claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In Fridman v. Uber Tech. Inc., two plaintiffs—one a former driver, the other a rejected applicant—sued Uber regarding unsolicited text messages to their cell phones, allegedly in violation of the TCPA. Uber moved to compel arbitration, looking to technology services agreement executed by both plaintiffs. Though the plaintiffs sought to…

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an original creditor was liable under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for calls made by a debt collector with which the creditor had no contractual relationship. In Henderson v. United Student Aid Funds, Inc., Henderson took out student loans ultimately owned by United Student Aid Funds, Inc. (USA Funds). USA Funds contracted with Navient Solutions, Inc. (Navient) to service certain of its loans, including Henderson’s,…