Polsinelli’s litigation team has extensive experience assisting clients in navigating the complex and ever-changing laws, regulations, common law, and industry standards that govern the telecommunications industry. Polsinelli has assembled a deep, inter-disciplinary team of litigators who partner with our business and regulatory attorneys to assist telecommunications clients with consumer class actions, data security and privacy litigation, dealer and partnership litigation, consumer small claims and arbitrations, intellectual property litigation, and cell site and lease litigation, among other matters. Our litigation clients provide local, wireless, long-distance wireline, wholesale/intermediate and backbone services to businesses, consumers, and government entities nationwide and internationally.

BTI Consulting Group recently singled out our Class Action, Commercial Litigation, Complex Commercial Litigation, Cybersecurity Litigation, IP Litigation, and Products Liability Litigation practices as being among the best in the country. Our experience includes:

Consumer Class Actions

Our team has significant experience identifying and utilizing early exit ramps for class litigation, including success with motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, discovery motions, and defeating motions for class certification. Should a case go the distance, Polsinelli’s litigation team is highly experienced in trying complex cases to successful conclusions.

Data Security and Privacy Litigation

Polsinelli attorneys are experienced in data incident response, management of government investigations, and the defense of both single-plaintiff and class actions. Our firm has an excellent track record of managing alleged hacking, fraud, account takeover or other compromising of data by unknown actors, inadvertent data loss or compromise, and alleged failure to supervise outside contractors, among other situations.

Dealer, Vendor, and Partnership Litigation

The telecommunications industry involves an intricate patchwork of dealer, vendor, and partner relationships. Polsinelli has successfully handled dozens of dealer, vendor, and partnership cases on behalf of our telecommunications clients over the past five years, ranging from mid-level payment disputes to high-stakes litigation.

Intellectual Property Litigation

Our IP litigators prosecute and defend intellectual property cases on behalf of our telecommunication clients, including matters related to patent infringement (including PTAB proceedings); copyright, trademark and branding; anti-counterfeiting and gray markets; and restrictive covenants and trade secrets.

Cell Site and Lease Matters

Our team has deep experience representing major wireless carriers and many of the largest tower companies in regulatory, land use, permitting and other legal issues involved in deploying wireless infrastructure and technology. Our lawyers have an in-depth understanding of the municipal and agency regulatory processes, and we have represented well over 1,000 tower site applications before regulatory boards in numerous jurisdictions.

Fraud and Trafficking Litigation

We have pursued and efficiently resolved hundreds of claims involving handset trafficking (including by jury and court trials in some cases) in New York, Kansas, Michigan, California, Maryland and Florida against individuals and companies involved in acquiring and reselling wireless handsets using fraudulent and otherwise unlawful strategies and tactics.

Consumer Cases and Arbitrations

Polsinelli attorneys manage high-volume litigation and arbitrations on behalf of our telecommunications clients. Our team successfully defends thousands of small claims cases and arbitrations each year in all 50 states. Our proprietary and customizable reporting tool provides telecommunications clients in-depth analysis of case trends and costs.

Related Capabilities
LitigationCommercial LitigationClass Action & Multidistrict LitigationTelecommunicationsIntellectual Property LitigationTrademark, Copyright & BrandingPatent LitigationTelephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation (TCPA)Privacy & Cybersecurity
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Texas Expands Its Mini-TCPA: Text Messages Now Covered, Litigation Risk Rises
Key Takeaways: The Texas Mini-TCPA now expressly includes text messages as “telephone solicitations,” expanding the scope of businesses required to comply with Texas’s unique registration and security requirements. Violations of the Texas Mini-TCPA’s do-not-call and mobile telemarketing consent provisions are now deemed “unfair or deceptive practices” under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, increasing litigation risk. Companies should review their approach to telemarketing in Texas and consider whether they should obtain a Texas telemarketing registration certificate or whether their activities fall into any of the statutory exemptions. Texas Mini-TCPA Amendments Take Effect Texas is one of several states that have adopted their own version of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), also known as a “Mini-TCPA.” The Texas Mini-TCPA covers much of the same
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TCPA Class Actions Challenge Companies for Not Scrubbing Against the FCC’s Reassigned Numbers Database
Key Takeaways: Companies should scrub calling lists against the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) at least every 31 days to protect themselves from TCPA liability. Plaintiffs’ firms are targeting companies for contacting phone numbers where the subscribers had consented to be contacted but the phone numbers subsequently were reassigned to new subscribers who did not provide prior express written consent and with whom no established business relationship exists. Businesses that fail to verify reassigned numbers and remove them from their databases may face costly litigation and substantial financial settlements or judgments. TCPA Lawsuits on the Rise The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits a range of outbound telephone activity directed towards consumers who do not consent to being contacted. Recently, however, plaintiffs have begun to bring
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