1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |The First Text Cuts the Deepest: Eleventh Circuit Aligns with Other Circuits on TCPA Standing

The First Text Cuts the Deepest: Eleventh Circuit Aligns with Other Circuits on TCPA Standing

Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.31.23

On July 24, 2023, an en banc Eleventh Circuit joined the majority of circuits to find that just one text is sufficient to establish standing to bring a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) claim. The decision, Drazen v. Pinto, --- F.4th ---, 2023 WL 4699939 (11th Cir. July 24, 2023), not only undoes the panel’s original holding, but also reverses course from the Eleventh Circuit’s prior decision in Salcedo v. Hanna, 936 F.3d 1162 (11th Cir. 2019), which held that a Plaintiff who received a single text message did not have TCPA standing.  

The original Drazen panel applied the Salcedo precedent when it dismissed an appeal by a class objector regarding the attorneys’ fees awarded and type of settlement approved by the district court. Relying on Salcedo, the panel answered an unasked question by the appellant-objector and held that the class definition approved by the district court must be revisited because it improperly included individuals who received a single text message. The appellant-objector sought rehearing en banc, urging the Eleventh Circuit “to reevaluate the Salcedo holding and to clarify the law regarding the elements necessary to pursue a TCPA claim.”

The full Eleventh Circuit reversed the panel and Salcedo, joining the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits to hold that “receiving one or two unwanted texts or phone calls” causes concrete injury under the TCPA. Despite acknowledging that “an unwanted text message is insufficiently offensive” to satisfy a common law claim, the Drazen court joined the federal circuit majority, stating “Congress has used its lawmaking powers to recognize a lower quantum of injury necessary to bring a claim under the TCPA.”  

The decision marks yet another reminder to consumer facing companies that there is no such thing as a freebie under the TCPA: even one errant text via automated dialer can result in costly liability as TCPA plaintiffs continue to pursue relief on a class basis.

Contacts

Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25

Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality

On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument....

View All Insights