Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Chicago Partner Avanti Bakane and Denver Of Counsel Jaime Wiesenfeld represented the firm’s national debt buyer client in securing the dismissal of a plaintiff’s individual and class claims. Chicago associate Richard Daniels also provided invaluable assistance in briefing the motion to dismiss.
The plaintiff, represented by counsel, brought individual and class claims Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") against the firm’s client in federal court. After voluntarily dismissing his claims in that forum, the plaintiff sought to bring the same FDCPA claims and additional state claims against the firm’s client.
Wiesenfeld moved to dismiss these claims, arguing that the plaintiff’s claims were now time-barred under applicable federal law. The plaintiff invoked a wide variety of state provisions to argue that his claims were tolled by the voluntarily dismissed federal action. In briefs filed with the Court, Wiesenfeld systematically dismantled each of the plaintiff’s arguments, including a new theory raised at oral arguments.
Following oral arguments conducted by Portland Partner Greg Lockwood, the Honorable Carl Ashley issued a lengthy and detailed ruling that dismissed the plaintiff’s claims as time-barred. That ruling adopted the sound arguments and authorities Wiesenfeld had laid out in her briefing as Judge Ashley issued a point-by-point rebuttal of the plaintiff’s tolling claims.
The decision is a decisive victory, not only through the elimination of an individual and class claims in one state court, but as a stark example of how state law tolling statutes would not spare a second FDCPA action from application of the statute of limitations.