By Eugene Volokh
Circuit (Judges Jon O. Newman, Peter W. Hall, and Gerard E. Lynch)
In 2015, plaintiff Shimshon Wexler brought a Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") class action in the Eastern District of New York against AT&T, with his wife, Dr. Eve Wexler, as the proposed lead plaintiff. AT&T filed a letter seeking a conference on a contemplated motion to strike, writing that "unless and until Shimshon Wexler both withdraws as counsel and renounces any interest in any future award of attorney's fees in this case, Dr. Wexler is an inadequate class representative as a matter of law."