A telephone systems expert witness and a telecommunications company have accused a Texas-based law firm of reusing expert witness reports to deceive Telephone Consumer Protection Act plaintiffs.
The Dispute
Telephone systems expert witness Aaron Woolfson and the telecommunications company that he founded, TelSwitch, Inc., claim that Texas-based law firm Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC misused recycled testimony in order to mislead complainants into cheap settlements. Woolfson claims that Munsch Hardt reused his old expert reports to convince complainants that Texan retail furniture and appliance outlet company Conn had retained Woolfson’s for its bill collection arbitration cases. Woolfson argues that this violates the confidentiality of arbitration proceedings and constitutes an infringement of protected work.
Woolfson’s allegations include copyright infringement, unfair business practices, and quantum meruit.
Prior Expert Opinion
Woolfson is the founder of telecommunications company TelSwitch. He has over 25 years of experience as an innovator in his field and is often consulted as an expert in issues related to allegations of violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA). The Telephone Consumer Protection Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by George H. W. Bush as an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934. The TCPA prohibits most “robocalls,” including unsolicited and pre-recorded telemarketing calls made to landline home phone lines. It also prohibits autodialed and prerecorded calls and text to your personal cell phone numbers.
Woolfson has consulted or testified as an expert in over 1,000 largely TCPA related cases. In 2016, he was retained by Conn in a lawsuit in which former customers alleged harassment via Conn debt collectors. His November 2016 expert opinion in an arbitration case concluded that the calls made from Conn calls did not constitute a TCPA violation.
Woolfson has stated that no expert report had been given to the defendants since April 2017 and permission to reuse these previous expert reports was never granted.
Reusing the Expert Opinions
In July 2020, over three years after Woolfson provided an expert report to Conn, Woolfson received an email from attorney David McGlothin of the Kazerouni Law Group, APC inquiring as to whether Woolfson was available for deposition. Woolfson was shocked to find that his previous report had been altered and submitted as a new expert report authored by him in the “Hernandez Matter.” Woolfson had no knowledge of the case, nor had had any contact with Conn or knowledge of their updated phone systems. However, Munsch Hardt claimed that Woolfson had granted Conn full rights to his expert opinion for use “in any future matters.”
Woolfson and Telswitch have since found reason to believe that Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC may have submitted outdated expert reports in dozens or even hundreds of cases — without permission — for their own profit.
Woolfson and Telswitch have filed a lawsuit against Conn Appliances and Munsch Hardt in United States District Court Northern District of California alleging that they deliberately committed copyright infringement. Woolfson and Telswitch are seeking an injunction against further false reporting of testimony, payment of damages, lost consultation pay, and legal fees.
