Texts Aren’t Calls — Now What? Dismissal, Consent, and Certification in TCPA Text Litigation After Steidinger and Bradford

Aaron C. Tifft, Shareholder | Hall Estill

Aaron C. Tifft is a Shareholder at Hall Estill in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he has practiced since the beginning of his legal career. His litigation work spans property and real estate disputes, oil and gas matters, and the defense of claims brought under state and federal marketing regulations, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. He has defended multiple clients against TCPA and OTSA class action claims, drawing on long-standing personal experience with technology and internet systems to counsel clients on marketing-communication compliance without disrupting their overall messaging strategy. He also handles commercial and residential landlord/tenant litigation and represents energy companies and public utilities in easement acquisition and eminent domain proceedings, including large gathering and transmission line projects across Oklahoma.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Tifft earned his J.D. with highest honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 2017, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Tulsa Law Review, worked as a student law clerk for the Honorable Jane Wiseman, and was named Most Outstanding Law Student in his graduating class. He received a B.S. in Media with a Public Relations emphasis, summa cum laude, from Oral Roberts University in 2011. He was admitted in Oklahoma in 2017 and is also admitted before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

He received the Tulsa County Bar Association Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2022 and has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Civil Litigation: Defense. Within the firm he serves on the Recruitment & Diversity Committee, and he chairs the Pro Bono Committee of the Tulsa County Bar Association.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Tifft is a member of the Tulsa Chapter of Young Professionals in Energy and volunteers with the Tulsa County Bar Association’s Courthouse Assistance Program. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Riverfield Country Day School.

• Experience

Mr. Tifft has practiced at Hall Estill since 2017. His work includes the defense of TCPA and OTSA class actions, counseling on state and federal requirements for marketing communications, complex commercial and general litigation, all forms of commercial and residential landlord/tenant litigation, and eminent domain and easement acquisition matters for infrastructure projects, where he advises clients from early planning and dispute resolution through the complete eminent domain process.

Ryan L. McBride, Partner | Kazerouni Law Group, APC

Ryan L. McBride is a Partner at Kazerouni Law Group, APC, where he manages the firm’s San Diego location and was named a partner in 2023. He is a licensed attorney in Arizona, California, Washington, Utah, and Florida, and his primary responsibility is managing a caseload in each of the five states in which he is licensed. That caseload currently consists of multiple class action, mass tort, and complex civil matters, and he has recently argued a successful appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He practices in consumer protection because his passion is helping people, and he is conversant in Spanish.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. McBride attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California, where he served as President of the Sports Law Society and as Academics Director for the Student Bar Association, and competed as a member of the school’s National Sports Law Negotiation Competition Team. He graduated cum laude from Arizona State University, where he was a Pat Tillman Scholar and President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and he later earned a Master’s degree from Arizona State University. He is admitted in Arizona, California, Utah, Washington, and Florida, and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. McBride has received the Wiley W. Manuel Certificate for Pro Bono Legal Services and the Pat Tillman Community Leadership Award, an honor he shared with Taitusi “Deuce” Lutui of the Arizona Cardinals and Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes. He leads the firm’s San Diego office and was named a partner in the firm in 2023.

• Professional Involvement

He is a member of the Maricopa County Bar Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Earlier in his career he volunteered at a local domestic violence restraining order clinic.

• Experience

Before law school Mr. McBride played number one singles and doubles on the Arizona State University tennis team, then competed on the professional tennis tour before changing direction to serve in the Teach For America Corps while completing his Master’s degree. After law school he started and ran his own law firm. At Kazerouni Law Group he manages the San Diego location and a five-state caseload of class action, mass tort, and complex civil litigation, including appellate work in the Ninth Circuit.

SESSION 1 – Winning the TCPA Texts-Are-Not-Calls Motion to Dismiss After Loper Bright | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

The Supreme Court’s decisions in Loper Bright and McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson stripped the FCC of binding authority to tell district courts what “telephone call” means under the TCPA. On July 14, 2026, the Seventh Circuit became the first court of appeals to apply that framework, holding in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services that Section 227(c)(5)’s do-not-call private right of action does not reach text messages. This session gives litigators the tools to build and defeat the “texts aren’t calls” motion to dismiss, map which districts remain favorable now that one circuit has spoken, and position cases for the broader textual fight that Steidinger left open in the TCPA.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Pleading, Proving, and Certifying TCPA Text Claims After Bradford | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session examines how plaintiffs and courts are adjusting to the Fifth Circuit’s Bradford decision and the broader post-Loper Bright TCPA landscape. Rather than focusing on defense-side decertification tactics, the program explores how consent allegations are being pleaded, how consent evidence is being developed in discovery, and how courts are evaluating predominance and common proof in text-message class actions. Attendees will learn practical strategies for structuring consent discovery, addressing individualized consent disputes, and evaluating class certification viability as federal courts continue to diverge on the scope of TCPA text protections.