Bloomberg Quotes Neal Marder on California Supreme Court Privacy Ruling on Recording of Phone Calls

Akin Gump litigation partner Neal Marder has been quoted in the Bloomberg article “California High Court Backs Consent for Recording Calls.” The story reports on a ruling by the California Supreme Court that California’s broad right to privacy requires all parties to consent to recording phone calls.

The ruling, as the article notes, reverses a lower court decision that held that the law prohibited only third-party eavesdroppers from recording without consent, and did not apply to call participants.

Marder, who was part of an Akin Gump team that filed an amicus brief for American Medical Response in support of the defendant, business loan provider LoanMe, said the decision is in line with the majority of federal district courts that have interpreted the law.

“In reality, the court’s LoanMe decision will not change the state of play for most companies that do business in California,” said Marder. “Companies that do business and communicate with customers in California are well advised to implement policies and procedures to ensure that their representatives notify call recipients if a call is being recorded at the outset of any communication.”