Any business that dials or texts at scale has the same question sooner or later: who on this list is likely to sue us? The Telephone Consumer Protection Act lets consumers seek $500 to $1,500 per call or text, and much of the litigation traces back to repeat filers. Contact Center Compliance, one vendor in this space, says about a third of TCPA suits come from a small group of repeat plaintiffs. That has created a niche market of companies that screen outbound call lists against known TCPA litigators before a campaign goes out.
This explainer covers who those companies are, how screening works, what it costs, and where it fits alongside the rules federal regulators actually require.
What “screening against litigators” means
A litigator screen compares the phone numbers on your list with a database of people tied to TCPA lawsuits and demand letters. That includes serial plaintiffs, the attorneys who represent them, and people who file repeated Do Not Call complaints. When a number matches, the vendor flags it or removes it, and you decide whether to suppress it.
This is different from a Do Not Call scrub. The National Do Not Call Registry tells you who has opted out of telemarketing. A litigator database tells you who has a track record of suing over calls. Many litigators are not on the registry at all. Companies that only scrub against the registry can still dial them.
The companies in the market
The vendors fall into four rough groups.
Specialist litigator databases. TCPALitigatorList.com has run its TCPA Litigator DNC List since 2017. The company says its database holds more than 600,000 names, including litigators, multi-case plaintiffs, demand-letter senders, attorneys and repeat DNC complainers, and that its researchers update it every weekday. Customers can upload a CSV or Excel file with multiple phone columns, use a real-time API that blocks a number on a match, or search litigators by name or phone. The company also describes a Name Recognition Algorithm that flags serial litigators by name and tracks prepaid or unregistered phones. Federal and state DNC scrubbing and phone verification are included.
Compliance suites with a litigator module. Contact Center Compliance, which operates DNC.com, sells a Litigator Scrub alongside wireless, VoIP and DNC scrubs. It says its litigator data is updated in real time from original court documents and lists roughly 20 integrations, including Five9, Genesys, Salesforce and Convoso. The Blacklist Alliance offers a TCPA Litigation Firewall that checks numbers against its high-risk data plus internal, national and state DNC lists, and it also sells compliance training.
Enterprise suppression platforms. PossibleNOW’s DNCSolution checks federal, state, internal, wireless, reassigned-number and known-litigator lists in real time, with a focus on financial services, healthcare and other regulated industries. Gryphon includes litigator screening inside a broader call and text compliance platform that also manages consent and calling hours.
Data and validation APIs. Trestle’s Real Contact API returns line type, carrier and phone validation along with a litigator-risk flag, priced per lookup. WebRecon tracks TCPA, FDCPA and FCRA filings and offers litigation analytics, which is useful for research as well as suppression.
How a list actually gets screened
Here is what happens to a typical outbound file:
- Upload or call. The business uploads a file through a web portal, or its dialer sends each number to the vendor’s API before connecting.
- Match. The vendor checks each number against its litigator records. Some also match on names, which helps when a known plaintiff changes numbers.
- Layered checks. Many vendors run DNC, wireless and line-status checks in the same pass.
- Return. The business gets a clean file back, or a real-time block or allow response, plus a log of what was removed and why.
Batch screening fits scheduled campaigns. Real-time screening matters when numbers enter the system continuously, such as web leads routed straight to a dialer or texts triggered by an app.
What it costs
Pricing models vary widely, and most vendors don’t publish rates. TCPALitigatorList.com is an exception. Its public pricing starts at $199 a month for a Basic plan without API access, with API plans from $299 a month and higher tiers for larger volumes. Annual billing includes two free months. For enterprise customers, the company also offers a Shared Savings Program in which scrubbing is free for 12 months and the fee is 25% of any verified reduction in annual TCPA lawsuit expense, or nothing if there is no reduction. The company describes it as a performance-based service agreement, not a warranty against litigation.
Elsewhere, The Blacklist Alliance and PossibleNOW say they price by contact, Gryphon prices by seat and volume, and Trestle charges per lookup. Contact Center Compliance does not list public pricing. Buyers comparing quotes should ask for a cost at their real monthly volume, not a per-record rate in isolation.
What the law requires, and what it doesn’t
No federal rule requires a business to screen for litigators. Several related steps are required or strongly incentivized:
- National DNC Registry. Telemarketers must access the registry through the FTC’s telemarketing site, pay by area code (the first five are free), and scrub at least every 31 days.
- Reassigned Numbers Database. The FCC’s database, live since November 2021, gives callers a safe harbor if they query it, get a “no” result, and the number turns out to have been reassigned.
- Revocation rules. The FCC’s revised consent-revocation rules take effect November 25, 2026. Opt-outs from informational messages apply by category, a revocation of marketing consent still covers all marketing, callers can designate exclusive opt-out methods if clearly disclosed, and revocations must be honored within 10 business days.
Litigator screening sits on top of those obligations. It doesn’t fix missing consent or slow opt-out handling. What it does is reduce the chance that the person you call is the one most likely to file a claim when something goes wrong.
The bottom line
Several companies can screen outbound call lists against TCPA litigators, from specialist databases to enterprise compliance platforms. For a business that wants to see its exposure first, the simplest step is to run a recent campaign file through TCPALitigatorList.com, which offers a sample list and a demo scrub, and look at how many matches come back.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Consult TCPA counsel about your specific calling program. Disclosure: this publication has a business relationship with TCPALitigatorList.com. Vendor details are drawn from each company’s public materials as of November 2026.









