Category: Law and Information

At Thomas Law Offices, we take time to learn about all the new laws being established in the states where we represent personal injury clients. In Ohio, a number of new law changes are happening in 2020. To understand the potential implications of the new laws, we’ll take a look at what’s changing January 1, including plastic bag bans, changes in the costs associated with driving electric cars, the minimum wage increase, and the taxing of certain car-sharing programs.

As the new year approaches, so do new laws. There are a number of law changes happening for Illinois residents in 2020. As an employee of any size company, it’s important to understand your legal rights and options under employment law. We’ll be looking at the implementation of the Workplace Transparency Act, Hotel and Casino Employee Safety Act, and the amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act.

As we head into a new decade, law changes are coming to Kentucky. As a resident of the state, it’s important to stay up-to-date on what laws are being added or changed, so you know what your legal rights and responsibilities are. We understand how confusing legal documents can be, and lawmakers don’t always inform the general public of what’s to come in a digestible way. That’s why we’re here to inform you of the changes coming to Kentucky in 2020.

Many of the new laws could impact personal injury claims in the future. The laws we’ll be discussing in this blog revolve around vision testing for driver’s license renewals, ignition interlock licenses for drunk driving offenders, and the possibility of increasing the purchase age for tobacco products.

Forced arbitration is a legal process that keeps a lawsuit from going to the public courts with juries. Instead, the case is handled privately by a disinterested third party. Unlike public court, any information from the case is not released to the public. These cases usually rule in favor of the employer or company, or in this circumstance, JPMorgan Chase.

JPMorgan Chase is trying to reintroduce a forced arbitration clause they got rid of ten years ago. They agreed to temporarily drop the clause after a class-action lawsuit in 2009 that argued large banks work together to force customers into arbitration. Chase continued with the lift on the clause into 2016 because the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued rules that prohibited mandatory arbitration for financial products, including credit cards. In a way, CFPB agreed with the 2009 ruling: consumers deserve their day in court. But in 2017, President Trump overturned the rules. Now, 72% of banks use arbitration clauses. According to Patricia Wexler, a JPMorgan spokesperson, arbitration is already “standard practice” for their consumer banking and auto loan business, and so they want to extend the policy to their credit card accounts.

On October 30, 2018, in Washington D.C., the Restoring Justice for Workers Act was introduced to overrule the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis.

In May 2018, Epic Systems v. Lewis allowed employers to use forced arbitration clauses to prevent workers from accessing their legal rights. These clauses are typically buried in fine print. Employers could collectively force their employees to waive their rights to pursue work-related claims.

Arbitration is an alternative to filing a lawsuit that is designed to streamline legal issues in a cost-conscious manner. In almost any arbitration, the complaining party will send the opposing party a notice of their intent to arbitrate a dispute. There is generally a period for response, following by a selection of arbitrators, and the actual hearing.