Articles Posted in Consumer

Yesterday, Sam Olens drafted a memo to all departments, agencies, commission, authorities, councils and boards of the state of Georgia. It was drafted in anticipation of Governor Deal signing HB 397 which substantially revises Georgia’s Open Records and Open Meetings Acts. HB 397 became effective immediately upon signature of the Governor yesterday.

Mr. Olens stated in his memo to the state agencies that: “Our goal in preparing and championing this legislation was not to substantially revise Georgia’s open government law, but, first and foremost, to put it in terms that laymen and public officials alike can more readily understand. Nonetheless, the Act does make several significant changes to prior law, and I write today to highlight several key changes for your reference.”

Those changes were mentioned by Mr. Olens as follows:

This past year the United States Supreme Court dealt one of the most devastating blows to consumers yet, allowing big corporations to cheat Americans out of millions of dollars. In the case of AT & T Mobility v Concepcion, the Supreme Court ruled that a California’s prohibition of allowing corporations to waive class action lawsuit rights was trumped by the Federal Arbitration Act.

What is the result? Now companies can now tack on unlawful, small fees on consumer bills without threat of recourse, making it even easier for the American consumer to be exploited by corporate fraud.

Have you ever looked at a bill, like your cell phone bill for example, and been shocked by the many different little fees that are included which end up totaling to a large amount? Back before the Supreme Court Case of AT & T Mobility v Concepcion was decided, lawyers were able to meaningfully help consumers who were being cheated out of money by companies who were adding wrongful, exorbitant fees to their bills. While corporations may cheat one consumer out of just a few dollars or even a few pennies, added up that can amount to millions of dollars that corporations are illegally stealing.