Jackson Legal Blog

Federal antitrust laws were created to preserve fair competition in the marketplace across the nation, including right here in Tennessee. When there is open competition, prices of products will go down, higher quality goods and services will be offered, consumers will have more choices when it comes to purchasing goods or services and all-in-all there will be more innovation in the marketplace. In general, there are three laws that form the basis of antitrust regulation in the U.S.: The Sherman Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act.

Under the Sherman Act, businesses cannot fix prices, divide markets or do anything else that restrains trade or creates a monopoly. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act, businesses cannot undertake actions that could create unfair competition or would deceive consumers. The Federal Trade Commission is the entity that regulates federal antitrust rules. Finally, the Clayton Act covers certain business practices that are not addressed by the Sherman Act, such as having a single individual run two businesses that are in competition with one another.

Landowners in Jackson may have heard of the phrase, "eminent domain," but they may not know exactly what it means. Under the law of eminent domain, the government can take private property for public use only if the property owner is given just compensation in return. The "Takings Clause" of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution serves as the basis for the law of eminent domain.

"Just compensation" is generally based on the market value of the property at issue. The size of the property and whether there are any resources on the property are two factors that may go into calculating the property's market value. If the government is only taking the property for a short amount of time, determining the property's value can be difficult.

Many women these days in Tennessee are waiting longer to have children so they can concentrate on their careers. However, whether a pregnancy comes when a person is a new employee or after they have become established in the workforce, most women who find themselves pregnant are overjoyed. But, while they may be eagerly awaiting their new arrival, their employer may be concerned on how the pregnancy will affect the woman's ability to work and the company's bottom line. Such situations can sometimes result in workplace discrimination.

However, per the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, employers with 15 or more employees cannot discriminate against women because they are pregnant. In general, employers must offer all workers the same benefits, whether the worker is pregnant or not. In addition, if due to her pregnancy or childbirth the worker must be given accommodations or take leave from work, she must be allowed to do so in the same manner that any other temporarily disabled worker would.

Sometimes, when a borrower in Tennessee fails to make payments on a loan, such as an auto loan or credit card account, the lender may need to enlist the services of a collection agency. A collection agency is a business that lenders contract with to recover debts owed to them, usually after the lender has made numerous attempts to collect on the loan on their own.

In general, when a debtor does not pay what he or she owes on a loan for a period of time (usually three to six months), the debt will be placed in the hands of the collection agency. While there are limits on when a collection agency can contact a debtor, in general the collection agency can call the debtor on the phone either at home or at work to attempt to collect on the debt. The collection agency can also contact relatives or friends of the debtor, not to collect on the debt, but to confirm they have the right contact information for the debtor. However, when contacting relatives and friends of the debtor, the collection agency is not permitted to state why they are trying to contact the debtor. Collection agencies can also send late payment notices to the debtor through the mail.