First-order effects

• The class-action attorney wants the judge to bar Uber from rolling out the new driver agreement, which she argues would funnel drivers into arbitration and shrink the expanded class before trial.
• Drivers deciding whether to sign Uber's updated terms become the immediate battleground: signing could pull them out of the class action while the case is still live.

Second-order effects

• If the motion succeeds, Uber's appeal path narrows to contesting the December ruling itself rather than relying on new contracts to reset the arbitration posture mid-case.
• Lyft, facing its own employee-classification suit, watches whether contract amendments can legally be used to re-arbitrate disputes after a ruling goes against a platform — a playbook it could copy or be forced to disavow.

Third-order effects

• The dispute tests whether platforms can use routine terms-of-service updates as a litigation shield, a question that resurfaces later when Uber invokes arbitration against individual claims such as the assault allegations in its class action.
• If courts keep voiding unilateral arbitration clauses, classification lawsuits shift from per-driver arbitration toward genuine collective action, pressuring regulators and legislatures to settle the contractor-versus-employee question directly.