Blog Archives
Human Touch vs. Automated Resolution
October 17, 2016
Many of the big online stores today are like opulent online malls, with virtual marble floors and high arched ceilings. Using your browser, you can wander around these beautiful online malls and see everything your heart desires in exquisitely designed window displays. When you step into a store, you may get a subtle whiff of flowers or exotic spices. All the products are brightly lit and appealingly arranged. When you go up to the counter to ring up your purchase, the friendly and attractive employee...
October 17, 2016
Many of the big online stores today are like opulent online malls, with virtual marble floors and high arched ceilings. Using your browser, you can wander around these beautiful online malls and see everything your heart desires in exquisitely designed window displays. When you step into a store, you may get a subtle whiff of flowers or exotic spices. All the products are brightly lit and appealingly arranged. When you go up to the counter to ring up your purchase, the friendly and attractive employee...
Preemption Parade: FAA Rolls Over Three State Rules
October 17, 2016
Lest anyone think that the preemption doctrine in arbitration has gone dormant, today’s cases should set the record straight. Courts have recently found the FAA preempted state rules in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Alabama. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that one of its rules of civil procedure was preempted by the FAA in Taylor v Extendicare Health Facilities, Inc., __ A.3d ___, 2016 WL 5630669 (Penn. Sept. 28, 2016). The case involved claims regarding whether a nursing home...
October 17, 2016
Lest anyone think that the preemption doctrine in arbitration has gone dormant, today’s cases should set the record straight. Courts have recently found the FAA preempted state rules in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Alabama. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that one of its rules of civil procedure was preempted by the FAA in Taylor v Extendicare Health Facilities, Inc., __ A.3d ___, 2016 WL 5630669 (Penn. Sept. 28, 2016). The case involved claims regarding whether a nursing home...
International Arbitration of Patent Claims
October 17, 2016
Thomas H. Lee, Leitner Family Professor of International Law at Fordham University School of Law, has published “International Arbitration of Patent Claims,” in Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2015 (Arthur W. Rovine, ed., 2016), Forthcoming; Fordham Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2849465. In his paper, Professor Lee offers his proposal regarding how arbitration may be used to avoid parallel patent litigations across international boundaries. Here...
October 17, 2016
Thomas H. Lee, Leitner Family Professor of International Law at Fordham University School of Law, has published “International Arbitration of Patent Claims,” in Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2015 (Arthur W. Rovine, ed., 2016), Forthcoming; Fordham Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2849465. In his paper, Professor Lee offers his proposal regarding how arbitration may be used to avoid parallel patent litigations across international boundaries. Here...
The psychological strategy that will help you win any negotiation
October 16, 2016
Ever wonder how some people are able to negotiate their way into or out of anything? Social psychologist Robert Cialdini set out to answer that question in his new book, "Pre-Suasion," which examines research from dozens of studies and personal anecdotes. What separates great negotiators from the rest of us, he found, is the ability to set the stage before making their case. "The best persuaders become the best through pre-suasion — the process of arranging for recipients to be receptive...
October 16, 2016
Ever wonder how some people are able to negotiate their way into or out of anything? Social psychologist Robert Cialdini set out to answer that question in his new book, "Pre-Suasion," which examines research from dozens of studies and personal anecdotes. What separates great negotiators from the rest of us, he found, is the ability to set the stage before making their case. "The best persuaders become the best through pre-suasion — the process of arranging for recipients to be receptive...
Innovators or Luddites? Legal May Be Leading the Way in AI
October 16, 2016
This week in AI, we do away with the idea of lawyers being behind the times and focus on legislators, regulators and litigators forging ahead. Lawyers are often perceived as taking an antiquated view toward their practice, taking comfort in the simplicity of boxes packed to the brim with papers and teams of reviewers tediously scanning each one for information relevant to the case. This comfort, so the generality goes, evokes an adverse response to technologies and vendors promising tools that...
October 16, 2016
This week in AI, we do away with the idea of lawyers being behind the times and focus on legislators, regulators and litigators forging ahead. Lawyers are often perceived as taking an antiquated view toward their practice, taking comfort in the simplicity of boxes packed to the brim with papers and teams of reviewers tediously scanning each one for information relevant to the case. This comfort, so the generality goes, evokes an adverse response to technologies and vendors promising tools that...
How Southwest Airlines Is Changing Modern Science
October 16, 2016
What’s causing the dramatic increase in scientific collaboration? One possibility is that the rise of teams is a response to the increasing complexity of modern science. To advance knowledge in the 21st century, one has to master an astonishing amount of information and experimental know-how; because we have discovered so much, it’s harder to discover something new. (In other words, the mysteries that remain often exceed the capabilities of the individual mind.) This means that the most important...
October 16, 2016
What’s causing the dramatic increase in scientific collaboration? One possibility is that the rise of teams is a response to the increasing complexity of modern science. To advance knowledge in the 21st century, one has to master an astonishing amount of information and experimental know-how; because we have discovered so much, it’s harder to discover something new. (In other words, the mysteries that remain often exceed the capabilities of the individual mind.) This means that the most important...
Google and AT&T Fiber Investing Heavily to Capture Share of Gigabit-Internet
October 15, 2016
Gigabit speed is a huge leap compared to the average internet download speed in the San Antonio metro area, which in 2014 was 18 Mbps of data transfer, according to a report from The Brookings Institution. That’s slightly below the 23 Mbps seen in the Houston and Dallas-Forth Worth areas and well below the 48 Mbps reported in the Austin-Round Rock metro area. Until now, San Antonio has been largely left behind in the race for internet and access to broadband. Only 556,900 households in the local...
October 15, 2016
Gigabit speed is a huge leap compared to the average internet download speed in the San Antonio metro area, which in 2014 was 18 Mbps of data transfer, according to a report from The Brookings Institution. That’s slightly below the 23 Mbps seen in the Houston and Dallas-Forth Worth areas and well below the 48 Mbps reported in the Austin-Round Rock metro area. Until now, San Antonio has been largely left behind in the race for internet and access to broadband. Only 556,900 households in the local...
‘Rise of the Robots’ and ‘Shadow Work’
October 15, 2016
In the late 20th century, while the blue-collar working class gave way to the forces of globalization and automation, the educated elite looked on with benign condescension. Too bad for those people whose jobs were mindless enough to be taken over by third world teenagers or, more humiliatingly, machines. The solution, pretty much agreed upon across the political spectrum, was education. Americans had to become intellectually nimble enough to keep ahead of the job-destroying trends unleashed by technology,...
October 15, 2016
In the late 20th century, while the blue-collar working class gave way to the forces of globalization and automation, the educated elite looked on with benign condescension. Too bad for those people whose jobs were mindless enough to be taken over by third world teenagers or, more humiliatingly, machines. The solution, pretty much agreed upon across the political spectrum, was education. Americans had to become intellectually nimble enough to keep ahead of the job-destroying trends unleashed by technology,...
Technology Will Replace Many Doctors, Lawyers, and Other Professionals
October 15, 2016
Faced with the claim that AI and robots are poised to replace most of today’s workforce, most mainstream professionals — doctors, lawyers, accountants, and so on — believe they will emerge largely unscathed. During our consulting work and at conferences, we regularly hear practitioners concede that routine work can be taken on by machines, but they maintain that human experts will always be needed for the tricky stuff that calls for judgment, creativity, and empathy. Our research and analysis...
October 15, 2016
Faced with the claim that AI and robots are poised to replace most of today’s workforce, most mainstream professionals — doctors, lawyers, accountants, and so on — believe they will emerge largely unscathed. During our consulting work and at conferences, we regularly hear practitioners concede that routine work can be taken on by machines, but they maintain that human experts will always be needed for the tricky stuff that calls for judgment, creativity, and empathy. Our research and analysis...
BMW Revealed a Self-Correcting Motorcycle
October 14, 2016
The BMW Motorrad is designed to fit right into the near future, blending the analog with the digital experience and offering unprecedented safety features for the rider. The biker will not even require a helmet, or any other protective gear for that matter, as the bike, which also self-balances, will be able to suggest and make corrections in case of impending danger. The bike is stripped down almost entirely, with most information provided to the rider via an augmented reality headset, called...
October 14, 2016
The BMW Motorrad is designed to fit right into the near future, blending the analog with the digital experience and offering unprecedented safety features for the rider. The biker will not even require a helmet, or any other protective gear for that matter, as the bike, which also self-balances, will be able to suggest and make corrections in case of impending danger. The bike is stripped down almost entirely, with most information provided to the rider via an augmented reality headset, called...
