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IBM to Partner With McMillan Law Firm for Analytics Platform
August 6, 2016
As law firms start to see the benefits of integrating analytics into business practices, McMillan and IBM look to collaborate on ways to expand analytics into the legal marketplace. Canadian law firm McMillan announced today a new partnership with IBM to develop an analytic insights platform for the firm to review internal data about cost and resource management. The platform will use fundamental structures drawn from IBM's statistical package SPSS, which allows manipulation and analysis of data,...
August 6, 2016
As law firms start to see the benefits of integrating analytics into business practices, McMillan and IBM look to collaborate on ways to expand analytics into the legal marketplace. Canadian law firm McMillan announced today a new partnership with IBM to develop an analytic insights platform for the firm to review internal data about cost and resource management. The platform will use fundamental structures drawn from IBM's statistical package SPSS, which allows manipulation and analysis of data,...
GSK and Google Forge $715M Bioelectronic Medicines Firm
August 5, 2016
It is GSK's second notable investment in Britain since the country voted to leave the European Union in June. Last week it announced...
August 5, 2016
It is GSK's second notable investment in Britain since the country voted to leave the European Union in June. Last week it announced...
Artificial Intelligence Has Found a Home in Contract Management
August 5, 2016
As machine learning and artificial intelligence find traction within legal tech, they've found a fairly natural home in contract management work. In many ways, contracts provide perfect fodder for innovation and expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) into the legal world. Contracts are often mechanical, highly organized and filled with boilerplate language. They can also be exceedingly long and unwieldy, taking huge amounts of time and resources for attorneys to parse the content of a contract...
August 5, 2016
As machine learning and artificial intelligence find traction within legal tech, they've found a fairly natural home in contract management work. In many ways, contracts provide perfect fodder for innovation and expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) into the legal world. Contracts are often mechanical, highly organized and filled with boilerplate language. They can also be exceedingly long and unwieldy, taking huge amounts of time and resources for attorneys to parse the content of a contract...
Article on Judicial Developments in Texas Estate Law
August 5, 2016
Gerry W. Beyer recently published an Article entitled, What Hath the Courts Wrought to the Texas Estate Planner?, (June 24, 2016). Provided below is an abstract of the Article: This article discusses recent judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming...
August 5, 2016
Gerry W. Beyer recently published an Article entitled, What Hath the Courts Wrought to the Texas Estate Planner?, (June 24, 2016). Provided below is an abstract of the Article: This article discusses recent judicial developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming...
Mark Cohen: Law Firms Have Entered a New Collaborative Era
August 4, 2016
While there have been many examples recently of large law firms working in collaboration with other businesses to provide legal tech and process capability, Cohen says this is merely part of a far wider trend that is reshaping the legal market. Recent examples of tech-led collaboration include: Allen & Overy and Deloitte, working together on analysis of OTC derivative contracts. Ashurst and Axiom, also working together on derivative contract analysis. Deloitte and Kira Systems,...
August 4, 2016
While there have been many examples recently of large law firms working in collaboration with other businesses to provide legal tech and process capability, Cohen says this is merely part of a far wider trend that is reshaping the legal market. Recent examples of tech-led collaboration include: Allen & Overy and Deloitte, working together on analysis of OTC derivative contracts. Ashurst and Axiom, also working together on derivative contract analysis. Deloitte and Kira Systems,...
Arbitration Clauses: Gogo Internet Edition
August 4, 2016
The rise of Wi-Fi on airplanes means that you never have to be without the internet if you don't want to be...which also means that you never have to be without terms of use! A recent case out of the Eastern District of New York, Salameno v. Gogo Inc., 16-CV-0487 (behind paywall), reinforces that those terms of use are binding on you, and, as could probably be predicted, leads to the enforcement of an arbitration provision contained in them. In this case, the plaintiffs had purchased Gogo's in-flight...
August 4, 2016
The rise of Wi-Fi on airplanes means that you never have to be without the internet if you don't want to be...which also means that you never have to be without terms of use! A recent case out of the Eastern District of New York, Salameno v. Gogo Inc., 16-CV-0487 (behind paywall), reinforces that those terms of use are binding on you, and, as could probably be predicted, leads to the enforcement of an arbitration provision contained in them. In this case, the plaintiffs had purchased Gogo's in-flight...
An Empirical Study of Unenforceable Contract Terms
August 4, 2016
While the enforceability of many contract terms discussed in this space can be a matter of good faith dispute, other terms are clearly beyond the pale of enforcement. What is the impact of potentially in terrorem use of invalid contract clauses on the general non-lawyer population? Meirav Furth-Mazkin (Harvard S.J.D. Program, John M. Olin Fellow) has conducted a fascinating empirical study on point entitled On the Surprising Use of Unenforceable Contract Terms: Evidence from the Residential Rental...
August 4, 2016
While the enforceability of many contract terms discussed in this space can be a matter of good faith dispute, other terms are clearly beyond the pale of enforcement. What is the impact of potentially in terrorem use of invalid contract clauses on the general non-lawyer population? Meirav Furth-Mazkin (Harvard S.J.D. Program, John M. Olin Fellow) has conducted a fascinating empirical study on point entitled On the Surprising Use of Unenforceable Contract Terms: Evidence from the Residential Rental...
Ninth Circuit Holds Client May Sue Former Law Firm After Mandatory Arbitration Was Terminated for Non-Payment
August 3, 2016
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a decision stating a law firm’s client may pursue a legal malpractice case against her former attorneys despite that she was unable to pay her share of mandatory arbitration expenses. In Tillman v. Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney, No. 13-56624 (9th Cir., June 15, 2016), a woman, Tillman, signed a retainer agreement with a law firm, Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney (“Rheingold”),...
August 3, 2016
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a decision stating a law firm’s client may pursue a legal malpractice case against her former attorneys despite that she was unable to pay her share of mandatory arbitration expenses. In Tillman v. Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney, No. 13-56624 (9th Cir., June 15, 2016), a woman, Tillman, signed a retainer agreement with a law firm, Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney (“Rheingold”),...
Arbitration Award Affirmed Over Procedural Objections
August 3, 2016
The unsuccessful parties in the arbitration of a real estate dispute challenged confirmation of the award. The Fifth Circuit rejected the argument that the phrase “any other misbehavior by which the rights of any party have been prejudiced in 9 USC § 10(a)(3) could be read as applying to the district court. It also rejected a discovery-related argument when “[t]he arbitrator decided not to issue subpoenas when the Investors failed to answer his questions about what evidence they needed from...
August 3, 2016
The unsuccessful parties in the arbitration of a real estate dispute challenged confirmation of the award. The Fifth Circuit rejected the argument that the phrase “any other misbehavior by which the rights of any party have been prejudiced in 9 USC § 10(a)(3) could be read as applying to the district court. It also rejected a discovery-related argument when “[t]he arbitrator decided not to issue subpoenas when the Investors failed to answer his questions about what evidence they needed from...
Quarter of UK Top 25 Law Firms May Already Be Using AI, Survey Finds
August 2, 2016
A report by business risk insurer, Travelers, has found that 23% of the Top 25 UK-based law firms it surveyed are already making use of applied AI systems. If extrapolated across all the leading 25 firms by revenue in the UK this data would equate to around six law firms, (see Table A). Based on currently announced deals between law firms and AI providers, such as RAVN, Kira Systems, Neota Logic and LEVERTON this would appear to be highly likely, given that not all UK law firms using AI, whether...
August 2, 2016
A report by business risk insurer, Travelers, has found that 23% of the Top 25 UK-based law firms it surveyed are already making use of applied AI systems. If extrapolated across all the leading 25 firms by revenue in the UK this data would equate to around six law firms, (see Table A). Based on currently announced deals between law firms and AI providers, such as RAVN, Kira Systems, Neota Logic and LEVERTON this would appear to be highly likely, given that not all UK law firms using AI, whether...
