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The Mediation Privilege: Grubaugh v. Hon. Blomo, County of Maricopa et al
June 22, 2016
Grubaugh addresses the limits of mediation confidentiality and highlights the split between jurisdictions that allow exceptions to the privilege for legal malpractice cases and those that don’t. In Grubaugh, the plaintiff claimed that her former attorneys provided “substandard legal advice … during a family court mediation,” and claimed damages as a result of that poor advice. Her prior attorneys (the defendants) argued that the entire mediation process is privileged under Arizona...
June 22, 2016
Grubaugh addresses the limits of mediation confidentiality and highlights the split between jurisdictions that allow exceptions to the privilege for legal malpractice cases and those that don’t. In Grubaugh, the plaintiff claimed that her former attorneys provided “substandard legal advice … during a family court mediation,” and claimed damages as a result of that poor advice. Her prior attorneys (the defendants) argued that the entire mediation process is privileged under Arizona...
A Call for Feedback on Mediator Evaluation and Opinion-Giving
June 22, 2016
As a recap (or for new readers) Tom’s recent article titled “Insights on Mediator Practices and Perceptions,” outlines three areas of apparent regional divergence in mediation practice, arising out of the 2014 survey conducted by the IAM and the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law. The divergent areas include: (1) the relative use of joint session and caucus in mediation; (2) the way in which mediators handle information divulged by the parties in caucus; and (3) the extent...
June 22, 2016
As a recap (or for new readers) Tom’s recent article titled “Insights on Mediator Practices and Perceptions,” outlines three areas of apparent regional divergence in mediation practice, arising out of the 2014 survey conducted by the IAM and the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law. The divergent areas include: (1) the relative use of joint session and caucus in mediation; (2) the way in which mediators handle information divulged by the parties in caucus; and (3) the extent...
Our Brain Uses Statistics To Calculate Confidence, Make Decisions
June 22, 2016
According to a new study published in NEURON, human brains are constantly processing data to make statistical assessments that translate into the feeling we call confidence. “The feeling ultimately relies on the same statistical computations a computer would make,” says Professor Adam Kepecs, a neuroscientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and lead author of the new study. In experiments with human subjects, Kepecs and colleagues tried to control for different factors that can...
June 22, 2016
According to a new study published in NEURON, human brains are constantly processing data to make statistical assessments that translate into the feeling we call confidence. “The feeling ultimately relies on the same statistical computations a computer would make,” says Professor Adam Kepecs, a neuroscientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and lead author of the new study. In experiments with human subjects, Kepecs and colleagues tried to control for different factors that can...
The Court, Not the Arbitrator, Decides the Validity of an Agreement Containing an Arbitration Clause
June 21, 2016
Sometimes the end of the arbitration is not the end of the dispute. A party prevailing in arbitration is not out of the woods, given that the underlying contract can still be challenged under traditional defenses to the formation of contract and a court, not an arbitrator, determines the enforceability of a contract under California law. The case of Sheppard v. J-M Manufacturing Co., 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 69 (Jan. 29, 2016), grapples with and clarifies the role of the courts in determining the fate...
June 21, 2016
Sometimes the end of the arbitration is not the end of the dispute. A party prevailing in arbitration is not out of the woods, given that the underlying contract can still be challenged under traditional defenses to the formation of contract and a court, not an arbitrator, determines the enforceability of a contract under California law. The case of Sheppard v. J-M Manufacturing Co., 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 69 (Jan. 29, 2016), grapples with and clarifies the role of the courts in determining the fate...
Like Comcast, Google Fiber Now Forces Customers Into Arbitration
June 21, 2016
Fiber customers have two months to opt out of binding arbitration clause. Google Fiber's new terms add a clause familiar to subscribers of other large Internet service providers: customers who want to sue the company must now instead submit to arbitration. The Google Fiber terms were updated last week with a note that they now "require the use of binding arbitration to resolve disputes rather than jury trials or class actions." While the clause allows cases in small claims court, it otherwise...
June 21, 2016
Fiber customers have two months to opt out of binding arbitration clause. Google Fiber's new terms add a clause familiar to subscribers of other large Internet service providers: customers who want to sue the company must now instead submit to arbitration. The Google Fiber terms were updated last week with a note that they now "require the use of binding arbitration to resolve disputes rather than jury trials or class actions." While the clause allows cases in small claims court, it otherwise...
Those With High Scores On A Psychopath Test Are Better At Creative Thinking, The Arts
June 21, 2016
A new study by researchers at De La Salle University in the Philippines suggests those with psychopathic tendencies are often...
June 21, 2016
A new study by researchers at De La Salle University in the Philippines suggests those with psychopathic tendencies are often...
Inconsistent as to One, Inconsistent as to All: Sometimes It’s Too Late to Arbitrate
June 20, 2016
Once a plaintiff files a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action in the Sixth Circuit, the proverbial clock starts...
June 20, 2016
Once a plaintiff files a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action in the Sixth Circuit, the proverbial clock starts...
Does Adoption of the AAA Rules Grant an Arbitrator the Authority to Decide Whether Class-Wide Arbitration Is Authorized?
June 20, 2016
Prior to 2013, most federal appellate courts agreed that whether the parties authorized class-wide arbitration is normally a question for the arbitrator where the parties adopt American Arbitration Association (AAA) rules. Recent decisions by the Sixth and the Third Circuits found that adoption of the AAA rules does not constitute “clear and unmistakable” evidence that the parties delegated to an arbitrator the right to make that determination. Supreme Court Establishes the “Clear and Unmistakable”...
June 20, 2016
Prior to 2013, most federal appellate courts agreed that whether the parties authorized class-wide arbitration is normally a question for the arbitrator where the parties adopt American Arbitration Association (AAA) rules. Recent decisions by the Sixth and the Third Circuits found that adoption of the AAA rules does not constitute “clear and unmistakable” evidence that the parties delegated to an arbitrator the right to make that determination. Supreme Court Establishes the “Clear and Unmistakable”...
Trademark Filings Dip Slightly in 2015
June 20, 2016
Trademark filings dipped slightly in 2015, but have for the most part remained steady over the last seven years, according...
June 20, 2016
Trademark filings dipped slightly in 2015, but have for the most part remained steady over the last seven years, according...
Soon We Won’t Program Computers. We’ll Train Them Like Dogs
June 19, 2016
Before the invention of the computer, most experimental psychologists thought the brain was an unknowable black box. You could analyze a subject’s behavior—ring bell, dog salivates—but thoughts, memories, emotions? That stuff was obscure and inscrutable, beyond the reach of science. So these behaviorists, as they called themselves, confined their work to the study of stimulus and response, feedback and reinforcement, bells and saliva. They gave up trying to understand the inner workings of the mind....
June 19, 2016
Before the invention of the computer, most experimental psychologists thought the brain was an unknowable black box. You could analyze a subject’s behavior—ring bell, dog salivates—but thoughts, memories, emotions? That stuff was obscure and inscrutable, beyond the reach of science. So these behaviorists, as they called themselves, confined their work to the study of stimulus and response, feedback and reinforcement, bells and saliva. They gave up trying to understand the inner workings of the mind....
