Menu
Blog Archives
Got a Beef With the Media? Pay Someone Else to Sue Them
June 16, 2016
The revelation that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex tape lawsuit against Gawker sent shockwaves through the media industry. Commentators had barely recovered from the $140 million in damages awarded to Hogan. Now they were grappling with a bigger question: Is this kind of financial arrangement even legal? Could it happen to them? The short answer to both is yes—picking up the tab on someone else’s lawsuit is now perfectly legal (it wasn’t always), and people...
June 16, 2016
The revelation that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex tape lawsuit against Gawker sent shockwaves through the media industry. Commentators had barely recovered from the $140 million in damages awarded to Hogan. Now they were grappling with a bigger question: Is this kind of financial arrangement even legal? Could it happen to them? The short answer to both is yes—picking up the tab on someone else’s lawsuit is now perfectly legal (it wasn’t always), and people...
Forum Selection Clause Doesn’t Necessarily Confer Personal Jurisdiction
June 15, 2016
Hazim, a resident of Kansas, sued S&D Ltd., a publisher based in the UK, about its handling of Hazim’s book. Their contract had Texas choice-of-law and forum-selection provisions. Finding that the specific terms of the forum selection provision were not dispositive, the Fifth Circuit held that under Int’l Energy Ventures Management LLC v. United Energy Group, 2016 WL 1274030 (5th Cir. March 31, 2016), Hazim did not establish personal jurisdiction: “[T]he contract was between a Kansas resident...
June 15, 2016
Hazim, a resident of Kansas, sued S&D Ltd., a publisher based in the UK, about its handling of Hazim’s book. Their contract had Texas choice-of-law and forum-selection provisions. Finding that the specific terms of the forum selection provision were not dispositive, the Fifth Circuit held that under Int’l Energy Ventures Management LLC v. United Energy Group, 2016 WL 1274030 (5th Cir. March 31, 2016), Hazim did not establish personal jurisdiction: “[T]he contract was between a Kansas resident...
Article On Trust Arbitration In The United States
June 15, 2016
Lee-ford Tritt (Professor of Law, University of Florida - Levin College of Law) recently published an article entitled, Legislative...
June 15, 2016
Lee-ford Tritt (Professor of Law, University of Florida - Levin College of Law) recently published an article entitled, Legislative...
Chesapeake, Total E&P Reach $52.5M Settlement With Royalty Owners
June 15, 2016
Chesapeake Energy and Total E&P USA are trying to move beyond their Barnett Shale challenges by agreeing to settle a large number of lawsuits brought by royalty owners who are alleging that they were shortchanged in their royalty payments by the two energy companies. The royalty underpayment suits were filed by the McDonald Law Firm and Circelli, Walter & Young, both in Fort Worth. Chesapeake is a petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City,...
June 15, 2016
Chesapeake Energy and Total E&P USA are trying to move beyond their Barnett Shale challenges by agreeing to settle a large number of lawsuits brought by royalty owners who are alleging that they were shortchanged in their royalty payments by the two energy companies. The royalty underpayment suits were filed by the McDonald Law Firm and Circelli, Walter & Young, both in Fort Worth. Chesapeake is a petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City,...
The Three Requirements for a Successful Negotiation
June 14, 2016
My colleague, former judge and prominent mediator/ arbitrator Abraham Gafni gives his students well-known advice: to complete a negotiation successfully, you must provide satisfaction on three fronts. Procedural satisfaction. Everyone believes that the process has followed a fair, agreed-upon procedure. Substantive satisfaction. Although participants may not get all that they want, they can agree on the compromised result. Psychological satisfaction. Participants must feel that the negotiation...
June 14, 2016
My colleague, former judge and prominent mediator/ arbitrator Abraham Gafni gives his students well-known advice: to complete a negotiation successfully, you must provide satisfaction on three fronts. Procedural satisfaction. Everyone believes that the process has followed a fair, agreed-upon procedure. Substantive satisfaction. Although participants may not get all that they want, they can agree on the compromised result. Psychological satisfaction. Participants must feel that the negotiation...
CFPB Proposal Would Ban Mandatory Arbitration Provisions in Most Financial Contracts
June 14, 2016
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has proposed a plan to ban mandatory arbitration provisions in most...
June 14, 2016
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has proposed a plan to ban mandatory arbitration provisions in most...
Using Predictive Analytics to Reduce Claim Duration and Costs
June 14, 2016
Insurance claims professionals are pioneers in the use of predictive data analytics. Well before the term “Big Data”...
June 14, 2016
Insurance claims professionals are pioneers in the use of predictive data analytics. Well before the term “Big Data”...
Next ‘Big Thing’ In Legal Market? The Forecast For Legal Analytics Is Mostly Sunny
June 13, 2016
Turns out that ELS skill sets map nicely onto a new trend (and growth area) in the legal market: Legal analytics. Part three...
June 13, 2016
Turns out that ELS skill sets map nicely onto a new trend (and growth area) in the legal market: Legal analytics. Part three...
Erie Railroad Collides With Tort Reform
June 13, 2016
Presenting a textbook Erie problem, Passmore sued Baylor Regional Medical Center about his back surgeries in federal court based on bankruptcy jurisdiction. The defendants obtained dismissal on the expert report requirements in section 74.351 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. Reviewing the requirements of that statute, the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing discovery, and district court opinions on the matter, the Fifth Circuit reversed, holding: “Section...
June 13, 2016
Presenting a textbook Erie problem, Passmore sued Baylor Regional Medical Center about his back surgeries in federal court based on bankruptcy jurisdiction. The defendants obtained dismissal on the expert report requirements in section 74.351 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. Reviewing the requirements of that statute, the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing discovery, and district court opinions on the matter, the Fifth Circuit reversed, holding: “Section...
Litigation Financing Attracts New Set of Investors
June 13, 2016
Los Angeles trial lawyer Raymond Boucher turned to an unusual lender to get his latest law firm off the ground. Starting over after a high-profile divorce and personal bankruptcy, the attorney best known as the architect of a $660 million settlement for California clergy-abuse victims turned to IMF Bentham Ltd., one of the major players in the burgeoning and controversial business of litigation funding. With several million dollars from Bentham, Mr. Boucher said he has been able to run his nine-person...
June 13, 2016
Los Angeles trial lawyer Raymond Boucher turned to an unusual lender to get his latest law firm off the ground. Starting over after a high-profile divorce and personal bankruptcy, the attorney best known as the architect of a $660 million settlement for California clergy-abuse victims turned to IMF Bentham Ltd., one of the major players in the burgeoning and controversial business of litigation funding. With several million dollars from Bentham, Mr. Boucher said he has been able to run his nine-person...
