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Insurance Crisis or Liability Crisis? Medical Malpractice Claiming in Illinois
May 30, 2016
Since 1980, Illinois has experienced three medical malpractice insurance crises—in the mid-1980s, mid-1990s, and early-2000s. Each time, Illinois responded by enacting tort reform. Using a previously unavailable database of closed medical malpractice (med mal) claims, maintained by the Illinois Department of Insurance, we analyze statewide trends in med mal claiming from 1980–2010, covering all three crises. Paid claim rates rose sharply from 1980–1985, roughly leveled off from 1986–1993,...
May 30, 2016
Since 1980, Illinois has experienced three medical malpractice insurance crises—in the mid-1980s, mid-1990s, and early-2000s. Each time, Illinois responded by enacting tort reform. Using a previously unavailable database of closed medical malpractice (med mal) claims, maintained by the Illinois Department of Insurance, we analyze statewide trends in med mal claiming from 1980–2010, covering all three crises. Paid claim rates rose sharply from 1980–1985, roughly leveled off from 1986–1993,...
New Practice Considerations Under Amendments to Federal Rule 26
May 30, 2016
Litigants across the country have begun grappling with new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective December 1, 2015, that implement the most significant changes to discovery and case-management practices in more than a decade. Chief among the new changes is an amendment to Rule 26(b)(1) that now limits the scope of discovery to matters that are “proportional to the needs of the case.” A New Rule for a New Era There was a time when attorneys viewed discovery simply as the path...
May 30, 2016
Litigants across the country have begun grappling with new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective December 1, 2015, that implement the most significant changes to discovery and case-management practices in more than a decade. Chief among the new changes is an amendment to Rule 26(b)(1) that now limits the scope of discovery to matters that are “proportional to the needs of the case.” A New Rule for a New Era There was a time when attorneys viewed discovery simply as the path...
How AI And Crowdsourcing Are Remaking The Legal Profession
May 29, 2016
Tech advances allow new companies to harness networks of computers and people to sift through legal information and help lawyers prep cases. "The legal industry is ripe for innovation," says attorney and journalist Robert Ambrogi, who covers the role of technology in law. In an influential April 13 blog post, Ambrogi proclaimed a boom in legal tech startups based on a more than doubling of listings on startup directory AngelList. Ambrogi has since produced his own streamlined listing that currently...
May 29, 2016
Tech advances allow new companies to harness networks of computers and people to sift through legal information and help lawyers prep cases. "The legal industry is ripe for innovation," says attorney and journalist Robert Ambrogi, who covers the role of technology in law. In an influential April 13 blog post, Ambrogi proclaimed a boom in legal tech startups based on a more than doubling of listings on startup directory AngelList. Ambrogi has since produced his own streamlined listing that currently...
What Predicts Law Student Success? A Longitudinal Study Correlating Law Student Applicant Data and Law School Outcomes
May 29, 2016
Despite the rise of “big data” empiricism, law school admission remains heavily impressionistic; admission decisions rely on anecdotes about recent students, idiosyncratic preferences for certain majors or jobs, or mainly the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Yet no predictors are well-validated and studies of the LSAT or other factors fail to control for other factors. The lack of evidence for what actually predicts law school success is especially surprising since, after the 2010s downturn,...
May 29, 2016
Despite the rise of “big data” empiricism, law school admission remains heavily impressionistic; admission decisions rely on anecdotes about recent students, idiosyncratic preferences for certain majors or jobs, or mainly the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Yet no predictors are well-validated and studies of the LSAT or other factors fail to control for other factors. The lack of evidence for what actually predicts law school success is especially surprising since, after the 2010s downturn,...
Using Data to Predict Child Abuse
May 29, 2016
Daley has been on a mission to train doctors and nurses to recognize the signs of abuse early – like suspicious bruises or marks. But detecting abuse is hard. Especially for infants who may not interact with teachers or nurses familiar with the clues. What they’d really like to do is prevent it. So they're experimenting with “big data” technology that could help predict neighborhoods where kids are most likely to be abused. It's known as predictive analytics. “This technology has been...
May 29, 2016
Daley has been on a mission to train doctors and nurses to recognize the signs of abuse early – like suspicious bruises or marks. But detecting abuse is hard. Especially for infants who may not interact with teachers or nurses familiar with the clues. What they’d really like to do is prevent it. So they're experimenting with “big data” technology that could help predict neighborhoods where kids are most likely to be abused. It's known as predictive analytics. “This technology has been...
Carrot or Stick? The Shift from Voluntary to Mandatory Disclosure of Risk Factors
May 28, 2016
This study investigates risk factor disclosures, examining both the voluntary, incentive-based disclosure regime provided by the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act as well as the SEC's subsequent mandate of these disclosures. Firms subject to greater litigation risk disclose more risk factors, update the language more from year to year, and use more readable language than firms with lower litigation risk. These differences in the quality of disclosure are pronounced...
May 28, 2016
This study investigates risk factor disclosures, examining both the voluntary, incentive-based disclosure regime provided by the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act as well as the SEC's subsequent mandate of these disclosures. Firms subject to greater litigation risk disclose more risk factors, update the language more from year to year, and use more readable language than firms with lower litigation risk. These differences in the quality of disclosure are pronounced...
Judge Data
May 28, 2016
Researchers using judge-level data will benefit from a new on-line judicial database created by the Free Law Project. Funded in part by NSF and foundation grants, and in conjunction with Elliot Ash (Princeton) and Bentley MacLeod (Columbia), the database currently includes biographical information on almost 8,500 federal and state judges. For more information, see the database's announcement (here) and the judge search engine (here).
May 28, 2016
Researchers using judge-level data will benefit from a new on-line judicial database created by the Free Law Project. Funded in part by NSF and foundation grants, and in conjunction with Elliot Ash (Princeton) and Bentley MacLeod (Columbia), the database currently includes biographical information on almost 8,500 federal and state judges. For more information, see the database's announcement (here) and the judge search engine (here).
Bodie, Cherry, Tang and McCormick on Big Data
May 28, 2016
I recently learned that Matt Bodie, Miriam Cherry, Jintong Tang, and our very own Marcia McCormick just posted on SSRN their cutting-edge piece on "big data," The Law and Policy of People Analytics, which is forthcoming in the University of Colorado Law Review. Is it wonderful to see such a great collaboration of experts researching and writing on this important topic and growing field. The abstract is below: Leading technology companies such as Google and Facebook have been experimenting with...
May 28, 2016
I recently learned that Matt Bodie, Miriam Cherry, Jintong Tang, and our very own Marcia McCormick just posted on SSRN their cutting-edge piece on "big data," The Law and Policy of People Analytics, which is forthcoming in the University of Colorado Law Review. Is it wonderful to see such a great collaboration of experts researching and writing on this important topic and growing field. The abstract is below: Leading technology companies such as Google and Facebook have been experimenting with...
Avoid Dumping Onto Others as Others Have Dumped Onto You
May 27, 2016
This phenomenon is called “generalized negative reciprocity” because it involves “pay back” with unfair behavior...
May 27, 2016
This phenomenon is called “generalized negative reciprocity” because it involves “pay back” with unfair behavior...
Fifth Circuit Holds Diversity Jurisdiction Exists After FINRA Issues $10K Arbitration Award
May 27, 2016
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that federal diversity jurisdiction existed after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a $10,000 arbitration award. In Pershing, LLC v. Kiebach, No. 15-30396 (5th Cir. April 6, 2016), several investors filed an $80 million arbitration complaint with FINRA against a clearing broker, Pershing, after the investors suffered a financial loss due to a Ponzi scheme. In their complaint, the investors accused...
May 27, 2016
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that federal diversity jurisdiction existed after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a $10,000 arbitration award. In Pershing, LLC v. Kiebach, No. 15-30396 (5th Cir. April 6, 2016), several investors filed an $80 million arbitration complaint with FINRA against a clearing broker, Pershing, after the investors suffered a financial loss due to a Ponzi scheme. In their complaint, the investors accused...
