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Dodd-Frank Only Precludes Arbitration of Whistleblower Actions
May 19, 2014
The Fourth Circuit found this week that the Dodd-Frank Act did not override all arbitration agreements between publicly-traded employers and their employees. Santoro v. Accenture Federal Servs., LLC, 2014 WL 1759072 (4th Cir. May 5, 2014). Instead, “where the plaintiff is not pursuing Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims, neither [section of the Dodd-Frank Act] overrides the FAA’s mandate that arbitration agreements are enforceable.” This case involved the termination of a 66-year-old Accenture...
May 19, 2014
The Fourth Circuit found this week that the Dodd-Frank Act did not override all arbitration agreements between publicly-traded employers and their employees. Santoro v. Accenture Federal Servs., LLC, 2014 WL 1759072 (4th Cir. May 5, 2014). Instead, “where the plaintiff is not pursuing Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims, neither [section of the Dodd-Frank Act] overrides the FAA’s mandate that arbitration agreements are enforceable.” This case involved the termination of a 66-year-old Accenture...
Liquidated Damages in Settlement Agreement Are Unenforceable Penalty in California, If Not Related to Actual Loss Suffered
May 19, 2014
A liquidated damages clause requiring payment of the entire $85,000 in dispute, which was settled in an agreement requiring payment of only $38,000, was held by a California appellate court to be an unenforceable penalty as there was no reasonable relationship to the damages actually suffered by the failure to make a timely payment of the settlement amount, notwithstanding an express waiver of any challenges to the liquidated damages in the settlement. Purcell v. Schweitzer, No. D063435 (Cal....
May 19, 2014
A liquidated damages clause requiring payment of the entire $85,000 in dispute, which was settled in an agreement requiring payment of only $38,000, was held by a California appellate court to be an unenforceable penalty as there was no reasonable relationship to the damages actually suffered by the failure to make a timely payment of the settlement amount, notwithstanding an express waiver of any challenges to the liquidated damages in the settlement. Purcell v. Schweitzer, No. D063435 (Cal....
Visual Law Services are Worth a Thousand Words—and Big Money (via ABA Journal)
May 19, 2014
Mike and I have been on this beat for quite a while and are happy to see this getting coverage. The basic proposition is that...
May 19, 2014
Mike and I have been on this beat for quite a while and are happy to see this getting coverage. The basic proposition is that...
Visual Law Featured in New ABA Journal Cover Article
May 18, 2014
Visualization of legal information is the focus of Bob Ambrogi’s cover article in the new issue of ABA Journal: Visual...
May 18, 2014
Visualization of legal information is the focus of Bob Ambrogi’s cover article in the new issue of ABA Journal: Visual...
What Matters in the ABA Employment Data?
May 18, 2014
The new ABA employment summary report for the class of 2013 appeared recently, and the data prompted a flurry of analysis on blogs and elsewhere (see collected analysis here.) A great deal of the analysis deals with sorting out which of the reported categories are important (and indeed, which of them are even "good" and "bad"). The report includes approximately 150 categories of employment and unemployment, many overlapping with one another. So what really counts in the ABA employment data?...
May 18, 2014
The new ABA employment summary report for the class of 2013 appeared recently, and the data prompted a flurry of analysis on blogs and elsewhere (see collected analysis here.) A great deal of the analysis deals with sorting out which of the reported categories are important (and indeed, which of them are even "good" and "bad"). The report includes approximately 150 categories of employment and unemployment, many overlapping with one another. So what really counts in the ABA employment data?...
Bryan Garner Discusses the Latest Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary
May 18, 2014
Here is an interesting factoid for you: David Lat, editor of the blog Above the Law, is credited with coining three of the 7,500...
May 18, 2014
Here is an interesting factoid for you: David Lat, editor of the blog Above the Law, is credited with coining three of the 7,500...
Surden: Video of Computable Contracts Presentation
May 18, 2014
Professor Harry Surden of the University of Colorado has posted a video of his presentation entitled Computable Contracts, given 7 February 2014 at ReInvent Law NYC. The video is available at ReInvent Law Channel, published by Professor Dr. Daniel Martin Katz and Professor Renee Newman Knake of the ReInvent Law Laboratoryat Michigan State University. The presentation is based on Professor Surden’s paper, Computable Contracts, UC Davis Law Review, Vol. 46, pp. 629-700 (2012). Here...
May 18, 2014
Professor Harry Surden of the University of Colorado has posted a video of his presentation entitled Computable Contracts, given 7 February 2014 at ReInvent Law NYC. The video is available at ReInvent Law Channel, published by Professor Dr. Daniel Martin Katz and Professor Renee Newman Knake of the ReInvent Law Laboratoryat Michigan State University. The presentation is based on Professor Surden’s paper, Computable Contracts, UC Davis Law Review, Vol. 46, pp. 629-700 (2012). Here...
Social Media Request for Production That Got It Right
May 18, 2014
Requesting social media relevant to a lawsuit should be done as standard operating procedure now. However, some attorney...
May 18, 2014
Requesting social media relevant to a lawsuit should be done as standard operating procedure now. However, some attorney...
Law Student Job Hunting Tips from Texas Lawyer
May 17, 2014
While the advice about the key importance of networking, networking and more networking is nothing new to law students conducting a job search in a very tough market, the author of this column from Texas Lawyer provides some concrete suggestions about which organizations and groups students should devote their networking energies. Similarly the advice about volunteering to write blog posts or articles for local bar journals as a way of marketing yourself is also nothing new, it's important...
May 17, 2014
While the advice about the key importance of networking, networking and more networking is nothing new to law students conducting a job search in a very tough market, the author of this column from Texas Lawyer provides some concrete suggestions about which organizations and groups students should devote their networking energies. Similarly the advice about volunteering to write blog posts or articles for local bar journals as a way of marketing yourself is also nothing new, it's important...
LinkedIn Connects with Evernote to Scan Business Cards
May 17, 2014
LinkedIn had a nifty little app called CardMunch which turned business cards into contacts. So, of course, they’re shutting it down. Fortunately, they’re offering the same service by deepening their partnership with an even niftier app, Evernote: LinkedIn members can scan a business card using Evernote’s mobile app and then directly connect with this contact on LinkedIn to maintain the new relationship. Evernote’s card scanning service is fast, reliable, and literally world-class, with...
May 17, 2014
LinkedIn had a nifty little app called CardMunch which turned business cards into contacts. So, of course, they’re shutting it down. Fortunately, they’re offering the same service by deepening their partnership with an even niftier app, Evernote: LinkedIn members can scan a business card using Evernote’s mobile app and then directly connect with this contact on LinkedIn to maintain the new relationship. Evernote’s card scanning service is fast, reliable, and literally world-class, with...
