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A Motion to Compel Arbitration “Answers” a Complaint
May 15, 2014
I field a lot of good procedural questions about how arbitration pleadings should be styled. Some of them are answered within...
May 15, 2014
I field a lot of good procedural questions about how arbitration pleadings should be styled. Some of them are answered within...
Term Sheet from Mediation Admissible If Settlement Reached, Regardless of Confidentiality Agreement
May 15, 2014
After the parties signed a term sheet in mediation to resolve a class action, one side tried to prevent the document from being introduced in court based on a mediation confidentiality agreement, but a federal trial court concluded that if a full settlement had been reached the term sheet would be admissible regardless of the confidentiality agreement, and the court could review the document to make that determination. The court noted that neither the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit...
May 15, 2014
After the parties signed a term sheet in mediation to resolve a class action, one side tried to prevent the document from being introduced in court based on a mediation confidentiality agreement, but a federal trial court concluded that if a full settlement had been reached the term sheet would be admissible regardless of the confidentiality agreement, and the court could review the document to make that determination. The court noted that neither the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit...
More on FINRA’s Ruling in the Schwab Class Action Waiver Case
May 15, 2014
I blogged yesterday (here) about FINRA’s Board of Governors’ Decision finding that Schwab violated FINRA’s rules by inserting a class action waiver in the PDAA in its customer agreement. A few additional aspects of the decision are worth mentioning. First, FINRA’s Enforcement Department appealed the lower hearing panel’s adverse ruling to FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (NAC), the body that typically hears appeals from Disciplinary Hearing Panel rulings. Yet, the Board of Governors,...
May 15, 2014
I blogged yesterday (here) about FINRA’s Board of Governors’ Decision finding that Schwab violated FINRA’s rules by inserting a class action waiver in the PDAA in its customer agreement. A few additional aspects of the decision are worth mentioning. First, FINRA’s Enforcement Department appealed the lower hearing panel’s adverse ruling to FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (NAC), the body that typically hears appeals from Disciplinary Hearing Panel rulings. Yet, the Board of Governors,...
FINRA Reverses Hearing Panel in Schwab Enforcement Case: Class Action Waiver Violates FINRA Rules
May 14, 2014
In a stunning but hoped-for result (based on am amicus brief I co-authored in the case), FINRA’s Board of Governors reversed a disciplinary hearing panel decision in the FINRA v Schwab enforcement action. (See some of my previous blog posts on the subject, here, here and here.) That hearing panel had held, among other things, that Schwab’s class action waiver in its standard customer agreement’s pre-dispute arbitration clause violated FINRA rules but those rules could not be enforced...
May 14, 2014
In a stunning but hoped-for result (based on am amicus brief I co-authored in the case), FINRA’s Board of Governors reversed a disciplinary hearing panel decision in the FINRA v Schwab enforcement action. (See some of my previous blog posts on the subject, here, here and here.) That hearing panel had held, among other things, that Schwab’s class action waiver in its standard customer agreement’s pre-dispute arbitration clause violated FINRA rules but those rules could not be enforced...
Finessing Tech to Navigate Immigration Mazes
May 14, 2014
Hats off to the legal wranglers of the capaciously complex beast that is immigration law. The practice area features land mines of law, rules, forms and filings. If anything demanded a techno-fix or two to help streamline processes, immigration practice was it. Julie Pearl owns the quintessential URL—immigrationlaw.com—for her small but mighty 12-attorney, four-partner San Francisco-based Pearl Law Group. Not every firm website’s “About Us” page boasts a separate menu tab, “Technology”...
May 14, 2014
Hats off to the legal wranglers of the capaciously complex beast that is immigration law. The practice area features land mines of law, rules, forms and filings. If anything demanded a techno-fix or two to help streamline processes, immigration practice was it. Julie Pearl owns the quintessential URL—immigrationlaw.com—for her small but mighty 12-attorney, four-partner San Francisco-based Pearl Law Group. Not every firm website’s “About Us” page boasts a separate menu tab, “Technology”...
FRCP E-Discovery Rule 37(e) Revision Is Pending
May 14, 2014
At its May 29-30, 2014 meeting, the U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure will be asked to approve a new Rule 37(e) as proposed by the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to govern the failure of parties to preserve electronically stored information “that should have been preserved.” The new rule—along with its Committee Note—is part of a package of civil rule amendments developed by the Rules Committee in the wake of the 2010 Civil...
May 14, 2014
At its May 29-30, 2014 meeting, the U.S. Judicial Conference's Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure will be asked to approve a new Rule 37(e) as proposed by the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to govern the failure of parties to preserve electronically stored information “that should have been preserved.” The new rule—along with its Committee Note—is part of a package of civil rule amendments developed by the Rules Committee in the wake of the 2010 Civil...
Insurer’s Due Process Rights Trumps California’s Mediation Confidentiality Statute
May 14, 2014
A federal trial court concluded that California’s strict mediation confidentiality provisions were not applicable in a bad faith claim by homeowners against their insurer, as the insurer needed to be able to show that its failure to settle the case was the result of the homeowners’ excessive demands in mediation. The court relied on the seminal California Supreme Court case, Cassel v. Superior Court, in which due process is recognized as a limit on the mediation confidentiality statute, even...
May 14, 2014
A federal trial court concluded that California’s strict mediation confidentiality provisions were not applicable in a bad faith claim by homeowners against their insurer, as the insurer needed to be able to show that its failure to settle the case was the result of the homeowners’ excessive demands in mediation. The court relied on the seminal California Supreme Court case, Cassel v. Superior Court, in which due process is recognized as a limit on the mediation confidentiality statute, even...
(Yawn) Lawyers Are the Most Sleep-Deprived
May 14, 2014
“Good night my someone, goodnight, my lawyer.” Though not quite the lyrics from "The Music Man," perhaps Marian was onto something. According to Donalee Moulton in The Lawyers Weekly, lawyers are among the most sleep-deprived of all workers. “For lawyers, insomnia is often caused by an inability to shut down our brains,” Cheryl Canning, a partner at a litigation firm in Canada, told Moulton. “We have so many pressures and deadlines, both in the office and with family,” she said....
May 14, 2014
“Good night my someone, goodnight, my lawyer.” Though not quite the lyrics from "The Music Man," perhaps Marian was onto something. According to Donalee Moulton in The Lawyers Weekly, lawyers are among the most sleep-deprived of all workers. “For lawyers, insomnia is often caused by an inability to shut down our brains,” Cheryl Canning, a partner at a litigation firm in Canada, told Moulton. “We have so many pressures and deadlines, both in the office and with family,” she said....
The Dance of Opposites
May 13, 2014
“Rather than proclaim abstract universal principles, or assert the priority of liberty over equality, or impose one approach...
May 13, 2014
“Rather than proclaim abstract universal principles, or assert the priority of liberty over equality, or impose one approach...
Survey: Law Firms Are Guilty of Info Overkill
May 13, 2014
To stand out from the crowd, more firms are taking to the Web to showcase their wins and services. But is it too much? As Kevin O’Keefe explains on Real Lawyers Have Blogs, the 2014 State of Digital and Content Marketing Survey shows that corporate lawyers often feel overwhelmed by the large amounts of content that firms are producing. O’Keefe says the survey, released by ALM Legal Intelligence (an affiliate of CorpCounsel.com), Greentarget, and the Zeughauser Group, implies that firms need...
May 13, 2014
To stand out from the crowd, more firms are taking to the Web to showcase their wins and services. But is it too much? As Kevin O’Keefe explains on Real Lawyers Have Blogs, the 2014 State of Digital and Content Marketing Survey shows that corporate lawyers often feel overwhelmed by the large amounts of content that firms are producing. O’Keefe says the survey, released by ALM Legal Intelligence (an affiliate of CorpCounsel.com), Greentarget, and the Zeughauser Group, implies that firms need...
