Menu
Blog Archives
10 Things Judges Can Do To Help Business Litigation Be More Efficient and Less Expensive
May 5, 2014
For most companies, litigation is the law department’s single biggest line-item expense. For many individuals, litigation is just too expensive to pursue. The expense is ever-increasing as e-discovery becomes more and more costly. There is now an entire industry whose mission is to increase the cost of the discovery process while simultaneously touting their cost-saving attributes. Litigants, even sophisticated companies, often find themselves caught in tangled mess of barbed wire, caught amongst...
May 5, 2014
For most companies, litigation is the law department’s single biggest line-item expense. For many individuals, litigation is just too expensive to pursue. The expense is ever-increasing as e-discovery becomes more and more costly. There is now an entire industry whose mission is to increase the cost of the discovery process while simultaneously touting their cost-saving attributes. Litigants, even sophisticated companies, often find themselves caught in tangled mess of barbed wire, caught amongst...
Texas Lawyer’s Annual Firm Finance Report: Which Firms Were in the Money?
May 5, 2014
Financially, 2013 was a so-so year for many of the 25 highest-grossing firms in Texas. That's largely because a madhouse of deals in late 2012, spurred by tax law changes, siphoned work out of the first months of 2013. The 25 highest-grossing firms in Texas brought in gross revenue totaling $5.0 billion in 2013, down from $5.4 billion in 2012. Gross revenue in 2013 fell at more than half of the firms compared with 2012, although the declines were small in most cases. Despite that, a number...
May 5, 2014
Financially, 2013 was a so-so year for many of the 25 highest-grossing firms in Texas. That's largely because a madhouse of deals in late 2012, spurred by tax law changes, siphoned work out of the first months of 2013. The 25 highest-grossing firms in Texas brought in gross revenue totaling $5.0 billion in 2013, down from $5.4 billion in 2012. Gross revenue in 2013 fell at more than half of the firms compared with 2012, although the declines were small in most cases. Despite that, a number...
Keeping Up With The Jones Case: Establishing Constructive Trusts In ‘Sole Legal Owner’ Scenarios
May 5, 2014
This paper considers the influence of the Supreme Court decision in Jones v Kernott on subsequent cases. It focuses on situations with which Jones was not directly concerned, namely where there is only one legal owner of a home and a non-legal-owning cohabitant seeks to establish that he has an equitable interest in it under a common intention constructive trust. The paper argues that while judges have mostly accepted that Jones is relevant to such sole-owner cases, they have had few opportunities...
May 5, 2014
This paper considers the influence of the Supreme Court decision in Jones v Kernott on subsequent cases. It focuses on situations with which Jones was not directly concerned, namely where there is only one legal owner of a home and a non-legal-owning cohabitant seeks to establish that he has an equitable interest in it under a common intention constructive trust. The paper argues that while judges have mostly accepted that Jones is relevant to such sole-owner cases, they have had few opportunities...
Canadian Law Firm Opens Offices Inside Walmart Stores
May 4, 2014
Two Canadian lawyers who met while pursuing an MBA have opened a business called Legal Axess which offers discounted legal...
May 4, 2014
Two Canadian lawyers who met while pursuing an MBA have opened a business called Legal Axess which offers discounted legal...
Nate Silver’s Advice to Young Journalists: Learn to Code Now
May 4, 2014
Nate Silver has two tips for young up-and-coming journalists: Work your ass off and learn how to code. Silver, the well-known statistician and founder of FiveThirtyEight, sat down with GeekWire this morning and offered up advice for those looking to establish themselves in the journalism world. While knowing how to write and report are obviously important qualities in a journalist, Silver said that computer programming skills will give potential hires a potent one-two punch. “If you’re...
May 4, 2014
Nate Silver has two tips for young up-and-coming journalists: Work your ass off and learn how to code. Silver, the well-known statistician and founder of FiveThirtyEight, sat down with GeekWire this morning and offered up advice for those looking to establish themselves in the journalism world. While knowing how to write and report are obviously important qualities in a journalist, Silver said that computer programming skills will give potential hires a potent one-two punch. “If you’re...
Study Reveals How College Professors Spend Their Day
May 4, 2014
A professor of anthropology at Boise State conducted a study to find out how professors spend their day and the average number of hours they work each week. His study sample consisted of only 30 (out of 550 Boise State faculty solicited) soProfessor Ziker does not claim that the results can be generalized beyond these particular findings though my hunch is that data he collected reflects a reasonable estimate of the average academic's workload; some work much longer hours while others work...
May 4, 2014
A professor of anthropology at Boise State conducted a study to find out how professors spend their day and the average number of hours they work each week. His study sample consisted of only 30 (out of 550 Boise State faculty solicited) soProfessor Ziker does not claim that the results can be generalized beyond these particular findings though my hunch is that data he collected reflects a reasonable estimate of the average academic's workload; some work much longer hours while others work...
Google Calendar Now Adds Locations from Google Maps
May 4, 2014
Early last week Google teased us with rumors of a new Calendar app update that automatically added locations from Google Maps. The update finally arrived to my device this morning (I could have sideloaded the app, but I was lazy). Admittedly, the new feature isn’t that revolutionary — I kind of thought, “duh, why isn’t this already a feature” — but will show just how important getting on Google is. At least that’s my opinion of what the whole thing means.
May 4, 2014
Early last week Google teased us with rumors of a new Calendar app update that automatically added locations from Google Maps. The update finally arrived to my device this morning (I could have sideloaded the app, but I was lazy). Admittedly, the new feature isn’t that revolutionary — I kind of thought, “duh, why isn’t this already a feature” — but will show just how important getting on Google is. At least that’s my opinion of what the whole thing means.
Lawyer Gets 10 Years in Double-Billing Case
May 3, 2014
A Texas lawyer accused of double-billing Bexar County for indigent defense work and forging judges' signatures on payment vouchers has been sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty in March to forgery and securing execution of a document by deception. Hilda Valadez, 52, who was once the most prolific court-appointed defense lawyer in the county, had originally faced 46 felony counts. Her sentence could be commuted to probation within the next six months by Judge Stephen Ables, who retained...
May 3, 2014
A Texas lawyer accused of double-billing Bexar County for indigent defense work and forging judges' signatures on payment vouchers has been sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty in March to forgery and securing execution of a document by deception. Hilda Valadez, 52, who was once the most prolific court-appointed defense lawyer in the county, had originally faced 46 felony counts. Her sentence could be commuted to probation within the next six months by Judge Stephen Ables, who retained...
Equity-Indexed Structured Settlements
May 3, 2014
In a market desperate for innovation, Pacific Life Insurance Company appears to have answered the call with a new, optional "Indexed-Linked Annuity Adjustment Payment Rider" (ILAAPR) for its structured settlement products. Although life insurance companies first offered equity-indexed annuities during the mid-1990's to compete with indexed mutual funds, Pacific Life's ILAAPR represents the first U.S. equity-indexed structured settlement option. Pacific Life's ILAAPR is linked to the Standard...
May 3, 2014
In a market desperate for innovation, Pacific Life Insurance Company appears to have answered the call with a new, optional "Indexed-Linked Annuity Adjustment Payment Rider" (ILAAPR) for its structured settlement products. Although life insurance companies first offered equity-indexed annuities during the mid-1990's to compete with indexed mutual funds, Pacific Life's ILAAPR represents the first U.S. equity-indexed structured settlement option. Pacific Life's ILAAPR is linked to the Standard...
