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Litigation Financing and Mass Torts
April 3, 2014
In "Would Litigation Financing Improve Mass Torts," the National Law Journal examines an article by ProfessorByron Stier suggesting that plaintiffs should be allowed to sell their claims to financial entities. As Chris mentioned in an earlier post, Byron's article was part of the "Perspectives on Mass Tort Litgiation" symposium held at Widener last April.
April 3, 2014
In "Would Litigation Financing Improve Mass Torts," the National Law Journal examines an article by ProfessorByron Stier suggesting that plaintiffs should be allowed to sell their claims to financial entities. As Chris mentioned in an earlier post, Byron's article was part of the "Perspectives on Mass Tort Litgiation" symposium held at Widener last April.
How to Keep Calm and Carry On
April 3, 2014
One of my scientific heroes, positive-psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson, published a study a few years ago showing that the largest variable in determining our level of life satisfaction is resilience – the ability to bounce back quickly from life’s small and large upsets. It wasn’t having a great boss or a happy family or regular vacations, but the capacity to get our emotional balance back when we are blown off balance by negative emotions. Easier said than done, you say – “I...
April 3, 2014
One of my scientific heroes, positive-psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson, published a study a few years ago showing that the largest variable in determining our level of life satisfaction is resilience – the ability to bounce back quickly from life’s small and large upsets. It wasn’t having a great boss or a happy family or regular vacations, but the capacity to get our emotional balance back when we are blown off balance by negative emotions. Easier said than done, you say – “I...
Nussbaum – Lessons on Language: Ken Cloke’s Dance of Opposites
April 3, 2014
Ken’s talk at UNLV focused primarily on the language of conflict. Agreeing with Mark Twain’s observation that “kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,” Ken used examples to illustrate how deconstructing the language of conflict by its grammar, syntax, myth, archetype, and metaphor exposes the deeper meaning of the parties’ conflict. Take grammar for example. A characteristic structure for conflict sentence is: PRONOUN + VERB + ACCUSATION (JUDGMENT). ...
April 3, 2014
Ken’s talk at UNLV focused primarily on the language of conflict. Agreeing with Mark Twain’s observation that “kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,” Ken used examples to illustrate how deconstructing the language of conflict by its grammar, syntax, myth, archetype, and metaphor exposes the deeper meaning of the parties’ conflict. Take grammar for example. A characteristic structure for conflict sentence is: PRONOUN + VERB + ACCUSATION (JUDGMENT). ...
Progress in Detroit Bankruptcy Mediation
April 3, 2014
The federal judge overseeing mediation in Detroit met with Michigan’s top two legislators to determine their willingness to help resolve the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy. The Michigan Senate and House are both Republican-controlled and lawmakers have proposed using a nearly billion-dollar state surplus to cut taxes. Bloomberg Businessweek (January 16, 2014) The federal judge acting as lead mediator was criticized by several major financial creditors and Detroit’s two pension...
April 3, 2014
The federal judge overseeing mediation in Detroit met with Michigan’s top two legislators to determine their willingness to help resolve the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy. The Michigan Senate and House are both Republican-controlled and lawmakers have proposed using a nearly billion-dollar state surplus to cut taxes. Bloomberg Businessweek (January 16, 2014) The federal judge acting as lead mediator was criticized by several major financial creditors and Detroit’s two pension...
Predicting the Future – Digital Life in 2025
April 3, 2014
Pew reported it canvassed “2,558 experts and technology builders” who “predict the Internet will become ‘like electricity’ — less visible, yet more deeply embedded in people’s lives for good and ill.” Included in the Report were my comments about education by 2025: The greatest social change between now and 2025 will be to raise the educational standards for people regardless of their locale. The Internet has already proven to be a great educational tool, and such wonderful bodies...
April 3, 2014
Pew reported it canvassed “2,558 experts and technology builders” who “predict the Internet will become ‘like electricity’ — less visible, yet more deeply embedded in people’s lives for good and ill.” Included in the Report were my comments about education by 2025: The greatest social change between now and 2025 will be to raise the educational standards for people regardless of their locale. The Internet has already proven to be a great educational tool, and such wonderful bodies...
The Jury Trial is Dying: Should We Mourn its Demise? at NYU
April 2, 2014
Jury trials in civil cases are part of our Bill of Rights, and the jury trial has always been thought of as a pillar of American democracy. In practice, however, it is increasingly rare. Why is this happening? What does the demise of the jury trial mean for our civil justice system? Does it change democratic citizenship? Can the trend be reversed? Should we try, or just allow the jury trial become a relic of an earlier time? Our distinguished panel of trial and appellate lawyers and academic experts...
April 2, 2014
Jury trials in civil cases are part of our Bill of Rights, and the jury trial has always been thought of as a pillar of American democracy. In practice, however, it is increasingly rare. Why is this happening? What does the demise of the jury trial mean for our civil justice system? Does it change democratic citizenship? Can the trend be reversed? Should we try, or just allow the jury trial become a relic of an earlier time? Our distinguished panel of trial and appellate lawyers and academic experts...
The Neuroscience of Rationalizing Our Mistakes
April 2, 2014
Many of us have a hard time admitting when we’re wrong, but, even more so, we don’t like admitting that something about...
April 2, 2014
Many of us have a hard time admitting when we’re wrong, but, even more so, we don’t like admitting that something about...
Mysterious Brain Region That is Vital to How You Decide
April 2, 2014
Whether you’re choosing between job offers or deciding which car or house to buy, this region is probably involved. One of the smallest parts of the brain has a vital role in decision-making, a new study suggests. The area of the brain, the lateral habenula, near the centre, has previously been associated with avoidant behaviour and depression, but is now being looked at again. Professor Stan Floresco, one of the study’s authors said: “These findings clarify the brain processes involved...
April 2, 2014
Whether you’re choosing between job offers or deciding which car or house to buy, this region is probably involved. One of the smallest parts of the brain has a vital role in decision-making, a new study suggests. The area of the brain, the lateral habenula, near the centre, has previously been associated with avoidant behaviour and depression, but is now being looked at again. Professor Stan Floresco, one of the study’s authors said: “These findings clarify the brain processes involved...
How Body Language Lets Us Down
April 2, 2014
It is not just ordinary humans who want to believe in the power of body language. The New York Times just posted John Tierney’s article, “At airports, a misplaced faith in body language.” Tierney notes that the federal government poured about $1 billion into training airport personnel to tell if you might be a terrorist just by looking at your nonverbal behaviors as you stand in line waiting to get screened. (I discussed the program here previously.) The problem with relying...
April 2, 2014
It is not just ordinary humans who want to believe in the power of body language. The New York Times just posted John Tierney’s article, “At airports, a misplaced faith in body language.” Tierney notes that the federal government poured about $1 billion into training airport personnel to tell if you might be a terrorist just by looking at your nonverbal behaviors as you stand in line waiting to get screened. (I discussed the program here previously.) The problem with relying...
Wage Depression RICO Claims Getting Twiqbal’d
April 2, 2014
Some scholars are skeptical that the new Twombly/Iqbal pleading standard has really changed much of anything in employment discrimination cases. But the new plausibility standard appears to be having a real, discernable effect in a different type of employment law case – RICO claims for depressed wages. In these cases, legal workers allege that their employers have engaged in an unlawful criminal enterprise involving the violation of federal immigration law while hiring undocumented workers. ...
April 2, 2014
Some scholars are skeptical that the new Twombly/Iqbal pleading standard has really changed much of anything in employment discrimination cases. But the new plausibility standard appears to be having a real, discernable effect in a different type of employment law case – RICO claims for depressed wages. In these cases, legal workers allege that their employers have engaged in an unlawful criminal enterprise involving the violation of federal immigration law while hiring undocumented workers. ...
