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Use Mediation Training to Be a Client-Centered Lawyer
March 19, 2014
As a former litigation lawyer, in-house litigation manager and mediation professor, I’ve come to appreciate how learning basic mediation skills can significantly improve an attorney’s overall legal skills. Like most of my colleagues, I was trained in the adversarial system of justice and believed that to be a “zealous advocate,” my role was to fight for my clients’ rights. After a career at a company where I often saw that legal problems were not the only important issues in a dispute,...
March 19, 2014
As a former litigation lawyer, in-house litigation manager and mediation professor, I’ve come to appreciate how learning basic mediation skills can significantly improve an attorney’s overall legal skills. Like most of my colleagues, I was trained in the adversarial system of justice and believed that to be a “zealous advocate,” my role was to fight for my clients’ rights. After a career at a company where I often saw that legal problems were not the only important issues in a dispute,...
Telling Daughter “Case Settled and We’re Happy With the Result” Violated Confidentiality
March 18, 2014
The school maintains Snay is precluded from enforcing the agreement because he violated a material term, the non-disclosure clause, when he disclosed to his daughter that his case against Gulliver was settled and he was happy with the result. 13. Confidentiality . . . [T]he plaintiff shall not either directly or indirectly, disclose, discuss or communicate to any entity or person,except his attorneys or other professional advisors or spouse any information whatsoever regarding the existence or...
March 18, 2014
The school maintains Snay is precluded from enforcing the agreement because he violated a material term, the non-disclosure clause, when he disclosed to his daughter that his case against Gulliver was settled and he was happy with the result. 13. Confidentiality . . . [T]he plaintiff shall not either directly or indirectly, disclose, discuss or communicate to any entity or person,except his attorneys or other professional advisors or spouse any information whatsoever regarding the existence or...
Teen’s Facebook Post Costs Her Dad $80,000. Oops.
March 18, 2014
So Dana Snay, a Miami teenager, is probably in big trouble right now. As the Miami Herald reports, an appeals court just tossed out her father’s $80,000 age-discrimination settlement because she violated the confidentiality agreement by bragging about it on Facebook. The offending post: Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT. “TMI,” cried Gulliver's lawyers. Patrick Snay had served...
March 18, 2014
So Dana Snay, a Miami teenager, is probably in big trouble right now. As the Miami Herald reports, an appeals court just tossed out her father’s $80,000 age-discrimination settlement because she violated the confidentiality agreement by bragging about it on Facebook. The offending post: Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT. “TMI,” cried Gulliver's lawyers. Patrick Snay had served...
The “Circle of Assent” Doctrine and the Mandatory Pre-Dispute Arbitration Clause: When the Unconscionable Contract Analysis Just Won’t Do
March 18, 2014
Is a mandatory arbitration clause that denies basic due process rights unconscionable? You would think so but think again. The doctrine of unconscionability has technical elements that must be met. Courts around the country have held that the denial of a due process right doesn’t meet the test of substantive unconscionability analysis. Is this the end of the line or is there an alternative analysis that will address the unfairness of such a provision? This article urges that a little known doctrine,...
March 18, 2014
Is a mandatory arbitration clause that denies basic due process rights unconscionable? You would think so but think again. The doctrine of unconscionability has technical elements that must be met. Courts around the country have held that the denial of a due process right doesn’t meet the test of substantive unconscionability analysis. Is this the end of the line or is there an alternative analysis that will address the unfairness of such a provision? This article urges that a little known doctrine,...
Dallas COA Orders Custom Home Dispute to Arbitration
March 18, 2014
The Dallas Court of Appeals has held that a dispute over the construction of a custom home should be arbitrated. In the case, In...
March 18, 2014
The Dallas Court of Appeals has held that a dispute over the construction of a custom home should be arbitrated. In the case, In...
BP Takes Spill Settlement Appeal to Full Fifth Circuit
March 18, 2014
BP PLC has petitioned the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to review a three-judge panel's decision to uphold the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement.
March 18, 2014
BP PLC has petitioned the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to review a three-judge panel's decision to uphold the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement.
Report Shows ‘Real Costs’ of Securities Class Actions
March 18, 2014
Investors each year have lost an average of $39 billion from securities class action lawsuits to collect only about $5 billion in settlements per year since the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995, according to a U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) study released Friday. During the past 18 years, the suits cost shareholders at least $701 billion, while they only recovered about $90 billion, says "Economic Consequences: The Real Costs of U.S. Securities...
March 18, 2014
Investors each year have lost an average of $39 billion from securities class action lawsuits to collect only about $5 billion in settlements per year since the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995, according to a U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) study released Friday. During the past 18 years, the suits cost shareholders at least $701 billion, while they only recovered about $90 billion, says "Economic Consequences: The Real Costs of U.S. Securities...
Fifth Circuit Summary of BP Decision Holding Settlement Did Not Violate Article III
March 17, 2014
In the latest round of appeals in the Deepwater Horizon settlement, the Fifth Circuit issues three opinions, but a panel majority affirms the District Court's conclusion that the language of the Settlement Agreement does not require extrinsic inquiry into causation and that the Settlement Agreement has not violated Article III, Rule 23, or the Rules Enabling Act by eschewing the need for evidence of causation. On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana...
March 17, 2014
In the latest round of appeals in the Deepwater Horizon settlement, the Fifth Circuit issues three opinions, but a panel majority affirms the District Court's conclusion that the language of the Settlement Agreement does not require extrinsic inquiry into causation and that the Settlement Agreement has not violated Article III, Rule 23, or the Rules Enabling Act by eschewing the need for evidence of causation. On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana...
Our Close the Gap App Arrives in Time for Equal Pay Day
March 17, 2014
Close the Gap App™ (sponsored by GoDaddy) is a powerful online tool that takes you on a guided deep dive into your career path. It's like having your very own career or business coach on your desktop or mobile device. Collaboratively designed by She Negotiates' co-founders Lisa Gates and Victoria Pynchon, and author and leadership expert Gloria Feldt of Take the Lead, you can now close that pesky wage and leadership gap for good. You'll start by capturing your education, experience,...
March 17, 2014
Close the Gap App™ (sponsored by GoDaddy) is a powerful online tool that takes you on a guided deep dive into your career path. It's like having your very own career or business coach on your desktop or mobile device. Collaboratively designed by She Negotiates' co-founders Lisa Gates and Victoria Pynchon, and author and leadership expert Gloria Feldt of Take the Lead, you can now close that pesky wage and leadership gap for good. You'll start by capturing your education, experience,...
Manifest Disregard is “Judicial Gloss” on Statutory Ground in Second Circuit
March 17, 2014
In a summary order issued today in TiVo Inc. v. Goldwasser, the Second Circuit upheld the rejection of a manifest disregard of the law challenge. The Court lists the FAA grounds for vacatur and then states the circuit’s position that manifest disregard may be applied as “judicial gloss” on the statutory grounds. The order then devotes around six pages to a review of the petitioner’s legal arguments, finding none shows manifest disregard. The court, towards the end of the order, briefly addresses...
March 17, 2014
In a summary order issued today in TiVo Inc. v. Goldwasser, the Second Circuit upheld the rejection of a manifest disregard of the law challenge. The Court lists the FAA grounds for vacatur and then states the circuit’s position that manifest disregard may be applied as “judicial gloss” on the statutory grounds. The order then devotes around six pages to a review of the petitioner’s legal arguments, finding none shows manifest disregard. The court, towards the end of the order, briefly addresses...
