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Valuing IP Claims: Google Sells Handset Business to Lenovo at Loss
January 29, 2014
Lenovo Group Ltd. 0992.HK +4.58% agreed to buy Google Inc. GOOG -1.43% 's Motorola Mobility unit for $2.91 billion, a deal that reverses the Internet company's short-lived move into smartphone hardware. The deal will transfer the Motorola handset business to the Chinese company, a new entrant into that market that is trying to build its presence rapidly. But Google will retain the vast majority of patents it acquired in its 2012 purchase of Motorola Mobility, a key motivation of the original...
January 29, 2014
Lenovo Group Ltd. 0992.HK +4.58% agreed to buy Google Inc. GOOG -1.43% 's Motorola Mobility unit for $2.91 billion, a deal that reverses the Internet company's short-lived move into smartphone hardware. The deal will transfer the Motorola handset business to the Chinese company, a new entrant into that market that is trying to build its presence rapidly. But Google will retain the vast majority of patents it acquired in its 2012 purchase of Motorola Mobility, a key motivation of the original...
Survey Says Lawyers Receptive to Litigation Funding
January 29, 2014
The practice of litigation financing—using investor money to fund potentially lucrative legal action-- while common in U.K. and Australian courtrooms, has historically been subject to restriction in the United States. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Often the practice goes on behind the scenes in U.S. courts, only coming to light when contested by a courtroom opponent. Attitudes towards the process are lightening, however, and now a number of states are allowing it out in the open. *...
January 29, 2014
The practice of litigation financing—using investor money to fund potentially lucrative legal action-- while common in U.K. and Australian courtrooms, has historically been subject to restriction in the United States. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Often the practice goes on behind the scenes in U.S. courts, only coming to light when contested by a courtroom opponent. Attitudes towards the process are lightening, however, and now a number of states are allowing it out in the open. *...
Choosing Not to Choose
January 29, 2014
Choice is both a great benefit and an immense burden. In some contexts, people choose not to choose, or would do so if they were asked. For example, many people prefer not to make choices about their health or retirement plans; they want to delegate those choices to a private or public institution that they trust (and may well be willing to pay a considerable amount for such delegations). This point suggests that however well-accepted, the line between active choosing and paternalism is often illusory....
January 29, 2014
Choice is both a great benefit and an immense burden. In some contexts, people choose not to choose, or would do so if they were asked. For example, many people prefer not to make choices about their health or retirement plans; they want to delegate those choices to a private or public institution that they trust (and may well be willing to pay a considerable amount for such delegations). This point suggests that however well-accepted, the line between active choosing and paternalism is often illusory....
‘New’ Law.com to be Unveiled Next Week
January 29, 2014
ALM, the parent company of Law.com and an international network of legal and business publications, is slated to launch...
January 29, 2014
ALM, the parent company of Law.com and an international network of legal and business publications, is slated to launch...
It’s All in the Game: Managing Partners Come to Grips with “Gamification”
January 29, 2014
Many managing partners tell us they are struggling to get their arms around new tools and techniques for driving more efficiency and cost-effectiveness into legal service delivery. Firms are seeing more and more RFPs in which clients make increasingly draconian demands for better management and control of legal work. AFAs (alternative fee arrangements) are reshaping not just pricing and profitability, but the whole way in which matters are staffed and billed. * * * Getting Lawyers into the Game So...
January 29, 2014
Many managing partners tell us they are struggling to get their arms around new tools and techniques for driving more efficiency and cost-effectiveness into legal service delivery. Firms are seeing more and more RFPs in which clients make increasingly draconian demands for better management and control of legal work. AFAs (alternative fee arrangements) are reshaping not just pricing and profitability, but the whole way in which matters are staffed and billed. * * * Getting Lawyers into the Game So...
The Empirics of Attorneys’ Fees and Securities Class Actions
January 29, 2014
While prior securities fraud class actions studies under the PSLRA have found that class counsel’s fee requests and awards are lower in cases in which the lead plaintiff is a public institutional investor, prior work has not explained the mechanism that underlies this reduction in agency costs. Specifically, do public funds negotiate better terms with their chosen counsel ex ante than do other lead plaintiffs? Or are judges responsible for the reductions in agency costs, suggesting that the PSLRA...
January 29, 2014
While prior securities fraud class actions studies under the PSLRA have found that class counsel’s fee requests and awards are lower in cases in which the lead plaintiff is a public institutional investor, prior work has not explained the mechanism that underlies this reduction in agency costs. Specifically, do public funds negotiate better terms with their chosen counsel ex ante than do other lead plaintiffs? Or are judges responsible for the reductions in agency costs, suggesting that the PSLRA...
Discovery of Quantum Vibrations Inside Brain Neurons Supports Controversial Theory of Consciousness
January 28, 2014
Recent evidence, though, from researchers led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay has found the proposed quantum vibrations inside microtubules within brain neurons. These microtubules are components of cell scaffolding–they help provide our cells with their structure–that are around 25µm in length. Other research has also found evidence of quantum coherence in living cells. It has been found in our sense of smell, in the parts of bird’s brains responsible for navigation and in plant photosynthesis. Hameroff...
January 28, 2014
Recent evidence, though, from researchers led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay has found the proposed quantum vibrations inside microtubules within brain neurons. These microtubules are components of cell scaffolding–they help provide our cells with their structure–that are around 25µm in length. Other research has also found evidence of quantum coherence in living cells. It has been found in our sense of smell, in the parts of bird’s brains responsible for navigation and in plant photosynthesis. Hameroff...
Patent Litigation Best Practices
January 28, 2014
This webinar is being developed in conjunction with an introductory chapter for a Patent Litigation Best Practices document. This document has the potential to impact judicial decisionmaking at the trial and appellate levels (Judge Taranto referencedThe Sedona Conference Glossary: E-Discovery & Digital Information Management(3rd ed. 2010) numerous times in the CBT Flint Partners, LLC v. Return Path, Inc.opinion), and the panel will take questions by text and telephone during the program. *...
January 28, 2014
This webinar is being developed in conjunction with an introductory chapter for a Patent Litigation Best Practices document. This document has the potential to impact judicial decisionmaking at the trial and appellate levels (Judge Taranto referencedThe Sedona Conference Glossary: E-Discovery & Digital Information Management(3rd ed. 2010) numerous times in the CBT Flint Partners, LLC v. Return Path, Inc.opinion), and the panel will take questions by text and telephone during the program. *...
Managing a Successful Arbitration
January 28, 2014
Managing a Successful Arbitration: A one day event providing attorneys, corporate counsel, HR & business...
January 28, 2014
Managing a Successful Arbitration: A one day event providing attorneys, corporate counsel, HR & business...
ABA Legal Education Task Force Calls for Innovation to Reduce Cost and Improve Value of Law Degrees
January 28, 2014
CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2014 — The American Bar Association Task Force on the Future of Legal Education today released its final report, which calls on law schools, bar associations, regulators and others to redesign the financial model now prevalent in law schools, revise the system that accredits law schools to permit more experimentation and innovation, and expand opportunities for delivery of legal services. "At present, the system faces considerable pressure because of the price many students...
January 28, 2014
CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2014 — The American Bar Association Task Force on the Future of Legal Education today released its final report, which calls on law schools, bar associations, regulators and others to redesign the financial model now prevalent in law schools, revise the system that accredits law schools to permit more experimentation and innovation, and expand opportunities for delivery of legal services. "At present, the system faces considerable pressure because of the price many students...
