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Is the Law Firm Pyramid Collapsing? BigLaw is Aging With More Partners Than Associates
December 23, 2013
1988 was a peak year for associates in BigLaw. The percentage of associates in the nation’s top 250 law firms was at its highest...
December 23, 2013
1988 was a peak year for associates in BigLaw. The percentage of associates in the nation’s top 250 law firms was at its highest...
Toyota Begins Settlement Negotiations on Acceleration Lawsuits
December 23, 2013
Toyota has announced it will begin negotiations to settle hundreds of pending federal and state lawsuits over the sudden acceleration of its vehicles, the New York Times reports. The announcement comes two months after the Japanese automaker lost a court case in Oklahoma. In that case, a jury found that Toyota Camry’s electronic throttle system was defective. Legal analysts said that the verdict most likely spurred Toyota to pursue a broad settlement of its remaining cases. In July, Toyota...
December 23, 2013
Toyota has announced it will begin negotiations to settle hundreds of pending federal and state lawsuits over the sudden acceleration of its vehicles, the New York Times reports. The announcement comes two months after the Japanese automaker lost a court case in Oklahoma. In that case, a jury found that Toyota Camry’s electronic throttle system was defective. Legal analysts said that the verdict most likely spurred Toyota to pursue a broad settlement of its remaining cases. In July, Toyota...
Texas Supreme Court Agrees to Consider What Constitutes Arbitrator Evident Partiality
December 23, 2013
The Supreme Court of Texas has agreed to consider whether an arbitration award in a dispute between two energy companies should be upheld. In Tenaska Energy Inc. et al. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy LLC, No. 12-0789, Ponderosa sought $200 million from Tenaska over a breached power plant purchase agreement. The parties engaged in arbitration before a three-member panel and Ponderosa was awarded $125 million. Following arbitration, Ponderosa sought to confirm the panel’s award. Tenaska...
December 23, 2013
The Supreme Court of Texas has agreed to consider whether an arbitration award in a dispute between two energy companies should be upheld. In Tenaska Energy Inc. et al. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy LLC, No. 12-0789, Ponderosa sought $200 million from Tenaska over a breached power plant purchase agreement. The parties engaged in arbitration before a three-member panel and Ponderosa was awarded $125 million. Following arbitration, Ponderosa sought to confirm the panel’s award. Tenaska...
NY Office of Court Administration Seeks Comments on Mandatory Mediation Pilot
December 23, 2013
The Commercial Division Advisory Council has recommended adoption of a mandatory mediation pilot program that would apply to “every fifth newly assigned case” in the Commercial Division, New York County. The comment period ends February 11, 2014. Persons wishing to comment should e-mail their submissions to CommDivMedPilot@nycourts.gov or write to: John W. McConnell, Esq., Counsel, Office of Court Administration, 25 Beaver Street, 11th Fl., New York, New York 10004. Download NY Office of Court...
December 23, 2013
The Commercial Division Advisory Council has recommended adoption of a mandatory mediation pilot program that would apply to “every fifth newly assigned case” in the Commercial Division, New York County. The comment period ends February 11, 2014. Persons wishing to comment should e-mail their submissions to CommDivMedPilot@nycourts.gov or write to: John W. McConnell, Esq., Counsel, Office of Court Administration, 25 Beaver Street, 11th Fl., New York, New York 10004. Download NY Office of Court...
NORAD: Santa to be Accompanied by Fighter Jets This Year
December 22, 2013
Santa is to get a US military escort on his big night this year. But (don’t tell the kids) it’s not entirely real. There’s no point getting out your telescope as the escort in question will only be visible on a streaming video operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD (and its predecessor CONAD) has run the tracker in various forms since 1955. The story goes that a department store published a number for a “phone Santa” line but a misprint meant calls...
December 22, 2013
Santa is to get a US military escort on his big night this year. But (don’t tell the kids) it’s not entirely real. There’s no point getting out your telescope as the escort in question will only be visible on a streaming video operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD (and its predecessor CONAD) has run the tracker in various forms since 1955. The story goes that a department store published a number for a “phone Santa” line but a misprint meant calls...
Lawyer Sues ‘Fortune Teller’ for Fraud After Alleged Theft
December 22, 2013
Houston attorney Michael G. Busby Jr. paid a Houston "fortune teller" $30 for a tarot card reading on Dec. 4 and $500 for a "ritual to reunite husband and wife." He also alleges in a lawsuit filed on Dec. 16 that he gave her $2,700 in cash in a box on Dec. 6 so she could "cleanse" it and return it to him four hours later, but she has failed to return the money. In fact, Busby, whose firm does bankruptcy and family law, alleges in the petition that Melena Thorn, by and through her in-laws...
December 22, 2013
Houston attorney Michael G. Busby Jr. paid a Houston "fortune teller" $30 for a tarot card reading on Dec. 4 and $500 for a "ritual to reunite husband and wife." He also alleges in a lawsuit filed on Dec. 16 that he gave her $2,700 in cash in a box on Dec. 6 so she could "cleanse" it and return it to him four hours later, but she has failed to return the money. In fact, Busby, whose firm does bankruptcy and family law, alleges in the petition that Melena Thorn, by and through her in-laws...
AIPLA Taps Lex Machina for Legal Analytics
December 22, 2013
The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and Lex Machina, a leader in legal analytics, have joined forces...
December 22, 2013
The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and Lex Machina, a leader in legal analytics, have joined forces...
Your Boss Wants to be Nate Silver
December 22, 2013
When the Toronto Raptors traded small forward Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 8, the stats geeks who follow professional basketball exulted. The news that Toronto was dumping Gay provided definitive proof, in their minds, of the value of “advanced statistics.” For years, they’d claimed that a set of statistical methods — basically basketball’s version of Sabermetrics – exposed Gay as overcompensated and underperforming. The eyeball test says that Gay looks like a prototypically...
December 22, 2013
When the Toronto Raptors traded small forward Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 8, the stats geeks who follow professional basketball exulted. The news that Toronto was dumping Gay provided definitive proof, in their minds, of the value of “advanced statistics.” For years, they’d claimed that a set of statistical methods — basically basketball’s version of Sabermetrics – exposed Gay as overcompensated and underperforming. The eyeball test says that Gay looks like a prototypically...
Google Adds to Its Menagerie of Robots
December 22, 2013
<nyt_text> BigDog, Cheetah, WildCat and Atlas have joined Google’s growing robot menagerie. Google confirmed on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon. The company, based in Waltham, Mass., has gained an international reputation for machines that walk with an uncanny sense of balance and even — cheetahlike — run faster than the fastest humans. It is the eighth robotics company...
December 22, 2013
<nyt_text> BigDog, Cheetah, WildCat and Atlas have joined Google’s growing robot menagerie. Google confirmed on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon. The company, based in Waltham, Mass., has gained an international reputation for machines that walk with an uncanny sense of balance and even — cheetahlike — run faster than the fastest humans. It is the eighth robotics company...
Modus Releases Workflow Software After Partnering With ACC
December 21, 2013
In October, Modus, an e-discovery and data management company, wasselected by the Association of Corporate Counsel as its "premier e-discovery alliance partner." As part of that new partnership, Modus now offers ACC members a complimentary discovery readiness assessment, which includes a workshop that helps organizations analyze their data to effectively manage it for discovery requirements—not discrete litigation needs. CEO Abtin Buergari told LTN that he developed Modus to provide an electronic...
December 21, 2013
In October, Modus, an e-discovery and data management company, wasselected by the Association of Corporate Counsel as its "premier e-discovery alliance partner." As part of that new partnership, Modus now offers ACC members a complimentary discovery readiness assessment, which includes a workshop that helps organizations analyze their data to effectively manage it for discovery requirements—not discrete litigation needs. CEO Abtin Buergari told LTN that he developed Modus to provide an electronic...
