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Updating the Multi-Door Courthouse
December 11, 2013
The classic notion of a “multidoor” courthouse needs in order to be significantly reformed based on experience and current needs in order to develop efficient court screening processes for determining which cases will benefit from mediation and which will not, according to Barry Edwards in “Renovating the Multi-Door Courthouse: Designing Trial Court Dispute Resolution Systems to Improve Results and Control Costs” (Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Spring 2013). The lengthy...
December 11, 2013
The classic notion of a “multidoor” courthouse needs in order to be significantly reformed based on experience and current needs in order to develop efficient court screening processes for determining which cases will benefit from mediation and which will not, according to Barry Edwards in “Renovating the Multi-Door Courthouse: Designing Trial Court Dispute Resolution Systems to Improve Results and Control Costs” (Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Spring 2013). The lengthy...
Lumen Legal’s Trends for 2014
December 10, 2013
Lumen Legal has published a collection of Legal Trend predictions for 2014. There are insights from Lumen Legal founder David Galbenski, and noted enterprise legal industry leaders Edwin Reeser and Jeffrey Carr. And also me. Here’s one of my prognostications for 2014: Wallbillich also suggests that technology could impact continuing legal education, extending its focus beyond “what the law is” to “how lawyers should work. Forward-thinking lawyers who want a competitive edge need to develop...
December 10, 2013
Lumen Legal has published a collection of Legal Trend predictions for 2014. There are insights from Lumen Legal founder David Galbenski, and noted enterprise legal industry leaders Edwin Reeser and Jeffrey Carr. And also me. Here’s one of my prognostications for 2014: Wallbillich also suggests that technology could impact continuing legal education, extending its focus beyond “what the law is” to “how lawyers should work. Forward-thinking lawyers who want a competitive edge need to develop...
NSA Tracking 5 BILLION Cell Records Daily
December 10, 2013
Billions of cellphone locations are apparently collected daily by the NSA of the “whereabouts of cellphones around the world”...
December 10, 2013
Billions of cellphone locations are apparently collected daily by the NSA of the “whereabouts of cellphones around the world”...
Inside the Litigation Settlement Machine
December 10, 2013
We trial lawyers and our clients are trapped in a litigation settlement machine. The machine is made of various parts that are each added one at a time—some of them well-intentioned, others not—but each added without regard to the operation of the whole. What we have ended up with is an overdesigned and unduly expensive system in which settlement is forced upon lawyers and clients who would really prefer to have their dispute decided, not settled. It is beyond dispute that our system of justice...
December 10, 2013
We trial lawyers and our clients are trapped in a litigation settlement machine. The machine is made of various parts that are each added one at a time—some of them well-intentioned, others not—but each added without regard to the operation of the whole. What we have ended up with is an overdesigned and unduly expensive system in which settlement is forced upon lawyers and clients who would really prefer to have their dispute decided, not settled. It is beyond dispute that our system of justice...
D.C. Avoids Arbitration in $117 Million Lawsuit Against Bank of America
December 10, 2013
The District of Columbia can move forward with a $117 million lawsuit against Bank of America N.A. in connection with an embezzlement scheme carried out by a former city employee, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled last week. Harriette Walters, a former manager in the city's tax office, is serving more than 17 years in jail after pleading guilty to issuing $48 million in fraudulent property tax refunds. The District sued Bank of America in 2008, accusing it of failing to take steps to protect the city's...
December 10, 2013
The District of Columbia can move forward with a $117 million lawsuit against Bank of America N.A. in connection with an embezzlement scheme carried out by a former city employee, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled last week. Harriette Walters, a former manager in the city's tax office, is serving more than 17 years in jail after pleading guilty to issuing $48 million in fraudulent property tax refunds. The District sued Bank of America in 2008, accusing it of failing to take steps to protect the city's...
Jimmy Elf v Santa Claus d/b/a Polar Enterprises
December 10, 2013
In a rush to get an extra bag on his sleigh , Santa ordered Jimmy Elf to lift a bag without the help of other elves. As Jimmy hoisted the bag, he felt a sharp pain in his back and fell forward. As he was falling, Jimmy was nailed in the head by one of Blitzen's hooves, who was already airborne . Santa failed to notice the fallen elf and Jimmy was rushed to Claus Community Hospital. Jimmy was diagnosed with a mild concussion. The MRI revealed a slightly bulging disc, which the ortho-elf attributed...
December 10, 2013
In a rush to get an extra bag on his sleigh , Santa ordered Jimmy Elf to lift a bag without the help of other elves. As Jimmy hoisted the bag, he felt a sharp pain in his back and fell forward. As he was falling, Jimmy was nailed in the head by one of Blitzen's hooves, who was already airborne . Santa failed to notice the fallen elf and Jimmy was rushed to Claus Community Hospital. Jimmy was diagnosed with a mild concussion. The MRI revealed a slightly bulging disc, which the ortho-elf attributed...
Reproducible Research as an Aspirational Goal for Legal Metrics
December 9, 2013
In the sciences, a recent movement is often referred to as “reproducible research.” What it espouses is a philosophy...
December 9, 2013
In the sciences, a recent movement is often referred to as “reproducible research.” What it espouses is a philosophy...
Learning From Past Mistakes With Predictive Analytics
December 9, 2013
Exchanges and investment firms are testing the waters with a real-time predictive analytics platform to make better evidence-based decisions. History is destined to repeat itself, but what if a trader had a crystal ball? Could firms avoid repeating past mistakes and improve efficiency? Verdande Technology, provider of real-time Case-Based Reasoning technology, believes it can. Verdande began as an academic study with a focus on oil rigs. Data was taken in real-time off a rig and correlated...
December 9, 2013
Exchanges and investment firms are testing the waters with a real-time predictive analytics platform to make better evidence-based decisions. History is destined to repeat itself, but what if a trader had a crystal ball? Could firms avoid repeating past mistakes and improve efficiency? Verdande Technology, provider of real-time Case-Based Reasoning technology, believes it can. Verdande began as an academic study with a focus on oil rigs. Data was taken in real-time off a rig and correlated...
Big Securities Class Action? Opt-Outs May Follow
December 9, 2013
A new report from Cornerstone Research and Latham & Watkins indicates that the larger the securities class action settlement, the more likely it is that at least some class members will jump ship and go it alone.“Opt-Out Cases in Securities Class Action Settlements” examines 15 years' worth of publicly available documentation, and is believed by its authors to be the first systematic study on the topic. Amir Rozen, a principal at Cornerstone Research, a firm providing economic and financial...
December 9, 2013
A new report from Cornerstone Research and Latham & Watkins indicates that the larger the securities class action settlement, the more likely it is that at least some class members will jump ship and go it alone.“Opt-Out Cases in Securities Class Action Settlements” examines 15 years' worth of publicly available documentation, and is believed by its authors to be the first systematic study on the topic. Amir Rozen, a principal at Cornerstone Research, a firm providing economic and financial...
Litigators Eye AAA Rules Allowing Appeal of Arbitral Decisions
December 9, 2013
For the first time, parties in a dispute before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) can opt for built-in appellate review of arbitral awards. But reception to the new AAA appellate rules, which became effective on Nov. 1, has been mixed among Texas litigators. The AAA's optional appellate rules can only be used when there is an agreement between the parties, and the rules only allow parties to appeal based on errors of law and clearly erroneous determinations of fact. The AAA appellate...
December 9, 2013
For the first time, parties in a dispute before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) can opt for built-in appellate review of arbitral awards. But reception to the new AAA appellate rules, which became effective on Nov. 1, has been mixed among Texas litigators. The AAA's optional appellate rules can only be used when there is an agreement between the parties, and the rules only allow parties to appeal based on errors of law and clearly erroneous determinations of fact. The AAA appellate...
