Blog Archives
Texas Supreme Court to Ring in New Year With Two Arbitration Cases
December 9, 2013
The Texas Supreme Court will hear a pair of cases that present significant questions for the beginning and the end of the arbitration process. Those include whether an "unconscionable attorney fees" provision voids an arbitration agreement and what parties must do to vacate an arbitration award for alleged evident partiality. Those issues arise in Venture Cotton Cooperative and Noble Americas Corp. v. Shelby Alan Freemanand Ponderosa Pine Energy LLC v. Tenaska Energy Inc., on which the high...
December 9, 2013
The Texas Supreme Court will hear a pair of cases that present significant questions for the beginning and the end of the arbitration process. Those include whether an "unconscionable attorney fees" provision voids an arbitration agreement and what parties must do to vacate an arbitration award for alleged evident partiality. Those issues arise in Venture Cotton Cooperative and Noble Americas Corp. v. Shelby Alan Freemanand Ponderosa Pine Energy LLC v. Tenaska Energy Inc., on which the high...
Firm Leaders Survey: Slow Growth on Tap for 2014
December 8, 2013
Just over five years after the start of the global financial crisis, the job of an Am Law 200 law firm leader arguably remains as tough as it has ever been. The painful decisions to cut staff and attorneys may now be a distant memory, at least for most firms, but there remain two distinct drags on Big Law businesses. On the one hand, you have the still-sputtering domestic and global economies, prone to macroeconomic shocks like the U.S. government shutdown in October. And on the other, you have...
December 8, 2013
Just over five years after the start of the global financial crisis, the job of an Am Law 200 law firm leader arguably remains as tough as it has ever been. The painful decisions to cut staff and attorneys may now be a distant memory, at least for most firms, but there remain two distinct drags on Big Law businesses. On the one hand, you have the still-sputtering domestic and global economies, prone to macroeconomic shocks like the U.S. government shutdown in October. And on the other, you have...
‘Astronomically Generous’ Pay for Former Dewey CFO, Executive Director Alleged in Clawback Suit
December 8, 2013
The bankruptcy trustee for Dewey & LeBoeuf is seeking the return of $21.8 million in “astronomically generous” pay from two former leaders of the failed firm. The suit filed on Wednesday targets Dewey’s former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.). Each earned more than $10 million from 2008 to 2012, according to details of the suit published by the Wall...
December 8, 2013
The bankruptcy trustee for Dewey & LeBoeuf is seeking the return of $21.8 million in “astronomically generous” pay from two former leaders of the failed firm. The suit filed on Wednesday targets Dewey’s former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.). Each earned more than $10 million from 2008 to 2012, according to details of the suit published by the Wall...
What Do the 2013 Bonuses Tell Us About the Legal Market? (video)
December 8, 2013
David Lat and Elie Mystal from Above the Law talk with Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia about 2013 bonuses for lawyers at Cravath and Skadden, as well as some recent and noteworthy breakdowns in merger talks among several large law firms.
December 8, 2013
David Lat and Elie Mystal from Above the Law talk with Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia about 2013 bonuses for lawyers at Cravath and Skadden, as well as some recent and noteworthy breakdowns in merger talks among several large law firms.
University of Iowa Law Cuts Tuition Amid Enrollment Decline
December 8, 2013
The University of Iowa College of Law is the latest law school to slash tuition amid declining enrollment. University officials on Dec. 4 approved a 16.4 percent cut in tuition. Iowa residents next year will pay $21,965 in tuition—a $4,309 reduction—and the reduced tuition will apply to both current and new students. Non-residents who enroll next fall will see tuition fall by $7,750 to $39,500. Though the tuition cut doesn’t apply to current non-resident students, law dean Gail Agrawal...
December 8, 2013
The University of Iowa College of Law is the latest law school to slash tuition amid declining enrollment. University officials on Dec. 4 approved a 16.4 percent cut in tuition. Iowa residents next year will pay $21,965 in tuition—a $4,309 reduction—and the reduced tuition will apply to both current and new students. Non-residents who enroll next fall will see tuition fall by $7,750 to $39,500. Though the tuition cut doesn’t apply to current non-resident students, law dean Gail Agrawal...
A Glimpse at the Legal Profession’s Future
December 8, 2013
The “Legal Technology Future Horizons” report, to be released by the International Legal Technology Association in January, examines the potential impact of technology advances on the legal industry over the next decade. Here are 10 observances that might be surprising from our survey: 1. New entrants—different but the same? 2. Crowdsourcing judgements—opportunity deferred: 3. Education—ivory towers or digital oasis? 4. Big data, low differentiation: 5. Regulatory barriers...
December 8, 2013
The “Legal Technology Future Horizons” report, to be released by the International Legal Technology Association in January, examines the potential impact of technology advances on the legal industry over the next decade. Here are 10 observances that might be surprising from our survey: 1. New entrants—different but the same? 2. Crowdsourcing judgements—opportunity deferred: 3. Education—ivory towers or digital oasis? 4. Big data, low differentiation: 5. Regulatory barriers...
MSU J.D. Program Offers Major in Tech
December 7, 2013
It may seem like the non sequitur of the decade, but getting a job as an information architect after years of studying law textbooks and taking practice bar exams isn't the worst way to start a legal career. In fact, one school thinks it may be the best way. At Michigan State University School of Law, two professors are teaching future lawyers a practical way to use their education—building legal technology as enterprise information architects, according to Mathew Miller for the Lansing State...
December 7, 2013
It may seem like the non sequitur of the decade, but getting a job as an information architect after years of studying law textbooks and taking practice bar exams isn't the worst way to start a legal career. In fact, one school thinks it may be the best way. At Michigan State University School of Law, two professors are teaching future lawyers a practical way to use their education—building legal technology as enterprise information architects, according to Mathew Miller for the Lansing State...
Mommy, the Drone’s Here!
December 7, 2013
The novelty of flying cars never materialized. But flying novels are right around the corner. If you aren’t nervous enough reading about 3-D printers spitting out handguns or Google robots with Android phones, imagine the skies thick with crisscrossing tiny drones. “I know this looks like science fiction. It’s not,” Jeff Bezos told Charlie Rose on “60 Minutes” Sunday, unveiling his octocopter drones. The Amazon founder is optimistic that the fleet of miniature robot helicopters...
December 7, 2013
The novelty of flying cars never materialized. But flying novels are right around the corner. If you aren’t nervous enough reading about 3-D printers spitting out handguns or Google robots with Android phones, imagine the skies thick with crisscrossing tiny drones. “I know this looks like science fiction. It’s not,” Jeff Bezos told Charlie Rose on “60 Minutes” Sunday, unveiling his octocopter drones. The Amazon founder is optimistic that the fleet of miniature robot helicopters...
Google Puts Money on Robots, Using the Man Behind Android
December 7, 2013
In an out-of-the-way Google office, two life-size humanoid robots hang suspended in a corner. If Amazon can imagine delivering books by drones, is it too much to think that Google might be planning to one day have one of the robots hop off an automated Google Car and race to your doorstep to deliver a package? Google executives acknowledge that robotic vision is a “moonshot.” But it appears to be more realistic than Amazon’s proposed drone delivery service, which Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s...
December 7, 2013
In an out-of-the-way Google office, two life-size humanoid robots hang suspended in a corner. If Amazon can imagine delivering books by drones, is it too much to think that Google might be planning to one day have one of the robots hop off an automated Google Car and race to your doorstep to deliver a package? Google executives acknowledge that robotic vision is a “moonshot.” But it appears to be more realistic than Amazon’s proposed drone delivery service, which Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s...
How to Start Thinking Like a Data Scientist
December 7, 2013
Slowly but steadily, data are forcing their way into every nook and cranny of every industry, company, and job. Managers who aren’t data savvy, who can’t conduct basic analyses, interpret more complex ones, and interact with data scientists are already at a disadvantage. Companies without a large and growing cadre of data-savvy managers are similarly disadvantaged. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a data scientist or a Bayesian statistician to tease useful insights from data. This post...
December 7, 2013
Slowly but steadily, data are forcing their way into every nook and cranny of every industry, company, and job. Managers who aren’t data savvy, who can’t conduct basic analyses, interpret more complex ones, and interact with data scientists are already at a disadvantage. Companies without a large and growing cadre of data-savvy managers are similarly disadvantaged. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a data scientist or a Bayesian statistician to tease useful insights from data. This post...
