Blog Archives
Law Schools Can’t Sleep Through the Technological Revolution
December 7, 2013
It is plain to see that technology is fundamentally changing the way we live. During a recent family trip to a lodge, I was amused to learn that my children did not know what a rotary phone was. But why should they? They were born digital and have grown up in a rapidly changing world of PDAs, flat-screen TVs, ITunes, YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, and texting. These are all transformative innovations, and one can only imagine what will be next. We are in the midst of a technological renaissance, a revolution...
December 7, 2013
It is plain to see that technology is fundamentally changing the way we live. During a recent family trip to a lodge, I was amused to learn that my children did not know what a rotary phone was. But why should they? They were born digital and have grown up in a rapidly changing world of PDAs, flat-screen TVs, ITunes, YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, and texting. These are all transformative innovations, and one can only imagine what will be next. We are in the midst of a technological renaissance, a revolution...
Demographic Change Hits Nation’s Law Schools
December 6, 2013
As the number of applicants to law school continues to dwindle, some writers have begun pondering the demographic challenges facing law schools. Attorney Keith Lee and University of Saint Thomas School of law professor Jerry Organ recently wrote articles highlighting the decline in graduates from elite, "feeder" universities applying to law school. At the same time, recent law school applicants tend to have lower LSAT scores than their predecessors. Both of these observations fit into a developing...
December 6, 2013
As the number of applicants to law school continues to dwindle, some writers have begun pondering the demographic challenges facing law schools. Attorney Keith Lee and University of Saint Thomas School of law professor Jerry Organ recently wrote articles highlighting the decline in graduates from elite, "feeder" universities applying to law school. At the same time, recent law school applicants tend to have lower LSAT scores than their predecessors. Both of these observations fit into a developing...
Litigation Funding Technique Creates Potential Conflicts in Australia
December 6, 2013
WITH the election of a new federal government, the debate over third-party litigation financing has heated up. In this atmosphere, it is truly unfortunate that some, including Hugh McLernon of IMF (Australia) in The Australian recently, are brushing off the very real problems posed by the practice. Instead, they have chosen to mischaracterise the efforts of my organisation, the US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, to curb financing abuses.
December 6, 2013
WITH the election of a new federal government, the debate over third-party litigation financing has heated up. In this atmosphere, it is truly unfortunate that some, including Hugh McLernon of IMF (Australia) in The Australian recently, are brushing off the very real problems posed by the practice. Instead, they have chosen to mischaracterise the efforts of my organisation, the US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, to curb financing abuses.
Recalculate the Future of Law
December 6, 2013
We’ve been engaged in a year-long project to imagine the law firm of 2023. Dan Katz of Michigan State University has also been taking on law’s future through the ReInvent Law Laboratory. We talked with him about legal startups, incentivizing innovation, and what he tells lawyers who “don’t do math.” Andrew Benedict-Nelson: I’d like to do a little Rip Van Winkle experiment with you. Let’s say you fall asleep for ten years. It turns out you’ve fallen asleep in a law firm. What do you imagine...
December 6, 2013
We’ve been engaged in a year-long project to imagine the law firm of 2023. Dan Katz of Michigan State University has also been taking on law’s future through the ReInvent Law Laboratory. We talked with him about legal startups, incentivizing innovation, and what he tells lawyers who “don’t do math.” Andrew Benedict-Nelson: I’d like to do a little Rip Van Winkle experiment with you. Let’s say you fall asleep for ten years. It turns out you’ve fallen asleep in a law firm. What do you imagine...
ACC Survey Sees GC Salaries Up, Outside Spend Down
December 6, 2013
A new survey by Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a global bar association with 33,000 in-house counsel members, and Empsight International, a human resources consulting firm that collects in-house attorney compensation data, indicates that general counsel salaries are increasing at a fairly predictable rate, while many law departments are cutting back on outside legal spend. The 2013 Law Department Compensation Survey was conducted in the spring of 2013 and drew responses from more than...
December 6, 2013
A new survey by Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), a global bar association with 33,000 in-house counsel members, and Empsight International, a human resources consulting firm that collects in-house attorney compensation data, indicates that general counsel salaries are increasing at a fairly predictable rate, while many law departments are cutting back on outside legal spend. The 2013 Law Department Compensation Survey was conducted in the spring of 2013 and drew responses from more than...
Court Order Requiring Further Mediation Not Appealable
December 6, 2013
The Nevada Supreme Court concluded that a trial court’s determination that a mediation agreement had been violated and requirement that the parties return to mediation under Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program was not a final order that could be appealed. The Court explained that the lower court’s decision was not final because the mediation would again address the merits of the dispute. Further, the mediation might resolve all outstanding issues between the parties so that no appeal...
December 6, 2013
The Nevada Supreme Court concluded that a trial court’s determination that a mediation agreement had been violated and requirement that the parties return to mediation under Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program was not a final order that could be appealed. The Court explained that the lower court’s decision was not final because the mediation would again address the merits of the dispute. Further, the mediation might resolve all outstanding issues between the parties so that no appeal...
Burford Capital Gets $40M in New Capital for Litigation Funding
December 5, 2013
Burford Capital Limited, a global provider of investment capital and risk solutions for litigation, is pleased to announce that the offering of $40 million in contingent preference shares by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company has been fully subscribed. The issuance of the contingent preference shares – through which institutional investors agree on demand to provide up to $40 million in additional capital to the Company – is consistent with Burford’s prior public statements about its capital...
December 5, 2013
Burford Capital Limited, a global provider of investment capital and risk solutions for litigation, is pleased to announce that the offering of $40 million in contingent preference shares by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company has been fully subscribed. The issuance of the contingent preference shares – through which institutional investors agree on demand to provide up to $40 million in additional capital to the Company – is consistent with Burford’s prior public statements about its capital...
Getting the Other Guy to the Negotiation Table
December 5, 2013
This just in from Harvard's Program on Negotiation: In a new study, Nour Kteily of Northwestern University and his colleagues found that low-power groups can influence powerful parties to engage with them through their framing of the proposed negotiating agenda. Specifically, across four experiments, participants in the high-power position were more willing to negotiate when a low-power group proposed negotiating less important issues before more significant areas of disagreement, rather than vice...
December 5, 2013
This just in from Harvard's Program on Negotiation: In a new study, Nour Kteily of Northwestern University and his colleagues found that low-power groups can influence powerful parties to engage with them through their framing of the proposed negotiating agenda. Specifically, across four experiments, participants in the high-power position were more willing to negotiate when a low-power group proposed negotiating less important issues before more significant areas of disagreement, rather than vice...
When Algorithms Grow Accustomed to Your Face
December 5, 2013
People often reveal their private emotions in tiny, fleeting facial expressions, visible only to a best friend — or to a skilled poker player. Now, computer software is using frame-by-frame video analysis to read subtle muscular changes that flash across our faces in milliseconds, signaling emotions like happiness, sadness and disgust. With face-reading software, a computer’s webcam might spot the confused expression of an online student and provide extra tutoring. Or computer-based games with...
December 5, 2013
People often reveal their private emotions in tiny, fleeting facial expressions, visible only to a best friend — or to a skilled poker player. Now, computer software is using frame-by-frame video analysis to read subtle muscular changes that flash across our faces in milliseconds, signaling emotions like happiness, sadness and disgust. With face-reading software, a computer’s webcam might spot the confused expression of an online student and provide extra tutoring. Or computer-based games with...
California Supreme Court Attempts to Thread the Unconscionability Needle
December 5, 2013
California’s appellate courts have had a strained relationship with the U.S. Supreme Court when it comes to enforcement of the FAA in the last few years. Illustrative of this tension is a recent decision captioned Sonic-Calabasas A, Inc. v. Moreno, No. S174475 (Cal. Oct. 17, 2013) (“Sonic II”). The Court in Sonic II was instructed by the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in Sonic-Calabasas A, Inc. v. Moreno, 51 Cal. 4th 659 (2011) (“Sonic I”), which invalidated an arbitration...
December 5, 2013
California’s appellate courts have had a strained relationship with the U.S. Supreme Court when it comes to enforcement of the FAA in the last few years. Illustrative of this tension is a recent decision captioned Sonic-Calabasas A, Inc. v. Moreno, No. S174475 (Cal. Oct. 17, 2013) (“Sonic II”). The Court in Sonic II was instructed by the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in Sonic-Calabasas A, Inc. v. Moreno, 51 Cal. 4th 659 (2011) (“Sonic I”), which invalidated an arbitration...
