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Predictive Analytics
IBM’s Watson: A Natural Assistant for Patent Attorneys?
October 8, 2014
From a patent attorney’s perspective, we could use Watson’s expertise in quickly and successfully completing many of the tasks we’re required to do, such as evaluating inventions, searching for prior art or discovering infringers. The area that we’re exploring right now at IBM is improving patent quality—an area that our company has long endeavored to help enhance through projects such as Peer to Patent, International Collaborative Examination and Patent Quality Index. In order to improve...
October 8, 2014
From a patent attorney’s perspective, we could use Watson’s expertise in quickly and successfully completing many of the tasks we’re required to do, such as evaluating inventions, searching for prior art or discovering infringers. The area that we’re exploring right now at IBM is improving patent quality—an area that our company has long endeavored to help enhance through projects such as Peer to Patent, International Collaborative Examination and Patent Quality Index. In order to improve...
Artificial Intelligence and the Law
October 7, 2014
Plexus, a NewLaw law firm based in Australia, has just released a new legal product that purports to apply artificial intelligence to a relatively common, discrete legal issue -- detemining whether a proposed trade promotion (advertisement in US parlance) is in compliance with applicable law. From the video, it is unclear whether the innovation is an expert system -- akin to what Neota Logic or KM Standards are creating -- or artificial intelligence (AI) in the spirit of machine learning...
October 7, 2014
Plexus, a NewLaw law firm based in Australia, has just released a new legal product that purports to apply artificial intelligence to a relatively common, discrete legal issue -- detemining whether a proposed trade promotion (advertisement in US parlance) is in compliance with applicable law. From the video, it is unclear whether the innovation is an expert system -- akin to what Neota Logic or KM Standards are creating -- or artificial intelligence (AI) in the spirit of machine learning...
Data From Law’s Shadow
October 6, 2014
While much of legal scholarship focuses on litigation outcomes, virtually all legal disputes resolve prior to a bench or jury trial. Thus, efforts to understand legal disputes need to account for settlements that consume more than 90 percent of all cases initiated. And within the world of settled cases, mediation fulfills an important role. A paucity of data, however, hamstrings efforts to study settlement activity. A recent paper, Inside the Caucus: An Empirical Analysis of Mediation from Within,...
October 6, 2014
While much of legal scholarship focuses on litigation outcomes, virtually all legal disputes resolve prior to a bench or jury trial. Thus, efforts to understand legal disputes need to account for settlements that consume more than 90 percent of all cases initiated. And within the world of settled cases, mediation fulfills an important role. A paucity of data, however, hamstrings efforts to study settlement activity. A recent paper, Inside the Caucus: An Empirical Analysis of Mediation from Within,...
WordRake Now Edits in Outlook and Word
October 4, 2014
Proofreading software WordRake brings clarity and brevity to email and documents. Legal professionals can appreciate that fundamental rules of the English language never change. Hence we don’t have to update grammar, like the law, before sending out documents and email messages to courts, clients and colleagues. But we forget that the English language is complex and more difficult to write than speak, which results in common errors unless we carefully and continually proofread our craft. It’s...
October 4, 2014
Proofreading software WordRake brings clarity and brevity to email and documents. Legal professionals can appreciate that fundamental rules of the English language never change. Hence we don’t have to update grammar, like the law, before sending out documents and email messages to courts, clients and colleagues. But we forget that the English language is complex and more difficult to write than speak, which results in common errors unless we carefully and continually proofread our craft. It’s...
Presentation: Predicting the Behavior of the Supreme Court
October 3, 2014
Last week, I had the honor of presenting during the Texas Bar Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course. I spoke during the lunchtime panel with Justice Eva Guzman (SCOTX) and Professor Lee Epstein. I discussed our new Supreme Court prediction algorithm, and our soon-to-be announced FantasySCOTUS tournament.
October 3, 2014
Last week, I had the honor of presenting during the Texas Bar Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course. I spoke during the lunchtime panel with Justice Eva Guzman (SCOTX) and Professor Lee Epstein. I discussed our new Supreme Court prediction algorithm, and our soon-to-be announced FantasySCOTUS tournament.
Lawyer Rate Increases Remain Flat, Legal Departments Continue to Demand More Competitive Pricing
October 3, 2014
Findings from the 2014 Real Rate Report reveal four other emerging themes that legal departments should bear in mind: First-year...
October 3, 2014
Findings from the 2014 Real Rate Report reveal four other emerging themes that legal departments should bear in mind: First-year...
Is Legal Reasoning Like Medical Reasoning?
October 2, 2014
In this paper, stimulated by the publication some years ago in France of a small book on medical reasoning, legal and medical reasoning are compared. The question that is asked is whether the differences between the two types of reasoning will permit one to have a better understanding of some of the methodological and epistemological issues associated with legal reasoning. It will be argued that although medical and legal reasoners do share things in common, legal reasoning, perhaps unlike medical...
October 2, 2014
In this paper, stimulated by the publication some years ago in France of a small book on medical reasoning, legal and medical reasoning are compared. The question that is asked is whether the differences between the two types of reasoning will permit one to have a better understanding of some of the methodological and epistemological issues associated with legal reasoning. It will be argued that although medical and legal reasoners do share things in common, legal reasoning, perhaps unlike medical...
How Improving Decision-Making and Mindfulness Can Improve Legal Ethics and Professionalism
October 1, 2014
Lawyers who behave unethically and unprofessionally do so for various reasons, ranging from intention to carelessness. Lawyer misconduct can also result from decision-making flaws. Psychologist Chip Heath and his brother Dan Heath, in their best-selling book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work, suggest a process to improve people’s decision-making. They introduce the acronym WRAP as the mnemonic for these decision-making heuristics: (1) Widen your options, (2) Reality-test...
October 1, 2014
Lawyers who behave unethically and unprofessionally do so for various reasons, ranging from intention to carelessness. Lawyer misconduct can also result from decision-making flaws. Psychologist Chip Heath and his brother Dan Heath, in their best-selling book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work, suggest a process to improve people’s decision-making. They introduce the acronym WRAP as the mnemonic for these decision-making heuristics: (1) Widen your options, (2) Reality-test...
Online Dispute Resolution Services: A Selected Number of Case Studies
September 30, 2014
This paper considers a number of ODR case studies employed to settle disputes arising from e-commerce and offline. After...
September 30, 2014
This paper considers a number of ODR case studies employed to settle disputes arising from e-commerce and offline. After...
Law Firms Often Fail to Analyze ‘Past Due’ Bills
September 27, 2014
A recent survey by LexisNexis of 309 U.S.-based law firms found that more than 73 percent of them have past-due client accounts. Firms are not being paid in a timely manner. Many lawyers and legal professionals reported being uncomfortable asking for past-due invoices, some saying it made them feel “greedy,” calling it “distasteful” and indicating it damages relationships. However, the same survey found that most of the firms owned and employed billing software, but fail to use the analysis...
September 27, 2014
A recent survey by LexisNexis of 309 U.S.-based law firms found that more than 73 percent of them have past-due client accounts. Firms are not being paid in a timely manner. Many lawyers and legal professionals reported being uncomfortable asking for past-due invoices, some saying it made them feel “greedy,” calling it “distasteful” and indicating it damages relationships. However, the same survey found that most of the firms owned and employed billing software, but fail to use the analysis...
