News
Court Vacates $125M Award Due To Arbitrator’s Misleading Disclosures
June 9, 2014
Today we take a close look at that rare creature: an opinion finding sufficient basis under the FAA to vacate an arbitration award. In Tenaska Energy Inc. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy, LLC, __S.W.3d __, 2014 WL 2139215 (Tex. May 23, 2014), the Supreme Court of Texas found an arbitrator had shown “evident partiality” due to his misleading “partial” disclosures of his contacts with the law firm representing the claimant. * * * Legally, I find it interesting that even though the Texas Supreme...
June 9, 2014
Today we take a close look at that rare creature: an opinion finding sufficient basis under the FAA to vacate an arbitration award. In Tenaska Energy Inc. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy, LLC, __S.W.3d __, 2014 WL 2139215 (Tex. May 23, 2014), the Supreme Court of Texas found an arbitrator had shown “evident partiality” due to his misleading “partial” disclosures of his contacts with the law firm representing the claimant. * * * Legally, I find it interesting that even though the Texas Supreme...
Weak Language Skills No Bar to Enforcement of Arbtiration Agreement
June 9, 2014
Nicolas Molina (Molina), a warehouse workder for Sandinavian Designs, Inc. (Scandinavian) sought to sue after his employment was terminated. Scandinavian sought to compel arbiration. Molina opposed the motion, contending that he speaks very little English and thus had no idea that he had signed an arbitration agreement. Last month, in Molina v. Scandinavian Designs, Inc., the Northern District of California rejected the argument. In part, Mr. Molina's problem is evidentiary. Scandinavian claims...
June 9, 2014
Nicolas Molina (Molina), a warehouse workder for Sandinavian Designs, Inc. (Scandinavian) sought to sue after his employment was terminated. Scandinavian sought to compel arbiration. Molina opposed the motion, contending that he speaks very little English and thus had no idea that he had signed an arbitration agreement. Last month, in Molina v. Scandinavian Designs, Inc., the Northern District of California rejected the argument. In part, Mr. Molina's problem is evidentiary. Scandinavian claims...
The Standing Neutral—Low-Cost Insurance to Prevent Disputes on Construction Projects
June 9, 2014
Construction is a high-risk business, often volatile, with a high potential for problems and adversarial relationships. Every project involves a multitude of participants—an owner, a design and engineering team, many members of a construction team—all with potentially conflicting interests, working on a critical path, with a shared goal to complete the project on time and under budget. Once the work begins, the project cannot be interrupted or delayed to any extent without serious repercussions....
June 9, 2014
Construction is a high-risk business, often volatile, with a high potential for problems and adversarial relationships. Every project involves a multitude of participants—an owner, a design and engineering team, many members of a construction team—all with potentially conflicting interests, working on a critical path, with a shared goal to complete the project on time and under budget. Once the work begins, the project cannot be interrupted or delayed to any extent without serious repercussions....
Posner Savages ‘Scandalous’ Settlement in Pella Case
June 9, 2014
A class action settlement before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit appeals panel was a “scandalous” assemblage of conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, dubious calculations, ethical wrongdoing and judicial inattention, that, in the end, amounted to a decidedly raw deal for the consumers suing Pella Corp. over alleged window defects. That was what Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner concluded about the proposed settlement in Eubank v. Pella Corp., an 8-year-old dispute,...
June 9, 2014
A class action settlement before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit appeals panel was a “scandalous” assemblage of conflicts of interest, cozy relationships, dubious calculations, ethical wrongdoing and judicial inattention, that, in the end, amounted to a decidedly raw deal for the consumers suing Pella Corp. over alleged window defects. That was what Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner concluded about the proposed settlement in Eubank v. Pella Corp., an 8-year-old dispute,...
Inside the Strange New World of DIY Brain Stimulation
June 8, 2014
Entrepreneurs are starting to get in on the action. A company called foc.us has already planted a flag with a commercial brain-stimulation headset released last year. It’s marketed as a gadget for videogamers looking to improve their skills, thus skirting the need for FDA approval. The first batch of 3,000 sold out in just a few months. So did the second. With easy access to the research, the equipment, and each other, self-experimenters aren’t consulting their doctors or waiting for scientific...
June 8, 2014
Entrepreneurs are starting to get in on the action. A company called foc.us has already planted a flag with a commercial brain-stimulation headset released last year. It’s marketed as a gadget for videogamers looking to improve their skills, thus skirting the need for FDA approval. The first batch of 3,000 sold out in just a few months. So did the second. With easy access to the research, the equipment, and each other, self-experimenters aren’t consulting their doctors or waiting for scientific...
The Unfinished Science Behind the New Wave of Electrical Brain Stimulation
June 8, 2014
Ever since the physician Scribonius Largus slapped an electric torpedo fish on the forehead of a headache sufferer in the early days of the Roman empire, electricity has been pursued as a cure for a seemingly endless variety of ailments–by serious scientists and profiteering quacks alike. The latest chapter in this long and colorful history (see sidebar below) involves something called transcranial direct current stimulation, in which a small electric current is delivered to the brain through electrodes...
June 8, 2014
Ever since the physician Scribonius Largus slapped an electric torpedo fish on the forehead of a headache sufferer in the early days of the Roman empire, electricity has been pursued as a cure for a seemingly endless variety of ailments–by serious scientists and profiteering quacks alike. The latest chapter in this long and colorful history (see sidebar below) involves something called transcranial direct current stimulation, in which a small electric current is delivered to the brain through electrodes...
Scientists May Have Decoded One of the Secrets to Superconductors
June 8, 2014
The microscopic structure of high-temperature superconductors has long puzzled scientists seeking to harness their virtually limitless technological potential. Now at last researchers have deciphered the cryptic structure of one class of the superconductors, providing a basis for theories about how they manage to transport electricity with perfect efficiency when cooled, and how scientists might raise their operating temperature closer to the climes of everyday life. This goal, if realized, could...
June 8, 2014
The microscopic structure of high-temperature superconductors has long puzzled scientists seeking to harness their virtually limitless technological potential. Now at last researchers have deciphered the cryptic structure of one class of the superconductors, providing a basis for theories about how they manage to transport electricity with perfect efficiency when cooled, and how scientists might raise their operating temperature closer to the climes of everyday life. This goal, if realized, could...
What Ants Teach Us About the B, Cancer and the Internet
June 8, 2014
Ecologist Deborah Gordon studies ants wherever she can find them — in the desert, in the tropics, in her kitchen ... In this fascinating talk, she explains her obsession with insects most of us would happily swat away without a second thought. She argues that ant life provides a useful model for learning about many other topics, including disease, technology and the human brain.
June 8, 2014
Ecologist Deborah Gordon studies ants wherever she can find them — in the desert, in the tropics, in her kitchen ... In this fascinating talk, she explains her obsession with insects most of us would happily swat away without a second thought. She argues that ant life provides a useful model for learning about many other topics, including disease, technology and the human brain.
Map Shows Half of the U.S. Suffering Drought Conditions
June 8, 2014
It’s not just California’s problem. Nearly half of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions right now. The worst spots shown in the map above, colored in a deep red that represents “exceptional drought,” are in California, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma. But the entire west and southwest are suffering. The map is based on a report from May 6 provided by the United States Drought Monitor that includes data on climate, soil and water collected from more than 350 sources....
June 8, 2014
It’s not just California’s problem. Nearly half of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions right now. The worst spots shown in the map above, colored in a deep red that represents “exceptional drought,” are in California, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma. But the entire west and southwest are suffering. The map is based on a report from May 6 provided by the United States Drought Monitor that includes data on climate, soil and water collected from more than 350 sources....
Time-Lapse Footage Shows Monstrous Storm Cloud Forming
June 7, 2014
Supercell storms are among the rarest and most beautiful weather events on Earth. Filming one with the amazing detail of this time-lapse—taken yesterday by the storm-chasing group Basehunters in eastern Wyoming—is a spectacular feat. A supercell is essentially a rotating thunderstorm. Strong updrafts spin in a spiral, pulling the clouds into a gigantic saucer-like shape. Because they require very specific conditions to form, supercells do not happen very often.
June 7, 2014
Supercell storms are among the rarest and most beautiful weather events on Earth. Filming one with the amazing detail of this time-lapse—taken yesterday by the storm-chasing group Basehunters in eastern Wyoming—is a spectacular feat. A supercell is essentially a rotating thunderstorm. Strong updrafts spin in a spiral, pulling the clouds into a gigantic saucer-like shape. Because they require very specific conditions to form, supercells do not happen very often.
