News
Cool Brain Visualization
April 5, 2014
This is an anatomically-realistic 3D brain visualization depicting real-timesource-localized activity (power and “effective” connectivity) from EEG(electroencephalographic) signals. Each color represents source power and connectivity in a different frequency band (theta, alpha, beta, gamma) and the golden lines are white matter anatomical fiber tracts. Estimated information transfer between brain regions is visualized as pulses of light flowing along the fiber tracts connecting the regions.
April 5, 2014
This is an anatomically-realistic 3D brain visualization depicting real-timesource-localized activity (power and “effective” connectivity) from EEG(electroencephalographic) signals. Each color represents source power and connectivity in a different frequency band (theta, alpha, beta, gamma) and the golden lines are white matter anatomical fiber tracts. Estimated information transfer between brain regions is visualized as pulses of light flowing along the fiber tracts connecting the regions.
The Unconscious Mind Can Spot a Lie Even When the Conscious Mind Fails
April 4, 2014
New study finds that the conscious mind may hamper our abilities to detect lying. It’s remarkably difficult to tell when other people are lying. That’s not just my opinion, that’s the result of many studies on lyingconducted over the years. As, Leanne ten Brinke, the author of a new study investigating lie detection, says: “Our research was prompted by the puzzling but consistent finding that humans are very poor lie detectors, performing at only about 54% accuracy in traditional...
April 4, 2014
New study finds that the conscious mind may hamper our abilities to detect lying. It’s remarkably difficult to tell when other people are lying. That’s not just my opinion, that’s the result of many studies on lyingconducted over the years. As, Leanne ten Brinke, the author of a new study investigating lie detection, says: “Our research was prompted by the puzzling but consistent finding that humans are very poor lie detectors, performing at only about 54% accuracy in traditional...
Dodd-Frank and Structured Settlements
April 4, 2014
What impact will the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and related international regulatory developments, have on structured settlement annuity providers? Proposed Amendment to Dodd-Frank That issue was indirectly spotlighted this week when Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) announced progress on a bill that would amend Dodd-Frank to permit the Federal Reserve to exempt insurers from new capital rules for banks. Although the Federal Reserve has not yet published capital...
April 4, 2014
What impact will the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and related international regulatory developments, have on structured settlement annuity providers? Proposed Amendment to Dodd-Frank That issue was indirectly spotlighted this week when Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) announced progress on a bill that would amend Dodd-Frank to permit the Federal Reserve to exempt insurers from new capital rules for banks. Although the Federal Reserve has not yet published capital...
E-Discovery Preservation Costs Survey: The Results are In!
April 4, 2014
Notable findings include that “[o]ver 79 percent of respondents reported a ‘great extent’ or ‘moderate extent’ of preservation burdens”; that “[a]mong the largest companies in the sample, the estimated costs exceed $40 million per company per year”; and that “[o]n average across all survey respondents, slightly less than half of all preserved data is ever collected, processed, and reviewed” and “[e]ven less is produced or eventually used in litigation.” Also notable was the conclusion...
April 4, 2014
Notable findings include that “[o]ver 79 percent of respondents reported a ‘great extent’ or ‘moderate extent’ of preservation burdens”; that “[a]mong the largest companies in the sample, the estimated costs exceed $40 million per company per year”; and that “[o]n average across all survey respondents, slightly less than half of all preserved data is ever collected, processed, and reviewed” and “[e]ven less is produced or eventually used in litigation.” Also notable was the conclusion...
Denial of Certiorari in Delaware Chancery Arbitration Case
April 4, 2014
The Supreme Court has denied certiorari in Delaware Coalition for Open Government v. Strine, in which the Third Circuit struck down Delaware’s scheme allowing parties with cases before the Delaware Court of Chancery to pay an extra fee to have their matters heard by a Chancery judge sitting in the guise of an arbitrator. The Third Circuit’s decision was based on the First Amendment right of public access to judicial proceedings. As I discussed in a previous post on the case, however, in my view...
April 4, 2014
The Supreme Court has denied certiorari in Delaware Coalition for Open Government v. Strine, in which the Third Circuit struck down Delaware’s scheme allowing parties with cases before the Delaware Court of Chancery to pay an extra fee to have their matters heard by a Chancery judge sitting in the guise of an arbitrator. The Third Circuit’s decision was based on the First Amendment right of public access to judicial proceedings. As I discussed in a previous post on the case, however, in my view...
Bargaining with Consequences
April 4, 2014
I’ll be presenting my article Bargaining with Consequences: Leverage and Coercion in Negotiation tomorrow (Friday, February 27, 2014) at the Quinnipiac-Yale Dispute Resolution Workshop at Quinnipiac University School of Law. Here’s the abstract to the article, which will be published later this spring in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review: Leverage has been called “negotiation’s prime mover,” conferring power to reach agreement “on your terms.” This power, however, is not always...
April 4, 2014
I’ll be presenting my article Bargaining with Consequences: Leverage and Coercion in Negotiation tomorrow (Friday, February 27, 2014) at the Quinnipiac-Yale Dispute Resolution Workshop at Quinnipiac University School of Law. Here’s the abstract to the article, which will be published later this spring in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review: Leverage has been called “negotiation’s prime mover,” conferring power to reach agreement “on your terms.” This power, however, is not always...
Litigation Financing and Mass Torts
April 3, 2014
In "Would Litigation Financing Improve Mass Torts," the National Law Journal examines an article by ProfessorByron Stier suggesting that plaintiffs should be allowed to sell their claims to financial entities. As Chris mentioned in an earlier post, Byron's article was part of the "Perspectives on Mass Tort Litgiation" symposium held at Widener last April.
April 3, 2014
In "Would Litigation Financing Improve Mass Torts," the National Law Journal examines an article by ProfessorByron Stier suggesting that plaintiffs should be allowed to sell their claims to financial entities. As Chris mentioned in an earlier post, Byron's article was part of the "Perspectives on Mass Tort Litgiation" symposium held at Widener last April.
How to Keep Calm and Carry On
April 3, 2014
One of my scientific heroes, positive-psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson, published a study a few years ago showing that the largest variable in determining our level of life satisfaction is resilience – the ability to bounce back quickly from life’s small and large upsets. It wasn’t having a great boss or a happy family or regular vacations, but the capacity to get our emotional balance back when we are blown off balance by negative emotions. Easier said than done, you say – “I...
April 3, 2014
One of my scientific heroes, positive-psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson, published a study a few years ago showing that the largest variable in determining our level of life satisfaction is resilience – the ability to bounce back quickly from life’s small and large upsets. It wasn’t having a great boss or a happy family or regular vacations, but the capacity to get our emotional balance back when we are blown off balance by negative emotions. Easier said than done, you say – “I...
Nussbaum – Lessons on Language: Ken Cloke’s Dance of Opposites
April 3, 2014
Ken’s talk at UNLV focused primarily on the language of conflict. Agreeing with Mark Twain’s observation that “kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,” Ken used examples to illustrate how deconstructing the language of conflict by its grammar, syntax, myth, archetype, and metaphor exposes the deeper meaning of the parties’ conflict. Take grammar for example. A characteristic structure for conflict sentence is: PRONOUN + VERB + ACCUSATION (JUDGMENT). ...
April 3, 2014
Ken’s talk at UNLV focused primarily on the language of conflict. Agreeing with Mark Twain’s observation that “kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,” Ken used examples to illustrate how deconstructing the language of conflict by its grammar, syntax, myth, archetype, and metaphor exposes the deeper meaning of the parties’ conflict. Take grammar for example. A characteristic structure for conflict sentence is: PRONOUN + VERB + ACCUSATION (JUDGMENT). ...
Progress in Detroit Bankruptcy Mediation
April 3, 2014
The federal judge overseeing mediation in Detroit met with Michigan’s top two legislators to determine their willingness to help resolve the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy. The Michigan Senate and House are both Republican-controlled and lawmakers have proposed using a nearly billion-dollar state surplus to cut taxes. Bloomberg Businessweek (January 16, 2014) The federal judge acting as lead mediator was criticized by several major financial creditors and Detroit’s two pension...
April 3, 2014
The federal judge overseeing mediation in Detroit met with Michigan’s top two legislators to determine their willingness to help resolve the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy. The Michigan Senate and House are both Republican-controlled and lawmakers have proposed using a nearly billion-dollar state surplus to cut taxes. Bloomberg Businessweek (January 16, 2014) The federal judge acting as lead mediator was criticized by several major financial creditors and Detroit’s two pension...
