News
Mediation Conduct Punished by Costs
February 10, 2014
Should the conduct of a party in mediation be taken into account in setting cost consequences once the dispute has been adjudicated? An insurer has been “spanked” to the tune of $60,000 by an Ontario Court for failure to participate in a mediation in “any meaningful sense”. The cost decision of Mr. Justice Ramsay in Ross v. Bacchus, 2013 ONSC 7773 (CanLII) creates the occasion to reflect on this important issue. Briefly, the case facts are that the plaintiff, injured in a motor vehicle...
February 10, 2014
Should the conduct of a party in mediation be taken into account in setting cost consequences once the dispute has been adjudicated? An insurer has been “spanked” to the tune of $60,000 by an Ontario Court for failure to participate in a mediation in “any meaningful sense”. The cost decision of Mr. Justice Ramsay in Ross v. Bacchus, 2013 ONSC 7773 (CanLII) creates the occasion to reflect on this important issue. Briefly, the case facts are that the plaintiff, injured in a motor vehicle...
A Time of Unprecedented Innovation in Legal Technology
February 10, 2014
Just back from last week’s LegalTech in New York, and with the perspective of someone who has been writing about legal technology for more than two decades, I am convinced that I have never before seen a time of such intense and creative innovation in legal technology. However, it is not LegalTech that has me thinking that; rather, it is a legal-tech sideshow that coincided with it called ReInvent Law NYC. LegalTech is billed as the largest and most important legal technology event of the year....
February 10, 2014
Just back from last week’s LegalTech in New York, and with the perspective of someone who has been writing about legal technology for more than two decades, I am convinced that I have never before seen a time of such intense and creative innovation in legal technology. However, it is not LegalTech that has me thinking that; rather, it is a legal-tech sideshow that coincided with it called ReInvent Law NYC. LegalTech is billed as the largest and most important legal technology event of the year....
Report: Legal Sector Added 2,000 Jobs Last Month
February 10, 2014
The legal sector gained 2,000 jobs in January, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the additions, the industry now employs 1.135 million people—7,000 more than it did at the same time last year but substantially fewer than the 1.18 million it employed at its prerecession peak. January's uptick on the employment front follows a three-month run that, according to revised, seasonally adjusted hiring figures included in Friday's report, saw the legal...
February 10, 2014
The legal sector gained 2,000 jobs in January, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the additions, the industry now employs 1.135 million people—7,000 more than it did at the same time last year but substantially fewer than the 1.18 million it employed at its prerecession peak. January's uptick on the employment front follows a three-month run that, according to revised, seasonally adjusted hiring figures included in Friday's report, saw the legal...
The Big IP Wins of 2013
February 10, 2014
Let's admit this from the start: Deciding what qualifies for a top 2013 intellectual property litigation win is a completely subjective exercise. A case might make the list because it involves a big monetary award. It could deserve mention because a judge invalidated a patent or issued an injunction. There are district court victories, successes at the Federal Circuit and wins at the International Trade Commission. Now there are even triumphs in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's own Patent Trial...
February 10, 2014
Let's admit this from the start: Deciding what qualifies for a top 2013 intellectual property litigation win is a completely subjective exercise. A case might make the list because it involves a big monetary award. It could deserve mention because a judge invalidated a patent or issued an injunction. There are district court victories, successes at the Federal Circuit and wins at the International Trade Commission. Now there are even triumphs in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's own Patent Trial...
Never, Ever Give Up
February 9, 2014
In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that's how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida -- at age 64. Hear her story. A record-setting long-distance swimmer, Diana Nyad writes and thinks deeply about motivation. Full bio »
February 9, 2014
In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that's how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida -- at age 64. Hear her story. A record-setting long-distance swimmer, Diana Nyad writes and thinks deeply about motivation. Full bio »
Alien Technology Achieves Record Broadband Speed
February 9, 2014
A joint French and British project has achieved broadband speeds of 1.4 terabytes per second over a 255 mile distance, which the companies are claiming as a record. The speeds are apparently the result of an “alien super channel.” The project is the work of French firm Alcatel-Lucent and British Telecom. They carried out the tests over an optical fiber cable running from the BT Tower (a London landmark, pictured) to a research facility in Ipswich. Staff described the transmission as being...
February 9, 2014
A joint French and British project has achieved broadband speeds of 1.4 terabytes per second over a 255 mile distance, which the companies are claiming as a record. The speeds are apparently the result of an “alien super channel.” The project is the work of French firm Alcatel-Lucent and British Telecom. They carried out the tests over an optical fiber cable running from the BT Tower (a London landmark, pictured) to a research facility in Ipswich. Staff described the transmission as being...
More Alimony Recipients are Men
February 9, 2014
From Money News: Divorce attorneys across the country are seeing a rise in men asking ex-wives for spousal support, also known as alimony. Up-to-date numbers are hard, if not impossible, to come by. According to 2010 Census records, of the 400,000 people receiving spousal support, only 3 percent were men. Last year, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers surveyed its 1,600 members and found that 47 percent had noticed an increase in the number of women who are paying alimony. Still,...
February 9, 2014
From Money News: Divorce attorneys across the country are seeing a rise in men asking ex-wives for spousal support, also known as alimony. Up-to-date numbers are hard, if not impossible, to come by. According to 2010 Census records, of the 400,000 people receiving spousal support, only 3 percent were men. Last year, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers surveyed its 1,600 members and found that 47 percent had noticed an increase in the number of women who are paying alimony. Still,...
Israel’s New Organ Donation Nudge
February 9, 2014
Israel, which has a history of creatively incentivizing organ donation, will soon be implementing yet another organ “nudge.” Al Roth shared a recent email from Israeli transplant surgeon (and Freakonomics podcast guest) Jay Lavee explaining the new policy (which is based on unpublished research by Roth and Judd Kessler): Just a short note to let you know that the Israeli Minister of Health has adopted this week my recommendation to establish by law the modified mandated choice model...
February 9, 2014
Israel, which has a history of creatively incentivizing organ donation, will soon be implementing yet another organ “nudge.” Al Roth shared a recent email from Israeli transplant surgeon (and Freakonomics podcast guest) Jay Lavee explaining the new policy (which is based on unpublished research by Roth and Judd Kessler): Just a short note to let you know that the Israeli Minister of Health has adopted this week my recommendation to establish by law the modified mandated choice model...
Advanced Sleep Analysis is Here
February 8, 2014
We’re excited to officially release Advanced Sleep Analysis today. Leveraging our Body IQ™ technology, Basis now captures every aspect of your sleep: REM Sleep, Deep Sleep, Light Sleep, Toss-and-Turn, Interruptions and Duration. To help you understand and improve your sleep quality, Basis also provides a personalized sleep dashboard with a summary of these metrics and an easy-to-understand Sleep Score, your benchmark for sleep quality. For a product overview, check out our previous blog post or...
February 8, 2014
We’re excited to officially release Advanced Sleep Analysis today. Leveraging our Body IQ™ technology, Basis now captures every aspect of your sleep: REM Sleep, Deep Sleep, Light Sleep, Toss-and-Turn, Interruptions and Duration. To help you understand and improve your sleep quality, Basis also provides a personalized sleep dashboard with a summary of these metrics and an easy-to-understand Sleep Score, your benchmark for sleep quality. For a product overview, check out our previous blog post or...
Jet Lag May Disrupt Genes [Science!]
February 8, 2014
Disrupted gene activity may be the reason jet lag kicks our butts so badly according to research from a British university. They found that both jet lag and working nightshifts affected the activity of more than 1,500 genes. The Surrey University study looked at the levels of gene expression, in which a gene’s information is used to create either a protein or RNA, one of the most fundamental steps in the body’s operation. The study involved 22 people staying in an indoor facility where the lighting...
February 8, 2014
Disrupted gene activity may be the reason jet lag kicks our butts so badly according to research from a British university. They found that both jet lag and working nightshifts affected the activity of more than 1,500 genes. The Surrey University study looked at the levels of gene expression, in which a gene’s information is used to create either a protein or RNA, one of the most fundamental steps in the body’s operation. The study involved 22 people staying in an indoor facility where the lighting...
