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Legal Technology Disrupters and Why You Need to Take Note
February 5, 2014
Yes, I am still reading Richard Susskind‘s Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future. Chapter 5: Disruptive Legal Technologies definitely caught my attention: * * * 2. Big Data Yes, it’s a buzz term, but there is something behind it. Just like when Kevin O’Keefe and I sat around a table at the Bonaventure Hotel many years ago trying to figure out what this Twitter thing was all about. There is something “there” here. Very little work has yet been undertaken on the relevance...
February 5, 2014
Yes, I am still reading Richard Susskind‘s Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future. Chapter 5: Disruptive Legal Technologies definitely caught my attention: * * * 2. Big Data Yes, it’s a buzz term, but there is something behind it. Just like when Kevin O’Keefe and I sat around a table at the Bonaventure Hotel many years ago trying to figure out what this Twitter thing was all about. There is something “there” here. Very little work has yet been undertaken on the relevance...
The ‘Genesis’ of a New Era for Class Action Defendants?
February 4, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, 133 S.Ct. 1523 (2013) quickly sparked a debate over the ruling’s future impact on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 class actions. In the months following the decision, federal courts have handed down conflicting rulings on the effect of a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 offer of judgment, such as that in Genesis, on a pending, putative class action. Some courts have held that an offer of judgment moots a class representative’s...
February 4, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, 133 S.Ct. 1523 (2013) quickly sparked a debate over the ruling’s future impact on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 class actions. In the months following the decision, federal courts have handed down conflicting rulings on the effect of a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 offer of judgment, such as that in Genesis, on a pending, putative class action. Some courts have held that an offer of judgment moots a class representative’s...
A World in Balance – At Least in Terms of the Number of Arbitration Courts
February 4, 2014
In the past few weeks, Russia has abolished its main commercial court and Singapore has announced its plan to open one. The events appear to be unrelated, but it seems likely that the ripples from each may reach the other. On November 28, the Financial Times printed a headline that read “Moscow Abolishes Commercial Court.” The paper reported that the “Federal Council, the upper house of parliament, yesterday changed the constitution to allow the merger of the Supreme Court of Arbitration...
February 4, 2014
In the past few weeks, Russia has abolished its main commercial court and Singapore has announced its plan to open one. The events appear to be unrelated, but it seems likely that the ripples from each may reach the other. On November 28, the Financial Times printed a headline that read “Moscow Abolishes Commercial Court.” The paper reported that the “Federal Council, the upper house of parliament, yesterday changed the constitution to allow the merger of the Supreme Court of Arbitration...
Shestowsky on Litigation Preferences
February 4, 2014
NEW STUDY REVEALS HOW PEOPLE WANT THEIR LAWSUITS RESOLVED As court systems throughout the country struggle to deliver civil justice in the face of budget cuts, a new study by a UC Davis law professor finds that people involved in civil lawsuits prefer mediation to nonbinding arbitration and like judge trials more than jury trials. In her study, “The Psychology of Procedural Preference: How Litigants Evaluate Legal Procedures Ex Ante,” Donna Shestowsky, who teaches negotiation strategy, alternative...
February 4, 2014
NEW STUDY REVEALS HOW PEOPLE WANT THEIR LAWSUITS RESOLVED As court systems throughout the country struggle to deliver civil justice in the face of budget cuts, a new study by a UC Davis law professor finds that people involved in civil lawsuits prefer mediation to nonbinding arbitration and like judge trials more than jury trials. In her study, “The Psychology of Procedural Preference: How Litigants Evaluate Legal Procedures Ex Ante,” Donna Shestowsky, who teaches negotiation strategy, alternative...
Counting the Cost of Mediation
February 4, 2014
Mediation is recognised as a cost-effective form of dispute resolution. There are statistics to support this; a World Intellectual Property Organization survey found an average IP litigation case costs between $475,000 and $500,000, compared to mediation, where costs do not usually exceed $100,000. A Ministry of Justicereport on the use of judicial mediation in Employment Tribunals, meanwhile, found an average cost saving of 22%.
February 4, 2014
Mediation is recognised as a cost-effective form of dispute resolution. There are statistics to support this; a World Intellectual Property Organization survey found an average IP litigation case costs between $475,000 and $500,000, compared to mediation, where costs do not usually exceed $100,000. A Ministry of Justicereport on the use of judicial mediation in Employment Tribunals, meanwhile, found an average cost saving of 22%.
Arbitral Autonomy
February 4, 2014
Ali Khan, Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, has published an interesting article entitled, Arbitral Autonomy, Louisiana Law Review, Vol. 74, No. 2, 2013. In his paper, Professor Khan discusses the need to minimize court challenges to arbitration in order to successfully achieve arbitral autonomy. Here is the abstract: This Article presents concrete proposals to amend the current arbitration law for minimizing court intervention into arbitration proceedings and enforcement...
February 4, 2014
Ali Khan, Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law, has published an interesting article entitled, Arbitral Autonomy, Louisiana Law Review, Vol. 74, No. 2, 2013. In his paper, Professor Khan discusses the need to minimize court challenges to arbitration in order to successfully achieve arbitral autonomy. Here is the abstract: This Article presents concrete proposals to amend the current arbitration law for minimizing court intervention into arbitration proceedings and enforcement...
The Rise of Legal Services Outsourcing: Risk and Opportunity
February 3, 2014
Here, Mary Lacity, Leslie Willcocks and Andrew Burgess present practices used by clients, providers and advisors to realize...
February 3, 2014
Here, Mary Lacity, Leslie Willcocks and Andrew Burgess present practices used by clients, providers and advisors to realize...
Optimizing Parameters of Support Vector Machine Using Fast Messy Genetic Algorithm for Dispute Classification
February 3, 2014
Hybrid system is a potential tool to deal with construction engineering and management problems. This study proposes an optimized hybrid artificial intelligence model to integrate a fast messy genetic algorithm (fmGA) with a support vector machine (SVM). The fmGA-based SVM (GASVM) is used for early prediction of dispute propensity in the initial phase of public–private partnership projects. Particularly, the SVM mainly provides learning and curve fitting while the fmGA optimizes SVM parameters....
February 3, 2014
Hybrid system is a potential tool to deal with construction engineering and management problems. This study proposes an optimized hybrid artificial intelligence model to integrate a fast messy genetic algorithm (fmGA) with a support vector machine (SVM). The fmGA-based SVM (GASVM) is used for early prediction of dispute propensity in the initial phase of public–private partnership projects. Particularly, the SVM mainly provides learning and curve fitting while the fmGA optimizes SVM parameters....
Not One of Us
February 3, 2014
When deciding how to best resolve the case you’re handling, there are any number of factors going into the equation. One worth considering is how your client (or even an important witness) will be perceived unconsciously by a judge of jury. Might there be some irrational, unconscious aversion based on his or her looks? Could the client be perceived as an outsider, someone not part of the community? If so, that should be part of the calculations you need to make. Negotiation and mediation...
February 3, 2014
When deciding how to best resolve the case you’re handling, there are any number of factors going into the equation. One worth considering is how your client (or even an important witness) will be perceived unconsciously by a judge of jury. Might there be some irrational, unconscious aversion based on his or her looks? Could the client be perceived as an outsider, someone not part of the community? If so, that should be part of the calculations you need to make. Negotiation and mediation...
Class Objectors Denied Discovery Into Mediation
February 3, 2014
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to deny discovery into mediation relating to settlement of class actions that was sought by those objecting to the settlements. The court held that the difference between the opening settlement offer and the final agreement was merely the normal give and take of negotiation, rather than evidence of collusion between the parties. Allen v. Monsanto Co., No. 13-0418 (W. Va., November 22, 2013).
February 3, 2014
The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to deny discovery into mediation relating to settlement of class actions that was sought by those objecting to the settlements. The court held that the difference between the opening settlement offer and the final agreement was merely the normal give and take of negotiation, rather than evidence of collusion between the parties. Allen v. Monsanto Co., No. 13-0418 (W. Va., November 22, 2013).
