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William Mitchell Goes Online — Is This the Future of Legal Education?
January 15, 2014
Starting in 2015, William Mitchell College of Law will begin offering a hybrid curriculum that involves online classes punctuated by intense classroom time. This pretty much puts William Mitchell on the cutting edge of legal education. The History of (the Lack of) Innovation in Legal Education In October, the ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education released its draft report and recommendation. In the report (pdf), the task force urged the ABA to encourage law schools to innovate and make...
January 15, 2014
Starting in 2015, William Mitchell College of Law will begin offering a hybrid curriculum that involves online classes punctuated by intense classroom time. This pretty much puts William Mitchell on the cutting edge of legal education. The History of (the Lack of) Innovation in Legal Education In October, the ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education released its draft report and recommendation. In the report (pdf), the task force urged the ABA to encourage law schools to innovate and make...
New York State Cracks Down on ‘Patent Trolls’
January 15, 2014
The list of those waging battle with so-called patent trolls already includes big technology companies, Congress and the White House. Now, New York’s attorney general is joining that group. Eric T. Schneiderman, New York state’s top prosecutor, has reached a civil settlement with Delaware patent firm MPHJ Technology Investments LLC, barring it from using what he called deceptive tactics to get New York businesses to pay for patent licenses, according to the agreement. The settlement applies...
January 15, 2014
The list of those waging battle with so-called patent trolls already includes big technology companies, Congress and the White House. Now, New York’s attorney general is joining that group. Eric T. Schneiderman, New York state’s top prosecutor, has reached a civil settlement with Delaware patent firm MPHJ Technology Investments LLC, barring it from using what he called deceptive tactics to get New York businesses to pay for patent licenses, according to the agreement. The settlement applies...
High Court Bulks Up on IP Cases
January 15, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear two patent cases and one high-profile copyright fight, bringing the number of IP disputes on its docket to an unusual high. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear two patent cases and one high-profile copyright fight, bringing the number of IP disputes on its docket to an unusual high. In a terse order, the justices agreed to hear copyright infringement claims against Aereo Inc., an online television start-up...
January 15, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear two patent cases and one high-profile copyright fight, bringing the number of IP disputes on its docket to an unusual high. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear two patent cases and one high-profile copyright fight, bringing the number of IP disputes on its docket to an unusual high. In a terse order, the justices agreed to hear copyright infringement claims against Aereo Inc., an online television start-up...
Law Firms’ Profit Expected to Grow by 5% in 2014, Report Predicts
January 15, 2014
There hasn’t been much to cheer about in the legal industry in recent years—at least not from the point of view of major law firms. But the 2014 outlook from Citi Private Bank and Hildebrandt Consulting, released on Monday, offers a little shaft of sunshine for beleaguered BigLaw after more than five years of slack demand, declining partnerproductivity and client pushback onpricing. Despite the difficulties, most major law firms have held on through the challenging years after the economic...
January 15, 2014
There hasn’t been much to cheer about in the legal industry in recent years—at least not from the point of view of major law firms. But the 2014 outlook from Citi Private Bank and Hildebrandt Consulting, released on Monday, offers a little shaft of sunshine for beleaguered BigLaw after more than five years of slack demand, declining partnerproductivity and client pushback onpricing. Despite the difficulties, most major law firms have held on through the challenging years after the economic...
Infographic: 2014 IDG Enterprise Big Data Research
January 15, 2014
The 2014 IDG Enterprise Big Data research was completed with the goal of gaining a better understanding of organizations’ big data initiatives, investments and strategies. A Couple Key Findings Include: Organizations are seeing exponential growth in the amount of data managed with an expected increase of 76% within the next 12-18 months. Companies are intensifying their efforts to derive value through big data initiatives with nearly half (49%) of respondents already implementing big data...
January 15, 2014
The 2014 IDG Enterprise Big Data research was completed with the goal of gaining a better understanding of organizations’ big data initiatives, investments and strategies. A Couple Key Findings Include: Organizations are seeing exponential growth in the amount of data managed with an expected increase of 76% within the next 12-18 months. Companies are intensifying their efforts to derive value through big data initiatives with nearly half (49%) of respondents already implementing big data...
Yes, Judges Do Read Law Reviews, After All
January 14, 2014
Much of the attack on law schools over the last few years has focused on the alleged irrelevance of legal scholarship. At times...
January 14, 2014
Much of the attack on law schools over the last few years has focused on the alleged irrelevance of legal scholarship. At times...
BP Oil-Spill Settlement Approval Upheld by Appeals Court
January 14, 2014
BP Plc (BP/)’s $9.2 billion partial settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was upheld by an appeals court over the company’s protest that the deal wasn’t valid unless a claims-payment dispute was resolved in its favor. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans yesterday also upheld a lower-court judge’s certification of the settling plaintiffs as a class and rejected arguments that the agreement couldn’t be approved because it inconsistently compensated victims with the same...
January 14, 2014
BP Plc (BP/)’s $9.2 billion partial settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was upheld by an appeals court over the company’s protest that the deal wasn’t valid unless a claims-payment dispute was resolved in its favor. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans yesterday also upheld a lower-court judge’s certification of the settling plaintiffs as a class and rejected arguments that the agreement couldn’t be approved because it inconsistently compensated victims with the same...
Budget Plan for Judiciary Could ‘Stop the Bleeding’
January 14, 2014
Congress is planning to give some relief to the federal judiciary after last year's budget cuts. A bipartisan appropriations bill released Monday night would provide the federal courts an increase of $316 million in discretionary spending—or 5 percent above current funding—for the 2014 fiscal year, according to a summary of the 1,582-page bill from the Senate Appropriations Committee. That would almost erase the $350 million in budget cuts to the judiciary in March as part of sequestration,...
January 14, 2014
Congress is planning to give some relief to the federal judiciary after last year's budget cuts. A bipartisan appropriations bill released Monday night would provide the federal courts an increase of $316 million in discretionary spending—or 5 percent above current funding—for the 2014 fiscal year, according to a summary of the 1,582-page bill from the Senate Appropriations Committee. That would almost erase the $350 million in budget cuts to the judiciary in March as part of sequestration,...
Appeals Court Opinion Rejecting F.C.C. Net Neutrality Rules
January 14, 2014
A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out Federal Communications Commission rules that require Internet service providers to give all traffic equal access through their networks. The decision could pave the way for Internet service providers like Verizon and AT&T to charge content companies — say, ESPN or Facebook — to deliver their data to consumers at a faster speed.
January 14, 2014
A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out Federal Communications Commission rules that require Internet service providers to give all traffic equal access through their networks. The decision could pave the way for Internet service providers like Verizon and AT&T to charge content companies — say, ESPN or Facebook — to deliver their data to consumers at a faster speed.
A-Rod’s Legal Strikeout Provides Arbitration Insights
January 14, 2014
The most recent chapter in the saga of New York Yankees third-baseman and alleged performance enhancing drug user Alex Rodriguez came to an end on January 11, when the arbitrator in his disciplinary case against Major League Baseball announced that “A-Rod” would be suspended for the entirety of the 2014 baseball season and the playoffs. The decision—the longest drug-related suspension issued in major league history—certainly doesn’t look like a win for Rodriguez, who has already become...
January 14, 2014
The most recent chapter in the saga of New York Yankees third-baseman and alleged performance enhancing drug user Alex Rodriguez came to an end on January 11, when the arbitrator in his disciplinary case against Major League Baseball announced that “A-Rod” would be suspended for the entirety of the 2014 baseball season and the playoffs. The decision—the longest drug-related suspension issued in major league history—certainly doesn’t look like a win for Rodriguez, who has already become...
