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Recession Rebound: Managing Partner Survey Shows Positive Growth Trend
January 3, 2014
Five years ago, rather than traveling to El Paso, many lawyers would refer litigation work to local counsel in El Paso. But since the global financial crisis of 2008 and the resulting recession, more and more lawyers are taking the time and trouble to follow the money to far west Texas. "We see more out-of-town firms coming in to do litigation, they will follow the litigation here," said Mike McQueen, managing partner of Kemp Smith, the largest firm in El Paso. "For a long time we were in kind...
January 3, 2014
Five years ago, rather than traveling to El Paso, many lawyers would refer litigation work to local counsel in El Paso. But since the global financial crisis of 2008 and the resulting recession, more and more lawyers are taking the time and trouble to follow the money to far west Texas. "We see more out-of-town firms coming in to do litigation, they will follow the litigation here," said Mike McQueen, managing partner of Kemp Smith, the largest firm in El Paso. "For a long time we were in kind...
Largest E-Filing State Mandate Begins in Texas
January 3, 2014
On Thursday Texas became the nation’s largest state to implement a mandatory electronic court filing system aimed at digitizing...
January 3, 2014
On Thursday Texas became the nation’s largest state to implement a mandatory electronic court filing system aimed at digitizing...
Posner Frowns on Sealed Settlement Agreements
January 3, 2014
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has refused to allow the sealing of settlement agreements in two civil actions, citing the “presumption of public access to judicial records.” Regarding one of the cases, Judge Richard Posner wrote, the information is important to future negotiations over attorneys’ fees in cases in which the plaintiff is a minor. “[N]o good reason—in fact no reason at all—has been given for thinking that concealment of the information would serve some...
January 3, 2014
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has refused to allow the sealing of settlement agreements in two civil actions, citing the “presumption of public access to judicial records.” Regarding one of the cases, Judge Richard Posner wrote, the information is important to future negotiations over attorneys’ fees in cases in which the plaintiff is a minor. “[N]o good reason—in fact no reason at all—has been given for thinking that concealment of the information would serve some...
The 10 Most Important Legal Technology Developments of 2013
January 2, 2014
Here are my picks for the 10 most important legal technology developments of 2013. What am I missing? What would be on your list? The numbers are not meant to indicate priority. They are all important, in my mind. 5. Lawyers realized that computer analytics are allies, not enemies. The warning bell came with the 2011 New York Timesarticle, Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software. Some lawyers started to believe that advances in artificial intelligence and computer analytics...
January 2, 2014
Here are my picks for the 10 most important legal technology developments of 2013. What am I missing? What would be on your list? The numbers are not meant to indicate priority. They are all important, in my mind. 5. Lawyers realized that computer analytics are allies, not enemies. The warning bell came with the 2011 New York Timesarticle, Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software. Some lawyers started to believe that advances in artificial intelligence and computer analytics...
Law 2014: Within Employment Discrimination, It’s a Wage-and-Hour World
January 2, 2014
The 2011 U.S. Supreme Court case known as Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes has in many ways made it harder for plaintiffs to bring successful workplace-discrimination class-action suits. But that hasn’t meant that the plaintiffs’ bar has stopped filing employment-related suits altogether. To the contrary — plaintiffs have merely switched tactics, according to employment lawyers. For starters, they’re filing more wage-and-hour litigation, accusing employers of shortchanging employees by misclassifying...
January 2, 2014
The 2011 U.S. Supreme Court case known as Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes has in many ways made it harder for plaintiffs to bring successful workplace-discrimination class-action suits. But that hasn’t meant that the plaintiffs’ bar has stopped filing employment-related suits altogether. To the contrary — plaintiffs have merely switched tactics, according to employment lawyers. For starters, they’re filing more wage-and-hour litigation, accusing employers of shortchanging employees by misclassifying...
2013: A Bellwether Year in Litigation
January 2, 2014
Test cases allow the parties to see which way the wind blows with juries and, perhaps, settle their disputes. DEPUY The first bellwether trials over defects in hip implants made by Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Orthopaedics resulted in a $2.5 billion settlement on Nov. 19. On March 8, a Los Angeles jury awarded $8.3 million to a man who suffered injuries due to an implant. A second trial in Chicago ended on April 16 with a defense win. The settlement resolves cases in federal court in Cleveland...
January 2, 2014
Test cases allow the parties to see which way the wind blows with juries and, perhaps, settle their disputes. DEPUY The first bellwether trials over defects in hip implants made by Johnson & Johnson's DePuy Orthopaedics resulted in a $2.5 billion settlement on Nov. 19. On March 8, a Los Angeles jury awarded $8.3 million to a man who suffered injuries due to an implant. A second trial in Chicago ended on April 16 with a defense win. The settlement resolves cases in federal court in Cleveland...
Roberts Warns of Impact of Budget Cuts on Judiciary
January 2, 2014
In his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Tuesday warned that continued severe budget cuts would result in courtroom layoffs, trial delays and a “deepening threat to public safety at courts around the country.” Perpetuating “a hard freeze at the sequester level,” Roberts said, would extend an emergency $15-per-hour rate reduction for private lawyers representing indigent criminal defendants, and reduced security for court personnel. It would...
January 2, 2014
In his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Tuesday warned that continued severe budget cuts would result in courtroom layoffs, trial delays and a “deepening threat to public safety at courts around the country.” Perpetuating “a hard freeze at the sequester level,” Roberts said, would extend an emergency $15-per-hour rate reduction for private lawyers representing indigent criminal defendants, and reduced security for court personnel. It would...
Intellectual Property Cases Won in 2013 Worth Bragging About
January 2, 2014
Now that we've reached the end of another busy year for intellectual property litigation, it's worth looking back at some of the decisions that got the IP bar buzzing over the past 12 months. The list is far from definitive, but here are a handful of cases that had winning lawyers popping champagne corks early in 2013. American Broadcasting Companies Inc. et. al. v. Aereo Inc. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to enjoin Aereo's online, royalty-free streaming of broadcast...
January 2, 2014
Now that we've reached the end of another busy year for intellectual property litigation, it's worth looking back at some of the decisions that got the IP bar buzzing over the past 12 months. The list is far from definitive, but here are a handful of cases that had winning lawyers popping champagne corks early in 2013. American Broadcasting Companies Inc. et. al. v. Aereo Inc. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to enjoin Aereo's online, royalty-free streaming of broadcast...
LinkedIn To Change Setting In Response To Florida Bar Concerns
January 1, 2014
LinkedIn, the popular online business networking site, has reportedly agreed to change a setting that automatically lists a person’s professional “specialties” in response to concerns from The Florida Bar and other state bar regulatory organizations. A LinkedIn senior legal counsel met with Florida Bar officials telephonically Dec. 17, according to Elizabeth Tarbert, ethics counsel for The Florida Bar. The senior counsel, Catalin Cosovanu, reported that LinkedIn is in the process of changing...
January 1, 2014
LinkedIn, the popular online business networking site, has reportedly agreed to change a setting that automatically lists a person’s professional “specialties” in response to concerns from The Florida Bar and other state bar regulatory organizations. A LinkedIn senior legal counsel met with Florida Bar officials telephonically Dec. 17, according to Elizabeth Tarbert, ethics counsel for The Florida Bar. The senior counsel, Catalin Cosovanu, reported that LinkedIn is in the process of changing...
Labor & Employment Year in Review 2013: Arbitration
December 31, 2013
As 2013 draws to a close, it’s an ideal time to reflect on what has come to pass in the in-house legal world this year, and look forward to what’s coming up in the next. When asked what they are thinking about on the occasion of the new year, labor and employment attorneys told CorpCounsel.com that there is plenty on their minds, from wage and hour cases, to an emboldened National Labor Relations Board, to the Americans with Disabilities Act. However one of the most commonly cited topics of all was arbitration...
December 31, 2013
As 2013 draws to a close, it’s an ideal time to reflect on what has come to pass in the in-house legal world this year, and look forward to what’s coming up in the next. When asked what they are thinking about on the occasion of the new year, labor and employment attorneys told CorpCounsel.com that there is plenty on their minds, from wage and hour cases, to an emboldened National Labor Relations Board, to the Americans with Disabilities Act. However one of the most commonly cited topics of all was arbitration...
