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Citi Survey Finds Law Firm Leader Optimism on the Rise
December 26, 2013
As 2013 comes to a close, law firm managing partners are more optimistic about the year ahead than they were at the end of the third quarter, according to a recent survey conducted by Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group. The bank's quarterly Law Watch Managing Partner Confidence Index—which plots responses from a series of questions on a 200-point index, with 100 representing a neutral opinion and 200 representing absolute confidence—found overall confidence for 2014 at 109, six points higher than...
December 26, 2013
As 2013 comes to a close, law firm managing partners are more optimistic about the year ahead than they were at the end of the third quarter, according to a recent survey conducted by Citi Private Bank's Law Firm Group. The bank's quarterly Law Watch Managing Partner Confidence Index—which plots responses from a series of questions on a 200-point index, with 100 representing a neutral opinion and 200 representing absolute confidence—found overall confidence for 2014 at 109, six points higher than...
Fifth Circuit Holds Class Arbitration Waivers Do Not Violate the NLRA
December 26, 2013
The Fifth Circuit has ruled that employers may require workers to resolve employment disputes through individual arbitration. In D.R. Horton, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., No. 12-60031 (5th Cir. December 3, 2013), a superintendent for home builder D.R. Horton, Michael Cuda, signed a mutual arbitration agreement (Agreement) that barred class action or collective claims as a condition of his continued employment. Two years after Cuda’s employment at D.R. Horton ended, he sought to initiate class arbitration proceedings...
December 26, 2013
The Fifth Circuit has ruled that employers may require workers to resolve employment disputes through individual arbitration. In D.R. Horton, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., No. 12-60031 (5th Cir. December 3, 2013), a superintendent for home builder D.R. Horton, Michael Cuda, signed a mutual arbitration agreement (Agreement) that barred class action or collective claims as a condition of his continued employment. Two years after Cuda’s employment at D.R. Horton ended, he sought to initiate class arbitration proceedings...
In God We Trust: All Others Bring Data
December 26, 2013
"In God we trust, all others bring data." These are the words of William Edwards Deming -- a renowned American statistician, professor, author, lecturer and consultant. In Japan, from 1950 onward he taught top business managers how to improve many aspects of their business through the application of statistical methods. Deming's statistical, data-based methodologies are a familiar concept in this day and age, so one would think they apply to foreign-exchange benchmarks and rates as well. So...
December 26, 2013
"In God we trust, all others bring data." These are the words of William Edwards Deming -- a renowned American statistician, professor, author, lecturer and consultant. In Japan, from 1950 onward he taught top business managers how to improve many aspects of their business through the application of statistical methods. Deming's statistical, data-based methodologies are a familiar concept in this day and age, so one would think they apply to foreign-exchange benchmarks and rates as well. So...
Cool Technologies From 2013 and for 2014 to Check Out
December 24, 2013
I used to make a year-end list of technologies to investigate. Now I make a list of lists and check it throughout the new year. Here’s a start to my list. Technolawyer’s NewsWire readers selected theirtop 25 products of 2013 last week. Noteworthy items include: Connected Data Transporter, which was debuted at the ABA Techshow in April; Fijitsu’s ScanSnap SV600 and iX500 scanners; and the Livescribe Inc.’s Livescribe 3 Smartpen. But read through the entire list, don’t stop...
December 24, 2013
I used to make a year-end list of technologies to investigate. Now I make a list of lists and check it throughout the new year. Here’s a start to my list. Technolawyer’s NewsWire readers selected theirtop 25 products of 2013 last week. Noteworthy items include: Connected Data Transporter, which was debuted at the ABA Techshow in April; Fijitsu’s ScanSnap SV600 and iX500 scanners; and the Livescribe Inc.’s Livescribe 3 Smartpen. But read through the entire list, don’t stop...
Entitle Books: Netflix Meets the Public Library
December 23, 2013
Book of the month club is back! It’s like Netflix meets the public library—a new e-book subscription service called Entitle was...
December 23, 2013
Book of the month club is back! It’s like Netflix meets the public library—a new e-book subscription service called Entitle was...
Is the Law Firm Pyramid Collapsing? BigLaw is Aging With More Partners Than Associates
December 23, 2013
1988 was a peak year for associates in BigLaw. The percentage of associates in the nation’s top 250 law firms was at its highest...
December 23, 2013
1988 was a peak year for associates in BigLaw. The percentage of associates in the nation’s top 250 law firms was at its highest...
Toyota Begins Settlement Negotiations on Acceleration Lawsuits
December 23, 2013
Toyota has announced it will begin negotiations to settle hundreds of pending federal and state lawsuits over the sudden acceleration of its vehicles, the New York Times reports. The announcement comes two months after the Japanese automaker lost a court case in Oklahoma. In that case, a jury found that Toyota Camry’s electronic throttle system was defective. Legal analysts said that the verdict most likely spurred Toyota to pursue a broad settlement of its remaining cases. In July, Toyota...
December 23, 2013
Toyota has announced it will begin negotiations to settle hundreds of pending federal and state lawsuits over the sudden acceleration of its vehicles, the New York Times reports. The announcement comes two months after the Japanese automaker lost a court case in Oklahoma. In that case, a jury found that Toyota Camry’s electronic throttle system was defective. Legal analysts said that the verdict most likely spurred Toyota to pursue a broad settlement of its remaining cases. In July, Toyota...
Texas Supreme Court Agrees to Consider What Constitutes Arbitrator Evident Partiality
December 23, 2013
The Supreme Court of Texas has agreed to consider whether an arbitration award in a dispute between two energy companies should be upheld. In Tenaska Energy Inc. et al. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy LLC, No. 12-0789, Ponderosa sought $200 million from Tenaska over a breached power plant purchase agreement. The parties engaged in arbitration before a three-member panel and Ponderosa was awarded $125 million. Following arbitration, Ponderosa sought to confirm the panel’s award. Tenaska...
December 23, 2013
The Supreme Court of Texas has agreed to consider whether an arbitration award in a dispute between two energy companies should be upheld. In Tenaska Energy Inc. et al. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy LLC, No. 12-0789, Ponderosa sought $200 million from Tenaska over a breached power plant purchase agreement. The parties engaged in arbitration before a three-member panel and Ponderosa was awarded $125 million. Following arbitration, Ponderosa sought to confirm the panel’s award. Tenaska...
NY Office of Court Administration Seeks Comments on Mandatory Mediation Pilot
December 23, 2013
The Commercial Division Advisory Council has recommended adoption of a mandatory mediation pilot program that would apply to “every fifth newly assigned case” in the Commercial Division, New York County. The comment period ends February 11, 2014. Persons wishing to comment should e-mail their submissions to CommDivMedPilot@nycourts.gov or write to: John W. McConnell, Esq., Counsel, Office of Court Administration, 25 Beaver Street, 11th Fl., New York, New York 10004. Download NY Office of Court...
December 23, 2013
The Commercial Division Advisory Council has recommended adoption of a mandatory mediation pilot program that would apply to “every fifth newly assigned case” in the Commercial Division, New York County. The comment period ends February 11, 2014. Persons wishing to comment should e-mail their submissions to CommDivMedPilot@nycourts.gov or write to: John W. McConnell, Esq., Counsel, Office of Court Administration, 25 Beaver Street, 11th Fl., New York, New York 10004. Download NY Office of Court...
NORAD: Santa to be Accompanied by Fighter Jets This Year
December 22, 2013
Santa is to get a US military escort on his big night this year. But (don’t tell the kids) it’s not entirely real. There’s no point getting out your telescope as the escort in question will only be visible on a streaming video operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD (and its predecessor CONAD) has run the tracker in various forms since 1955. The story goes that a department store published a number for a “phone Santa” line but a misprint meant calls...
December 22, 2013
Santa is to get a US military escort on his big night this year. But (don’t tell the kids) it’s not entirely real. There’s no point getting out your telescope as the escort in question will only be visible on a streaming video operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD (and its predecessor CONAD) has run the tracker in various forms since 1955. The story goes that a department store published a number for a “phone Santa” line but a misprint meant calls...
