News
The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation: Part 2—Effect of Damage Caps
October 28, 2013
We study the effect of damage caps adopted in the 1990s and 2000s on medical malpractice claim rates and payouts. Prior studies found some evidence that caps reduce payout per claim, but mixed and weak evidence on whether caps reduce paid claim rates and payout per physician. However, most prior studies do not allow for the gradual phase-in of damage caps, which usually apply only to lawsuits filed after the reform's effective date, or only to injuries after the effective date. Once we allow for phase-in,...
October 28, 2013
We study the effect of damage caps adopted in the 1990s and 2000s on medical malpractice claim rates and payouts. Prior studies found some evidence that caps reduce payout per claim, but mixed and weak evidence on whether caps reduce paid claim rates and payout per physician. However, most prior studies do not allow for the gradual phase-in of damage caps, which usually apply only to lawsuits filed after the reform's effective date, or only to injuries after the effective date. Once we allow for phase-in,...
The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation: Part 1—National Trends
October 28, 2013
The United States has experienced three medical malpractice (med mal) crises in the past 40 years. In response, 31 states now have caps on noneconomic or total damages. Researchers have studied the impact of these caps, relative to control states without caps, but have not studied trends in no-cap states or overall national trends. We find that the per-physician rate of paid med mal claims has been dropping for 20 years and in 2012 was less than half the 1992 level. Lawsuit rates, in the states with...
October 28, 2013
The United States has experienced three medical malpractice (med mal) crises in the past 40 years. In response, 31 states now have caps on noneconomic or total damages. Researchers have studied the impact of these caps, relative to control states without caps, but have not studied trends in no-cap states or overall national trends. We find that the per-physician rate of paid med mal claims has been dropping for 20 years and in 2012 was less than half the 1992 level. Lawsuit rates, in the states with...
America’s Mood Map: An Interactive Guide to the United States of Attitude
October 27, 2013
For a country that features the word United so prominently in its name, the U.S. is a pretty fractious place. We splinter along fault lines of income, education, religion, race, hyphenated origin, age and politics. Then too there’s temperament. We’re coarse or courtly, traditionalist or rebel, amped up or laid-back. And it’s no secret that a lot of that seems to be determined by — or at least associated with — where we live. Now a multinational team of researchers led by psychologist...
October 27, 2013
For a country that features the word United so prominently in its name, the U.S. is a pretty fractious place. We splinter along fault lines of income, education, religion, race, hyphenated origin, age and politics. Then too there’s temperament. We’re coarse or courtly, traditionalist or rebel, amped up or laid-back. And it’s no secret that a lot of that seems to be determined by — or at least associated with — where we live. Now a multinational team of researchers led by psychologist...
Data Shows Google’s Robot Cars Are Smoother, Safer Drivers Than You or I
October 27, 2013
Data gathered from Google’s self-driving Prius and Lexus cars shows that they are safer and smoother when steering themselves than when a human takes the wheel, according to the leader of Google’s autonomous-car project. Chris Urmson made those claims today at a robotics conference in Santa Clara, California. He presented results from two studies of data from the hundreds of thousands of miles Google’s vehicles have logged on public roads in California and Nevada. One of those analyses...
October 27, 2013
Data gathered from Google’s self-driving Prius and Lexus cars shows that they are safer and smoother when steering themselves than when a human takes the wheel, according to the leader of Google’s autonomous-car project. Chris Urmson made those claims today at a robotics conference in Santa Clara, California. He presented results from two studies of data from the hundreds of thousands of miles Google’s vehicles have logged on public roads in California and Nevada. One of those analyses...
LexisNexis and Internet Brands Eliminate 205 Lawyers.com Jobs
October 27, 2013
At 4:31 p.m. Thursday, Michael Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis Legal & Profession, advised colleagues that 205 jobs will be eliminated nationally for workers in the company's new joint venture with Internet Brands. The alliance brings together LN's Martindale-Hubbell unit, as well as its Lawyers.com consumer site, "with Internet Brands’ online marketing services for lawyers through its Nolo legal division," he wrote in the email message. The joint venture was announced on August 30, The transition...
October 27, 2013
At 4:31 p.m. Thursday, Michael Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis Legal & Profession, advised colleagues that 205 jobs will be eliminated nationally for workers in the company's new joint venture with Internet Brands. The alliance brings together LN's Martindale-Hubbell unit, as well as its Lawyers.com consumer site, "with Internet Brands’ online marketing services for lawyers through its Nolo legal division," he wrote in the email message. The joint venture was announced on August 30, The transition...
Google Glass In The Concert Hall? Cornell Prof Looks To Make Beautiful Music With High-Tech Headgear
October 27, 2013
Google Glass isn’t just for tech bros -- it could be a new way to experience classical music. A Cornell University professor and undergraduate student are teaming up to move Beethoven, Brahms and all the rest into the digital age. Cynthia Turner is a conductor, professor of performance at Cornell’s department of music and leader of the university’s winds ensemble. In February, when Google was soliciting applications for its Glass Explorer program, she Tweeted: #ifihadglass i'd...
October 27, 2013
Google Glass isn’t just for tech bros -- it could be a new way to experience classical music. A Cornell University professor and undergraduate student are teaming up to move Beethoven, Brahms and all the rest into the digital age. Cynthia Turner is a conductor, professor of performance at Cornell’s department of music and leader of the university’s winds ensemble. In February, when Google was soliciting applications for its Glass Explorer program, she Tweeted: #ifihadglass i'd...
LinkedIn Drives More Traffic to Law Firm Websites Than All Other Social Media Combined
October 26, 2013
Need motivation to complete your firm’s company page on LinkedIn and to get your lawyers using LinkedIn? Here it is. LinkedIn generates more traffic for corporate websites than all the other social platforms combined. This per an Investis IQ Audience Insight Report (pdf). Steve Rayson (@steverayson), cofounder of an e-learning provider and B2B marketing professional, provides a nice summary of the report’s findings. LinkedIn accounts for nearly two thirds, 64%, of all visits to corporate...
October 26, 2013
Need motivation to complete your firm’s company page on LinkedIn and to get your lawyers using LinkedIn? Here it is. LinkedIn generates more traffic for corporate websites than all the other social platforms combined. This per an Investis IQ Audience Insight Report (pdf). Steve Rayson (@steverayson), cofounder of an e-learning provider and B2B marketing professional, provides a nice summary of the report’s findings. LinkedIn accounts for nearly two thirds, 64%, of all visits to corporate...
oneSafe Password Manager – Secure Your Logins, Documents and Pictures
October 26, 2013
The best – and most secure – way to manage your myriad logins is to use a password manager. Fortunately, there are a few good options to choose from. We’ve talked about 1Password and Dashlane. There’s also the popular LastPass. (the premium model is subscription based.) Another great option, is oneSafe, the most affordable of the bunch. Simple and elegant, oneSafe stores your usernames and passwords, credit card, tax and bank account numbers, and personal documents in a variety of formats...
October 26, 2013
The best – and most secure – way to manage your myriad logins is to use a password manager. Fortunately, there are a few good options to choose from. We’ve talked about 1Password and Dashlane. There’s also the popular LastPass. (the premium model is subscription based.) Another great option, is oneSafe, the most affordable of the bunch. Simple and elegant, oneSafe stores your usernames and passwords, credit card, tax and bank account numbers, and personal documents in a variety of formats...
Experimental Law Review Note Uses Twitter As Its Research Source
October 26, 2013
Can Twitter be a legitimate source of legal research and scholarship? As an associate editor of the Michigan State Law Review, 3L Patrick M. Ellis decided to find out. To fulfill the requirement that he produce a scholarly note addressing a legal issue, he has written a paper that he researched and sourced almost entirely through Twitter. He has now posted a working draft of the paper, 140 Characters or Less: An Experiment in Legal Research, at SSRN. In the synopsis that introduces the paper...
October 26, 2013
Can Twitter be a legitimate source of legal research and scholarship? As an associate editor of the Michigan State Law Review, 3L Patrick M. Ellis decided to find out. To fulfill the requirement that he produce a scholarly note addressing a legal issue, he has written a paper that he researched and sourced almost entirely through Twitter. He has now posted a working draft of the paper, 140 Characters or Less: An Experiment in Legal Research, at SSRN. In the synopsis that introduces the paper...
