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What If Mediation Science Originated In The Real World?
February 19, 2019
But as we start a New Year, soon a new decade, let’s dare to be a bit adventurous. What if a vast range of mediation skills and techniques could be radically improved by new data derived from large-scale national and international field research? What if mediation field research could happen in a coordinated manner, maintaining a critical level of universal definitions that allows comparison of findings, thus avoiding duplication of effort and cost, accelerating the generation...
February 19, 2019
But as we start a New Year, soon a new decade, let’s dare to be a bit adventurous. What if a vast range of mediation skills and techniques could be radically improved by new data derived from large-scale national and international field research? What if mediation field research could happen in a coordinated manner, maintaining a critical level of universal definitions that allows comparison of findings, thus avoiding duplication of effort and cost, accelerating the generation...
KPMG Legal Services Division Reports Record Revenue Growth
February 18, 2019
KPMG’s legal services division revenue rose by more than 30 percent in 2018 in a record-setting performance, according...
February 18, 2019
KPMG’s legal services division revenue rose by more than 30 percent in 2018 in a record-setting performance, according...
Zabinski & Black: Med Mal Caps Diminish Deterrent Effect
February 18, 2019
Zenon Zabinski & Bernard Black have posted to SSRN The Deterrent Effect of Tort Law: Evidence from Medical Malpractice Reform. The abstract provides: We examine whether caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases affect in-hospital patient safety. We use Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) — measures of adverse events — as proxies for safety. In difference-in-differences (DiD) analyses of five states that adopt caps during 2003-2005, we find that patient safety...
February 18, 2019
Zenon Zabinski & Bernard Black have posted to SSRN The Deterrent Effect of Tort Law: Evidence from Medical Malpractice Reform. The abstract provides: We examine whether caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases affect in-hospital patient safety. We use Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) — measures of adverse events — as proxies for safety. In difference-in-differences (DiD) analyses of five states that adopt caps during 2003-2005, we find that patient safety...
Pure Online Courses Not as Effective as Those Incorporating Face-to-Face Component
February 17, 2019
Our review of the evidence demonstrates that: Online education is the fastest-growing segment of higher education and its growth is overrepresented in the for-profit sector.A wide range of audiences and stakeholders—including faculty and academic leaders, employers and the general public—are skeptical about the quality and value of online education, which they view as inferior to face-to-face education.Students in online education, and in particular underprepared and disadvantaged students,...
February 17, 2019
Our review of the evidence demonstrates that: Online education is the fastest-growing segment of higher education and its growth is overrepresented in the for-profit sector.A wide range of audiences and stakeholders—including faculty and academic leaders, employers and the general public—are skeptical about the quality and value of online education, which they view as inferior to face-to-face education.Students in online education, and in particular underprepared and disadvantaged students,...
The Irony of Self-Representation in Family Law Litigation
February 17, 2019
From Financial Post: There is no doubt the costs of family law litigation are simultaneously emotional and financial. One of those financial costs, the need to engage a lawyer, may cause parties to be inclined to represent themselves. While self-representation is the only option for many people due to their financial resources (a broader discussion of access to justice is beyond the scope of this article), for those with resources, the decision to self-represent may be quite costly in the end.
February 17, 2019
From Financial Post: There is no doubt the costs of family law litigation are simultaneously emotional and financial. One of those financial costs, the need to engage a lawyer, may cause parties to be inclined to represent themselves. While self-representation is the only option for many people due to their financial resources (a broader discussion of access to justice is beyond the scope of this article), for those with resources, the decision to self-represent may be quite costly in the end.
Thinking or Acting Like A Lawyer? What We Don’t Know About Legal Education and are Afraid to Ask
February 16, 2019
This essay (the keynote address at International Conference on Research on Legal Education at the University of New South Wales, December 3-5 2017) reviews the “Big Bangs” in American legal education from “thinking like a lawyer” (classical Socratic education), developing legal theory, critical thinking, jurisprudence, critical legal studies, critical race and feminist theory, “acting like a lawyer” (clinical and experiential educaton), “being a lawyer,” (legal ethics and professional...
February 16, 2019
This essay (the keynote address at International Conference on Research on Legal Education at the University of New South Wales, December 3-5 2017) reviews the “Big Bangs” in American legal education from “thinking like a lawyer” (classical Socratic education), developing legal theory, critical thinking, jurisprudence, critical legal studies, critical race and feminist theory, “acting like a lawyer” (clinical and experiential educaton), “being a lawyer,” (legal ethics and professional...
Rehearsing In Poetry, But Practising In Prose
February 12, 2019
My point I guess is that mediation is not all linear and purposeful as it might appear in the competition environment, with polite openings with the usual platitudes, logical issue identification, measured joint meetings, ordered caucusing and win/win agreements…. it’s… well… messier, I guess. Any active mediator or mediation advocate will experience a huge range of mediations from corporate to personal, from cash and carry to multi party, multi-faceted, high conflict emotional situations....
February 12, 2019
My point I guess is that mediation is not all linear and purposeful as it might appear in the competition environment, with polite openings with the usual platitudes, logical issue identification, measured joint meetings, ordered caucusing and win/win agreements…. it’s… well… messier, I guess. Any active mediator or mediation advocate will experience a huge range of mediations from corporate to personal, from cash and carry to multi party, multi-faceted, high conflict emotional situations....
Legal Sector Ends 2018 With Loss of 600 Jobs in December
February 9, 2019
Despite ferocious job growth in the overall economy during the month of December in which 312,000 jobs were added, the legal sector ended the year on a negative note by dropping 600 total jobs according to the latest reportfrom the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS also revised its job loss report for November 2018 by decreasing the number of jobs lost from the original figure of 2,400 to only 1,300 jobs lost. In light of that revised figure, it means the number of legal sectors jobs, a category...
February 9, 2019
Despite ferocious job growth in the overall economy during the month of December in which 312,000 jobs were added, the legal sector ended the year on a negative note by dropping 600 total jobs according to the latest reportfrom the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS also revised its job loss report for November 2018 by decreasing the number of jobs lost from the original figure of 2,400 to only 1,300 jobs lost. In light of that revised figure, it means the number of legal sectors jobs, a category...
The Changing Nature of Insurance Claims Litigation
February 6, 2019
Mergers and acquisitions, sophisticated litigation management technology and hedge fund-backed capital has made the plaintiffs’...
February 6, 2019
Mergers and acquisitions, sophisticated litigation management technology and hedge fund-backed capital has made the plaintiffs’...
Petition for Review Filed Over $460K Legal Malpractice Arbitration Award
February 6, 2019
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Texas was asked to consider whether the Beaumont Court of Appeals committed error when it refused to vacate an arbitrator’s $460,000 legal malpractice award. In Midani and Midani, Hinkle & Cole, LLP v. Smith, No. 09-18-00009-CV (Tex. App. – Beaumont, November 1, 2018), a woman, Smith, hired a Houston law firm, Midani, Hinkle & Cole (“MHC”), to represent her in a dental malpractice case. Smith signed...
February 6, 2019
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Texas was asked to consider whether the Beaumont Court of Appeals committed error when it refused to vacate an arbitrator’s $460,000 legal malpractice award. In Midani and Midani, Hinkle & Cole, LLP v. Smith, No. 09-18-00009-CV (Tex. App. – Beaumont, November 1, 2018), a woman, Smith, hired a Houston law firm, Midani, Hinkle & Cole (“MHC”), to represent her in a dental malpractice case. Smith signed...
