Blog Archives
Hurricane Michael’s Cost: $25B With up to $8B in Insured Losses
October 14, 2018
Hurricane Michael will probably end up causing at least $25 billion in economic losses. About $3 billion of that will fall on the federal flood insurance program and private insurers may get hit with $9 billion to $10 billion in claims, according to Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research in Savannah, Georgia. About half the damage probably won’t be covered by insurance.
October 14, 2018
Hurricane Michael will probably end up causing at least $25 billion in economic losses. About $3 billion of that will fall on the federal flood insurance program and private insurers may get hit with $9 billion to $10 billion in claims, according to Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research in Savannah, Georgia. About half the damage probably won’t be covered by insurance.
Brief Jog Sharpens Mind
October 13, 2018
The students who went for a jog, but not the relaxation students, subsequently showed significant improvement on the version of the Trail Making Test that measures mental speed and attentional control (but not the other that taps memory and cognitive switching). Moreover, this improvement in cognition was fully mediated by their increased feelings of energy and vigour, implying – although not proving conclusively – that the jog boosted cognition through its effects on their subjective sense of having...
October 13, 2018
The students who went for a jog, but not the relaxation students, subsequently showed significant improvement on the version of the Trail Making Test that measures mental speed and attentional control (but not the other that taps memory and cognitive switching). Moreover, this improvement in cognition was fully mediated by their increased feelings of energy and vigour, implying – although not proving conclusively – that the jog boosted cognition through its effects on their subjective sense of having...
DoNotPay Founder Joshua Browder On Replacing Lawyers with Bots
October 13, 2018
At just 17 years old, Joshua Browder made international news when he created DoNotPay, a chatbot that helped appeal parking tickets, reportedly saving motorists in the U.S. and UK some $16 million. Now 21, he has just released a series of apps designed to help consumers solve common legal problems without the help of a lawyer — including one to file small claims lawsuits in any U.S. jurisdiction.
October 13, 2018
At just 17 years old, Joshua Browder made international news when he created DoNotPay, a chatbot that helped appeal parking tickets, reportedly saving motorists in the U.S. and UK some $16 million. Now 21, he has just released a series of apps designed to help consumers solve common legal problems without the help of a lawyer — including one to file small claims lawsuits in any U.S. jurisdiction.
Types of Litigation Finance
October 12, 2018
I'm at a conference on litigation funding and realized it might be useful, especially for journalists, to think through what we mean when we talk about litigation funding or litigation finance. Journalists and others tend to describe all forms of investment that support litigation under one umbrella: “litigation funding.” But in fact the litigation funding market is highly specialized. Types of litigation funding should be considered separately because they are very different financial products...
October 12, 2018
I'm at a conference on litigation funding and realized it might be useful, especially for journalists, to think through what we mean when we talk about litigation funding or litigation finance. Journalists and others tend to describe all forms of investment that support litigation under one umbrella: “litigation funding.” But in fact the litigation funding market is highly specialized. Types of litigation funding should be considered separately because they are very different financial products...
Challenging Arbitration Awards under the Federal Arbitration Act — Part II
October 12, 2018
This is Part II of this two-part Arbitration Law FAQ Guide, which is designed to provide individuals and businesses with a brief and broad overview of challenging awards under the Federal Arbitration Act. Part I (here) addressed eight FAQs concerning this topic. This Part II addresses six more. These FAQs, like the first eight, assume that a party is seeking to challenge a Federal-Arbitration-Act-governed arbitration award in a federal court having subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction,...
October 12, 2018
This is Part II of this two-part Arbitration Law FAQ Guide, which is designed to provide individuals and businesses with a brief and broad overview of challenging awards under the Federal Arbitration Act. Part I (here) addressed eight FAQs concerning this topic. This Part II addresses six more. These FAQs, like the first eight, assume that a party is seeking to challenge a Federal-Arbitration-Act-governed arbitration award in a federal court having subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction,...
Substantive Unfairness & Unconscionability
October 11, 2018
Hao Jiang (City University of Hong Kong School of Law; Tulane Law School) has posted Substantive Unfairness as Unconscionable on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Contrary to the conventional view that the doctrine of unconscionability requires procedural defects and is based on bargaining inequality, this paper argues that, in principle, substantive unconscionability alone shall be sufficient to constitute unconscionability and so vitiate a contract. It is also my contention that Aristotelian idea...
October 11, 2018
Hao Jiang (City University of Hong Kong School of Law; Tulane Law School) has posted Substantive Unfairness as Unconscionable on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Contrary to the conventional view that the doctrine of unconscionability requires procedural defects and is based on bargaining inequality, this paper argues that, in principle, substantive unconscionability alone shall be sufficient to constitute unconscionability and so vitiate a contract. It is also my contention that Aristotelian idea...
Circuit Split Widens Over Securities Broker-Dealer Attempts to Avoid FINRA Arbitration
October 11, 2018
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has widened a circuit split regarding whether a securities brokerage may deny clients access to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitral forum using a forum-selection clause. In Reading Health System v. Bear Stearns & Co., No. 16-4234 (3d. Cir. August 7, 2018), a Pennsylvania-based not-for-profit healthcare system, Reading, issued over $500 million in capital campaign debt using auction rate...
October 11, 2018
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has widened a circuit split regarding whether a securities brokerage may deny clients access to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitral forum using a forum-selection clause. In Reading Health System v. Bear Stearns & Co., No. 16-4234 (3d. Cir. August 7, 2018), a Pennsylvania-based not-for-profit healthcare system, Reading, issued over $500 million in capital campaign debt using auction rate...
All That Defrauds is Not Actionable
October 10, 2018
Whole Foods admitted to mislabeling certain prepackaged foods, which in addition to other legal problems, drew a securities fraud claim. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the rejection of that claim, observing: “The relationship between the weights-and-measures fraud and the plaintiffs’ loss (the decline in the stock price) is causal; the relationship between the alleged securities fraud and the plaintiffs’ loss is spurious. Whole Foods’ overcharging caused (1) the alleged accounting problems and (2) the public-relations...
October 10, 2018
Whole Foods admitted to mislabeling certain prepackaged foods, which in addition to other legal problems, drew a securities fraud claim. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the rejection of that claim, observing: “The relationship between the weights-and-measures fraud and the plaintiffs’ loss (the decline in the stock price) is causal; the relationship between the alleged securities fraud and the plaintiffs’ loss is spurious. Whole Foods’ overcharging caused (1) the alleged accounting problems and (2) the public-relations...
Challenging Arbitration Awards under the Federal Arbitration Act
October 10, 2018
This two-part Arbitration Law FAQ guide is designed to provide individuals and businesses with a basic overview of what the Federal Arbitration Act has to say about challenging arbitration awards in court. This is Part I and Part II is here. It assumes that the award is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act; the challenge is made in a federal district court having subject matter and personal jurisdiction; and venue is proper. This guide is not legal advice or a substitute for legal advice....
October 10, 2018
This two-part Arbitration Law FAQ guide is designed to provide individuals and businesses with a basic overview of what the Federal Arbitration Act has to say about challenging arbitration awards in court. This is Part I and Part II is here. It assumes that the award is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act; the challenge is made in a federal district court having subject matter and personal jurisdiction; and venue is proper. This guide is not legal advice or a substitute for legal advice....
Hasday on New Forms of Arbitration
October 9, 2018
Michael Hasday (Anderson & Ochs, LLP) has posted Running it Twice (or Thrice): Double-Header, Triple-Header, and Reverse Baseball Arbitration (52 U. Mich. J. L. Reform Caveat 1 (2018)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Essay illustrates how the “Running It Twice” concept that makes poker games less of a gamble can also be used in another forum where large amounts of money can be at stake: arbitrations. I introduce three new forms of arbitration based on this concept: Double-Header...
October 9, 2018
Michael Hasday (Anderson & Ochs, LLP) has posted Running it Twice (or Thrice): Double-Header, Triple-Header, and Reverse Baseball Arbitration (52 U. Mich. J. L. Reform Caveat 1 (2018)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Essay illustrates how the “Running It Twice” concept that makes poker games less of a gamble can also be used in another forum where large amounts of money can be at stake: arbitrations. I introduce three new forms of arbitration based on this concept: Double-Header...
