Blog Archives
NHL Enters Mediation in Concussion Lawsuit
September 18, 2018
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman downplayed the significance of entering mediation with former players in a bid to settle a concussion lawsuit, saying Tuesday the league is simply following a judge’s order. “The judge asked us to go into mediation and so we’re complying with the judge’s request,” Bettman told The Associated Press.
September 18, 2018
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman downplayed the significance of entering mediation with former players in a bid to settle a concussion lawsuit, saying Tuesday the league is simply following a judge’s order. “The judge asked us to go into mediation and so we’re complying with the judge’s request,” Bettman told The Associated Press.
Why Ethical People Become Unethical Negotiators
September 18, 2018
You may think you are an ethical person, but self-interest can cloud your judgment when you sit down at the bargaining table, says Max Bazerman. With profit and greed driving the desire to deceive, it’s not surprising that negotiators often act unethically. But it’s too simplistic to think people always enter a negotiation looking to dupe the other side. Sometimes negotiators stretch the truth unintentionally, falling prey to what Bazerman and his colleagues call “bounded ethicality”...
September 18, 2018
You may think you are an ethical person, but self-interest can cloud your judgment when you sit down at the bargaining table, says Max Bazerman. With profit and greed driving the desire to deceive, it’s not surprising that negotiators often act unethically. But it’s too simplistic to think people always enter a negotiation looking to dupe the other side. Sometimes negotiators stretch the truth unintentionally, falling prey to what Bazerman and his colleagues call “bounded ethicality”...
Lex Machina’s 2018 Securities Litigation Report Reveals Securities Litigation Is at an All-Time High
September 17, 2018
New case filings have increased, but fewer cases proceed to trial as more defendants win by judgment on the pleadings Among its key findings, the report reveals that during the 18 months following the nomination of Jay Clayton as SEC Chairman in January 2017, securities case filings were at an all-time high (2,622 cases — a 60% increase over the prior 18 months) with Q1 2018 recording the most case filings to date (485 cases). During the same period, plaintiff losses on judgments...
September 17, 2018
New case filings have increased, but fewer cases proceed to trial as more defendants win by judgment on the pleadings Among its key findings, the report reveals that during the 18 months following the nomination of Jay Clayton as SEC Chairman in January 2017, securities case filings were at an all-time high (2,622 cases — a 60% increase over the prior 18 months) with Q1 2018 recording the most case filings to date (485 cases). During the same period, plaintiff losses on judgments...
Ninth Circuit Courts Continue to Not Love Arbitration Clauses as Much as the Supreme Court Does
September 17, 2018
Revitch received an automated advertising call from DirecTV to his cell phone, and sued alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Revitch was a wireless customer of AT&T, so DirecTV moved to compel arbitration under its sibling corporation's wireless service contract with Revitch. This recent case out of the Northern District of California, Revitch v. DirecTV, LLC, No. 18-cv-01127-JCS, denied the motion, finding that the arbitration clause did not cover claims with DirecTV...
September 17, 2018
Revitch received an automated advertising call from DirecTV to his cell phone, and sued alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Revitch was a wireless customer of AT&T, so DirecTV moved to compel arbitration under its sibling corporation's wireless service contract with Revitch. This recent case out of the Northern District of California, Revitch v. DirecTV, LLC, No. 18-cv-01127-JCS, denied the motion, finding that the arbitration clause did not cover claims with DirecTV...
Hylton on Information Costs and Civil Litigation
September 16, 2018
Keith Hylton has posted to SSRN Information Costs and the Civil Justice System. The abstract provides: Litigation is costly because information is not free. Given that information is costly and perfect information prohibitively costly, courts will occasionally err. Finally, the fact that information is costly implies an unavoidable degree of informational asymmetry between disputants. This paper presents a model of the civil justice system that incorporates these features of the real world and probes...
September 16, 2018
Keith Hylton has posted to SSRN Information Costs and the Civil Justice System. The abstract provides: Litigation is costly because information is not free. Given that information is costly and perfect information prohibitively costly, courts will occasionally err. Finally, the fact that information is costly implies an unavoidable degree of informational asymmetry between disputants. This paper presents a model of the civil justice system that incorporates these features of the real world and probes...
Alimony Is No Longer Deductible Under Tax Reform
September 16, 2018
From AccountingToday: Over 600,000 taxpayers claimed a deduction for alimony on their 2015 returns, but for divorces entered into after 2018, alimony will no longer be deductible by the payor and the income will not be taxed to the recipient, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. “The law has gone back almost 80 years,” said Marilyn Chinitz, a partner at law firm Blank Rome who specializes in matrimonial litigation involving high-net-worth individuals. “The Revenue Act of 1942 made alimony...
September 16, 2018
From AccountingToday: Over 600,000 taxpayers claimed a deduction for alimony on their 2015 returns, but for divorces entered into after 2018, alimony will no longer be deductible by the payor and the income will not be taxed to the recipient, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. “The law has gone back almost 80 years,” said Marilyn Chinitz, a partner at law firm Blank Rome who specializes in matrimonial litigation involving high-net-worth individuals. “The Revenue Act of 1942 made alimony...
Oregon Lawyers Sue Over Mandatory Bar Dues in Wake of Supreme Court’s Union Dues Decision
September 15, 2018
Citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down earlier this year, two lawyers have sued the Oregon State Bar alleging that mandatory dues infringe on their constitutional rights. Diane Gruber and Mark Runnels argue in a suit filed last Wednesday in federal court that paying compulsory dues infringes on their First Amendment rights because it helps pay for political and ideological speech they disagree with. “This isn’t an attack on the state bar,” attorney Michael L. Spencer, who filed...
September 15, 2018
Citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down earlier this year, two lawyers have sued the Oregon State Bar alleging that mandatory dues infringe on their constitutional rights. Diane Gruber and Mark Runnels argue in a suit filed last Wednesday in federal court that paying compulsory dues infringes on their First Amendment rights because it helps pay for political and ideological speech they disagree with. “This isn’t an attack on the state bar,” attorney Michael L. Spencer, who filed...
IBM’s Watson A.I. Seems to be Losing its Battle with Cancer
September 15, 2018
Can Watson cure cancer? That’s what International Business Machines Corp. IBM -0.20% asked soon after its artificial-intelligence system beat humans at the quiz show “Jeopardy!” in 2011. Watson could read documents quickly and find patterns in data. Could it match patient information with the latest in medical studies to deliver personalized treatment recommendations? “Watson represents a technology breakthrough that can help physicians improve patient outcomes,” said Herbert...
September 15, 2018
Can Watson cure cancer? That’s what International Business Machines Corp. IBM -0.20% asked soon after its artificial-intelligence system beat humans at the quiz show “Jeopardy!” in 2011. Watson could read documents quickly and find patterns in data. Could it match patient information with the latest in medical studies to deliver personalized treatment recommendations? “Watson represents a technology breakthrough that can help physicians improve patient outcomes,” said Herbert...
SBOT Professional Ethics Committee Issues New Opinion Regarding Lawyer-Mediators
September 14, 2018
The Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas recently issued a written opinion regarding whether it is permissible for a Texas attorney-mediator to prepare a post-mediation written agreement memorializing any agreed-upon terms and also offer guidance to the parties regarding the inclusion of additional terms that were not previously discussed during the mediation process. In Professional Ethics Committee Opinion Number 675, the Questions Presented state: May a Texas lawyer,...
September 14, 2018
The Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas recently issued a written opinion regarding whether it is permissible for a Texas attorney-mediator to prepare a post-mediation written agreement memorializing any agreed-upon terms and also offer guidance to the parties regarding the inclusion of additional terms that were not previously discussed during the mediation process. In Professional Ethics Committee Opinion Number 675, the Questions Presented state: May a Texas lawyer,...
Churchill on Rhetoric
September 14, 2018
Having just now seen Darkest Hour, the Academy Award-winning film about Churchill confronting Britain’s terrible military situation in May of 1940, I was inspired to update this blog’s page about legal writing with an essay written by Churchill as a young man called “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric.” It illustrates five simple ways to put words together to add power to the overall message they convey.
September 14, 2018
Having just now seen Darkest Hour, the Academy Award-winning film about Churchill confronting Britain’s terrible military situation in May of 1940, I was inspired to update this blog’s page about legal writing with an essay written by Churchill as a young man called “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric.” It illustrates five simple ways to put words together to add power to the overall message they convey.
