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New Alzheimer’s Drug Slows Memory Loss in Early Trial Results
September 8, 2018
For the first time in a large clinical trial, a drug was able to both reduce the plaques in the brains of patients and slow the progression of dementia. The trial involved 856 patients from the United States, Europe and Japan with early symptoms of cognitive decline. They were diagnosed with either mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s dementia, and all had significant accumulations of the amyloid protein that clumps into plaques in people with the disease, said Dr. Lynn Kramer, chief medical...
September 8, 2018
For the first time in a large clinical trial, a drug was able to both reduce the plaques in the brains of patients and slow the progression of dementia. The trial involved 856 patients from the United States, Europe and Japan with early symptoms of cognitive decline. They were diagnosed with either mild cognitive impairment or mild Alzheimer’s dementia, and all had significant accumulations of the amyloid protein that clumps into plaques in people with the disease, said Dr. Lynn Kramer, chief medical...
Finding Treasure With Litigation Data Analytics Software
September 8, 2018
There is a treasure trove of litigation data that for years was virtually inaccessible. While court rulings and filings were available and individual documents could be accessed and viewed, the technology needed to search and analyze the data and provide useful, actionable information simply did not exist. In 2018, that’s no longer the case. The recent maturation of the foundational technologies needed to support machine learning have made advanced data analytics and sophisticated language processing...
September 8, 2018
There is a treasure trove of litigation data that for years was virtually inaccessible. While court rulings and filings were available and individual documents could be accessed and viewed, the technology needed to search and analyze the data and provide useful, actionable information simply did not exist. In 2018, that’s no longer the case. The recent maturation of the foundational technologies needed to support machine learning have made advanced data analytics and sophisticated language processing...
A Rose by Any Other Name: Understanding Judicial Decisions that Do Not Cite Precedent
September 7, 2018
In common‐law countries, legal precedent serves as a foundation of judicial opinions. Judges cite precedent to explain their decision, and it is this use of precedent that threads one decision to another. The Supreme Court in India stands in contrast to its counterparts in other countries in that it annually decides not dozens, but thousands, of cases. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly half the Court's decisions do not cite any precedent at all. This article examines this phenomenon, specifically...
September 7, 2018
In common‐law countries, legal precedent serves as a foundation of judicial opinions. Judges cite precedent to explain their decision, and it is this use of precedent that threads one decision to another. The Supreme Court in India stands in contrast to its counterparts in other countries in that it annually decides not dozens, but thousands, of cases. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly half the Court's decisions do not cite any precedent at all. This article examines this phenomenon, specifically...
Family Affair: Potential Problems with Family-Owned Businesses
September 7, 2018
A common mantra for the business world is that, "Family and Business don't mix." This can be due to emotions coming in to play with even the simple decisions, and making the difficult choices even more volatile. A scenario that occurs more than necessary is when one family member is working less than another member of the family, but yet due to the original payment arrangement and set-up of the business, both of them are earning the same salary, benefits, and possible dividends. A buy-sell agreement,...
September 7, 2018
A common mantra for the business world is that, "Family and Business don't mix." This can be due to emotions coming in to play with even the simple decisions, and making the difficult choices even more volatile. A scenario that occurs more than necessary is when one family member is working less than another member of the family, but yet due to the original payment arrangement and set-up of the business, both of them are earning the same salary, benefits, and possible dividends. A buy-sell agreement,...
2018 Trends in Litigation
September 6, 2018
A recent article in the American Lawyer suggested that selecting fewer firms or creating a panel of law firms does not necessarily increase the performance of those firms or the likelihood that the client will be more satisfied with the relationship. The authors did, however, present some compelling research to support their assertion that length of relationship between a firm and client does make a difference. From “Law Firm Panels, Part I: Are They Designed to Fail?” by Firoz Dattu...
September 6, 2018
A recent article in the American Lawyer suggested that selecting fewer firms or creating a panel of law firms does not necessarily increase the performance of those firms or the likelihood that the client will be more satisfied with the relationship. The authors did, however, present some compelling research to support their assertion that length of relationship between a firm and client does make a difference. From “Law Firm Panels, Part I: Are They Designed to Fail?” by Firoz Dattu...
Three Failures To Disclose, Only One Arbitration Award May Be Vacated
September 6, 2018
Okay, folks, we are still combating the summer slide here. Today’s refresher rule is this: If an arbitrator fails to disclose a substantial relationship, the resulting award can be vacated under 9 U.S. C. 10 (a)(2). But, not all relationships are substantial, as the cases today make clear. Beginning in my backyard, the appellant in Ploetz v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, 2018 WL 3213877 (8th Cir. June 12, 2018), sought to vacate a FINRA arbitration award due to an alleged failure...
September 6, 2018
Okay, folks, we are still combating the summer slide here. Today’s refresher rule is this: If an arbitrator fails to disclose a substantial relationship, the resulting award can be vacated under 9 U.S. C. 10 (a)(2). But, not all relationships are substantial, as the cases today make clear. Beginning in my backyard, the appellant in Ploetz v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, 2018 WL 3213877 (8th Cir. June 12, 2018), sought to vacate a FINRA arbitration award due to an alleged failure...
Nightmare on Mediation Street
September 5, 2018
You mediate a case where the Plaintiff is suing on a $100,000.00 debt. Plaintiff is also asking for attorney’s fees. During...
September 5, 2018
You mediate a case where the Plaintiff is suing on a $100,000.00 debt. Plaintiff is also asking for attorney’s fees. During...
Court Holds That Administrator is Not Bound by Arbitration Clause in a Will [Texas]
September 5, 2018
A Texas appeals court out of Houston has found that an administrator of an estate is not held to an arbitration clause within...
September 5, 2018
A Texas appeals court out of Houston has found that an administrator of an estate is not held to an arbitration clause within...
Utah Courts Begin Unique ODR Pilot for Small Claims Cases
September 4, 2018
The Utah State Courts will launch a pilot program tomorrow using online dispute resolution to seek to resolve small claims cases in the Justice Court in West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City. This appears to be only the second court in the United States to offer ODR for all small-claims cases. A November 2017 survey by the National Center for State Courts found only three U.S. courts using ODR in any capacity. Just one of those three, the Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus,...
September 4, 2018
The Utah State Courts will launch a pilot program tomorrow using online dispute resolution to seek to resolve small claims cases in the Justice Court in West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City. This appears to be only the second court in the United States to offer ODR for all small-claims cases. A November 2017 survey by the National Center for State Courts found only three U.S. courts using ODR in any capacity. Just one of those three, the Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus,...
The Narrative Arc of Conflict
September 4, 2018
What’s going on here? Gawande’s puzzle is that we seem not to evaluate the experience – good or bad – but rather report on a recollection of the experience. In describing medical experiences – certainly those involving some pain – patients recall either the worst or the most recent moment. An accounting of the experience at the time tends to differ from a recall of the total experience afterwards. This is where Gawande turns to Kahneman who has researched and reported on research on this...
September 4, 2018
What’s going on here? Gawande’s puzzle is that we seem not to evaluate the experience – good or bad – but rather report on a recollection of the experience. In describing medical experiences – certainly those involving some pain – patients recall either the worst or the most recent moment. An accounting of the experience at the time tends to differ from a recall of the total experience afterwards. This is where Gawande turns to Kahneman who has researched and reported on research on this...
