Blog Archives
EY Buys Riverview Law
September 3, 2018
Recent developments include Big Four accounting firm EY’s acquisition of alternative legal service provider Riverview Law, a slew of legal technology-related activity at the International Legal Technology Association’s annual education conference in National Harbor, Maryland, and the launch of a new partnership between two law schools aimed at finding technology-based legal solutions to high eviction rates.
September 3, 2018
Recent developments include Big Four accounting firm EY’s acquisition of alternative legal service provider Riverview Law, a slew of legal technology-related activity at the International Legal Technology Association’s annual education conference in National Harbor, Maryland, and the launch of a new partnership between two law schools aimed at finding technology-based legal solutions to high eviction rates.
Federal Court Orders Mississippi Nursing Home Neglect Case to Arbitration Based on Resident’s Verbal Consent to Daughter’s Agency
September 3, 2018
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi has ordered a nursing home dispute to arbitration based on an individual’s oral consent to her daughter’s agency. In Crowe v. GGNSC Ripley, LLC et al., No. 3:17-cv-00171-MPM-RP (July 17, 2018), a woman, Crowe, filed a nursing home neglect lawsuit against the skilled nursing facility that cared for her mother, Rowland, prior to her death. The parent company of the facility, GGNSC Ripley, answered...
September 3, 2018
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi has ordered a nursing home dispute to arbitration based on an individual’s oral consent to her daughter’s agency. In Crowe v. GGNSC Ripley, LLC et al., No. 3:17-cv-00171-MPM-RP (July 17, 2018), a woman, Crowe, filed a nursing home neglect lawsuit against the skilled nursing facility that cared for her mother, Rowland, prior to her death. The parent company of the facility, GGNSC Ripley, answered...
DARPA has Ambitious $1.5 Billion Plan to Reinvent Electronics
September 2, 2018
The US military agency is worried the country could lose its edge in semiconductor chips with the end of Moore’s Law. Last year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funds a range of blue-sky research efforts relevant to the US military, launched a $1.5 billion, five-year program known as the Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) to support work on advances in chip technology. The agency has just unveiled the first set of research teams selected to explore unproven but potentially...
September 2, 2018
The US military agency is worried the country could lose its edge in semiconductor chips with the end of Moore’s Law. Last year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funds a range of blue-sky research efforts relevant to the US military, launched a $1.5 billion, five-year program known as the Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) to support work on advances in chip technology. The agency has just unveiled the first set of research teams selected to explore unproven but potentially...
Millennials Marry when Both Partners are Financially Secure
September 2, 2018
A U.S. Census Bureau paper states that millennials are taking economic factors into account when choosing mates. And feminists may rejoice with the finding that a woman’s earning power is as much of an attractive feature as a man’s when young people decide to get married. "The report, whose full title is “Millennial Marriage: How Much Does Economic Security Matter To Marriage Rates For Young Adults?” says that only 26 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 32 were married in 2013....
September 2, 2018
A U.S. Census Bureau paper states that millennials are taking economic factors into account when choosing mates. And feminists may rejoice with the finding that a woman’s earning power is as much of an attractive feature as a man’s when young people decide to get married. "The report, whose full title is “Millennial Marriage: How Much Does Economic Security Matter To Marriage Rates For Young Adults?” says that only 26 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 32 were married in 2013....
How Liability Insurers Protect Patients and Improve Safety
September 1, 2018
Forty years after the publication of the first systematic study of adverse medical events, there is greater access to information about adverse medical events and increasingly widespread acceptance of the view that patient safety requires more than vigilance by well-intentioned medical professionals. In this essay, we describe some of the ways that medical liability insurance organizations contributed to this transformation, and we catalog the roles that those organizations play in promoting patient...
September 1, 2018
Forty years after the publication of the first systematic study of adverse medical events, there is greater access to information about adverse medical events and increasingly widespread acceptance of the view that patient safety requires more than vigilance by well-intentioned medical professionals. In this essay, we describe some of the ways that medical liability insurance organizations contributed to this transformation, and we catalog the roles that those organizations play in promoting patient...
What’s Your Ideal Caffeine Fix? An Algorithm Can Tell You
September 1, 2018
If you need to wake up, caffeine can help. But for the optimal jolt, how much and when? The U.S. Army and the Department of Defense have developed an algorithm to answer that question. It’s of critical interest because soldiers may go for days without getting enough sleep or, in some cases, any sleep at all. A perfectly timed and ideal portion of caffeine can fend off fatigue that might otherwise jeopardize a mission or put lives at risk.
September 1, 2018
If you need to wake up, caffeine can help. But for the optimal jolt, how much and when? The U.S. Army and the Department of Defense have developed an algorithm to answer that question. It’s of critical interest because soldiers may go for days without getting enough sleep or, in some cases, any sleep at all. A perfectly timed and ideal portion of caffeine can fend off fatigue that might otherwise jeopardize a mission or put lives at risk.
ADR in Popular Culture: James Bond as a Mediator?
August 31, 2018
Sadly, the official cover story for the agent on Her Majesty secret service is an employee of a fictional import-export company named Universal Exports. Usually, he is ready to provide the enemies with fake business cards. In the case the curious villain calls a stated phone number, a specific person at the MI5 headquarters in London is ready to answer the phone and introduce him/herself as Universal Exports operator. Such a waste of potential. Imagine the cover story to be Universal Mediation Consultancy! Someone...
August 31, 2018
Sadly, the official cover story for the agent on Her Majesty secret service is an employee of a fictional import-export company named Universal Exports. Usually, he is ready to provide the enemies with fake business cards. In the case the curious villain calls a stated phone number, a specific person at the MI5 headquarters in London is ready to answer the phone and introduce him/herself as Universal Exports operator. Such a waste of potential. Imagine the cover story to be Universal Mediation Consultancy! Someone...
Second Circuit Sets Evident Partiality Standard for Party-Appointed Arbitrators on Industry Tripartite Arbitration Panels
August 31, 2018
Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) authorizes courts to vacate awards “where there was evident partiality. . . in the arbitrators. . . .” 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(2). As respects neutral arbitrators, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has long held that “[e]vident partiality may be found only where a reasonable person would have to conclude that an arbitrator was partial to one party to the arbitration.” Scandinavian Reinsurance Co. Ltd. v. Saint...
August 31, 2018
Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) authorizes courts to vacate awards “where there was evident partiality. . . in the arbitrators. . . .” 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(2). As respects neutral arbitrators, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has long held that “[e]vident partiality may be found only where a reasonable person would have to conclude that an arbitrator was partial to one party to the arbitration.” Scandinavian Reinsurance Co. Ltd. v. Saint...
Skating to Where the Puck Will Be: Exploring Settlement Counsel and Risk Analysis in the Negotiation of Business Disputes
August 30, 2018
The infusion of ADR into legal training has been shaped by its ‘alternative’ identity, bringing with it a tendency to reinforce schisms: rights or interests, adversarial or collaborative approaches, litigation or settlement. "Either-or thinking" served its purpose in the early years but falls short especially with large-scale business files, where litigation looms and sophisticated clients expect multiple-pronged protective strategies. This article explores ways that settlement-oriented lawyers...
August 30, 2018
The infusion of ADR into legal training has been shaped by its ‘alternative’ identity, bringing with it a tendency to reinforce schisms: rights or interests, adversarial or collaborative approaches, litigation or settlement. "Either-or thinking" served its purpose in the early years but falls short especially with large-scale business files, where litigation looms and sophisticated clients expect multiple-pronged protective strategies. This article explores ways that settlement-oriented lawyers...
Common Litigation Funding Agreements Not Ethical, NYC Bar Says
August 29, 2018
A recent opinion from the New York City bar’s ethics committee gives a thumbs down to litigation funding agreements of the sort that courts have routinely enforced in civil disputes between lawyers and funders. The opinion centers on funding arrangements that are tied to specific future legal fees—either because the fees are security for the loan, or because the amount the lawyer has to repay depends on the amount of fees received. Those arrangements aren’t ethical, the city bar panel said,...
August 29, 2018
A recent opinion from the New York City bar’s ethics committee gives a thumbs down to litigation funding agreements of the sort that courts have routinely enforced in civil disputes between lawyers and funders. The opinion centers on funding arrangements that are tied to specific future legal fees—either because the fees are security for the loan, or because the amount the lawyer has to repay depends on the amount of fees received. Those arrangements aren’t ethical, the city bar panel said,...
