Blog Archives
Third Party Funding in Investment Arbitration: Time to Change Double Standards Employed for Awarding Security for Costs?
August 14, 2018
Security for costs is a controversial territory in international arbitration, especially in investment arbitration. On one side is the respondent State which seeks security for defending a claim with the taxpayers’ resources. However, on the other side, there is the claimant who might become financially incapable of accessing justice if it is asked to put up security for costs. Add a Third-Party Funder to the mix, and a tribunal’s challenges get multiplied. Moreover, the unclear standards as to an award...
August 14, 2018
Security for costs is a controversial territory in international arbitration, especially in investment arbitration. On one side is the respondent State which seeks security for defending a claim with the taxpayers’ resources. However, on the other side, there is the claimant who might become financially incapable of accessing justice if it is asked to put up security for costs. Add a Third-Party Funder to the mix, and a tribunal’s challenges get multiplied. Moreover, the unclear standards as to an award...
No Arbitration Because Ricky Martin Is a Singer, Not a Signer
August 14, 2018
Before the last World Cup, Sony sponsored a song-writing contest. It invited entrants to submit an original song and music video, with a promise that the winning composition would be on the official World Cup Album. (Didn’t know there was such a thing? Check out the songs.) The plaintiff in this case submitted his song, but did not win. About two years later, Ricky Martin (who had been involved with the World Cup contest) released the song “Vida.” Plaintiff alleged that the “Vida”...
August 14, 2018
Before the last World Cup, Sony sponsored a song-writing contest. It invited entrants to submit an original song and music video, with a promise that the winning composition would be on the official World Cup Album. (Didn’t know there was such a thing? Check out the songs.) The plaintiff in this case submitted his song, but did not win. About two years later, Ricky Martin (who had been involved with the World Cup contest) released the song “Vida.” Plaintiff alleged that the “Vida”...
Lewis on Tort Litigation Tactics
August 13, 2018
Richards Lewis has posted to SSRN Strategies and Tactics in Litigating Personal Injury Claims: Tort Law in Action. The abstract provides: This article reveals some of the tactics which lawyers may use when conducting personal injury litigation. The research is empirically based by being drawn from structured interviews with a cross section of practitioners. This qualitative evidence helps to place the rules of tort in a wider context and suggests that tactical considerations may affect the outcome...
August 13, 2018
Richards Lewis has posted to SSRN Strategies and Tactics in Litigating Personal Injury Claims: Tort Law in Action. The abstract provides: This article reveals some of the tactics which lawyers may use when conducting personal injury litigation. The research is empirically based by being drawn from structured interviews with a cross section of practitioners. This qualitative evidence helps to place the rules of tort in a wider context and suggests that tactical considerations may affect the outcome...
It Looks Like IBM Is Still Trying To Build A Robot Lawyer One Publicity Stunt At A Time
August 13, 2018
With IBM's Project Debater, the company shows off some impressive tech, but ultimately leaves you wondering if they really understand the market. Now IBM has unleashed Project Debater, their least cleverly named project yet, to compete against a fair of debaters in two short formal debates on telemedicine and space exploration. The format, adapted from the British style that favors smug asides over cold hard facts, allowed Debater to show off its ability to scour the web and turn logic...
August 13, 2018
With IBM's Project Debater, the company shows off some impressive tech, but ultimately leaves you wondering if they really understand the market. Now IBM has unleashed Project Debater, their least cleverly named project yet, to compete against a fair of debaters in two short formal debates on telemedicine and space exploration. The format, adapted from the British style that favors smug asides over cold hard facts, allowed Debater to show off its ability to scour the web and turn logic...
Why Most of Us Fail to Grasp Coming Exponential Gains in AI
August 12, 2018
By now, most of us are familiar with Moore’s Law, the famous maxim that the development of computing power follows an exponential curve, doubling in price-performance (that is, speed per unit cost) every 18 months or so. When it comes to applying Moore’s Law to their own business strategies, however, even visionary thinkers frequently suffer from a giant “AI blind spot.” As Moore’s Law continues to make itself felt, it’s tempting to think at this very moment we’re reaching...
August 12, 2018
By now, most of us are familiar with Moore’s Law, the famous maxim that the development of computing power follows an exponential curve, doubling in price-performance (that is, speed per unit cost) every 18 months or so. When it comes to applying Moore’s Law to their own business strategies, however, even visionary thinkers frequently suffer from a giant “AI blind spot.” As Moore’s Law continues to make itself felt, it’s tempting to think at this very moment we’re reaching...
Rebouché on Collaborative Divorce
August 12, 2018
Rachel Rebouché (Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law) has posted A Case Against Collaboration (76 Md. L. Rev. 547 (2017)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In family law, as in other legal disciplines, the use of alternative dispute resolution has dramatically increased. In a process called collaborative divorce, separating spouses hire attorneys who agree to work together — almost entirely outside of the court system — to reach a settlement ending the marriage. A team of experts,...
August 12, 2018
Rachel Rebouché (Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law) has posted A Case Against Collaboration (76 Md. L. Rev. 547 (2017)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In family law, as in other legal disciplines, the use of alternative dispute resolution has dramatically increased. In a process called collaborative divorce, separating spouses hire attorneys who agree to work together — almost entirely outside of the court system — to reach a settlement ending the marriage. A team of experts,...
LexNLP: Natural Language Processing and Information Extraction For Legal and Regulatory Texts
August 11, 2018
LexNLP is an open source Python package focused on natural language processing and machine learning for legal and regulatory text. The package includes functionality to (i) segment documents, (ii) identify key text such as titles and section headings, (iii) extract over eighteen types of structured information like distances and dates, (iv) extract named entities such as companies and geopolitical entities, (v) transform text into features for model training, and (vi) build unsupervised and supervised...
August 11, 2018
LexNLP is an open source Python package focused on natural language processing and machine learning for legal and regulatory text. The package includes functionality to (i) segment documents, (ii) identify key text such as titles and section headings, (iii) extract over eighteen types of structured information like distances and dates, (iv) extract named entities such as companies and geopolitical entities, (v) transform text into features for model training, and (vi) build unsupervised and supervised...
The US Will Registry Offers a Technology Solution to the Lost Will Problem
August 11, 2018
Stacey Jerome-Miller recently published an Article entitled, Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The US Will Registry Offers a Technology Solution to the Lost Will Problem, Probate & Property Magazine, Vol. 32, No. 4, July/August 2018. Provided below is an abstract of the Article: The death of the musical artist Prince shocked the country, but what was more shocking was the news that, although his estate is worth approximately $300 million, no will declaring the distribution of his assets...
August 11, 2018
Stacey Jerome-Miller recently published an Article entitled, Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The US Will Registry Offers a Technology Solution to the Lost Will Problem, Probate & Property Magazine, Vol. 32, No. 4, July/August 2018. Provided below is an abstract of the Article: The death of the musical artist Prince shocked the country, but what was more shocking was the news that, although his estate is worth approximately $300 million, no will declaring the distribution of his assets...
The Evolving Litigation Marketplace Demands New Ways of Doing Business
August 10, 2018
Artificial intelligence is virtually everywhere. But forget about Alexa, self-driving cars and those pesky pop-up ads that follow you around the Internet. Think litigation tools. As the legal profession adapts to changes in the marketplace, more law firms are looking for alternative ways of doing business. However, there are glimmers of hope. The number of AI products in the marketplace suited for litigation purposes, such as machine-assisted research, document review and analysis tools for trial...
August 10, 2018
Artificial intelligence is virtually everywhere. But forget about Alexa, self-driving cars and those pesky pop-up ads that follow you around the Internet. Think litigation tools. As the legal profession adapts to changes in the marketplace, more law firms are looking for alternative ways of doing business. However, there are glimmers of hope. The number of AI products in the marketplace suited for litigation purposes, such as machine-assisted research, document review and analysis tools for trial...
Fifth Circuit: Lack of Employer’s Signature Dooms Arbitration Agreement
August 10, 2018
In a good win for employees fighting against the tide to bring their claims in court, the Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision to compel arbitration because the employer had failed to sign the arbitration agreement. Huckaba v. Ref-Chem, LP, No. 17-50341 (5th Cir. June 11, 2018) (click here for a copy of the decision).
August 10, 2018
In a good win for employees fighting against the tide to bring their claims in court, the Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision to compel arbitration because the employer had failed to sign the arbitration agreement. Huckaba v. Ref-Chem, LP, No. 17-50341 (5th Cir. June 11, 2018) (click here for a copy of the decision).
