Blog Archives
Huang, Hui, & Li on Federal Judge Ideology & Litigation Risk
June 11, 2018
Allen Huang (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Department of Accounting), Kai Wai Hui (The University of Hong Kong (HKU) - Department of Accounting), & Reeyarn Zhiyang Li (University of Mannheim - Accounting and Taxation; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) have posted Federal Judge Ideology: A New Measure of Ex-Ante Litigation Risk on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Drawing on the political theory of judicial decision making, our paper proposes a parsimonious ex ante...
June 11, 2018
Allen Huang (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Department of Accounting), Kai Wai Hui (The University of Hong Kong (HKU) - Department of Accounting), & Reeyarn Zhiyang Li (University of Mannheim - Accounting and Taxation; Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) have posted Federal Judge Ideology: A New Measure of Ex-Ante Litigation Risk on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Drawing on the political theory of judicial decision making, our paper proposes a parsimonious ex ante...
Litigation Funders Now Ranked by Chambers
June 10, 2018
Chambers and Partners has started ranking litigation funding firms, the latest sign that litigation finance is here to stay. The UK-based organization, which ranks corporate lawyers and litigators around the world, ranked six firms in its first-ever litigation funding guide. The firms are organized into three tiers — Band 1, Band 2 and Band 3. In Band 1 are Bentham IMF and Burford Capital, both based in New York. Bentham IMF, a longstanding player in the litigation funding industry, is owned...
June 10, 2018
Chambers and Partners has started ranking litigation funding firms, the latest sign that litigation finance is here to stay. The UK-based organization, which ranks corporate lawyers and litigators around the world, ranked six firms in its first-ever litigation funding guide. The firms are organized into three tiers — Band 1, Band 2 and Band 3. In Band 1 are Bentham IMF and Burford Capital, both based in New York. Bentham IMF, a longstanding player in the litigation funding industry, is owned...
Chess Grandmasters Show the Same Longevity Advantage as Elite Athletes
June 10, 2018
It’s well established that elite athletes have a longer life expectancy than the general public. A recent review of over 50 studies comprising half a million people estimated the athletic advantage to be between 4 and 8 years, on average. This comes as little surprise. One can easily imagine how the same genetic endowment and training necessary to develop physical prowess in sport might also manifest in physical health. Now for the first time, a study published in PLOS One (open access) shows...
June 10, 2018
It’s well established that elite athletes have a longer life expectancy than the general public. A recent review of over 50 studies comprising half a million people estimated the athletic advantage to be between 4 and 8 years, on average. This comes as little surprise. One can easily imagine how the same genetic endowment and training necessary to develop physical prowess in sport might also manifest in physical health. Now for the first time, a study published in PLOS One (open access) shows...
An Augmented Reality Microscope for Cancer Detection
June 9, 2018
Applications of deep learning to medical disciplines including ophthalmology, dermatology, radiology, and pathology have recently shown great promise to increase both the accuracy and availability of high-quality healthcare to patients around the world. At Google, we have also published results showing that a convolutional neural network is able to detect breast cancer metastases in lymph nodes at a level of accuracy comparable to a trained pathologist. However, because direct tissue visualization...
June 9, 2018
Applications of deep learning to medical disciplines including ophthalmology, dermatology, radiology, and pathology have recently shown great promise to increase both the accuracy and availability of high-quality healthcare to patients around the world. At Google, we have also published results showing that a convolutional neural network is able to detect breast cancer metastases in lymph nodes at a level of accuracy comparable to a trained pathologist. However, because direct tissue visualization...
Hickory Dickory Dock, It’s Time To Learn About CLOC
June 9, 2018
Christy Burke, writing for Legal IT Professionals, said that the CLOC Institute was “fresh, relevant, and accessible” with a “universally positive” atmosphere. I completely agree with Christy – there was a palpable excitement everywhere in the Bellagio hotel and it wasn’t just because of the blackjack tables. Institute attendees came prepared with serious inquiries, curious about what others were doing in their organizations, and looking for significant solutions to the issues they...
June 9, 2018
Christy Burke, writing for Legal IT Professionals, said that the CLOC Institute was “fresh, relevant, and accessible” with a “universally positive” atmosphere. I completely agree with Christy – there was a palpable excitement everywhere in the Bellagio hotel and it wasn’t just because of the blackjack tables. Institute attendees came prepared with serious inquiries, curious about what others were doing in their organizations, and looking for significant solutions to the issues they...
Boost: Improving Mindfulness, Thinking, and Diversity
June 8, 2018
Many important decisions can be difficult; require focused, cognitive attention; produce delayed, noisy feedback; benefit from careful and clear thinking; and quite often trigger anxiety, stress, and other strong, negative emotions. Much empirical, experimental, and field research finds that we often make decisions leading to outcomes we judge as suboptimal. These studies have contributed to the popularity of the idea of nudging people to achieve better outcomes by changing how choices and information...
June 8, 2018
Many important decisions can be difficult; require focused, cognitive attention; produce delayed, noisy feedback; benefit from careful and clear thinking; and quite often trigger anxiety, stress, and other strong, negative emotions. Much empirical, experimental, and field research finds that we often make decisions leading to outcomes we judge as suboptimal. These studies have contributed to the popularity of the idea of nudging people to achieve better outcomes by changing how choices and information...
Precedent and Dialogue in Investment Treaty Arbitration
June 8, 2018
Richard Chen, Associate Professor at the University of Maine School of Law, has published “Precedent and Dialogue in Investment Treaty Arbitration,” Harvard International Law Journal, Vol. 60, 2019 (Forthcoming). In his publication, Professor Chen provides readers with a comprehensive guide to utilizing investment treaty arbitration tribunal precedent. Here is the abstract: Since the turn of the century, investment treaty arbitration (ITA) tribunals have begun citing past decisions...
June 8, 2018
Richard Chen, Associate Professor at the University of Maine School of Law, has published “Precedent and Dialogue in Investment Treaty Arbitration,” Harvard International Law Journal, Vol. 60, 2019 (Forthcoming). In his publication, Professor Chen provides readers with a comprehensive guide to utilizing investment treaty arbitration tribunal precedent. Here is the abstract: Since the turn of the century, investment treaty arbitration (ITA) tribunals have begun citing past decisions...
Malleable Lies: Communication and Cooperation in a High Stakes TV Game Show
June 7, 2018
We investigate the credibility of non-binding pre-play statements about cooperative behavior, using data from a high-stakes TV game show in which contestants play a variant on the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma. We depart from the conventional binary approach of classifying statements as promises or not, and propose a more fine-grained two-by-two typology inspired by the idea that lying aversion leads defectors to prefer statements that are malleable to ex-post interpretation as truths. Our empirical...
June 7, 2018
We investigate the credibility of non-binding pre-play statements about cooperative behavior, using data from a high-stakes TV game show in which contestants play a variant on the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma. We depart from the conventional binary approach of classifying statements as promises or not, and propose a more fine-grained two-by-two typology inspired by the idea that lying aversion leads defectors to prefer statements that are malleable to ex-post interpretation as truths. Our empirical...
Fifth Circuit Orders Independent Contractor to Individually Arbitrate FLSA Claims
June 7, 2018
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s order compelling an independent contractor to arbitrate his Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) claims against a restaurant food delivery service. In Edwards v. DoorDash, Inc., No. 17-20082 (5th Cir., April 25, 2018), a California-based company, DoorDash, utilized independent contractors called “Dashers” to deliver food from various restaurants to customers in hundreds of cities. ...
June 7, 2018
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s order compelling an independent contractor to arbitrate his Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) claims against a restaurant food delivery service. In Edwards v. DoorDash, Inc., No. 17-20082 (5th Cir., April 25, 2018), a California-based company, DoorDash, utilized independent contractors called “Dashers” to deliver food from various restaurants to customers in hundreds of cities. ...
Medicare Secondary Payer and Settlement Delay
June 6, 2018
The Medicare Secondary Payer Act of 1980 and its subsequent amendments require that insurers and self‐insured companies report settlements, awards, and judgments that involve a Medicare beneficiary to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The parties then may be required to compensate CMS for its conditional payments. In a simple settlement model, this makes settlement less likely. Also, the reporting delays and uncertainty regarding the size of these conditional payments are likely to further...
June 6, 2018
The Medicare Secondary Payer Act of 1980 and its subsequent amendments require that insurers and self‐insured companies report settlements, awards, and judgments that involve a Medicare beneficiary to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The parties then may be required to compensate CMS for its conditional payments. In a simple settlement model, this makes settlement less likely. Also, the reporting delays and uncertainty regarding the size of these conditional payments are likely to further...
