Blog Archives
The “Empirical Turn” in Family Law
February 14, 2018
As empirical legal scholarship continues to expand, its expansion increasingly penetrates new and interesting legal spaces. Many of these new legal spaces, including, e.g., family law, include hotly-contested legal, political, and social issues. Clare Huntington's (Fordham) recent paper, The Empirical Turn in Family Law, seeks to develop a "framework to guide the use of this [empirical] evidence" in the family law space. For Huntington, a carefully constructed "framework" is necessary due to potential...
February 14, 2018
As empirical legal scholarship continues to expand, its expansion increasingly penetrates new and interesting legal spaces. Many of these new legal spaces, including, e.g., family law, include hotly-contested legal, political, and social issues. Clare Huntington's (Fordham) recent paper, The Empirical Turn in Family Law, seeks to develop a "framework to guide the use of this [empirical] evidence" in the family law space. For Huntington, a carefully constructed "framework" is necessary due to potential...
4th Circuit Finds Club Waived Right To Compel Arbitration
February 14, 2018
In a recent opinion, the Fourth Circuit cited waiver as its basis to refuse to compel arbitration, but the result seems animated by a sense that the arbitration agreements were unenforceable. Degidio v. Crazy Horse Saloon & Restaurant, Inc., __ F.3d __, 2018 WL 456905 (4th Cir. Jan. 18, 2018). The case involved a putative collective and class action case by “exotic dancers” at a club in South Carolina, alleging they were wrongly classified as independent contractors and thereby denied...
February 14, 2018
In a recent opinion, the Fourth Circuit cited waiver as its basis to refuse to compel arbitration, but the result seems animated by a sense that the arbitration agreements were unenforceable. Degidio v. Crazy Horse Saloon & Restaurant, Inc., __ F.3d __, 2018 WL 456905 (4th Cir. Jan. 18, 2018). The case involved a putative collective and class action case by “exotic dancers” at a club in South Carolina, alleging they were wrongly classified as independent contractors and thereby denied...
ROSS Unveils EVA, A Free AI Tool To Analyze Briefs, Check Cites and Find Similar Cases
February 13, 2018
The new product is called EVA. In a nutshell, it is a brief analyzer. But it is more than that. Most notably, it is also a tool for checking the subsequent history of cited cases and determining if they are still good law, in the vein of the LexisNexis Shepard’s and Thomson Reuters KeyCite. It also can be used to find other cases that are similar to a given case or to find cases that have similar language or that contain the same quotes. ROSS says EVA will supercharge a lawyer’s research....
February 13, 2018
The new product is called EVA. In a nutshell, it is a brief analyzer. But it is more than that. Most notably, it is also a tool for checking the subsequent history of cited cases and determining if they are still good law, in the vein of the LexisNexis Shepard’s and Thomson Reuters KeyCite. It also can be used to find other cases that are similar to a given case or to find cases that have similar language or that contain the same quotes. ROSS says EVA will supercharge a lawyer’s research....
An Employer’s Notice to Employees of a Mandatory Arbitration Program May be Insufficient Basis to Compel Arbitration
February 13, 2018
Arbitration is of course a creature of contract, and so a party may not be compelled to arbitrate unless it has agreed, or is deemed to have agreed, to arbitrate a dispute. An offeree may be deemed to have manifested its agreement to an arbitration regime by various sorts of conduct, including in some instances inaction in the face of notice. However, there is a line in the sand in that regard in the Sixth Circuit when it comes to employer-employee relations. That is, an employer’s notice of its institution...
February 13, 2018
Arbitration is of course a creature of contract, and so a party may not be compelled to arbitrate unless it has agreed, or is deemed to have agreed, to arbitrate a dispute. An offeree may be deemed to have manifested its agreement to an arbitration regime by various sorts of conduct, including in some instances inaction in the face of notice. However, there is a line in the sand in that regard in the Sixth Circuit when it comes to employer-employee relations. That is, an employer’s notice of its institution...
ADR versus Trial Outcomes in Small Claims Disputes
February 12, 2018
Lorig Charkoudian (Community Mediation Maryland), Deborah Thompson Eisenberg (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law), Jamie Walter (Maryland Judicial Center Administrative Office of the Courts) have posted What Difference does ADR Make? Comparison of ADR and Trial Outcomes in Small Claims Court ((2017) Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 35: 7–45) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This research is connected to a broader study of the costs and benefits of ADR in Maryland courts...
February 12, 2018
Lorig Charkoudian (Community Mediation Maryland), Deborah Thompson Eisenberg (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law), Jamie Walter (Maryland Judicial Center Administrative Office of the Courts) have posted What Difference does ADR Make? Comparison of ADR and Trial Outcomes in Small Claims Court ((2017) Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 35: 7–45) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This research is connected to a broader study of the costs and benefits of ADR in Maryland courts...
Baylor Law to Offer Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management
February 12, 2018
Baylor Law School will offer an executive LL.M. in litigation management beginning in the fall 2018. The niche degree, open only to attorneys with at least three years of law practice, will focus on controlling rising litigation costs. Led by attorneys and judges, the online and in-person courses will include fundamentals of 21st century litigation management and strategy, proving and attacking damages, managing complex arbitration and ADR issues, data analytics and cybersecurity, managing e-discovery,...
February 12, 2018
Baylor Law School will offer an executive LL.M. in litigation management beginning in the fall 2018. The niche degree, open only to attorneys with at least three years of law practice, will focus on controlling rising litigation costs. Led by attorneys and judges, the online and in-person courses will include fundamentals of 21st century litigation management and strategy, proving and attacking damages, managing complex arbitration and ADR issues, data analytics and cybersecurity, managing e-discovery,...
5-Minute Technique to Fall Asleep More Quickly
February 11, 2018
You’ve had all day to worry, but your brain decides that the moment you rest your weary head upon your pillow is the precise instant it wants to start fretting. The result of course is that you feel wide awake and cannot sleep. Two possible solutions: (1) spend five minutes before lights out writing about everything you have done. This might give you a soothing sense of achievement. Or (2) spend five minutes writing a comprehensive to-do list. This could serve to off-load your worries, or perhaps...
February 11, 2018
You’ve had all day to worry, but your brain decides that the moment you rest your weary head upon your pillow is the precise instant it wants to start fretting. The result of course is that you feel wide awake and cannot sleep. Two possible solutions: (1) spend five minutes before lights out writing about everything you have done. This might give you a soothing sense of achievement. Or (2) spend five minutes writing a comprehensive to-do list. This could serve to off-load your worries, or perhaps...
Computers are Getting Better Than Humans at Reading
February 11, 2018
Artificial intelligence programs built by Alibaba (BABA) and Microsoft (MSFT) have beaten humans on a Stanford University reading comprehension test. "This is the first time that a machine has outperformed humans on such a test," Alibaba said in a statement Monday. The test was devised by artificial intelligence experts at Stanford to measure computers' growing reading abilities. Alibaba's software was the first to beat the human score.
February 11, 2018
Artificial intelligence programs built by Alibaba (BABA) and Microsoft (MSFT) have beaten humans on a Stanford University reading comprehension test. "This is the first time that a machine has outperformed humans on such a test," Alibaba said in a statement Monday. The test was devised by artificial intelligence experts at Stanford to measure computers' growing reading abilities. Alibaba's software was the first to beat the human score.
Fastcase Acquires Docket Tracking and Analytics Company Docket Alarm
February 10, 2018
Fastcase today announced that it has acquired Docket Alarm, a company that mines federal and state court dockets to provide litigation alerts and case-prediction analytics. In announcing the acquisition, the company said: Docket Alarm’s advanced analytical capabilities, customizable real-time litigation alerts, case prediction indicators, and technology-driven research tools complement Fastcase’s quest to add unique, must-have content for its subscribers and provide leading legal analysis...
February 10, 2018
Fastcase today announced that it has acquired Docket Alarm, a company that mines federal and state court dockets to provide litigation alerts and case-prediction analytics. In announcing the acquisition, the company said: Docket Alarm’s advanced analytical capabilities, customizable real-time litigation alerts, case prediction indicators, and technology-driven research tools complement Fastcase’s quest to add unique, must-have content for its subscribers and provide leading legal analysis...
U.S. Drivers Begin to Warm up to Riding in Self-Driving Cars
February 10, 2018
American drivers are slowly warming up to the idea of relinquishing the wheel to a robot. Although 63 percent of U.S. drivers say they’d be afraid to ride in a fully self-driving car, that’s down substantially from the 78 percent who were fearful a year ago, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Automobile Association. Younger drivers are the most open to the new technology, with less than half of millennials concerned about going driverless, the study shows. Almost three-quarters...
February 10, 2018
American drivers are slowly warming up to the idea of relinquishing the wheel to a robot. Although 63 percent of U.S. drivers say they’d be afraid to ride in a fully self-driving car, that’s down substantially from the 78 percent who were fearful a year ago, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Automobile Association. Younger drivers are the most open to the new technology, with less than half of millennials concerned about going driverless, the study shows. Almost three-quarters...
