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Texas Civil and Family Activity in the District and Statutory County Courts
December 18, 2017
The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) has compiled data reported by trial courts pursuant to statute[1] since September 2010. In an effort to draw insights from the reported data, we built a website that allows users to generate custom graphs by specifying search criteria: http://courtstatpack.com/ Using “Options” search criteria, users can specify the time period and venues to be studied. Venue can be set to statewide statistics (default) or broken down by county, metro area, or court...
December 18, 2017
The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) has compiled data reported by trial courts pursuant to statute[1] since September 2010. In an effort to draw insights from the reported data, we built a website that allows users to generate custom graphs by specifying search criteria: http://courtstatpack.com/ Using “Options” search criteria, users can specify the time period and venues to be studied. Venue can be set to statewide statistics (default) or broken down by county, metro area, or court...
Improving End-to-End Models For Speech Recognition
December 17, 2017
Traditional automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, used for a variety of voice search applications at Google, are comprised of an acoustic model (AM), a pronunciation model (PM) and a language model (LM), all of which are independently trained, and often manually designed, on different datasets [1]. AMs take acoustic features and predict a set of subword units, typically context-dependent or context-independent phonemes. Next, a hand-designed lexicon (the PM) maps a sequence of phonemes produced...
December 17, 2017
Traditional automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, used for a variety of voice search applications at Google, are comprised of an acoustic model (AM), a pronunciation model (PM) and a language model (LM), all of which are independently trained, and often manually designed, on different datasets [1]. AMs take acoustic features and predict a set of subword units, typically context-dependent or context-independent phonemes. Next, a hand-designed lexicon (the PM) maps a sequence of phonemes produced...
Gawker Bankruptcy Judge OKs Subpoena for Tech Billionaire Thiel
December 17, 2017
The bankruptcy estate of Gawker Media LLC won a court order on Monday to subpoena high-tech billionaire Peter Thiel and his lawyer to investigate whether they can be sued for their roles in the downfall of the media company. The order by Judge Stuart Bernstein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York allows a so-called Rule 2004 examination of Thiel and lawyer Charles Harder and Harder’s law firm regarding any litigation-financing agreements related to lawsuits against Gawker.
December 17, 2017
The bankruptcy estate of Gawker Media LLC won a court order on Monday to subpoena high-tech billionaire Peter Thiel and his lawyer to investigate whether they can be sued for their roles in the downfall of the media company. The order by Judge Stuart Bernstein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York allows a so-called Rule 2004 examination of Thiel and lawyer Charles Harder and Harder’s law firm regarding any litigation-financing agreements related to lawsuits against Gawker.
ALM’s New Legal Compass Provides In-Depth Data on Law Firms, Lawyers and Companies
December 16, 2017
ALM is known for surveys and rankings that profile the legal profession such as the Am Law 100, NLJ 500, Global 100 and Diversity Scorecard. What you may not know is that ALM has nearly 150 such surveys, rankings and reports, tracking everything from law firm revenue to lateral moves to workplace diversity to pro bono service, and that some of this research data goes back 30 years. Now ALM has launched a tool called Legal Compass that provides access to not only all of its data, but that is also...
December 16, 2017
ALM is known for surveys and rankings that profile the legal profession such as the Am Law 100, NLJ 500, Global 100 and Diversity Scorecard. What you may not know is that ALM has nearly 150 such surveys, rankings and reports, tracking everything from law firm revenue to lateral moves to workplace diversity to pro bono service, and that some of this research data goes back 30 years. Now ALM has launched a tool called Legal Compass that provides access to not only all of its data, but that is also...
Early Identification of Emerging Technologies: A Machine Learning Approach Using Multiple Patent Indicators
December 15, 2017
Patent citation analysis is considered a useful tool for identifying emerging technologies. However, the outcomes of previous...
December 15, 2017
Patent citation analysis is considered a useful tool for identifying emerging technologies. However, the outcomes of previous...
Expressing Gratitude in Negotiations May Not Be A Good Idea
December 15, 2017
Previous research has revealed that expressing gratitude motivates prosocial behavior in cooperative relationships. However, expressing gratitude in competitive interactions may operate differently. Across five studies, we demonstrate that individuals interacting with grateful counterparts become more likely to engage in selfish behavior during competitive interactions. In Studies 1a and 1b, participants who interacted with counterparts expressing gratitude were more likely to make aggressive offers...
December 15, 2017
Previous research has revealed that expressing gratitude motivates prosocial behavior in cooperative relationships. However, expressing gratitude in competitive interactions may operate differently. Across five studies, we demonstrate that individuals interacting with grateful counterparts become more likely to engage in selfish behavior during competitive interactions. In Studies 1a and 1b, participants who interacted with counterparts expressing gratitude were more likely to make aggressive offers...
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2018
December 14, 2017
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2018 brings together the insight, expertise and wisdom of some of the world’s foremost...
December 14, 2017
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders 2018 brings together the insight, expertise and wisdom of some of the world’s foremost...
Anger Has Its Benefits
December 14, 2017
From this, the researchers concluded that “‘People intuitively chose to become angry… They believed they would become more effective competitors.’” (Id.): They were right. Anger is what psychologists call an ‘approach’ emotion—it makes us move toward or attack something. It can help us tackle problems, such as when we get mad about something political and rally to a cause. And getting made before a negotiation, competition or sporting event can fire us up. That’s why coaches trash...
December 14, 2017
From this, the researchers concluded that “‘People intuitively chose to become angry… They believed they would become more effective competitors.’” (Id.): They were right. Anger is what psychologists call an ‘approach’ emotion—it makes us move toward or attack something. It can help us tackle problems, such as when we get mad about something political and rally to a cause. And getting made before a negotiation, competition or sporting event can fire us up. That’s why coaches trash...
$80M Ticket on the Erie Railway
December 13, 2017
In City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com, the Fifth Circuit reversed an $84 million judgment for several cities, against online hotel reservation services, relating to the collection of local occupancy taxes. The holding turned entirely on the force of an intermediate Texas appellate opinon under the Erie doctrine. In its reasoning, the Fifth Circuit rejected a number of arguments against following that opinion, including: (1) the scope of the record before the courts; (2) the analytical framework...
December 13, 2017
In City of San Antonio v. Hotels.com, the Fifth Circuit reversed an $84 million judgment for several cities, against online hotel reservation services, relating to the collection of local occupancy taxes. The holding turned entirely on the force of an intermediate Texas appellate opinon under the Erie doctrine. In its reasoning, the Fifth Circuit rejected a number of arguments against following that opinion, including: (1) the scope of the record before the courts; (2) the analytical framework...
Accord and Satisfaction Requires Good Faith Dispute
December 13, 2017
When I teach accord and satisfaction, I always remind my students, "Don't forget, for this to work, there has to be a good faith dispute!" A recent case out of Illinois, Piney Ridge Properties, LLC v. Ellington-Snipes, Appeal No. 3-16-0764, carries the same reminder. The defendant took out a mortgage of almost $26,000. Although his monthly payment was over $600, he paid only $354 a month, which he did for a little over a year, and then stopped paying altogether. The mortgage company filed a foreclosure...
December 13, 2017
When I teach accord and satisfaction, I always remind my students, "Don't forget, for this to work, there has to be a good faith dispute!" A recent case out of Illinois, Piney Ridge Properties, LLC v. Ellington-Snipes, Appeal No. 3-16-0764, carries the same reminder. The defendant took out a mortgage of almost $26,000. Although his monthly payment was over $600, he paid only $354 a month, which he did for a little over a year, and then stopped paying altogether. The mortgage company filed a foreclosure...
