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Litigation Risk Assessment: A Tool to Enhance Negotiation
December 12, 2017
Comparisons between final settlement offers and trial outcomes raise serious questions about whether lawyers and clients...
December 12, 2017
Comparisons between final settlement offers and trial outcomes raise serious questions about whether lawyers and clients...
Terms Not Ambiguous if Dictionary Definitions Consistent with Contract
December 12, 2017
We just finished talking about contractual ambiguity in my contracts class, so I was happy to see this recent case out of the Fourth...
December 12, 2017
We just finished talking about contractual ambiguity in my contracts class, so I was happy to see this recent case out of the Fourth...
Stressed Out, Anxious or Sad? Try Meditating
December 11, 2017
Meditation can make you more compassionate and ease depression. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of ‘Emotional Intelligence,’ on the benefits of focusing the mind Should you meditate? Psychologist and author Daniel Goleman—well-known for his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence”—spent almost two years combing through more than 6,000 academic studies on meditation with a team of researchers to sort through the hype and discover the real benefits. He wrote about his findings...
December 11, 2017
Meditation can make you more compassionate and ease depression. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of ‘Emotional Intelligence,’ on the benefits of focusing the mind Should you meditate? Psychologist and author Daniel Goleman—well-known for his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence”—spent almost two years combing through more than 6,000 academic studies on meditation with a team of researchers to sort through the hype and discover the real benefits. He wrote about his findings...
One-Sided Arbitration Clause Unconscionable
December 11, 2017
A recent case out of California, Diaz v. Hutchinson Aerospace & Industry, Inc., B271563, has a nice, organized unconscionability analysis that leads to finding an arbitration clause unenforceable. The case concerns an employment agreement signed by Diaz with his employer Hutchinson. The employment contract was indisputably an adhesion contract, because it was distributed pre-printed to employees with no opportunity to negotiate. That does carry some degree of procedural unconscionability...
December 11, 2017
A recent case out of California, Diaz v. Hutchinson Aerospace & Industry, Inc., B271563, has a nice, organized unconscionability analysis that leads to finding an arbitration clause unenforceable. The case concerns an employment agreement signed by Diaz with his employer Hutchinson. The employment contract was indisputably an adhesion contract, because it was distributed pre-printed to employees with no opportunity to negotiate. That does carry some degree of procedural unconscionability...
Wineries Work to Make up Losses After California Wildfires
December 10, 2017
A month after deadly wildfires swept through California’s famed wine country, hot-air balloons are floating again over Napa Valley vineyards splashed with fall colors. On the heels of the disaster, a new winery is opening, keeping the name it chose some time ago: Ashes and Diamonds. The fires had only a minimal effect on the area’s wineries, according to the Wine Institute, an advocacy and policy group. Of the 1,200 wineries in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino, about 10 were destroyed or heavily...
December 10, 2017
A month after deadly wildfires swept through California’s famed wine country, hot-air balloons are floating again over Napa Valley vineyards splashed with fall colors. On the heels of the disaster, a new winery is opening, keeping the name it chose some time ago: Ashes and Diamonds. The fires had only a minimal effect on the area’s wineries, according to the Wine Institute, an advocacy and policy group. Of the 1,200 wineries in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino, about 10 were destroyed or heavily...
Tech Startups are Attracting Law Grads
December 10, 2017
With the rise of the startup culture, law grads are looking for in-house opportunities. Hands-on action and innovation, as opposed the grunt work many young lawyers are doing at law firms, is appealing to grads looking to find purpose and to see tangible results in the workplace. This from Caroline Spiezio (@CarolineSpiezio), reporting for Corporate Counsel. Look at Samantha Von Hoene, who three years ago turned down a clerking position at a law firm to intern in-house at a finance firm.
December 10, 2017
With the rise of the startup culture, law grads are looking for in-house opportunities. Hands-on action and innovation, as opposed the grunt work many young lawyers are doing at law firms, is appealing to grads looking to find purpose and to see tangible results in the workplace. This from Caroline Spiezio (@CarolineSpiezio), reporting for Corporate Counsel. Look at Samantha Von Hoene, who three years ago turned down a clerking position at a law firm to intern in-house at a finance firm.
Breakthrough Test Means Waymo’s Autonomous Cars Can Ditch Backup Drivers
December 9, 2017
For almost a decade, self-driving cars have graced public roads – but always with a person behind the wheel. Now Waymo is yanking the driver. The autonomous car unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc. said on Tuesday it will soon start chauffeuring people in minivans without “safety drivers,” staffers that man the steering wheel. Waymo is doing so in a limited region of Phoenix, Ariz., where it is running a pilot program with volunteer passengers. The move, a first for any company, is a major...
December 9, 2017
For almost a decade, self-driving cars have graced public roads – but always with a person behind the wheel. Now Waymo is yanking the driver. The autonomous car unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc. said on Tuesday it will soon start chauffeuring people in minivans without “safety drivers,” staffers that man the steering wheel. Waymo is doing so in a limited region of Phoenix, Ariz., where it is running a pilot program with volunteer passengers. The move, a first for any company, is a major...
California Considers Limiting Liability of Self-Driving Carmakers
December 9, 2017
California regulators are embracing a General Motors recommendation that would help makers of self-driving cars avoid paying for accidents and other trouble, raising concerns that the proposal will put an unfair burden on vehicle owners. If adopted, the regulations drafted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles would protect these carmakers from lawsuits in cases where vehicles haven’t been maintained according to manufacturer specifications. That could open a loophole for automakers...
December 9, 2017
California regulators are embracing a General Motors recommendation that would help makers of self-driving cars avoid paying for accidents and other trouble, raising concerns that the proposal will put an unfair burden on vehicle owners. If adopted, the regulations drafted by the California Department of Motor Vehicles would protect these carmakers from lawsuits in cases where vehicles haven’t been maintained according to manufacturer specifications. That could open a loophole for automakers...
How A Tired Mind Limits the Body
December 8, 2017
But even here the body/mind distinction proves illusory. Consider a new paper by Daniel Longman, Jay Stock and Jonathan Wells. Their subjects were sixty-two male rowers from the University of Cambridge. They were all in excellent shape. On their first visit to the lab, the men rowed as intensely as possible for three minutes as the scientists tracked their total power output. On their second visit, the men were given an arduous mental task. Seventy-five words were briefly flashed on a screen; their...
December 8, 2017
But even here the body/mind distinction proves illusory. Consider a new paper by Daniel Longman, Jay Stock and Jonathan Wells. Their subjects were sixty-two male rowers from the University of Cambridge. They were all in excellent shape. On their first visit to the lab, the men rowed as intensely as possible for three minutes as the scientists tracked their total power output. On their second visit, the men were given an arduous mental task. Seventy-five words were briefly flashed on a screen; their...
When Proving Lost Profits, Don’t be Gross
December 8, 2017
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a JNOV motion on damages, under Texas law, when the plaintiff proved gross profits rather than net profits. “Its expert witness testified that he used ThermoTek’s gross profit margin—gross sales, less the cost of those goods sold, divided by gross sales—to calculate lost profits. He then stated that he reached his lost-profit totals for the VascuTherm units and wraps by (1) multiplying the average sales ThermoTek made to Wilford each month by the unit sales price...
December 8, 2017
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a JNOV motion on damages, under Texas law, when the plaintiff proved gross profits rather than net profits. “Its expert witness testified that he used ThermoTek’s gross profit margin—gross sales, less the cost of those goods sold, divided by gross sales—to calculate lost profits. He then stated that he reached his lost-profit totals for the VascuTherm units and wraps by (1) multiplying the average sales ThermoTek made to Wilford each month by the unit sales price...
