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AI and Predicting Settlement
October 3, 2017
The National Law Journal reported yesterday on SettlementAnalytics and their predictive algorithms. “The world’s first quantitative legal measurement to indicate the likelihood of a lawsuit proceeding all the way to trial and adjudication” according to the company. I am profoundly skeptical. But if it’s essentially an app that takes a few data points and predicts the likelihood of a case going all the way to trial (an eventuality that is not terribly common in any context,...
October 3, 2017
The National Law Journal reported yesterday on SettlementAnalytics and their predictive algorithms. “The world’s first quantitative legal measurement to indicate the likelihood of a lawsuit proceeding all the way to trial and adjudication” according to the company. I am profoundly skeptical. But if it’s essentially an app that takes a few data points and predicts the likelihood of a case going all the way to trial (an eventuality that is not terribly common in any context,...
Will Your Case Go to Trial? This Computer Program Might Know the Answer
October 3, 2017
It’s stylish to bemoan how few cases go to trial these days—and for first chair litigators (and the reporters who write about them) it’s a bit anticlimactic when litigation gets resolved behind closed doors. But to SettlementAnalytics, trials are basically a failure. Going to court means the “economic forces that ordinarily encourage a negotiated solution” broke down. So how is the “Litigation Settlement Failure Index” supposed to work? There is “an economic signature...
October 3, 2017
It’s stylish to bemoan how few cases go to trial these days—and for first chair litigators (and the reporters who write about them) it’s a bit anticlimactic when litigation gets resolved behind closed doors. But to SettlementAnalytics, trials are basically a failure. Going to court means the “economic forces that ordinarily encourage a negotiated solution” broke down. So how is the “Litigation Settlement Failure Index” supposed to work? There is “an economic signature...
Argument Analysis: An Epic Day for Employers in Arbitration Case?
October 2, 2017
In the first oral argument of the new term, a divided Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold employment agreements that require...
October 2, 2017
In the first oral argument of the new term, a divided Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold employment agreements that require...
Colvin on Arbitration Clauses and D.R. Horton
October 2, 2017
Consistent with Imre's post below, Alex Colvin (Cornell ILR) provides this news of his own study: In a nice conjunction with the D.R. Horton cases arguments coming up, I also have a report out today on the use of mandatory employment arbitration clauses, as well as the incidence of class action waivers. The study was sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). This is a nationally representative, establishment-level survey of 628 employers. It allows me to get a measure of the percentage...
October 2, 2017
Consistent with Imre's post below, Alex Colvin (Cornell ILR) provides this news of his own study: In a nice conjunction with the D.R. Horton cases arguments coming up, I also have a report out today on the use of mandatory employment arbitration clauses, as well as the incidence of class action waivers. The study was sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). This is a nationally representative, establishment-level survey of 628 employers. It allows me to get a measure of the percentage...
Szalai on Arbitration Clauses and D.R. Horton
October 2, 2017
Imre Szalai (Loyola New Orleans) provides this update on matters related to D.R. Horton (see also Alex Colvin's study in the post above): In anticipation of the D.R. Horton cases to be argued next week, I am publishing a report about the use of arbitration clauses for workplace-related disputes. The key finding from my study, which is based solely on publicly-available data, shows that 80 of the Fortune 100 companies, the largest companies in America by revenue, have used arbitration agreements...
October 2, 2017
Imre Szalai (Loyola New Orleans) provides this update on matters related to D.R. Horton (see also Alex Colvin's study in the post above): In anticipation of the D.R. Horton cases to be argued next week, I am publishing a report about the use of arbitration clauses for workplace-related disputes. The key finding from my study, which is based solely on publicly-available data, shows that 80 of the Fortune 100 companies, the largest companies in America by revenue, have used arbitration agreements...
Kiser’s Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer
October 1, 2017
I was really pleased to meet Randall Kiser at last year’s ABA conference. I was very impressed by his important study (co-authored with Martin Asher and Blakeley McShane), Let’s Not Make a Deal: An Empirical Examination of Decision Making in Unsuccessful Negotiations. The top-line finding was that in 85.5% of cases, parties went to trial when one of the parties would have been better off to accept the other side’s last offer. Plaintiffs received an award less than or equal to the defendant’s...
October 1, 2017
I was really pleased to meet Randall Kiser at last year’s ABA conference. I was very impressed by his important study (co-authored with Martin Asher and Blakeley McShane), Let’s Not Make a Deal: An Empirical Examination of Decision Making in Unsuccessful Negotiations. The top-line finding was that in 85.5% of cases, parties went to trial when one of the parties would have been better off to accept the other side’s last offer. Plaintiffs received an award less than or equal to the defendant’s...
More Details on the Partnership Between Evolve Law and Above the Law
October 1, 2017
Two years ago this week, I reported on the launch of Evolve Law, a for-profit membership organization aimed at driving technology innovation and adoption in the legal industry. Cofounders Jules Miller and Mary Juetten told me at the time that they hoped to attract innovative, early-stage companies as members and encourage collaboration among them to help drive adoption of new technologies. “For members, this is a big step up – a giant leap really – in terms of visibility,” Juetten...
October 1, 2017
Two years ago this week, I reported on the launch of Evolve Law, a for-profit membership organization aimed at driving technology innovation and adoption in the legal industry. Cofounders Jules Miller and Mary Juetten told me at the time that they hoped to attract innovative, early-stage companies as members and encourage collaboration among them to help drive adoption of new technologies. “For members, this is a big step up – a giant leap really – in terms of visibility,” Juetten...
Stanford Law + Design Summit
September 30, 2017
Design thinking and its application in the legal profession is trending. The Stanford event was one of THREE (unrelated)...
September 30, 2017
Design thinking and its application in the legal profession is trending. The Stanford event was one of THREE (unrelated)...
Bloomberg Law Launches AI Research Tool to Find Key Points of Law
September 30, 2017
Bloomberg Law today rolled out to its subscribers new tool, Points of Law, that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help legal researchers quickly find language critical to a court’s reasoning and to support their legal arguments. As a researcher scrolls through a court opinion, Points of Law highlights the essential language in the opinion, making it easier for the researcher to browse through the key discussion points and enabling the researcher to more quickly get the gist...
September 30, 2017
Bloomberg Law today rolled out to its subscribers new tool, Points of Law, that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help legal researchers quickly find language critical to a court’s reasoning and to support their legal arguments. As a researcher scrolls through a court opinion, Points of Law highlights the essential language in the opinion, making it easier for the researcher to browse through the key discussion points and enabling the researcher to more quickly get the gist...
PwC, the Accounting Giant, Will Open a Law Firm in the U.S.
September 29, 2017
Law firms already elbowing one another for multinational clients will soon have a new competitor: The Big Four accounting firm PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, plans to open a law firm in Washington, D.C., next week. ILC Legal, nonetheless, aims to vie with big law firms as a one-stop shop offering multinational companies access to other PwC services, including tax consulting and its network of 3,200 lawyers spread across 90 countries. The firms in that network operate separately but follow...
September 29, 2017
Law firms already elbowing one another for multinational clients will soon have a new competitor: The Big Four accounting firm PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, plans to open a law firm in Washington, D.C., next week. ILC Legal, nonetheless, aims to vie with big law firms as a one-stop shop offering multinational companies access to other PwC services, including tax consulting and its network of 3,200 lawyers spread across 90 countries. The firms in that network operate separately but follow...
