Blog Archives
Phone Calls Help Create Closer Bonds Than Texting
November 4, 2020
For its many flaws, it’s hard to deny that technology has improved our ability to communicate with one another. We now have a huge range of options when it comes to speaking to our friends and family, whether we’re texting, IMing, or sending them emails. With such a smorgasbord of choices available to us, it can be easy to forget the humble phone call. And according to new work published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, a reticence to pick up the phone might...
November 4, 2020
For its many flaws, it’s hard to deny that technology has improved our ability to communicate with one another. We now have a huge range of options when it comes to speaking to our friends and family, whether we’re texting, IMing, or sending them emails. With such a smorgasbord of choices available to us, it can be easy to forget the humble phone call. And according to new work published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, a reticence to pick up the phone might...
Arbitration, Mediation and Mixed Modes: Seeking Workable Solutions and Common Ground on Med-Arb, Arb-Med and Settlement-Oriented Activities by Arbitrators
November 2, 2020
Today as never before, commercial dispute processing is “mixed mode,” with business parties and counsel employing a variety of diverse approaches in order to promote their varied priorities in resolving conflict. Just as drivers on a multi-lane highway shift from lane to lane as circumstances require in the course of reaching their destination, disputants move from settlement modes (such as negotiation and mediation or conciliation) to adjudicative modes (binding arbitration or litigation) and back...
November 2, 2020
Today as never before, commercial dispute processing is “mixed mode,” with business parties and counsel employing a variety of diverse approaches in order to promote their varied priorities in resolving conflict. Just as drivers on a multi-lane highway shift from lane to lane as circumstances require in the course of reaching their destination, disputants move from settlement modes (such as negotiation and mediation or conciliation) to adjudicative modes (binding arbitration or litigation) and back...
What Makes Things Funny? An Integrative Review of the Antecedents of Laughter and Amusement
November 1, 2020
Despite the broad importance of humor, psychologists do not agree on the basic elements that cause people to experience laughter, amusement, and the perception that something is funny. There are over twenty distinct psychological theories that propose appraisals that characterize humor appreciation. Most of these theories leverage a subset of five potential antecedents of humor appreciation: surprise, simultaneity, superiority, a violation appraisal, and conditions that facilitate a benign appraisal....
November 1, 2020
Despite the broad importance of humor, psychologists do not agree on the basic elements that cause people to experience laughter, amusement, and the perception that something is funny. There are over twenty distinct psychological theories that propose appraisals that characterize humor appreciation. Most of these theories leverage a subset of five potential antecedents of humor appreciation: surprise, simultaneity, superiority, a violation appraisal, and conditions that facilitate a benign appraisal....
Burford Capital Makes Debut On New York Stock Exchange
October 31, 2020
Burford Capital made its first appearance on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, becoming the first litigation funder to be publicly listed there. Shares were up 8.47% after the close of trading. The listing comes on the heels of a busy year for Burford, which has been traded on the London Stock Exchange since 2009.
October 31, 2020
Burford Capital made its first appearance on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, becoming the first litigation funder to be publicly listed there. Shares were up 8.47% after the close of trading. The listing comes on the heels of a busy year for Burford, which has been traded on the London Stock Exchange since 2009.
Patent Similarity Data and Innovation Metrics
October 30, 2020
We introduce and describe the Patent Similarity Dataset, comprising vector space model‐based similarity scores for U.S. utility patents. The dataset provides approximately 640 million pre‐calculated similarity scores, as well as the code and computed vectors required to calculate further pairwise similarities. In addition to the raw data, we introduce measures that leverage patent similarity to provide insight into innovation and intellectual property law issues of interest to both scholars...
October 30, 2020
We introduce and describe the Patent Similarity Dataset, comprising vector space model‐based similarity scores for U.S. utility patents. The dataset provides approximately 640 million pre‐calculated similarity scores, as well as the code and computed vectors required to calculate further pairwise similarities. In addition to the raw data, we introduce measures that leverage patent similarity to provide insight into innovation and intellectual property law issues of interest to both scholars...
Making Good Decisions: A Toolkit
October 29, 2020
Former professional poker player and best-selling author Annie Duke knows a lot about how to make good decisions under tough circumstances. In her new book, How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, Duke provides a toolkit for readers who want to make smart decisions in any situation. Wharton operations, information and decisions professor Katy Milkman recently spoke with Duke about her inspiration for the book, its lessons, and the most important takeaway.
October 29, 2020
Former professional poker player and best-selling author Annie Duke knows a lot about how to make good decisions under tough circumstances. In her new book, How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, Duke provides a toolkit for readers who want to make smart decisions in any situation. Wharton operations, information and decisions professor Katy Milkman recently spoke with Duke about her inspiration for the book, its lessons, and the most important takeaway.
It’s Not Your Imagination: Divorce Rates Are Surging
October 28, 2020
From Psychology Today: The pandemic has not been easy on couples. It hits from all sides: from economic concerns to new working arrangements, from sick family members to managing children's stress and virtual schooling, from being at home more than ever to recommended social distancing from friends and family. The pandemic's burden is made all the heavier because of its uncertainty—we don't know when the pandemic will end.According to Legal Templates, divorce agreement sales saw a staggering 34...
October 28, 2020
From Psychology Today: The pandemic has not been easy on couples. It hits from all sides: from economic concerns to new working arrangements, from sick family members to managing children's stress and virtual schooling, from being at home more than ever to recommended social distancing from friends and family. The pandemic's burden is made all the heavier because of its uncertainty—we don't know when the pandemic will end.According to Legal Templates, divorce agreement sales saw a staggering 34...
Trial Court Case Filing Trends – Harris County
October 27, 2020
After a COVID-19 drop in April new civil case filings, the trend in Harris County has been back toward the average. Family filings did not decrease during COVID. District and County court clerks report data to the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) based on cover sheet categorizations. CourtStatPack.com presents OCA data in easily customizable graphs to quickly spot trends. Here are some highlights: By default, CourtStatPack.com presents annual trends statewide....
October 27, 2020
After a COVID-19 drop in April new civil case filings, the trend in Harris County has been back toward the average. Family filings did not decrease during COVID. District and County court clerks report data to the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) based on cover sheet categorizations. CourtStatPack.com presents OCA data in easily customizable graphs to quickly spot trends. Here are some highlights: By default, CourtStatPack.com presents annual trends statewide....
Mediation: the challenges and benefits of in-person and remote mediation
October 26, 2020
Mediation succeeds in disputes where previous attempts have failed because, when you bring together the right people at the right time, the environment for decision-making is positively transformed. The parties and their professional advisors, including those with authority to make or influence a decision, meet in the same place at the same time, and the ‘correspondence’ between the parties is accelerated. That immediacy of information exchange, the opportunity to see reactions (and explore...
October 26, 2020
Mediation succeeds in disputes where previous attempts have failed because, when you bring together the right people at the right time, the environment for decision-making is positively transformed. The parties and their professional advisors, including those with authority to make or influence a decision, meet in the same place at the same time, and the ‘correspondence’ between the parties is accelerated. That immediacy of information exchange, the opportunity to see reactions (and explore...
Arbitrator Sides With University Of Akron In Layoff Of 100 Faculty
October 25, 2020
Following up on my previous post, Budget 'Bloodbath' As University Of Akron Lays Off 23% Of Full-Time (Including Tenured) Faculty Due To COVID-19: Cleveland.com, Arbitrator Sides With University of Akron in Layoff of Nearly 100 Union Faculty: An arbitrator on Friday sided with the University of Akron administration in its decision to eliminate the positions of nearly 100 unionized faculty as part of the university’s cost-saving measures due to the coronavirus...
October 25, 2020
Following up on my previous post, Budget 'Bloodbath' As University Of Akron Lays Off 23% Of Full-Time (Including Tenured) Faculty Due To COVID-19: Cleveland.com, Arbitrator Sides With University of Akron in Layoff of Nearly 100 Union Faculty: An arbitrator on Friday sided with the University of Akron administration in its decision to eliminate the positions of nearly 100 unionized faculty as part of the university’s cost-saving measures due to the coronavirus...
