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Change Someone’s Mind by Showing the Big Picture
June 28, 2017
No one wants to admit they’re wrong. We cling to our beliefs and grasp onto them tighter the more someone tries to change our mind. As logical and sensible as an argument may be, there may be a far more effective way to get another person to see things differently. You may want to try to acknowledge their position and introduce them to all the relevant facts so the person may change their own mind, instead of you trying to do it for them, according to a recent Lifehack article. It’s...
June 28, 2017
No one wants to admit they’re wrong. We cling to our beliefs and grasp onto them tighter the more someone tries to change our mind. As logical and sensible as an argument may be, there may be a far more effective way to get another person to see things differently. You may want to try to acknowledge their position and introduce them to all the relevant facts so the person may change their own mind, instead of you trying to do it for them, according to a recent Lifehack article. It’s...
Parties Agreed to Arbitration Despite Allegations of a “Frankenstein” Contract
June 28, 2017
In Kreit and Kreit v. Brewer & Pritchard, PC, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals held that the trial court properly ruled that the Kreit brothers agreed to arbitration in their engagement agreement with the law firm of Brewer & Pritchard. In dispute is whether the firm represented the brothers (who are medical doctors) in their individual capacities or Cleveland Imaging and Surgical Hospital, LLC. According to the court's opinion, the Kreit brothers contend they only intended to obtain...
June 28, 2017
In Kreit and Kreit v. Brewer & Pritchard, PC, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals held that the trial court properly ruled that the Kreit brothers agreed to arbitration in their engagement agreement with the law firm of Brewer & Pritchard. In dispute is whether the firm represented the brothers (who are medical doctors) in their individual capacities or Cleveland Imaging and Surgical Hospital, LLC. According to the court's opinion, the Kreit brothers contend they only intended to obtain...
Dynamic Rationality
June 27, 2017
In 1998, Christine Jolls, Cass Sunstein, and Richard Thaler published A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics, one of the most important pieces of scholarship in decades. Their Article famously proposes a departure from the classical law and economics approach to legal analysis. Breaking from classical law and economics’ rational actor construct, the authors apply empirical insights about human behavior to introduce the concept of a boundedly rational actor limited by cognitive constraints....
June 27, 2017
In 1998, Christine Jolls, Cass Sunstein, and Richard Thaler published A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics, one of the most important pieces of scholarship in decades. Their Article famously proposes a departure from the classical law and economics approach to legal analysis. Breaking from classical law and economics’ rational actor construct, the authors apply empirical insights about human behavior to introduce the concept of a boundedly rational actor limited by cognitive constraints....
Resolve the Conflict By Focusing on the Problem, Not the Person
June 27, 2017
Through negotiation or mediation, the goal is to resolve the dispute between the parties so each can at least have some of their needs met and both sides can move on personally, professionally and financially. That may be accomplished best by focusing on the issues, not the people or personalities involved. The Interest-Based Relational (IBR) approach to resolving issues is discussed in a recent Lifehack article. It was created by Roger Fisher and William Ury in their 1981 best-selling...
June 27, 2017
Through negotiation or mediation, the goal is to resolve the dispute between the parties so each can at least have some of their needs met and both sides can move on personally, professionally and financially. That may be accomplished best by focusing on the issues, not the people or personalities involved. The Interest-Based Relational (IBR) approach to resolving issues is discussed in a recent Lifehack article. It was created by Roger Fisher and William Ury in their 1981 best-selling...
Mediated Settlement Agreement is a Contract and Should be Interpreted under Contract Law
June 27, 2017
In Loya v. Loya, the Texas Supreme Court faced the question of whether a mediated settlement agreement partitioned an employee bonus that was received nine months after the divorce decree was entered. According to the court's opinion, the divorce litigation lasted over two years. The trial court ordered mediation, resulting in an MSA signed by the parties and their attorneys.The MSA stated that it served as a partition of all property and any disputes relating to drafting or interpretation would...
June 27, 2017
In Loya v. Loya, the Texas Supreme Court faced the question of whether a mediated settlement agreement partitioned an employee bonus that was received nine months after the divorce decree was entered. According to the court's opinion, the divorce litigation lasted over two years. The trial court ordered mediation, resulting in an MSA signed by the parties and their attorneys.The MSA stated that it served as a partition of all property and any disputes relating to drafting or interpretation would...
Lex Machina Expands Its Legal Analytics Into Commercial Litigation
June 26, 2017
The legal analytics company Lex Machina today announced what it is describing as the most ambitious and largest expansion yet of its analytics into a new practice area, commercial litigation. Since its acquisition in November 2015 by LexisNexis, Lex Machina has been using LexisNexis’s collection of federal and state docket data to expand its analytics platform beyond its original area of intellectual property into other practice areas, adding securities last July and antitrust in November....
June 26, 2017
The legal analytics company Lex Machina today announced what it is describing as the most ambitious and largest expansion yet of its analytics into a new practice area, commercial litigation. Since its acquisition in November 2015 by LexisNexis, Lex Machina has been using LexisNexis’s collection of federal and state docket data to expand its analytics platform beyond its original area of intellectual property into other practice areas, adding securities last July and antitrust in November....
The Uberization of Arbitration Clauses
June 26, 2017
Professor Jill I. Gross, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, has published “The Uberization of Arbitration Clauses,” Penn State Yearbook on Arbitration and Mediation, Forthcoming. In her scholarly paper, Professor Gross examines federal court opinions related to challenges over the pre-dispute arbitration clause used by mobile transportation application company Uber Technologies, Inc. Here is the abstract: In the early part of this decade, the Supreme Court’s decisions interpreting...
June 26, 2017
Professor Jill I. Gross, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, has published “The Uberization of Arbitration Clauses,” Penn State Yearbook on Arbitration and Mediation, Forthcoming. In her scholarly paper, Professor Gross examines federal court opinions related to challenges over the pre-dispute arbitration clause used by mobile transportation application company Uber Technologies, Inc. Here is the abstract: In the early part of this decade, the Supreme Court’s decisions interpreting...
Trial Court Properly Set Aside Arbitrator’s Sanctions Orders Based on Evident Partiality
June 26, 2017
In Builders First Source-South Texas, LP v. Ortiz, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals held, in an interlocutory appeal, that the trial court had jurisdiction to set aside an arbitrator's sanctions orders on the basis of evident partiality. The trial court also had jurisdiction to require arbitration before a new arbitrator, but the parties had to go through the AAA process for the appointment. The trial court erred to stay the proceedings pending completion of arbitration. According to the court's...
June 26, 2017
In Builders First Source-South Texas, LP v. Ortiz, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals held, in an interlocutory appeal, that the trial court had jurisdiction to set aside an arbitrator's sanctions orders on the basis of evident partiality. The trial court also had jurisdiction to require arbitration before a new arbitrator, but the parties had to go through the AAA process for the appointment. The trial court erred to stay the proceedings pending completion of arbitration. According to the court's...
Why we [LexisNexis] Acquired Ravel Law
June 25, 2017
To be successful in today’s competitive legal environment, lawyers need to make faster, more informed decisions, based...
June 25, 2017
To be successful in today’s competitive legal environment, lawyers need to make faster, more informed decisions, based...
Overcapacity In Legal Education
June 25, 2017
Between 1971 and 2010, the average entering 1L class at an ABA-accredited law school was 246 students with a very narrow band of fluctuation. The high-water mark was 262 in 2010. Every year since 2012 has set a new historical low. As the chart above shows, the average has tumbled by a staggering 31%. ... I think we will see a few more law school closures, but not nearly many as the grim economics might suggest. Why? Some law schools have responded to the applicant downturn by creating new non-JD...
June 25, 2017
Between 1971 and 2010, the average entering 1L class at an ABA-accredited law school was 246 students with a very narrow band of fluctuation. The high-water mark was 262 in 2010. Every year since 2012 has set a new historical low. As the chart above shows, the average has tumbled by a staggering 31%. ... I think we will see a few more law school closures, but not nearly many as the grim economics might suggest. Why? Some law schools have responded to the applicant downturn by creating new non-JD...
