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Law Firm Leaders Report Lawyer Oversupply and ‘Chronically Underperforming Lawyers’
June 4, 2017
Fifty-two percent of law firm leaders responding to Altman Weil’s Law Firms in Transition Survey (PDF) said their equity partners are not sufficiently busy. Sixty-two percent said nonequity partners are not busy enough, and 25 percent said associates don’t have enough work. A summary is here; Bloomberg Big Law Business and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) have stories. Eighty-eight percent of the leaders said they have “chronically underperforming lawyers” at their firms. When asked why, 82 percent...
June 4, 2017
Fifty-two percent of law firm leaders responding to Altman Weil’s Law Firms in Transition Survey (PDF) said their equity partners are not sufficiently busy. Sixty-two percent said nonequity partners are not busy enough, and 25 percent said associates don’t have enough work. A summary is here; Bloomberg Big Law Business and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) have stories. Eighty-eight percent of the leaders said they have “chronically underperforming lawyers” at their firms. When asked why, 82 percent...
What Puts You at Risk for a Gray Divorce?
June 4, 2017
Recent headlines about increasing gray divorces, or divorces among people fifty years old and up, are concerning, so what is behind this phenomenon? A sizable share of these gray divorces are found in couples who have been married for over thirty years, but in fact, divorce risk is not evenly transmitted among those aged fifty and older. And fortunately, the divorce rate for this age cohort is really not all that high. When determining the triggering events for these gray divorces, studies show that...
June 4, 2017
Recent headlines about increasing gray divorces, or divorces among people fifty years old and up, are concerning, so what is behind this phenomenon? A sizable share of these gray divorces are found in couples who have been married for over thirty years, but in fact, divorce risk is not evenly transmitted among those aged fifty and older. And fortunately, the divorce rate for this age cohort is really not all that high. When determining the triggering events for these gray divorces, studies show that...
Planning for Longevity Risk
June 3, 2017
Failing to meet longevity risk is only failure if your wealth is depleted while you are still alive, not just over a long period of time. Incorporating survival probabilities into longevity calculations can help accurately plan for wealth sustainability. These survival probabilities work best for those with mathematical utility models that analyze retirement spending. However, most people will probably be best served by using fixed, conservative time horizons to reflect their concerns about outliving...
June 3, 2017
Failing to meet longevity risk is only failure if your wealth is depleted while you are still alive, not just over a long period of time. Incorporating survival probabilities into longevity calculations can help accurately plan for wealth sustainability. These survival probabilities work best for those with mathematical utility models that analyze retirement spending. However, most people will probably be best served by using fixed, conservative time horizons to reflect their concerns about outliving...
Introducing the TensorFlow Research Cloud
June 3, 2017
Researchers require enormous computational resources to train the machine learning (ML) models that have delivered recent...
June 3, 2017
Researchers require enormous computational resources to train the machine learning (ML) models that have delivered recent...
Proposed ABA Model Rule Changes Address Social Media Advertising
June 3, 2017
Proposed amendments to the ABA Model Rules governing attorney advertising would embrace a "false and misleading" standard...
June 3, 2017
Proposed amendments to the ABA Model Rules governing attorney advertising would embrace a "false and misleading" standard...
Self-Driving Cars to Add $81B in New Auto Insurance Premiums by 2025
June 2, 2017
Insurance coverage for autonomous vehicles will bring US$81 billion in new premiums to the U.S. auto insurance industry over the next eight years, driven by risks related to cybersecurity, software and hardware and by the need for additional public infrastructure coverage, according to a new report from Accenture and Stevens Institute of Technology. “Insurers are bracing for long-term declines in auto premiums as new and safer autonomous vehicles gain adoption,” said John Cusano, a senior...
June 2, 2017
Insurance coverage for autonomous vehicles will bring US$81 billion in new premiums to the U.S. auto insurance industry over the next eight years, driven by risks related to cybersecurity, software and hardware and by the need for additional public infrastructure coverage, according to a new report from Accenture and Stevens Institute of Technology. “Insurers are bracing for long-term declines in auto premiums as new and safer autonomous vehicles gain adoption,” said John Cusano, a senior...
Thoughts on Building an Unassailable Arbitration Award
June 2, 2017
Drafting a clear, reasoned arbitration award is a process rather than an event; it takes time. Thoughtful execution...
June 2, 2017
Drafting a clear, reasoned arbitration award is a process rather than an event; it takes time. Thoughtful execution...
Did the Seventh Circuit Expand the Grounds for Vacating an Arbitration Award?
June 2, 2017
A court has an extremely circumscribed role in an action to vacate an arbitration award. Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that even if a court is convinced that an arbitrator committed a grave error in applying the terms of a contract, it should not vacate the resulting award if the arbitrator even arguably applied the contract provisions. In Bankers Life & Casualty Insurance Co. v. CBRE, Inc., 830 F.3d 729 (7th Cir. 2016), a divided Seventh Circuit held that an arbitration...
June 2, 2017
A court has an extremely circumscribed role in an action to vacate an arbitration award. Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that even if a court is convinced that an arbitrator committed a grave error in applying the terms of a contract, it should not vacate the resulting award if the arbitrator even arguably applied the contract provisions. In Bankers Life & Casualty Insurance Co. v. CBRE, Inc., 830 F.3d 729 (7th Cir. 2016), a divided Seventh Circuit held that an arbitration...
Age Discrimination Study and Litigation
June 1, 2017
There is a great article on age discrimination over at Forbes.com. The article discusses the litigation against RJ Reynolds and PriceWaterhouse Coopers. More interesting, however, is a discussion of a study of gender/age discrimination performed in the hiring context. From the article: "based on a recent Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco study[,] Researchers created realistic, but fictitious, resumés for young (aged 29 to 31), middle-aged (49 to 51), and older (64 to 66) job seekers and sent...
June 1, 2017
There is a great article on age discrimination over at Forbes.com. The article discusses the litigation against RJ Reynolds and PriceWaterhouse Coopers. More interesting, however, is a discussion of a study of gender/age discrimination performed in the hiring context. From the article: "based on a recent Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco study[,] Researchers created realistic, but fictitious, resumés for young (aged 29 to 31), middle-aged (49 to 51), and older (64 to 66) job seekers and sent...
Arbitration and “Appellate” Review: Competing Legal Principles
June 1, 2017
Construction attorneys and their clients face a difficult decision when drafting contracts for large and substantive projects: whether to agree to binding arbitration or to stay within the court system to resolve any disputes. While binding arbitration is often touted as a method that should result in the faster and cheaper resolution of a dispute (and a method that allows arbitrators to be selected for their industry-specific knowledge), arbitration has begun to mimic litigation by including...
June 1, 2017
Construction attorneys and their clients face a difficult decision when drafting contracts for large and substantive projects: whether to agree to binding arbitration or to stay within the court system to resolve any disputes. While binding arbitration is often touted as a method that should result in the faster and cheaper resolution of a dispute (and a method that allows arbitrators to be selected for their industry-specific knowledge), arbitration has begun to mimic litigation by including...
