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Mediator Settlement Recommendations – Be Careful What You Ask For!
March 17, 2017
During the course of negotiations, it is very common for one or more of the parties to ask a Mediator, “So, what do you think the case is worth?” This Mediator has a consistent response to that often-heard inquiry, “The case is worth what it settles for.” Although that response may, at first, seem a bit glib, the inquiring party is informed that despite what may have been conveyed through the parties’ submissions, communicated via opening statements, and even discussed in caucus, the fact...
March 17, 2017
During the course of negotiations, it is very common for one or more of the parties to ask a Mediator, “So, what do you think the case is worth?” This Mediator has a consistent response to that often-heard inquiry, “The case is worth what it settles for.” Although that response may, at first, seem a bit glib, the inquiring party is informed that despite what may have been conveyed through the parties’ submissions, communicated via opening statements, and even discussed in caucus, the fact...
The Prudent Investor Rule and Market Risk: An Empirical Analysis
March 17, 2017
The prudent investor rule, enacted in every state over the last 30 years, is the centerpiece of trust investment law. Repudiating...
March 17, 2017
The prudent investor rule, enacted in every state over the last 30 years, is the centerpiece of trust investment law. Repudiating...
Prof. Richard Susskind on Upgrading Justice
March 16, 2017
Professor Richard Susskind delivered an address at Harvard Law School earlier this month. His talks on the future of law practice are well-known and we have seen many of his predictions already come true. Thanks to Harvard for posting the video. It would have been even better if the camera operator had panned up to give us a glance at his presentation slides. If you are a lawyer and have never listened to Prof. Susskind, you should take advantage of this opportunity. If you have heard him years ago,...
March 16, 2017
Professor Richard Susskind delivered an address at Harvard Law School earlier this month. His talks on the future of law practice are well-known and we have seen many of his predictions already come true. Thanks to Harvard for posting the video. It would have been even better if the camera operator had panned up to give us a glance at his presentation slides. If you are a lawyer and have never listened to Prof. Susskind, you should take advantage of this opportunity. If you have heard him years ago,...
Decalogue of Good Practices for Electronic Mediation
March 16, 2017
Aura Esther Vilalta, Senior Lecturer in Civil Law at the University of Oberta Cataluña, has written “Decalogue of Good Practices for Electronic Mediation,” Emedeu Project Edition, Forthcoming. In her publication, Ms. Vilalta offers a variety of recommendations that may help practitioners appropriately manage online mediation services. Here is the abstract: Recently, many entities specialising in alternative dispute resolution have incorporated information and communication technologies...
March 16, 2017
Aura Esther Vilalta, Senior Lecturer in Civil Law at the University of Oberta Cataluña, has written “Decalogue of Good Practices for Electronic Mediation,” Emedeu Project Edition, Forthcoming. In her publication, Ms. Vilalta offers a variety of recommendations that may help practitioners appropriately manage online mediation services. Here is the abstract: Recently, many entities specialising in alternative dispute resolution have incorporated information and communication technologies...
Auditor Settlements of Securities Class Actions
March 16, 2017
Some corporate law scholars have concluded that auditors do not have sufficient legal incentive to detect securities fraud and should be governed by a strict liability standard. This study assesses this argument by examining a dataset of 554 class actions alleging an accounting restatement filed from 1996 through 2007. Because some but not all of these restatement cases named an auditor defendant, it is possible to analyze whether variables such as the liability standard affect both the decision...
March 16, 2017
Some corporate law scholars have concluded that auditors do not have sufficient legal incentive to detect securities fraud and should be governed by a strict liability standard. This study assesses this argument by examining a dataset of 554 class actions alleging an accounting restatement filed from 1996 through 2007. Because some but not all of these restatement cases named an auditor defendant, it is possible to analyze whether variables such as the liability standard affect both the decision...
Texas’ Twelfth COA Holds Arbitration Agreement in Employer’s Workplace Injury Plan Does Not Bind Worker’s Spouse
March 15, 2017
Texas’ Twelfth District Court of Appeals in Tyler has ruled that a nonsignatory spouse may not be bound by an arbitration...
March 15, 2017
Texas’ Twelfth District Court of Appeals in Tyler has ruled that a nonsignatory spouse may not be bound by an arbitration...
Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury Cases: An Empirical Study
March 15, 2017
Many jurisdictions award pain and suffering damages, yet it is difficult for judges or juries to quantify pain. Several jurisdictions, such as California, cap pain and suffering damages or other noneconomic damages, and legal scholars have proposed ways to control such damages. Reforms and proposals, however, have been based on limited empirical evidence. It remains an open question whether components of economic damages explain pain and suffering damages. This study employs a unique dataset of Taiwan...
March 15, 2017
Many jurisdictions award pain and suffering damages, yet it is difficult for judges or juries to quantify pain. Several jurisdictions, such as California, cap pain and suffering damages or other noneconomic damages, and legal scholars have proposed ways to control such damages. Reforms and proposals, however, have been based on limited empirical evidence. It remains an open question whether components of economic damages explain pain and suffering damages. This study employs a unique dataset of Taiwan...
ABA Techshow and the ‘Golden Age of Legal Tech Start-Ups’
March 14, 2017
Hot off the presses is the latest issue of Law Practice magazine, which is the annual Techshow issue. I wrote this month’s cover story, A Golden Age of Legal Tech Start-Ups, which highlights some themes about start-ups that will be familiar to regular readers of this blog, but which also highlights a unique event happening at Techshow this year, the first-ever Startup Alley and startup pitch competition.
March 14, 2017
Hot off the presses is the latest issue of Law Practice magazine, which is the annual Techshow issue. I wrote this month’s cover story, A Golden Age of Legal Tech Start-Ups, which highlights some themes about start-ups that will be familiar to regular readers of this blog, but which also highlights a unique event happening at Techshow this year, the first-ever Startup Alley and startup pitch competition.
SCOTUS Hearing Arbitration Case, Spotlight On State Cases
March 14, 2017
While the Supreme Court has put off hearing a more contentious arbitration case until the fall (presumably in hopes that it will have nine justices by then), tomorrow it will hear the nursing home arbitration case from Kentucky. I look forward to listening to the questions and trying to figure out why the Justices granted a review on the merits… Instead of repeating my analysis of the Kentucky case, here are some recent state court arbitration cases of interest (in addition to the three...
March 14, 2017
While the Supreme Court has put off hearing a more contentious arbitration case until the fall (presumably in hopes that it will have nine justices by then), tomorrow it will hear the nursing home arbitration case from Kentucky. I look forward to listening to the questions and trying to figure out why the Justices granted a review on the merits… Instead of repeating my analysis of the Kentucky case, here are some recent state court arbitration cases of interest (in addition to the three...
Unintended Consequences: The Regressive Effects of Increased Access to Courts
March 14, 2017
Small claims courts enable parties to resolve their disputes relatively quickly and cheaply. The court's limiting feature, by design, is that alleged damages must be small, in accordance with the jurisdictional limit at that time. Accordingly, one might expect that a large increase in the upper limit of claim size would increase the court's accessibility to a larger and potentially more diverse pool of litigants. We examine this proposition by studying the effect of an increase in the jurisdictional...
March 14, 2017
Small claims courts enable parties to resolve their disputes relatively quickly and cheaply. The court's limiting feature, by design, is that alleged damages must be small, in accordance with the jurisdictional limit at that time. Accordingly, one might expect that a large increase in the upper limit of claim size would increase the court's accessibility to a larger and potentially more diverse pool of litigants. We examine this proposition by studying the effect of an increase in the jurisdictional...
