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3 Class Actions, 3 Motions to Compel Arbitration, 1 Class Action Survives
March 7, 2017
The Ninth, Sixth, and Third Circuits all recently issued decisions about whether putative class or collective actions could...
March 7, 2017
The Ninth, Sixth, and Third Circuits all recently issued decisions about whether putative class or collective actions could...
A Crystal Ball for Insurance Risk Managers?
March 6, 2017
Premonition , a Miami-based start up claims to have solved a task most legal technology experts believed to be impossible. Premonition uses Artificial Intelligence to crawl thousands of court websites in real time, downloading the cases and, most importantly, mapping them to insurance industry lines of business. “For the first time ever, an insurer can spot claims coming and take action before they arrive based on actual liability data instead of forecasts,” claims Premonition co-founder, Toby...
March 6, 2017
Premonition , a Miami-based start up claims to have solved a task most legal technology experts believed to be impossible. Premonition uses Artificial Intelligence to crawl thousands of court websites in real time, downloading the cases and, most importantly, mapping them to insurance industry lines of business. “For the first time ever, an insurer can spot claims coming and take action before they arrive based on actual liability data instead of forecasts,” claims Premonition co-founder, Toby...
Game Theory and Mediation: Adding Real Value?
March 6, 2017
Several years ago, while travelling back with my son David to Oxford where he was studying as an undergraduate, we discussed my work as a mediator and his study of economics, particularly the learning for us both from Game Theory. I (John) had been familiar with The Prisoners’ Dilemma for a number of years, probably dating back to the Oil Pricing Exercise with which I recall commencing Harvard’s Program on Negotiation course many years previously (1996!). We use a developed version of The Prisoners’...
March 6, 2017
Several years ago, while travelling back with my son David to Oxford where he was studying as an undergraduate, we discussed my work as a mediator and his study of economics, particularly the learning for us both from Game Theory. I (John) had been familiar with The Prisoners’ Dilemma for a number of years, probably dating back to the Oil Pricing Exercise with which I recall commencing Harvard’s Program on Negotiation course many years previously (1996!). We use a developed version of The Prisoners’...
Power Imbalances in Mediation: A student note by Amrita Narine
March 6, 2017
In recent years, mediation has become increasingly popular and now represents a viable option for parties in a variety of scenarios. Despite its rising popularity, mediation has received mixed responses because of the potential to entrench preexisting power imbalances. This paper will explore the usefulness of mediation when dealing with an imbalanced power dynamic. In part I, this paper will focus on defining power within mediation. Part II will explore the critiques of mediation in situations...
March 6, 2017
In recent years, mediation has become increasingly popular and now represents a viable option for parties in a variety of scenarios. Despite its rising popularity, mediation has received mixed responses because of the potential to entrench preexisting power imbalances. This paper will explore the usefulness of mediation when dealing with an imbalanced power dynamic. In part I, this paper will focus on defining power within mediation. Part II will explore the critiques of mediation in situations...
Article on Legal Appearances of Dementia in Court Rulings
March 5, 2017
Israel Issi Doron, Perla Werner, Benny Spanier & Ori Lazar recently published an Article entitled,The Legal Appearances of Dementia in Court Rulings: Mapping the Terrain, 29 Int’l Psychogeriatrics 755 (2017). Provided below is an abstract of the Article: Background: Individuals with dementia may appear before the court in different roles: as victims, as witnesses, and as those standing up for their rights. While there is growing interest in the rights of older persons with dementia, relatively...
March 5, 2017
Israel Issi Doron, Perla Werner, Benny Spanier & Ori Lazar recently published an Article entitled,The Legal Appearances of Dementia in Court Rulings: Mapping the Terrain, 29 Int’l Psychogeriatrics 755 (2017). Provided below is an abstract of the Article: Background: Individuals with dementia may appear before the court in different roles: as victims, as witnesses, and as those standing up for their rights. While there is growing interest in the rights of older persons with dementia, relatively...
The Troubled Friendship of Tversky and Kahneman
March 5, 2017
Writer Michael Lewis’s new book, “The Undoing Project: The Friendship That Changed Our Minds”, is about two of the most...
March 5, 2017
Writer Michael Lewis’s new book, “The Undoing Project: The Friendship That Changed Our Minds”, is about two of the most...
Eastern Texas Still Patent Case Champ, According to Lex Machina Data
March 5, 2017
Patent case filings in U.S. district courts dropped 22 percent to 4,537 in 2016, analytics shop Lex Machina reported Thursday...
March 5, 2017
Patent case filings in U.S. district courts dropped 22 percent to 4,537 in 2016, analytics shop Lex Machina reported Thursday...
Confirmation Bias: How Intelligent People Develop Totally Incorrect Beliefs
March 5, 2017
The full moon is NOT linked to busier hospital emergency rooms or more births, a new study finds. The belief that there might be a link is likely down to a bias in the way even intelligent people think called the confirmation bias. Jean-Luc Margot, a UCLA professor of planetary astronomy, who carried out the study, said: “Some nurses ascribe the apparent chaos to the moon, but dozens of studies show that the belief is unfounded.” Despite the belief being remarkably common in hospitals,...
March 5, 2017
The full moon is NOT linked to busier hospital emergency rooms or more births, a new study finds. The belief that there might be a link is likely down to a bias in the way even intelligent people think called the confirmation bias. Jean-Luc Margot, a UCLA professor of planetary astronomy, who carried out the study, said: “Some nurses ascribe the apparent chaos to the moon, but dozens of studies show that the belief is unfounded.” Despite the belief being remarkably common in hospitals,...
Legaltech 2017: Announcements, AI, and The Future Of Law
March 4, 2017
This year, one of the topics that popped up over and over throughout the conference was artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the practice of law. In part the AI focus was attributable to the Keynote speaker on the opening day of the conference, Andrew McAfee, author of The Second Machine Age (affiliate link). His talk focused on ways that AI would disrupt business as usual in the years to come. His predictions were in part premised on his assertion that key technologies had improved...
March 4, 2017
This year, one of the topics that popped up over and over throughout the conference was artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the practice of law. In part the AI focus was attributable to the Keynote speaker on the opening day of the conference, Andrew McAfee, author of The Second Machine Age (affiliate link). His talk focused on ways that AI would disrupt business as usual in the years to come. His predictions were in part premised on his assertion that key technologies had improved...
The Facebook Algorithm Is Watching You
March 4, 2017
You can tell a lot about a person from how they react to something. That’s why Facebook’s various “Like” buttons are so powerful. Clicking a reaction icon isn’t just a way to register an emotional response, it’s also a way for Facebook to refine its sense of who you are. So when you “Love” a photo of a friend’s baby, and click “Angry” on an article about the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl, you’re training Facebook to see you a certain way: You are a person...
March 4, 2017
You can tell a lot about a person from how they react to something. That’s why Facebook’s various “Like” buttons are so powerful. Clicking a reaction icon isn’t just a way to register an emotional response, it’s also a way for Facebook to refine its sense of who you are. So when you “Love” a photo of a friend’s baby, and click “Angry” on an article about the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl, you’re training Facebook to see you a certain way: You are a person...
