Blog Archives
How To Dramatically Improve Your Motivation
March 4, 2017
Attendance at fitness classes was 90% higher in the group that used this type of motivation. Dr Jeremy Dean's ebooks are: The Anxiety Plan: 42 Strategies For Worry, Phobias, OCD and Panic Spark: 17 Steps That Will Boost Your Motivation For Anything Competition is one of the best motivators, a new study concludes. It works much better than friendly support, which could actually backfire and reduce motivation, the researchers found. The research involved college students being encouraged to attend...
March 4, 2017
Attendance at fitness classes was 90% higher in the group that used this type of motivation. Dr Jeremy Dean's ebooks are: The Anxiety Plan: 42 Strategies For Worry, Phobias, OCD and Panic Spark: 17 Steps That Will Boost Your Motivation For Anything Competition is one of the best motivators, a new study concludes. It works much better than friendly support, which could actually backfire and reduce motivation, the researchers found. The research involved college students being encouraged to attend...
The Lawyer Launches New Litigation Tracker
March 3, 2017
The Lawyer has rolled out a groundbreaking new directory-style product that tracks the number of times law firms appear in court. The London-based legal media group trailed the new tool last year, but has now released it into the market. Known as “Litigation Tracker”, the site draws on data from English civil court judgments in 2015 and 2016 – some 6,000 cases – and then slices and dices the information to show which firms are most active for different types of litigation. The report...
March 3, 2017
The Lawyer has rolled out a groundbreaking new directory-style product that tracks the number of times law firms appear in court. The London-based legal media group trailed the new tool last year, but has now released it into the market. Known as “Litigation Tracker”, the site draws on data from English civil court judgments in 2015 and 2016 – some 6,000 cases – and then slices and dices the information to show which firms are most active for different types of litigation. The report...
Hawaii Bill Would Require Mediation Prior to Sale of Kuleana Land
March 3, 2017
A member of the Hawaii State House of Representatives has reportedly introduced a bill that would require mediation for certain real estate transactions occurring in the state. Due to the way in which Hawaii established private property rights in the mid-1800s, several hundred individuals may unknowingly have rights to small parcels of what are referred to as kuleana land that was given to Native Hawaiians across the state. Determining ownership of the land can be a lengthy and difficult...
March 3, 2017
A member of the Hawaii State House of Representatives has reportedly introduced a bill that would require mediation for certain real estate transactions occurring in the state. Due to the way in which Hawaii established private property rights in the mid-1800s, several hundred individuals may unknowingly have rights to small parcels of what are referred to as kuleana land that was given to Native Hawaiians across the state. Determining ownership of the land can be a lengthy and difficult...
How to Overcome Bias
March 3, 2017
How do you persuade somebody of the facts? Asking them to be fair, impartial and unbiased is not enough. To explain why, psychologist Tom Stafford analyses a classic scientific study. One of the tricks our mind plays is to highlight evidence which confirms what we already believe. The finding is good news for our faith in human nature. It isn’t that we don’t want to discover the truth, at least in the microcosm of reasoning tested in the experiment. All people needed was a strategy which helped...
March 3, 2017
How do you persuade somebody of the facts? Asking them to be fair, impartial and unbiased is not enough. To explain why, psychologist Tom Stafford analyses a classic scientific study. One of the tricks our mind plays is to highlight evidence which confirms what we already believe. The finding is good news for our faith in human nature. It isn’t that we don’t want to discover the truth, at least in the microcosm of reasoning tested in the experiment. All people needed was a strategy which helped...
New AI-Powered Patent Tool Helps Prepare Responses to Office Actions
March 2, 2017
A new tool being released today for patent lawyers and paralegals uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to help prepare responses to office actions and then uses analytics to help predict how the case is likely to develop. The new tool, called SmartShell, has been developed by TurboPatent, a Seattle, Wash., company that specializes in developing technologies to automate and streamline patent drafting, prosecution and quality evaluation. SmartShell automates the creation...
March 2, 2017
A new tool being released today for patent lawyers and paralegals uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to help prepare responses to office actions and then uses analytics to help predict how the case is likely to develop. The new tool, called SmartShell, has been developed by TurboPatent, a Seattle, Wash., company that specializes in developing technologies to automate and streamline patent drafting, prosecution and quality evaluation. SmartShell automates the creation...
Two Houston Law Schools Ordered to Mediation Over Naming Dispute
March 2, 2017
A federal judge has reportedly ordered an ongoing naming dispute between two Texas law schools to mediation. The case arose last summer when South Texas College of Law officially changed its name to Houston College of Law and sought trademark protection for the new moniker. In response, the University of Houston Law Center (“UH”) promptly sought a temporary injunction against the name change citing various trademark violations. After UH’s injunction request was granted, the former South...
March 2, 2017
A federal judge has reportedly ordered an ongoing naming dispute between two Texas law schools to mediation. The case arose last summer when South Texas College of Law officially changed its name to Houston College of Law and sought trademark protection for the new moniker. In response, the University of Houston Law Center (“UH”) promptly sought a temporary injunction against the name change citing various trademark violations. After UH’s injunction request was granted, the former South...
Texas: Arbitration provision did not confer personal jurisdiction
March 2, 2017
In Guam Industrial Services, Inc. v. Dresser-Rand Co., the First District Court of Appeals consdiered an accelerated interlocutory appeal from an order denying GIS's special appearance. Dresser-Rand and GIS had a contract for repair and restoration work, with Dresser-Rand suing GIS in district court. Dresser-Rand contended that the trial court had jurisdiction because the arbitration provision in the contract operated as a forum-selection clause where GIS consented to personal jurisdiction in Houston....
March 2, 2017
In Guam Industrial Services, Inc. v. Dresser-Rand Co., the First District Court of Appeals consdiered an accelerated interlocutory appeal from an order denying GIS's special appearance. Dresser-Rand and GIS had a contract for repair and restoration work, with Dresser-Rand suing GIS in district court. Dresser-Rand contended that the trial court had jurisdiction because the arbitration provision in the contract operated as a forum-selection clause where GIS consented to personal jurisdiction in Houston....
Podcast: Can Appellate Outcomes Be Predicted?
March 1, 2017
Kirk Jenkins likes to know the odds. As an undergrad at Harvard, the Chicago-based Sedgwick partner built regression models to predict decisions by the Federal Reserve Bank. So it’s no surprise that now, as a lawyer, he is among the early believers in the value of legal data analytics. And he has a message for the rest of the profession: there’s no going back. “Fundamentally, this is about moving the mindset of lawyers towards thinking about litigation the way that clients do,” Jenkins...
March 1, 2017
Kirk Jenkins likes to know the odds. As an undergrad at Harvard, the Chicago-based Sedgwick partner built regression models to predict decisions by the Federal Reserve Bank. So it’s no surprise that now, as a lawyer, he is among the early believers in the value of legal data analytics. And he has a message for the rest of the profession: there’s no going back. “Fundamentally, this is about moving the mindset of lawyers towards thinking about litigation the way that clients do,” Jenkins...
Fifth Circuit Affirms Order Denying Arbitration in Ponzi Scheme Case
March 1, 2017
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s order denying a motion to compel arbitration that was filed by a group of former Ponzi scheme employees. In Janvey v. Alguire, et al., No. 14-10857, Cons. w/Nos. 14-10945, 14-11014, 14-11093, (5th Cir. January 31, 2017), R. Allen Stanford created a massive Ponzi scheme using a large network of interconnected companies and a bank that were collectively known as the Stanford Group. Over the course of 10 years,...
March 1, 2017
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s order denying a motion to compel arbitration that was filed by a group of former Ponzi scheme employees. In Janvey v. Alguire, et al., No. 14-10857, Cons. w/Nos. 14-10945, 14-11014, 14-11093, (5th Cir. January 31, 2017), R. Allen Stanford created a massive Ponzi scheme using a large network of interconnected companies and a bank that were collectively known as the Stanford Group. Over the course of 10 years,...
Yes We Can: The Door Opens in the Second Circuit to Discovery in Aid of International Commercial Arbitration
March 1, 2017
A Federal court in New York recently opened the door there for U.S.-style discovery of evidence in aid of foreign or international commercial arbitrations, in accordance with a unique American statute – 28 United States Code (“U.S.C.”) § 1782. When 28 U.S.C. § 1782 was enacted in 1948 (and amended slightly in 1949), it was intended to set an example for international judicial cooperation in a world where international trade was recovering from the effects of World War II and the United...
March 1, 2017
A Federal court in New York recently opened the door there for U.S.-style discovery of evidence in aid of foreign or international commercial arbitrations, in accordance with a unique American statute – 28 United States Code (“U.S.C.”) § 1782. When 28 U.S.C. § 1782 was enacted in 1948 (and amended slightly in 1949), it was intended to set an example for international judicial cooperation in a world where international trade was recovering from the effects of World War II and the United...
