Blog Archives
How is Your Attitude? It makes a difference!
September 3, 2020
There is a saying among mediators: often at the start of a mediation, the mediator is the only optimistic person in the room. She is the only one who believes the matter will settle. It turns out that there is something to this adage. In a blog post by the staff at Harvard’s PONS entitled “Do Attitudes In Negotiation Influence Results?” (July 28, 2020), the authors discuss research that showed that your attitude towards and in a negotiation does make a difference. If you are one who thinks...
September 3, 2020
There is a saying among mediators: often at the start of a mediation, the mediator is the only optimistic person in the room. She is the only one who believes the matter will settle. It turns out that there is something to this adage. In a blog post by the staff at Harvard’s PONS entitled “Do Attitudes In Negotiation Influence Results?” (July 28, 2020), the authors discuss research that showed that your attitude towards and in a negotiation does make a difference. If you are one who thinks...
Patent Litigants Need ‘Perfect Storm’ to Move from Jury Trials
September 2, 2020
Jury Trials Delayed There has been only one pandemic-era, in-person jury trial in a patent case, held this month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. A jury trial in another East Texas patent case was postponed last week, with the judge citing a coronavirus outbreak in the region. Many courts continue to be cautious. The District of Delaware has delayed all jury trials. The Northern District of California, which also handles a number of patent cases, said there...
September 2, 2020
Jury Trials Delayed There has been only one pandemic-era, in-person jury trial in a patent case, held this month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. A jury trial in another East Texas patent case was postponed last week, with the judge citing a coronavirus outbreak in the region. Many courts continue to be cautious. The District of Delaware has delayed all jury trials. The Northern District of California, which also handles a number of patent cases, said there...
Risk & Rigor: A Lawyer’s Guide to Decision Trees for Assessing Cases and Advising Clients
September 1, 2020
Risk and Rigor offers practical guidance to lawyers, mediators, and clients on using decision trees to more rigorously think through possible legal paths, risks, and consequences for more strategic litigation choices and settlement valuation. For those entirely unfamiliar with decision tree analysis, or litigation risk analysis, the first few chapters provide grounding in its fundamental concepts and logic. They guide the reader through a carefully sequenced set of case examples and offer links...
September 1, 2020
Risk and Rigor offers practical guidance to lawyers, mediators, and clients on using decision trees to more rigorously think through possible legal paths, risks, and consequences for more strategic litigation choices and settlement valuation. For those entirely unfamiliar with decision tree analysis, or litigation risk analysis, the first few chapters provide grounding in its fundamental concepts and logic. They guide the reader through a carefully sequenced set of case examples and offer links...
Kendall County district court judge conducting first live jury trial since COVID-19 outbreak
August 31, 2020
There have been no live jury trials in the area since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, fearing an outbreak of the virus. In 2019, there were 22 jury trials in the county. Bexar County’s Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel said, “It’s absolutely encouraging to see progress,” as he discussed the Kendall County trial. Rangel said conducting live jury trials in Bexar County will depend solely on COVID-19 statistics. “The benchmark for us to consider bringing back live jury trials...
August 31, 2020
There have been no live jury trials in the area since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, fearing an outbreak of the virus. In 2019, there were 22 jury trials in the county. Bexar County’s Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel said, “It’s absolutely encouraging to see progress,” as he discussed the Kendall County trial. Rangel said conducting live jury trials in Bexar County will depend solely on COVID-19 statistics. “The benchmark for us to consider bringing back live jury trials...
Legal Education Faces Its Waterloo As Wile E. Coyote
August 30, 2020
Higher education is confronting an existential crisis, and law schools are its poster child. Even before Covid-19, the law school business model, pedagogy, culture, faculty composition, marketplace detachment, poor student outcomes, and ever-escalating cost/massive student debt have drawn withering criticism. The pandemic has elevated law schools’ challenges and accelerated their reckoning. Law schools have staunchly resisted online learning until Covid-19...
August 30, 2020
Higher education is confronting an existential crisis, and law schools are its poster child. Even before Covid-19, the law school business model, pedagogy, culture, faculty composition, marketplace detachment, poor student outcomes, and ever-escalating cost/massive student debt have drawn withering criticism. The pandemic has elevated law schools’ challenges and accelerated their reckoning. Law schools have staunchly resisted online learning until Covid-19...
What Bikes Tell Us About A Changing Global Economy
August 29, 2020
The executives at Trek Bicycle can pinpoint the day they realized the bike market was going berserk. "April 12," says Eric Bjorling, the director of brand marketing for the company. "That's when we knew we had something on our hands." Trek had originally believed this recession would be typical — and that demand for bikes would crash. But on April 12th, they noticed a record number of visitors to their website and an enormous volume of orders from retailers. They knew then that this recession...
August 29, 2020
The executives at Trek Bicycle can pinpoint the day they realized the bike market was going berserk. "April 12," says Eric Bjorling, the director of brand marketing for the company. "That's when we knew we had something on our hands." Trek had originally believed this recession would be typical — and that demand for bikes would crash. But on April 12th, they noticed a record number of visitors to their website and an enormous volume of orders from retailers. They knew then that this recession...
What Law Firms Can Expect in a ‘Grueling’ Second Half of 2020
August 28, 2020
Law firms’ first half financial results are in, and they are much better than most partners would have predicted a few months ago. That’s especially true for the largest U.S. firms, which may be gearing up for a lateral partner shopping spree in the New Year. Firms among the AmLaw 50 grew revenue by 7.1% over the first half of the year, according to Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group, which surveyed 196 law firms. Those within the next 50 largest grew revenue by 3.4%, and the AmLaw...
August 28, 2020
Law firms’ first half financial results are in, and they are much better than most partners would have predicted a few months ago. That’s especially true for the largest U.S. firms, which may be gearing up for a lateral partner shopping spree in the New Year. Firms among the AmLaw 50 grew revenue by 7.1% over the first half of the year, according to Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group, which surveyed 196 law firms. Those within the next 50 largest grew revenue by 3.4%, and the AmLaw...
BATNA May Be Less Important Than You Think – and Teach
August 27, 2020
So, in real-life negotiations, BATNA values are much less important than we probably think – and teach our students. That’s the takeaway from a new article in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Sizing Up Settlement: How Much Do the Merits of a Dispute Really Matter?, by US Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker based on his experience conducting thousands of settlement conferences. Here’s the abstract: Legal disputes routinely settle. But to what extent do the merits of the parties’...
August 27, 2020
So, in real-life negotiations, BATNA values are much less important than we probably think – and teach our students. That’s the takeaway from a new article in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Sizing Up Settlement: How Much Do the Merits of a Dispute Really Matter?, by US Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker based on his experience conducting thousands of settlement conferences. Here’s the abstract: Legal disputes routinely settle. But to what extent do the merits of the parties’...
Jury Trials In West Texas Patent Hot Spot May Soon Restart
August 26, 2020
Trials may restart next month in the federal courthouse in Waco, Texas, a magnet for patent cases, following delays during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Alan Albright said in an order this week that bench and jury trials in the Waco division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas will resume as early as September 1. Albright is the only judge in the division.
August 26, 2020
Trials may restart next month in the federal courthouse in Waco, Texas, a magnet for patent cases, following delays during the coronavirus pandemic. Judge Alan Albright said in an order this week that bench and jury trials in the Waco division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas will resume as early as September 1. Albright is the only judge in the division.
Philbin “Lawyer of the Year” in San Antonio Mediation – Best Lawyers
August 25, 2020
I am pleased to share that you have been recognized by your peers as a 2021 "Lawyer of the Year" in the practice area of Mediation in San Antonio for your expertise in this field in your region. In addition to this honor, you will be highlighted in the 27th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America for your high caliber work in the practice areas of Arbitration and Mediation.
August 25, 2020
I am pleased to share that you have been recognized by your peers as a 2021 "Lawyer of the Year" in the practice area of Mediation in San Antonio for your expertise in this field in your region. In addition to this honor, you will be highlighted in the 27th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America for your high caliber work in the practice areas of Arbitration and Mediation.
