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More Elder Issues Are Being Solved With Mediation To Avoid Litigation
March 9, 2016
This article discusses how mediation is being increasingly used to settle disputes involving elder issues to avoid the costs and hassle of litigation. “Mediation, long considered to be an alternative to lengthy expensive divorce actions, can also be used in other contexts, notably where there is a dispute among adult children regarding frail, disabled and incapacitated parents.” There are complex and emotional family dynamics that are often at play in these sorts of disputes. A good estate...
March 9, 2016
This article discusses how mediation is being increasingly used to settle disputes involving elder issues to avoid the costs and hassle of litigation. “Mediation, long considered to be an alternative to lengthy expensive divorce actions, can also be used in other contexts, notably where there is a dispute among adult children regarding frail, disabled and incapacitated parents.” There are complex and emotional family dynamics that are often at play in these sorts of disputes. A good estate...
Another Study on Gain v. Loss Framing Effects
March 9, 2016
People focusing on losing a reward rather than gaining it are more motivated to exercise, a new study finds. The research shows that exactly the same financial rewards can produce markedly different levels of motivation when framed in different ways. Professor Kevin G. Volpp, one of the study’s authors, said: “Our findings demonstrate that the potential of losing a reward is a more powerful motivator and adds important knowledge to our understanding of how to use financial incentives to encourage...
March 9, 2016
People focusing on losing a reward rather than gaining it are more motivated to exercise, a new study finds. The research shows that exactly the same financial rewards can produce markedly different levels of motivation when framed in different ways. Professor Kevin G. Volpp, one of the study’s authors, said: “Our findings demonstrate that the potential of losing a reward is a more powerful motivator and adds important knowledge to our understanding of how to use financial incentives to encourage...
Psychologists Have Looked Into the Importance of Chitchat
March 8, 2016
Bryan Swider at Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology and his colleagues analysed the outcomes of mock interviews involving 163 accountancy students, who were rated by interviewers on their answers to 12 standardised questions. However, before the formal questioning period, the interviews began with a few minutes of rapport building, after which the interviewers noted down their first impressions. Did these preliminaries influence the overall interview scores? They...
March 8, 2016
Bryan Swider at Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology and his colleagues analysed the outcomes of mock interviews involving 163 accountancy students, who were rated by interviewers on their answers to 12 standardised questions. However, before the formal questioning period, the interviews began with a few minutes of rapport building, after which the interviewers noted down their first impressions. Did these preliminaries influence the overall interview scores? They...
Binding Arbitration Clauses, Educational Training Materials Edition
March 8, 2016
No, it's not legal-education-related, but rather real-estate-education-related. Which, according to the plaintiff, didn't actually teach her what it promised to teach her. So she sued. The defendant, however, noted that she'd signed a contract with an arbitration clause and so they shouldn't be in court. And the court agreed, in Kane v. Yancy, CIVIL ACTION NO. H-15-1861 (behind paywall), a recent case out of the Southern District of Texas. Arbitration clauses are, of course, generally looked...
March 8, 2016
No, it's not legal-education-related, but rather real-estate-education-related. Which, according to the plaintiff, didn't actually teach her what it promised to teach her. So she sued. The defendant, however, noted that she'd signed a contract with an arbitration clause and so they shouldn't be in court. And the court agreed, in Kane v. Yancy, CIVIL ACTION NO. H-15-1861 (behind paywall), a recent case out of the Southern District of Texas. Arbitration clauses are, of course, generally looked...
Brain Automatically Prioritizes Good Memories
March 8, 2016
We can only recall a very small proportion of the memories we make each day. New research finds that rewarding memories are recalled preferentially because the brain replays them automatically when we are at rest. The brain prioritises rewards as they are important cues about future behaviour. Professor Charan Ranganath, one of the study’s authors, said: “Rewards help you remember things, because you want future rewards. The brain prioritizes memories that are going to be useful for future...
March 8, 2016
We can only recall a very small proportion of the memories we make each day. New research finds that rewarding memories are recalled preferentially because the brain replays them automatically when we are at rest. The brain prioritises rewards as they are important cues about future behaviour. Professor Charan Ranganath, one of the study’s authors, said: “Rewards help you remember things, because you want future rewards. The brain prioritizes memories that are going to be useful for future...
Intensive Meditation Training Seems to Enhance Compassion
March 7, 2016
Psychological research into meditation has overwhelmingly focused on its cognitive consequences, considering the practice as a kind of training for attention and behaviour control, together with stress alleviation. But contemplation traditions make far wider claims for meditation, such as that it helps practitioners cultivate concern for the welfare of others. A new study in the journal Emotion supports this perspective, using a rigorous measure of emotional response to show signs of enhanced compassion...
March 7, 2016
Psychological research into meditation has overwhelmingly focused on its cognitive consequences, considering the practice as a kind of training for attention and behaviour control, together with stress alleviation. But contemplation traditions make far wider claims for meditation, such as that it helps practitioners cultivate concern for the welfare of others. A new study in the journal Emotion supports this perspective, using a rigorous measure of emotional response to show signs of enhanced compassion...
Repeat Players, the Settlements They Design, GM, and VW
March 7, 2016
There's obviously been a lot in the news about multidistrict litigation--from Lance Cooper's allegations in GM to the recent selection of the plaintiffs' leadership slate in VW. But what do we really know about the settlements that come out of those large MDLs? On one hand, the answer is not much. Many of the deals are secret because they are private. But sometimes those private deals are nevertheless publicly available. And when they are, we read them. And analyze them. The results can be a little...
March 7, 2016
There's obviously been a lot in the news about multidistrict litigation--from Lance Cooper's allegations in GM to the recent selection of the plaintiffs' leadership slate in VW. But what do we really know about the settlements that come out of those large MDLs? On one hand, the answer is not much. Many of the deals are secret because they are private. But sometimes those private deals are nevertheless publicly available. And when they are, we read them. And analyze them. The results can be a little...
Arbitration Provisions and Unconscionability
March 7, 2016
This case is a lesson in: Do what the judge tells you to do. Ruiz v. Millennium Square Residential Association, Civil Action No. 15-1014 (JDB), out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is a fairly staid dispute over whether a condominium owner complied with the condominium association bylaws when he made changes to his unit. The bylaws contained an arbitration provision for disputes like this, which the plaintiff argued was unconscionable. The court didn't seem to think...
March 7, 2016
This case is a lesson in: Do what the judge tells you to do. Ruiz v. Millennium Square Residential Association, Civil Action No. 15-1014 (JDB), out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is a fairly staid dispute over whether a condominium owner complied with the condominium association bylaws when he made changes to his unit. The bylaws contained an arbitration provision for disputes like this, which the plaintiff argued was unconscionable. The court didn't seem to think...
Opternative Raises $6 Million for Online Eye Exams
March 6, 2016
Tech companies are putting an ever-wider array of health-related services into patients’ hands, and despite regulatory hurdles, investors are lining up to back them. In the latest such deal, Chicago startup Opternative Inc. has raised $6 million in Series A venture funding for an app that lets people take an eye exam using their smartphones and a personal computer at home. In 2015, telehealth startups such as Joyable and Talkspace for mental health, Curology for dermatology, and many others...
March 6, 2016
Tech companies are putting an ever-wider array of health-related services into patients’ hands, and despite regulatory hurdles, investors are lining up to back them. In the latest such deal, Chicago startup Opternative Inc. has raised $6 million in Series A venture funding for an app that lets people take an eye exam using their smartphones and a personal computer at home. In 2015, telehealth startups such as Joyable and Talkspace for mental health, Curology for dermatology, and many others...
Experts, Crowds & Algorithms: The Three Forms of (Legal) Prediction
March 6, 2016
About the talk: Lawyer’s obligations of competence will increasingly encompass the ability to meaningfully apply analytics...
March 6, 2016
About the talk: Lawyer’s obligations of competence will increasingly encompass the ability to meaningfully apply analytics...
