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Domino’s Pizza Delivers Malpractice Allegations Against Former Lawyer
January 12, 2016
Houston lawyer Andrew LaPorte has until Jan. 16 to ask a state district court to dispose of a malpractice lawsuit that Domino's Pizza, a former client, filed against him and his law firm early last year. In its malpractice petition, Domino's alleged that during a 2009 trial in an underlying case, LaPorte and his firm, LaPorte Hanszen in Houston, didn't prevent or object to a critical omission in the jury charge. Based on that charge, a jury issued a $2 million verdict, which resulted in a more...
January 12, 2016
Houston lawyer Andrew LaPorte has until Jan. 16 to ask a state district court to dispose of a malpractice lawsuit that Domino's Pizza, a former client, filed against him and his law firm early last year. In its malpractice petition, Domino's alleged that during a 2009 trial in an underlying case, LaPorte and his firm, LaPorte Hanszen in Houston, didn't prevent or object to a critical omission in the jury charge. Based on that charge, a jury issued a $2 million verdict, which resulted in a more...
Unconscious Trust Formed in Milliseconds
January 12, 2016
We’ve known that our brains form first impressions of both people and things very, very quickly. A 2006 study showed that a mere 50 milliseconds were enough to form an opinion about a website. More recently, researchers have discovered that our brains form an impression of faces even when the exposure time is so short we’re not consciously aware we saw them. The scientists found that our amygdala, an area of the brain associated with emotion and decision-making, makes a judgment about the trustworthiness...
January 12, 2016
We’ve known that our brains form first impressions of both people and things very, very quickly. A 2006 study showed that a mere 50 milliseconds were enough to form an opinion about a website. More recently, researchers have discovered that our brains form an impression of faces even when the exposure time is so short we’re not consciously aware we saw them. The scientists found that our amygdala, an area of the brain associated with emotion and decision-making, makes a judgment about the trustworthiness...
Alemanno on Public & Private Nudging
January 12, 2016
Alberto Alemanno (HEC Paris; NYU School of Law) has posted The Future of Behavioural Change: Balancing Public Nudging vs Private Nudging (2nd AIM Lecture, May 6, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Public authorities, including the European Union and its Member States, are increasingly interested in exploiting behavioral insights through public action. They increasingly do so through choice architecture, i.e. the alteration of the environment of choice surrounding a particular decision making context...
January 12, 2016
Alberto Alemanno (HEC Paris; NYU School of Law) has posted The Future of Behavioural Change: Balancing Public Nudging vs Private Nudging (2nd AIM Lecture, May 6, 2015) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Public authorities, including the European Union and its Member States, are increasingly interested in exploiting behavioral insights through public action. They increasingly do so through choice architecture, i.e. the alteration of the environment of choice surrounding a particular decision making context...
Patent Litigation Up in 2015, Despite Efforts to Rein it In
January 11, 2016
Patent litigation brought by so-called “non-practicing entities” continued to flourish in 2015, according to a new study, despite repeated attempts to curtail it. According to the report, released Monday by RPX Corp., NPEs filed over 3,600 patent cases in 2015. NPEs, also referred to derisively by some as “patent trolls,” buy up patents and seek to make money from them through licensing and litigation. NPEs filed 3,604 cases last year, a sharp increase over 2014, in which NPEs filed...
January 11, 2016
Patent litigation brought by so-called “non-practicing entities” continued to flourish in 2015, according to a new study, despite repeated attempts to curtail it. According to the report, released Monday by RPX Corp., NPEs filed over 3,600 patent cases in 2015. NPEs, also referred to derisively by some as “patent trolls,” buy up patents and seek to make money from them through licensing and litigation. NPEs filed 3,604 cases last year, a sharp increase over 2014, in which NPEs filed...
Wilmer’s Robert Mueller Named VW Settlement Master
January 11, 2016
A federal judge plans to appoint former FBI director Robert Mueller to oversee settlement negotiations in the class actions filed over Volkswagen A.G.'s emissions scandal. Mueller, who was FBI director from 2001 to 2013, was not among the 28 names submitted by plaintiffs lawyers who have filed more than 500 lawsuits against Volkswagen. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202746760712/Wilmers-Robert-Mueller-Named-VW-Settlement-Master#ixzz3wyIxAnBp
January 11, 2016
A federal judge plans to appoint former FBI director Robert Mueller to oversee settlement negotiations in the class actions filed over Volkswagen A.G.'s emissions scandal. Mueller, who was FBI director from 2001 to 2013, was not among the 28 names submitted by plaintiffs lawyers who have filed more than 500 lawsuits against Volkswagen. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202746760712/Wilmers-Robert-Mueller-Named-VW-Settlement-Master#ixzz3wyIxAnBp
SCOTUS Summarily Vacates More Arbitration Decisions
January 11, 2016
The US Supreme Court this morning summarily granted certiorari, vacated and remanded for consideration several related Supreme Court of Hawaii arbitration decisions in The Ritz-Carlton Development Company, Inc. v. Narayan and The Ritz-Carlton Development Company v. Nath (Docket Nos. 14-378, -379 and -406) in light of the Court’s recent DirecTV v. Imburgia opinion (see today’s Order List at http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/011116zor_n7io.pdf). The Ritz-Carlton cases all involve...
January 11, 2016
The US Supreme Court this morning summarily granted certiorari, vacated and remanded for consideration several related Supreme Court of Hawaii arbitration decisions in The Ritz-Carlton Development Company, Inc. v. Narayan and The Ritz-Carlton Development Company v. Nath (Docket Nos. 14-378, -379 and -406) in light of the Court’s recent DirecTV v. Imburgia opinion (see today’s Order List at http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/011116zor_n7io.pdf). The Ritz-Carlton cases all involve...
Patent Venue: Limits on Venue in Patent Infringement Litigation
January 11, 2016
When § 1400(b) and § 1391(c) are read together, it appears that patent cases can be filed in any venue with personal jurisdiction...
January 11, 2016
When § 1400(b) and § 1391(c) are read together, it appears that patent cases can be filed in any venue with personal jurisdiction...
Ex-USC Football Coach Sues for Disability Discrimination
January 10, 2016
For those of you looking for interesting hypotheticals or cases for your class next semester, several news pieces discuss the recent lawsuit filed by former USC football coach Steve Sarkisian. The ex-coach claims that the school fired him because of his alcoholism, thus resulting in disability discrimination. The complaint asserts that "Instead of accommodating [the coach's] disability, USC kicked him to the curb." In the high profile case, Sarkisian is seeking $12 million in lost wages in his contract,...
January 10, 2016
For those of you looking for interesting hypotheticals or cases for your class next semester, several news pieces discuss the recent lawsuit filed by former USC football coach Steve Sarkisian. The ex-coach claims that the school fired him because of his alcoholism, thus resulting in disability discrimination. The complaint asserts that "Instead of accommodating [the coach's] disability, USC kicked him to the curb." In the high profile case, Sarkisian is seeking $12 million in lost wages in his contract,...
Audi Invests in Silvercar App-Based Car Rental Service
January 10, 2016
Silvercar Inc., a mobile app-based rental-car company, has completed a $28 million Series C round of funding from a syndicate of investors that includes Audi of America Inc. The Austin company said Monday the funding will enable Silvercar to expand to new U.S. markets, including Las Vegas, where it plans to open a location this month. As part of the funding, Audi North America President Scott Keogh is joining Silvercar’s board of directors.
January 10, 2016
Silvercar Inc., a mobile app-based rental-car company, has completed a $28 million Series C round of funding from a syndicate of investors that includes Audi of America Inc. The Austin company said Monday the funding will enable Silvercar to expand to new U.S. markets, including Las Vegas, where it plans to open a location this month. As part of the funding, Audi North America President Scott Keogh is joining Silvercar’s board of directors.
Memory-Boosting Devices Tested in Humans
January 10, 2016
A strategy designed to improve memory by delivering brain stimulation through implanted electrodes is undergoing trials in humans. The US military, which is funding the research, hopes that the approach might help many of the thousands of soldiers who have developed deficits to their long-term memory as a result of head trauma. At the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on 17–21 October, two teams funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency presented evidence that...
January 10, 2016
A strategy designed to improve memory by delivering brain stimulation through implanted electrodes is undergoing trials in humans. The US military, which is funding the research, hopes that the approach might help many of the thousands of soldiers who have developed deficits to their long-term memory as a result of head trauma. At the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on 17–21 October, two teams funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency presented evidence that...
