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Court Enforces Arbitration Clause in Amazon’s Terms of Service
January 3, 2016
This lawsuit alleges that Amazon overstated the extent of discounts it offered customers (in stating the extent of the discount customer achieved when shopping at Amazon versus competing retailers). Amazon moved to compel arbitration, and the court grants the motion. The efficacy of arbitration clauses in online terms of service agreements is an evergreen topic of interest, so although it was decided in late October I thought the case was worth noting. The court agrees with Amazon that Washington...
January 3, 2016
This lawsuit alleges that Amazon overstated the extent of discounts it offered customers (in stating the extent of the discount customer achieved when shopping at Amazon versus competing retailers). Amazon moved to compel arbitration, and the court grants the motion. The efficacy of arbitration clauses in online terms of service agreements is an evergreen topic of interest, so although it was decided in late October I thought the case was worth noting. The court agrees with Amazon that Washington...
LSAC Statement Attacking Law School Transparency
January 2, 2016
Law School Transparency, an advocacy organization for the interests of law school applicants and students, recently released a report entitled 2015 State of Legal Education. The report touches on many issues related to the current law school climate, but one central focus is on explaining about the effect of declining law school LSAT scores on law graduates' prospects for passing the bar. The report attempted to draw attention to the fact that the declining quality of the law school applicant pool...
January 2, 2016
Law School Transparency, an advocacy organization for the interests of law school applicants and students, recently released a report entitled 2015 State of Legal Education. The report touches on many issues related to the current law school climate, but one central focus is on explaining about the effect of declining law school LSAT scores on law graduates' prospects for passing the bar. The report attempted to draw attention to the fact that the declining quality of the law school applicant pool...
LawSites 10 Most Popular Posts of 2015
January 2, 2016
Microsoft Readies Launch of Practice Management Product for Lawyers (Jan. 12, 2015). 13 15 17 18 20 States Have Adopted Ethical Duty of Technology Competence (March 16, 2015). Shake-Up In Legal Research: Fastcase Acquires Loislaw From Wolters-Kluwer (Sept. 21, 2015). New ‘Redact Assistant’ Easily Redacts Word and Excel Files (Feb. 25, 2015). Striking a Blow Against Legalese: Adobe’s Legal Department Open Sources Its Plain-English Style Guide (July 15, 2015). Westlaw’s Days...
January 2, 2016
Microsoft Readies Launch of Practice Management Product for Lawyers (Jan. 12, 2015). 13 15 17 18 20 States Have Adopted Ethical Duty of Technology Competence (March 16, 2015). Shake-Up In Legal Research: Fastcase Acquires Loislaw From Wolters-Kluwer (Sept. 21, 2015). New ‘Redact Assistant’ Easily Redacts Word and Excel Files (Feb. 25, 2015). Striking a Blow Against Legalese: Adobe’s Legal Department Open Sources Its Plain-English Style Guide (July 15, 2015). Westlaw’s Days...
Samsung’s New Projects – Wearable Is In
January 2, 2016
Samsung's secret lab projects: Smart belt, motion controller and smart watch strap. While I won't be attending CES in Las Vegas next week, I will be following closely the new trends and products. Wearables will be on display, and these three new Samsung products are very interesting. A SmartBelt that measures your food intake sounds really annoying. I already know that my waist is expanding, thank you very much. Of more interest is the strap that attaches to a phone or smartwatch and allows you to listen...
January 2, 2016
Samsung's secret lab projects: Smart belt, motion controller and smart watch strap. While I won't be attending CES in Las Vegas next week, I will be following closely the new trends and products. Wearables will be on display, and these three new Samsung products are very interesting. A SmartBelt that measures your food intake sounds really annoying. I already know that my waist is expanding, thank you very much. Of more interest is the strap that attaches to a phone or smartwatch and allows you to listen...
Chief Justice Urges Culture Change to Speed Civil Litigation
January 1, 2016
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Thursday urged federal judges and lawyers to redouble their efforts to make civil litigation more just and efficient, admonishing them to change the legal culture and narrow the scope of discovery. Roberts’ annual report on the federal judiciary focused entirely on the “just, speedy and efficient resolution of civil disputes,” as he highlighted new revisions in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that are aimed at achieving those goals. They took effect...
January 1, 2016
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Thursday urged federal judges and lawyers to redouble their efforts to make civil litigation more just and efficient, admonishing them to change the legal culture and narrow the scope of discovery. Roberts’ annual report on the federal judiciary focused entirely on the “just, speedy and efficient resolution of civil disputes,” as he highlighted new revisions in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that are aimed at achieving those goals. They took effect...
Chief Justice Roberts Issues 2015 Year-End Report
January 1, 2016
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has issued his 2015 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary (pdf), focusing on amendments made to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The report is the eleventh since Roberts was appointed chief justice in 2005. For reports from previous years, visit the U.S. Supreme Court website. 2015 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary In 1838, John Lyde Wilson, a former governor of South Carolina, made a grim contribution to the literature of dispute resolution...
January 1, 2016
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has issued his 2015 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary (pdf), focusing on amendments made to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The report is the eleventh since Roberts was appointed chief justice in 2005. For reports from previous years, visit the U.S. Supreme Court website. 2015 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary In 1838, John Lyde Wilson, a former governor of South Carolina, made a grim contribution to the literature of dispute resolution...
Samsung’s New Bio-Processor: Much Better Fitness Trackers?
January 1, 2016
Samsung thinks it's about time that fitness trackers did more than monitor your pulse. It announced today that it's put into mass production a new chip that builds in support for measuring five attributes: body fat, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate, skin temperature, and stress level (although, "stress" appears to actually mean how sweaty you are). Samsung calls this chip the Bio-Processor, and fitness devices using it are supposed to start shipping in the first half of 2016. Fitness trackers...
January 1, 2016
Samsung thinks it's about time that fitness trackers did more than monitor your pulse. It announced today that it's put into mass production a new chip that builds in support for measuring five attributes: body fat, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate, skin temperature, and stress level (although, "stress" appears to actually mean how sweaty you are). Samsung calls this chip the Bio-Processor, and fitness devices using it are supposed to start shipping in the first half of 2016. Fitness trackers...
Which Schools Produce the Most Super Lawyers?
December 31, 2015
The National Jurist took this analysis a step further to see which law schools produced the most Clark Kents of the legal...
December 31, 2015
The National Jurist took this analysis a step further to see which law schools produced the most Clark Kents of the legal...
Will The Rumoured Microsoft Surface Phone Run iOS Apps Natively On Launch?
December 31, 2015
When Microsoft chief experience officer Julie Larson Green was asked if Microsoft was working on an Android fork, she said ”We’ll go wherever our customers are.” At that time the natural reaction from the mobile development community was to assume that Redmond was working towards a future where Android and Windows were close cousins. * * * Now fast forward to this month, and rumours are flying around of a new Surface Phone, having been all but confirmed by Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela....
December 31, 2015
When Microsoft chief experience officer Julie Larson Green was asked if Microsoft was working on an Android fork, she said ”We’ll go wherever our customers are.” At that time the natural reaction from the mobile development community was to assume that Redmond was working towards a future where Android and Windows were close cousins. * * * Now fast forward to this month, and rumours are flying around of a new Surface Phone, having been all but confirmed by Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela....
Judge in VW Case Seeks Deal Master
December 30, 2015
Volkswagen A.G.'s legal problems tied to its emissions scandal could be over before they've hardly begun. In one of his first orders, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer has asked plaintiffs lawyers suing Volkswagen to suggest the best person to oversee settlement of more than 500 class actions. The selection of a special settlement master is not uncommon, but it usually takes place much later in the course of litigation. Many plaintiffs lawyers have predicted that Volkswagen could quickly...
December 30, 2015
Volkswagen A.G.'s legal problems tied to its emissions scandal could be over before they've hardly begun. In one of his first orders, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer has asked plaintiffs lawyers suing Volkswagen to suggest the best person to oversee settlement of more than 500 class actions. The selection of a special settlement master is not uncommon, but it usually takes place much later in the course of litigation. Many plaintiffs lawyers have predicted that Volkswagen could quickly...
