Blog Archives
Ongoing Impacts of the Coronavirus on Litigation Activity in Federal District Court
April 14, 2020
Federal district courts are changing their operating procedures such as using remote communication and moving to essential personnel only, but are not closing completely. There is still daily court activity. In order to gain a better understanding, we compared court activity for four full weeks during March 2018, 2019, and 2020. In order to include 20 business days each year, the specific dates are March 4 to March 31, 2018; March 3 to March 30, 2019; and March 1 to March 28, 2020. Here...
April 14, 2020
Federal district courts are changing their operating procedures such as using remote communication and moving to essential personnel only, but are not closing completely. There is still daily court activity. In order to gain a better understanding, we compared court activity for four full weeks during March 2018, 2019, and 2020. In order to include 20 business days each year, the specific dates are March 4 to March 31, 2018; March 3 to March 30, 2019; and March 1 to March 28, 2020. Here...
AI and COVID-19: Securing the Intensified Reliance on AI Prime Operational Qualities
April 13, 2020
AI is playing a central role in aiding and speeding-up the search for treatments and a cure to the COVID-19 pandemic. The intensified energy/focus placed on AI these days (and coming months) is likely to have an interesting and positive reverberating effect. We can expect this to further accelerate and deepen AI’s propagation and implementation across many sectors, not just health care. Concomitantly with this trend we are likely to find an intensified reliance emerge on ensuring AI applications...
April 13, 2020
AI is playing a central role in aiding and speeding-up the search for treatments and a cure to the COVID-19 pandemic. The intensified energy/focus placed on AI these days (and coming months) is likely to have an interesting and positive reverberating effect. We can expect this to further accelerate and deepen AI’s propagation and implementation across many sectors, not just health care. Concomitantly with this trend we are likely to find an intensified reliance emerge on ensuring AI applications...
PerfectIt, An ‘Eagle-Eyed Proofreader’ for Your Documents, Gets Even Better
April 11, 2020
Last June, PerfectIt released a major update, PerfectIt 4, that promised faster checking, a new user interface to streamline review and correction of errors, and a major update to its legal stylesheet. Developed by lawyer Ivy B. Grey, an advisor to PerfectIt and vice president of strategy and business development at WordRake, American Legal Style checks spelling, capitalization, hyphenation and italicization in legal terms based on Black’s Law Dictionary and finds errors in case citations...
April 11, 2020
Last June, PerfectIt released a major update, PerfectIt 4, that promised faster checking, a new user interface to streamline review and correction of errors, and a major update to its legal stylesheet. Developed by lawyer Ivy B. Grey, an advisor to PerfectIt and vice president of strategy and business development at WordRake, American Legal Style checks spelling, capitalization, hyphenation and italicization in legal terms based on Black’s Law Dictionary and finds errors in case citations...
LexisNexis Adds Companies to its Context Analytics on Lexis Advance
April 10, 2020
Sixteen months ago, LexisNexis introduced Context, an analytics product that did what no other analytics product did, which was analyze the language of a judge’s opinions to identify the cases and arguments the judge finds persuasive. Later, it expanded Context to cover not just individual judges, but also entire courts. Today, LexisNexis is launching a further expansion of the product, Context Company Analytics, which will be available to subscribers of Lexis Advance. This is now the fourth...
April 10, 2020
Sixteen months ago, LexisNexis introduced Context, an analytics product that did what no other analytics product did, which was analyze the language of a judge’s opinions to identify the cases and arguments the judge finds persuasive. Later, it expanded Context to cover not just individual judges, but also entire courts. Today, LexisNexis is launching a further expansion of the product, Context Company Analytics, which will be available to subscribers of Lexis Advance. This is now the fourth...
What I Have Learned About Virtual Mediation | Bruce Edwards
April 9, 2020
Let me begin by sharing a few recent lessons unique to the virtual environment and organized around the traditional Edwards Mediation Academy course structure. Our hope is to begin a dialogue by inviting you to reciprocate, sharing your own experiences and reflections on adapting technology to dispute resolution. 1) Convening The goal of the convening process is to gain the willing and meaningful participation of all stakeholders. The virtual mediation process has required me to be even...
April 9, 2020
Let me begin by sharing a few recent lessons unique to the virtual environment and organized around the traditional Edwards Mediation Academy course structure. Our hope is to begin a dialogue by inviting you to reciprocate, sharing your own experiences and reflections on adapting technology to dispute resolution. 1) Convening The goal of the convening process is to gain the willing and meaningful participation of all stakeholders. The virtual mediation process has required me to be even...
Court Delays May Grow Lawsuit Funders’ Returns, or Spur Disputes
April 9, 2020
Some litigation finance firms are telling investors coronavirus-related court delays could boost returns, but others in the industry see new potential for disputes as the overall balance of power slides more toward law firms and clients, emboldening them to try to keep more funds for themselves. Litigation funders make money when the cases they invest in are resolved. And they typically earn higher returns as cases drag on, which plenty will do as the coronavirus pandemic causes widespread court...
April 9, 2020
Some litigation finance firms are telling investors coronavirus-related court delays could boost returns, but others in the industry see new potential for disputes as the overall balance of power slides more toward law firms and clients, emboldening them to try to keep more funds for themselves. Litigation funders make money when the cases they invest in are resolved. And they typically earn higher returns as cases drag on, which plenty will do as the coronavirus pandemic causes widespread court...
Tips for Improving Communication During Video Conferencing
April 8, 2020
Other Key Tips Eye contact remains a crucial way to signal to your audience that you see and hear them. It can be tricky with video calls to know where to look. One thing for sure, don’t look at yourself. If you have set up properly, you should be confident enough to close down your self-view (this is an option on Zoom) and free yourself up to connect more directly with your audience. Active listening goes a long way over skype or Zoom. A slight head tilt and occasional...
April 8, 2020
Other Key Tips Eye contact remains a crucial way to signal to your audience that you see and hear them. It can be tricky with video calls to know where to look. One thing for sure, don’t look at yourself. If you have set up properly, you should be confident enough to close down your self-view (this is an option on Zoom) and free yourself up to connect more directly with your audience. Active listening goes a long way over skype or Zoom. A slight head tilt and occasional...
Business Is Booming for Mediators as COVID-19 Cools Courts
April 7, 2020
"Business is dramatically increasing, as long as mediators are able to offer options for remote attendance," said Mark Lemke, incoming president of the Southern California Mediation Association. Many courts across the country have postponed jury trials, and judges face learning curves with the technology for remote hearings, which slows down business and forces courts to prioritize criminal cases, child protection matters, domestic violence protective orders and other urgent cases. “Business...
April 7, 2020
"Business is dramatically increasing, as long as mediators are able to offer options for remote attendance," said Mark Lemke, incoming president of the Southern California Mediation Association. Many courts across the country have postponed jury trials, and judges face learning curves with the technology for remote hearings, which slows down business and forces courts to prioritize criminal cases, child protection matters, domestic violence protective orders and other urgent cases. “Business...
Is Zoom Good Enough for Mediation?
April 6, 2020
So where does that leave we mediators? We can obviously mediate by teleconference or some hybrid of one of the other online video services and teleconference. For me though, having read all I can get my hands on and discussing the issues with others, I have come to the conclusion that, properly used, Zoom is safe enough – not perfect – but safe enough for use in the vast majority of commercial mediations. I suggest that “proper use” includes the following: Using...
April 6, 2020
So where does that leave we mediators? We can obviously mediate by teleconference or some hybrid of one of the other online video services and teleconference. For me though, having read all I can get my hands on and discussing the issues with others, I have come to the conclusion that, properly used, Zoom is safe enough – not perfect – but safe enough for use in the vast majority of commercial mediations. I suggest that “proper use” includes the following: Using...
Litigation Finance Firms Are ‘Busier Than Ever,’ Insiders Say
April 6, 2020
The litigation finance industry is booming, insiders say, even as courts are closing or going online to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. As for court closures causing problems for the industry? Insiders say they’re not worried. “It extends the timeline of cases, but I actually don’t think it will affect returns a lot,” Shang said. “Court dates get pushed back for any number of reasons.” According to Perla, the investments Burford makes take about two years on average...
April 6, 2020
The litigation finance industry is booming, insiders say, even as courts are closing or going online to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. As for court closures causing problems for the industry? Insiders say they’re not worried. “It extends the timeline of cases, but I actually don’t think it will affect returns a lot,” Shang said. “Court dates get pushed back for any number of reasons.” According to Perla, the investments Burford makes take about two years on average...
