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Sunstein on Popular Support for Nudges
June 2, 2015
Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School) has posted Do People Like Nudges? on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In recent years, there has been a great deal of debate about the ethical questions associated with “nudges,” understood as approaches that steer people in certain directions while fully maintaining freedom of choice. Evidence about people’s views cannot resolve the ethical questions, but in democratic societies, those views will inevitably affect what governments are willing to do. Existing...
June 2, 2015
Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School) has posted Do People Like Nudges? on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In recent years, there has been a great deal of debate about the ethical questions associated with “nudges,” understood as approaches that steer people in certain directions while fully maintaining freedom of choice. Evidence about people’s views cannot resolve the ethical questions, but in democratic societies, those views will inevitably affect what governments are willing to do. Existing...
Timeliness of Arbitration Demand for the Arbitrator to Decide, Not the Court
June 2, 2015
In G.T. Leach Builders LLC v Sapphire V.P., LP, No. 13-0497 (Tex. 2015), a complex construction-project-related dispute involving multiple parties and multiple contracts, the Texas Supreme Court recently addressed a number of important arbitration-related issues. Most notably, it reversed the intermediate court of appeals on the matter of whether the court or the arbitrator gets to decide whether the arbitration demand was timely asserted. The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Jeff Boyd, concluded...
June 2, 2015
In G.T. Leach Builders LLC v Sapphire V.P., LP, No. 13-0497 (Tex. 2015), a complex construction-project-related dispute involving multiple parties and multiple contracts, the Texas Supreme Court recently addressed a number of important arbitration-related issues. Most notably, it reversed the intermediate court of appeals on the matter of whether the court or the arbitrator gets to decide whether the arbitration demand was timely asserted. The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Jeff Boyd, concluded...
Law Without Lawyers: Access to Civil Justice and the Cost of Legal Services
June 1, 2015
This Article will discuss access to justice as a function of the cost of civil litigation. Framing the issue in this way, justice as a function of cost, it is worth noting that justice and cost are two of the three goals referenced in Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which states: “These rules . . . should be construed and administered to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.”The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in positing these...
June 1, 2015
This Article will discuss access to justice as a function of the cost of civil litigation. Framing the issue in this way, justice as a function of cost, it is worth noting that justice and cost are two of the three goals referenced in Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which states: “These rules . . . should be construed and administered to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.”The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in positing these...
Baker & Swedloff on Lawyers’ Professional Liability
June 1, 2015
Tom Baker & Rick Swedloff have posted to SSRN Liability Insurer Data as a Window on Lawyers' Professional Liability. The abstract provides: Using the best publicly available data on lawyers’ liability claims and insurance – from the largest insurer of large law firms in the U.S., the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professional Liability, and a summary of large claims from a leading insurance broker – this article reports the frequency of lawyers’ liability claims,...
June 1, 2015
Tom Baker & Rick Swedloff have posted to SSRN Liability Insurer Data as a Window on Lawyers' Professional Liability. The abstract provides: Using the best publicly available data on lawyers’ liability claims and insurance – from the largest insurer of large law firms in the U.S., the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Professional Liability, and a summary of large claims from a leading insurance broker – this article reports the frequency of lawyers’ liability claims,...
Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Release Date
June 1, 2015
Microsoft will launch Windows 10 on July 29th. The technology giant had previously promised to release the next version of its computer...
June 1, 2015
Microsoft will launch Windows 10 on July 29th. The technology giant had previously promised to release the next version of its computer...
Signs That You’re Being Too Stubborn
June 1, 2015
They’re hardheaded. They dig their heels in. You know the type — people who are way too stubborn for their own good. While it’s easy to point the finger at others who exhibit this behavior, it can be hard to recognize this trait in yourself. Here are the signs that you’re being too inflexible: You keep at an idea or plan, or insist on making your point, even when you know you’re wrong. You do something you want to do even if no one else wants to do it. When others present an idea,...
June 1, 2015
They’re hardheaded. They dig their heels in. You know the type — people who are way too stubborn for their own good. While it’s easy to point the finger at others who exhibit this behavior, it can be hard to recognize this trait in yourself. Here are the signs that you’re being too inflexible: You keep at an idea or plan, or insist on making your point, even when you know you’re wrong. You do something you want to do even if no one else wants to do it. When others present an idea,...
Googling Gives Illusion of Knowledge Even When The Search Reveals Nothing!
May 31, 2015
Even when an internet search is unsuccessful, people feel they know more. Searching the internet makes people feel they know more than they really do, a new study finds. And it doesn’t seem to matter much that people don’t actually find the information for which they were searching. Matthew Fisher, who led the research, said: “The Internet is such a powerful environment, where you can enter any question, and you basically have access to the world’s knowledge at your fingertips. It...
May 31, 2015
Even when an internet search is unsuccessful, people feel they know more. Searching the internet makes people feel they know more than they really do, a new study finds. And it doesn’t seem to matter much that people don’t actually find the information for which they were searching. Matthew Fisher, who led the research, said: “The Internet is such a powerful environment, where you can enter any question, and you basically have access to the world’s knowledge at your fingertips. It...
Can the Legal System be Moneyballed?
May 31, 2015
A Florida-based AI firm has released some very interesting revelations about lawyers and their rates of prevailing in lawsuits. The firm, Premonition, has determined that lawyers — even those on ‘top lawyer lists’, or considered by peers to be among the best — generally have average results. The company also discovered that lawyers and law firms don’t actually keep track of win/loss data: they mostly track fees and billing proportions. One indicative statistic kind of jumps out as a condemnation...
May 31, 2015
A Florida-based AI firm has released some very interesting revelations about lawyers and their rates of prevailing in lawsuits. The firm, Premonition, has determined that lawyers — even those on ‘top lawyer lists’, or considered by peers to be among the best — generally have average results. The company also discovered that lawyers and law firms don’t actually keep track of win/loss data: they mostly track fees and billing proportions. One indicative statistic kind of jumps out as a condemnation...
Dan Ariely’s Irrationally Yours: Predictably Amusing
May 31, 2015
Dan Ariely, an author and scientist we’ve featured often here, is back with a new book: Irrationally Yours: On Missing Socks, Pickup Lines, and Other Existential Puzzles. Irrationally Yours is full of fun, laced with quick lessons in psychology and the science of human behavior. As we enter beach season, take Ariely’s book with you instead of the latest thriller or romance. Or, listen to the audio version on your long and unpredictable commute to your office. (My preferred method for coping...
May 31, 2015
Dan Ariely, an author and scientist we’ve featured often here, is back with a new book: Irrationally Yours: On Missing Socks, Pickup Lines, and Other Existential Puzzles. Irrationally Yours is full of fun, laced with quick lessons in psychology and the science of human behavior. As we enter beach season, take Ariely’s book with you instead of the latest thriller or romance. Or, listen to the audio version on your long and unpredictable commute to your office. (My preferred method for coping...
Empathy Vs Sympathy
May 30, 2015
In 1909, the psychologist Edward Titchener translated the German Einfühlung (‘feeling into’) into English as ‘empathy’. Empathy can be defined as a person’s ability to recognize and share the emotions of another person, fictional character, or sentient being. It involves, first, seeing someone else’s situation from his perspective, and, second, sharing his emotions, including, if any, his distress. For me to share in someone else’s perspective, I must do more than merely put myself...
May 30, 2015
In 1909, the psychologist Edward Titchener translated the German Einfühlung (‘feeling into’) into English as ‘empathy’. Empathy can be defined as a person’s ability to recognize and share the emotions of another person, fictional character, or sentient being. It involves, first, seeing someone else’s situation from his perspective, and, second, sharing his emotions, including, if any, his distress. For me to share in someone else’s perspective, I must do more than merely put myself...
