Blog Archives
Lex Machina Launches State Law Modules, Extending Its Groundbreaking Legal Analytics to State Courts in California and Texas
February 10, 2020
Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of its award-winning Legal Analytics® platform, Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company, today announced an exciting new expansion into state court analytics. Consisting of more than 870,000 cases in Los Angeles County and Harris County (Houston metro area), the new modules give practitioners critical insights about judges, courts, law firms, individual attorneys and parties in state courts. By leveraging its Attorney Data Engine and other natural language processing...
February 10, 2020
Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of its award-winning Legal Analytics® platform, Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company, today announced an exciting new expansion into state court analytics. Consisting of more than 870,000 cases in Los Angeles County and Harris County (Houston metro area), the new modules give practitioners critical insights about judges, courts, law firms, individual attorneys and parties in state courts. By leveraging its Attorney Data Engine and other natural language processing...
What Lawyers Can Learn From Burford’s Financial Results
February 9, 2020
For litigators, the company can be viewed as a data point to answer bigger questions: What is the current state of litigation finance? And where is it headed? (And for a primer on litigation finance, you can watch this Bloomberg Law video.) On that front, two metrics from Burford’s financial reports are useful. One is how much Burford invests in cases in any given period, and the other is how much money its investments bring in. In Burford-speak, those figures are called “deployments”...
February 9, 2020
For litigators, the company can be viewed as a data point to answer bigger questions: What is the current state of litigation finance? And where is it headed? (And for a primer on litigation finance, you can watch this Bloomberg Law video.) On that front, two metrics from Burford’s financial reports are useful. One is how much Burford invests in cases in any given period, and the other is how much money its investments bring in. In Burford-speak, those figures are called “deployments”...
Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Litigation Decisions
February 7, 2020
This is the introduction to a new book, Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Litigation Decisions. This book describes how lawyers, mediators, and settlement conference judges can help parties use litigation interest and risk assessment (LIRAs) to make good decisions in litigation. Although parties may receive significant benefits from litigation, they generally also incur substantial risks and costs in the process. Predicting risks and costs is very difficult. This...
February 7, 2020
This is the introduction to a new book, Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Litigation Decisions. This book describes how lawyers, mediators, and settlement conference judges can help parties use litigation interest and risk assessment (LIRAs) to make good decisions in litigation. Although parties may receive significant benefits from litigation, they generally also incur substantial risks and costs in the process. Predicting risks and costs is very difficult. This...
Litigation Funding Class Suit Claiming Usury Shut Down
February 6, 2020
Litigation financing company Oasis Legal Finance LLC isn’t answerable under Georgia’s usury laws for allegedly steep repayment terms on money it advanced to former personal-injury plaintiffs, a federal court concluded reluctantly. The Georgia Supreme Court recently held that similar agreements in another case weren’t “loans,” the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia said Jan. 24.
February 6, 2020
Litigation financing company Oasis Legal Finance LLC isn’t answerable under Georgia’s usury laws for allegedly steep repayment terms on money it advanced to former personal-injury plaintiffs, a federal court concluded reluctantly. The Georgia Supreme Court recently held that similar agreements in another case weren’t “loans,” the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia said Jan. 24.
Are You Listening?
February 5, 2020
So- how does one listen? It is more than just hearing what someone has to say. It also includes “…paying attention to how they say it, and what they do while they are saying it in what context, and how what they say resonates within you.“ (Id.) It is asking the right questions! Be curious about the other person without having a hidden agenda that includes “…fixing, saving, advising, convincing or correcting.“ (Id.) Ask a very open-ended generalized question simply because...
February 5, 2020
So- how does one listen? It is more than just hearing what someone has to say. It also includes “…paying attention to how they say it, and what they do while they are saying it in what context, and how what they say resonates within you.“ (Id.) It is asking the right questions! Be curious about the other person without having a hidden agenda that includes “…fixing, saving, advising, convincing or correcting.“ (Id.) Ask a very open-ended generalized question simply because...
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Rules, Standards, and Judicial Discretion
February 4, 2020
Artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning in particular, promises lawmakers greater specificity and fewer errors. Algorithmic lawmaking and judging will leverage models built from large stores of data that permit the creation and application of finely tuned rules. AI is therefore regarded as something that will bring about a movement from standards to rules. Drawing on contemporary data science, this Article shows that machine learning is less impressive when the past is unlike the future,...
February 4, 2020
Artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning in particular, promises lawmakers greater specificity and fewer errors. Algorithmic lawmaking and judging will leverage models built from large stores of data that permit the creation and application of finely tuned rules. AI is therefore regarded as something that will bring about a movement from standards to rules. Drawing on contemporary data science, this Article shows that machine learning is less impressive when the past is unlike the future,...
How the San Francisco 49ers Stopped Being Losers
February 3, 2020
One of the most storied (and valuable) sports franchises in the world had fallen far. So they decided to do a full reboot — and it worked: this week, they are headed back to the Super Bowl. Before the 2018 season, we sat down with the team’s owner, head coach, general manager, and players as they were plotting their turnaround. Here’s an update of that episode. Once in a while, an episode from our archive suddenly becomes very, very timely. For instance: back in 2018, we put out an episode...
February 3, 2020
One of the most storied (and valuable) sports franchises in the world had fallen far. So they decided to do a full reboot — and it worked: this week, they are headed back to the Super Bowl. Before the 2018 season, we sat down with the team’s owner, head coach, general manager, and players as they were plotting their turnaround. Here’s an update of that episode. Once in a while, an episode from our archive suddenly becomes very, very timely. For instance: back in 2018, we put out an episode...
Negotiating Trials: Treasure Hunting and Trials Have Many Parallels
February 2, 2020
Like treasure hunting, litigation is local. Venue matters and so does knowing the local rules. Having appeared before a certain judge previously can be a great advantage for a litigator. Knowing how and when to utilize local procedure and insights into the personality of a jurist is knowledge that takes a career to develop. Thankfully, I am fortunate enough to work with seasoned litigators who impart their wisdom and experience on a daily basis. Their presence and insight make deciphering...
February 2, 2020
Like treasure hunting, litigation is local. Venue matters and so does knowing the local rules. Having appeared before a certain judge previously can be a great advantage for a litigator. Knowing how and when to utilize local procedure and insights into the personality of a jurist is knowledge that takes a career to develop. Thankfully, I am fortunate enough to work with seasoned litigators who impart their wisdom and experience on a daily basis. Their presence and insight make deciphering...
The Luck Factor in Negotiation
January 21, 2020
The thesis of Malcolm Gladwell’s best‐selling Outliers is that preeminence in a field is not principally the result of genius. Rather it is the product of cultural heritage, opportunity (often linked to the prior factor), and perhaps most important in Gladwell’s eyes, subject matter mastery that comes from 10,000 hours of hard work. Gladwell cited Bill Gates as Exhibit A for that proposition. When Gates was in his teens, his private school offered training in computer coding....
January 21, 2020
The thesis of Malcolm Gladwell’s best‐selling Outliers is that preeminence in a field is not principally the result of genius. Rather it is the product of cultural heritage, opportunity (often linked to the prior factor), and perhaps most important in Gladwell’s eyes, subject matter mastery that comes from 10,000 hours of hard work. Gladwell cited Bill Gates as Exhibit A for that proposition. When Gates was in his teens, his private school offered training in computer coding....
5 Things To Watch In Litigation Finance This Year
January 20, 2020
It was another fascinating year for litigation finance in the United States. Overall, 2019 saw continued growth, with clients and law firms being the obvious beneficiaries. More commercial claims were funded than ever due to the now dozens of funders now operating across the country. AmLaw 200 firms are regularly seeking to share risk with funders on a wide variety of matters, not just to finance single cases but for litigation portfolios and even business operations. Smaller firms and corporate law...
January 20, 2020
It was another fascinating year for litigation finance in the United States. Overall, 2019 saw continued growth, with clients and law firms being the obvious beneficiaries. More commercial claims were funded than ever due to the now dozens of funders now operating across the country. AmLaw 200 firms are regularly seeking to share risk with funders on a wide variety of matters, not just to finance single cases but for litigation portfolios and even business operations. Smaller firms and corporate law...
