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Arbitration Agreement On Barnes & Noble’s Website Not Enforceable
October 22, 2014
In a case between an on-line customer and Barnes & Noble, the Ninth Circuit recently refused to enforce the arbitration agreement found in the website’s “Terms of Use.” Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble Inc., __ F.3d__, 2014 WL 4056549 (9th Cir. Aug. 18, 2014). The decision further calls into question the validity of “browsewrap” agreements, which the consumer does not have to assent to or acknowledge before making a purchase. The plaintiff’s case against B&N stemmed from his attempt to buy a Touchpad...
October 22, 2014
In a case between an on-line customer and Barnes & Noble, the Ninth Circuit recently refused to enforce the arbitration agreement found in the website’s “Terms of Use.” Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble Inc., __ F.3d__, 2014 WL 4056549 (9th Cir. Aug. 18, 2014). The decision further calls into question the validity of “browsewrap” agreements, which the consumer does not have to assent to or acknowledge before making a purchase. The plaintiff’s case against B&N stemmed from his attempt to buy a Touchpad...
Forget Fantasy Football, Try Fantasy SCOTUS
October 22, 2014
Three law professors created a model they say can correctly predict 70 percent of Supreme Court decisions given only data known at the time of the case. Now that they've honed their model, they want to know if man can beat machine. They set up a Fantasy SCOTUS league, which is free to join. Participants in Fantasy SCOTUS will predict all the cases in this term's Supreme Court docket, given the same information as the algorithm, and the winner will be declared at the end. The human with the most...
October 22, 2014
Three law professors created a model they say can correctly predict 70 percent of Supreme Court decisions given only data known at the time of the case. Now that they've honed their model, they want to know if man can beat machine. They set up a Fantasy SCOTUS league, which is free to join. Participants in Fantasy SCOTUS will predict all the cases in this term's Supreme Court docket, given the same information as the algorithm, and the winner will be declared at the end. The human with the most...
GCs Focus on Cost Control, Continue to Cut Outside Spend
October 21, 2014
Cementing a three-year trend, general counsel once again have taken control of their costs and cut their spending on outside counsel last year by 2 percent, according to recently released figures from HBR Consulting’s 2014 Law Department Survey. “I’ve been reading these surveys and seeing trends for the past 11 years,” said Lauren Chung, senior director in HBR’s law department consulting practice. “And this year’s trend represents what we’ve been hearing a lot: Focus on cost control.” Chung...
October 21, 2014
Cementing a three-year trend, general counsel once again have taken control of their costs and cut their spending on outside counsel last year by 2 percent, according to recently released figures from HBR Consulting’s 2014 Law Department Survey. “I’ve been reading these surveys and seeing trends for the past 11 years,” said Lauren Chung, senior director in HBR’s law department consulting practice. “And this year’s trend represents what we’ve been hearing a lot: Focus on cost control.” Chung...
10 Predictions About How IBM’s Watson Will Impact the Legal Profession
October 21, 2014
As part of its thoughtful launch to deliver Watson’s cognitive computing capabilities through services, IBM has begun to partner with different companies in different fields, including law. (Full disclosure—Legal OnRamp is working with IBM on Watson with help from Dan.) This is an interesting go-to-market approach for IBM, to create an ecosystem around a nascent technology, with analogues to Google search or Apple’s iTunes (or for the true aficionados, to Salesforce’s Appforce). Many imagine...
October 21, 2014
As part of its thoughtful launch to deliver Watson’s cognitive computing capabilities through services, IBM has begun to partner with different companies in different fields, including law. (Full disclosure—Legal OnRamp is working with IBM on Watson with help from Dan.) This is an interesting go-to-market approach for IBM, to create an ecosystem around a nascent technology, with analogues to Google search or Apple’s iTunes (or for the true aficionados, to Salesforce’s Appforce). Many imagine...
End Of The World As We Know It (for Employment Arbitration)?
October 21, 2014
Cue the R.E.M folks, because the Supreme Court of Missouri issued a 4-3 opinion recently that appears to upend many employment arbitration agreements in that state. Baker v. Bristol Care, Inc., __ S.W.3d__, 2014 WL 4086378 (Mo. Aug. 19, 2014). However, the situation is not as dire as it may seem. The high court in Missouri agreed with the lower court that the arbitration agreement in the parties’ employment contract was invalid (and therefore the employer could not compel arbitration of the putative...
October 21, 2014
Cue the R.E.M folks, because the Supreme Court of Missouri issued a 4-3 opinion recently that appears to upend many employment arbitration agreements in that state. Baker v. Bristol Care, Inc., __ S.W.3d__, 2014 WL 4086378 (Mo. Aug. 19, 2014). However, the situation is not as dire as it may seem. The high court in Missouri agreed with the lower court that the arbitration agreement in the parties’ employment contract was invalid (and therefore the employer could not compel arbitration of the putative...
The Negotiation Campaign
October 21, 2014
Negotiations are like political campaigns. It is an organized effort to influence decision makers. “How” and “When” to begin the campaign are fundamental questions to examine before actually engaging in the formal negotiation. Consider the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama. While the election was in 2008, the campaign began before 2004 when the Democratic Party identified Obama as a rising star and selected him do the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was in that...
October 21, 2014
Negotiations are like political campaigns. It is an organized effort to influence decision makers. “How” and “When” to begin the campaign are fundamental questions to examine before actually engaging in the formal negotiation. Consider the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama. While the election was in 2008, the campaign began before 2004 when the Democratic Party identified Obama as a rising star and selected him do the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was in that...
Current Texas Law Regarding Minority Investor Rights
October 20, 2014
The summer of 2014 was an unsettling one for minority investors in private Texas companies. In a series of three decisions in late June, the Texas Supreme Court dramatically altered the existing legal landscape. For more than two decades, minority shareholders in Texas private companies were entitled to bring a claim for shareholder oppression when their reasonable economic expectations were frustrated by the majority owners’ actions. In a majority opinion from late June, however, the Supreme Court...
October 20, 2014
The summer of 2014 was an unsettling one for minority investors in private Texas companies. In a series of three decisions in late June, the Texas Supreme Court dramatically altered the existing legal landscape. For more than two decades, minority shareholders in Texas private companies were entitled to bring a claim for shareholder oppression when their reasonable economic expectations were frustrated by the majority owners’ actions. In a majority opinion from late June, however, the Supreme Court...
Using Social Media Content to Defend Employment Lawsuits
October 20, 2014
For much of America, exposure to some type of social media is a part of everyday life. Fifty-seven percent of all American...
October 20, 2014
For much of America, exposure to some type of social media is a part of everyday life. Fifty-seven percent of all American...
Experts Predict ADR Will Help Resolve ACA Claims
October 20, 2014
The use of ADR to resolve healthcare-related claims will increase with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Experts predict the increase will stem from the need to reduce costs as well as the healthcare groups that will bring new disputes for resolution. Dr. Leonard Fromer, an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and a board member of TransforMED, LLC, said the passage and implementation of the ACA is “moving healthcare from a volume-based...
October 20, 2014
The use of ADR to resolve healthcare-related claims will increase with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Experts predict the increase will stem from the need to reduce costs as well as the healthcare groups that will bring new disputes for resolution. Dr. Leonard Fromer, an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and a board member of TransforMED, LLC, said the passage and implementation of the ACA is “moving healthcare from a volume-based...
Arkansas and New Jersey Sidestep Concepcion Hurdle and Declare Consumer Arbitrations Invalid
October 20, 2014
Two state supreme courts found consumer arbitration agreements unenforceable in the past week: Arkansas and New Jersey. Arkansas...
October 20, 2014
Two state supreme courts found consumer arbitration agreements unenforceable in the past week: Arkansas and New Jersey. Arkansas...
