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Mediation of Insurance Coverage Cases
September 22, 2014
Resolving insurance coverage disputes through mediation requires careful assessment of three unique elements: the insurance policy, the rules applicable to the application of the policy and the cases construing the policy. Evaluative mediation provides the best approach for resolving these disputes. It requires parties, counsel and the mediator to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of coverage issues, and it provides for input from the mediator as to possible outcomes of the case. There are also...
September 22, 2014
Resolving insurance coverage disputes through mediation requires careful assessment of three unique elements: the insurance policy, the rules applicable to the application of the policy and the cases construing the policy. Evaluative mediation provides the best approach for resolving these disputes. It requires parties, counsel and the mediator to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of coverage issues, and it provides for input from the mediator as to possible outcomes of the case. There are also...
Dallas Appeals Court Vacates Order Denying Arbitration in Marketing and Sales Case
September 22, 2014
Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals has vacated a trial court’s order denying arbitration in a marketing and sales dispute. In Momentis U.S. Corp. et al. v. Perissos Holdings, Inc. et al., No. 05-13-01085-CV, (Tex. App. – Dallas, July 30, 2014), a company (“Momentis”) that sold “energy contracts, mobile phone services, internet services, and digital television services” using third-party independent contractors (“IRs”) using a sales network was sued by a former salesperson (“Hale”)...
September 22, 2014
Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals has vacated a trial court’s order denying arbitration in a marketing and sales dispute. In Momentis U.S. Corp. et al. v. Perissos Holdings, Inc. et al., No. 05-13-01085-CV, (Tex. App. – Dallas, July 30, 2014), a company (“Momentis”) that sold “energy contracts, mobile phone services, internet services, and digital television services” using third-party independent contractors (“IRs”) using a sales network was sued by a former salesperson (“Hale”)...
Ninth Circuit Finds Revisions to Employee Arbitration Policy Enforceable
September 22, 2014
The Ninth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an employee’s claims that were brought as a putative class action against her employer, Nordstrom. The basis for the motion to compel was an arbitration provision contained in Nordstrom’s employee handbook. The arbitration provision had been modified to preclude employees from bringing class action lawsuits after the employee received the handbook. The employee argued that she did not have...
September 22, 2014
The Ninth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an employee’s claims that were brought as a putative class action against her employer, Nordstrom. The basis for the motion to compel was an arbitration provision contained in Nordstrom’s employee handbook. The arbitration provision had been modified to preclude employees from bringing class action lawsuits after the employee received the handbook. The employee argued that she did not have...
Two by Jason Solomon on Juries
September 21, 2014
Jason Solomon has posted two pieces to SSRN. First is a symposium introduction to The Civil Jury as Political Institution. The abstract provides: More than two hundred years after the Seventh Amendment enshrined the civil jury right, the debate over the role of the civil jury in the United States continues unabated. But even as questions about the civil jury’s competence as an adjudicative institution continue, questions surrounding the civil jury’s justification and role as a political institution...
September 21, 2014
Jason Solomon has posted two pieces to SSRN. First is a symposium introduction to The Civil Jury as Political Institution. The abstract provides: More than two hundred years after the Seventh Amendment enshrined the civil jury right, the debate over the role of the civil jury in the United States continues unabated. But even as questions about the civil jury’s competence as an adjudicative institution continue, questions surrounding the civil jury’s justification and role as a political institution...
Can a Computer Replace Your Doctor?
September 21, 2014
As a former physician, I shivered a bit when I heard Dr. Vivek Wadhwa say he would rather have an artificial-intelligence doctor than a human one. “I would trust an A.I. over a doctor any day,” he proclaimed at a recent health innovation conference in San Francisco, noting that artificial intelligence provided “perfect knowledge.” When asked to vote, probably a third of those in attendance agreed. But it made sense: Dr. Wadhwa is a professor, entrepreneur and technology visionary. What’s...
September 21, 2014
As a former physician, I shivered a bit when I heard Dr. Vivek Wadhwa say he would rather have an artificial-intelligence doctor than a human one. “I would trust an A.I. over a doctor any day,” he proclaimed at a recent health innovation conference in San Francisco, noting that artificial intelligence provided “perfect knowledge.” When asked to vote, probably a third of those in attendance agreed. But it made sense: Dr. Wadhwa is a professor, entrepreneur and technology visionary. What’s...
Disneyland to Bring in the Drones
September 21, 2014
Disney has filed for patents employing drone technology in the Magic Kingdom. Drones and Disneyland go together like Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, Aladdin and the Genie, Timon and Pumbaa. No? According to a post on the Plane-ly Spoken blog by Mark McKinnon, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge, the autonomous flying machines may soon be amusement park features, if not fixtures. McKinnon reports that the Walt Disney Co. filed for three patents last week, all of which employ drone technology in some...
September 21, 2014
Disney has filed for patents employing drone technology in the Magic Kingdom. Drones and Disneyland go together like Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, Aladdin and the Genie, Timon and Pumbaa. No? According to a post on the Plane-ly Spoken blog by Mark McKinnon, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge, the autonomous flying machines may soon be amusement park features, if not fixtures. McKinnon reports that the Walt Disney Co. filed for three patents last week, all of which employ drone technology in some...
BLS: Texas Legal Market Remained Flat
September 21, 2014
Recent numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that legal jobs for the private sector in Texas have remained flat...
September 21, 2014
Recent numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that legal jobs for the private sector in Texas have remained flat...
Article on The Story of the Texas Estates Code
September 21, 2014
William D. Pargaman (Saunders, Norval, Pargaman & Atkins, LLP) recently published an article entitled, The Story of the Texas Estates Code, Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal, Vol. 6 Bk. 2, Summer 2014. Provided below is an excerpt from the introduction of the article: On January 1, 2014, our new Estates Code replaced Texas’ beloved Probate Code, which has been with us for almost six decades—these changes were enacted into law in 2009, 2011, and 2013, and they went into effect...
September 21, 2014
William D. Pargaman (Saunders, Norval, Pargaman & Atkins, LLP) recently published an article entitled, The Story of the Texas Estates Code, Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal, Vol. 6 Bk. 2, Summer 2014. Provided below is an excerpt from the introduction of the article: On January 1, 2014, our new Estates Code replaced Texas’ beloved Probate Code, which has been with us for almost six decades—these changes were enacted into law in 2009, 2011, and 2013, and they went into effect...
Rising Costs of Raising a Child [Worth Every Penny]
September 20, 2014
New parents should be warned that it could cost almost a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child—not including the cost of college. According to newly released estimates from the U.S Department of Agriculture, raising a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000. While childcare and health care costs are rising, the country’s median income remains where it was before the recession. Growing transportation and food costs also consume...
September 20, 2014
New parents should be warned that it could cost almost a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child—not including the cost of college. According to newly released estimates from the U.S Department of Agriculture, raising a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000. While childcare and health care costs are rising, the country’s median income remains where it was before the recession. Growing transportation and food costs also consume...
A New Twist in Online Learning at Stanford
September 20, 2014
For years at Stanford I've taught Econ 1, one of the university's most popular courses that covers the basics of economics. I usually teach in a large lecture hall filled with hundreds of students, but this summer I tried something new. I gave an online-only version of the course, with a twist: It was offered to Stanford students for credit, as well as to the public. Stanford had never offered undergraduate credit for a course taught completely online. As with most innovations, it took a while...
September 20, 2014
For years at Stanford I've taught Econ 1, one of the university's most popular courses that covers the basics of economics. I usually teach in a large lecture hall filled with hundreds of students, but this summer I tried something new. I gave an online-only version of the course, with a twist: It was offered to Stanford students for credit, as well as to the public. Stanford had never offered undergraduate credit for a course taught completely online. As with most innovations, it took a while...
