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Spoliation, Texas Style
August 12, 2014
The Texas Supreme Court has clarified the standards for spoliation (in Texas). The rule is that Texas has a two-step process: (1) the Trial Court must determine, as a question of law, whether a party spoliated evidence, and (2) if spoliation occurred, the Court must assess an appropriate remedy. Brookshire Bros., Ltd. v. Aldridge, 2014 Tex. LEXIS 562, 3-4 (Tex. July 3, 2014). This Allemande Left and Do So Do requires a Trial Court to find that (1) the spoliating party had a duty to reasonably...
August 12, 2014
The Texas Supreme Court has clarified the standards for spoliation (in Texas). The rule is that Texas has a two-step process: (1) the Trial Court must determine, as a question of law, whether a party spoliated evidence, and (2) if spoliation occurred, the Court must assess an appropriate remedy. Brookshire Bros., Ltd. v. Aldridge, 2014 Tex. LEXIS 562, 3-4 (Tex. July 3, 2014). This Allemande Left and Do So Do requires a Trial Court to find that (1) the spoliating party had a duty to reasonably...
Social Media Hearsay Objections
August 11, 2014
Social media being offered into evidence in any case will almost always have hearsay objections if the proffered evidence...
August 11, 2014
Social media being offered into evidence in any case will almost always have hearsay objections if the proffered evidence...
IBM’s Watson Takes on the Law
August 11, 2014
It sounds like Mike Ross of "Suits" could soon have some competition when it comes to encyclopedic knowledge of the law. According to Susan Beck in our flagship publication, The American Lawyer, International Business Machines Corp. is developing the Watson Debater—a computer that can synthesize information and argue different sides of an issue, she says. Many already know Watson from its Jeopardy fame, but this time Big Blue's machine has taken the LSAT. The senior vice president and general...
August 11, 2014
It sounds like Mike Ross of "Suits" could soon have some competition when it comes to encyclopedic knowledge of the law. According to Susan Beck in our flagship publication, The American Lawyer, International Business Machines Corp. is developing the Watson Debater—a computer that can synthesize information and argue different sides of an issue, she says. Many already know Watson from its Jeopardy fame, but this time Big Blue's machine has taken the LSAT. The senior vice president and general...
Fifth Circuit Panel Divided on Order Remanding to Arbitration Panel
August 11, 2014
The Court is divided on whether it has jurisdiction to review the District Court's order remanding a matter back to an arbitration panel for clarification of its arbitration award. The majority concludes that the District Court's order is not a final order, and consequently dismisses the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. A dissent explains why it is wrong to consider the District Court's order as non-final and not immediately appealable.
August 11, 2014
The Court is divided on whether it has jurisdiction to review the District Court's order remanding a matter back to an arbitration panel for clarification of its arbitration award. The majority concludes that the District Court's order is not a final order, and consequently dismisses the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. A dissent explains why it is wrong to consider the District Court's order as non-final and not immediately appealable.
California Supreme Court Finally Recognizes Class and Collective Arbitration Waivers
August 11, 2014
An interesting case decided by the California Supreme Court overturned the court’s prior holding that class and collective arbitration waivers violate public policy and also recognized that the issue is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation, a worker sought to file a class action lawsuit against his employer over a number of wage and hour claims despite that he signed an arbitral agreement waiving his right to class proceedings when he was hired. The man also...
August 11, 2014
An interesting case decided by the California Supreme Court overturned the court’s prior holding that class and collective arbitration waivers violate public policy and also recognized that the issue is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation, a worker sought to file a class action lawsuit against his employer over a number of wage and hour claims despite that he signed an arbitral agreement waiving his right to class proceedings when he was hired. The man also...
Special Masters Have an Important Role in Litigation
August 11, 2014
Law360 recently interviewed a number of members of ACAM including me and wrote an article entitled “5 Tips For Serving As A Successful Special Master” which included my comments not to “be afraid to ask for a modification to view certain documents or speak to additional parties if that will better serve the court’s goals.” The Law360 article’s 5 tips are as follows: Create a Culture of Respect Be Accessible to the Parties Talk to the Judge (as Much as You Can) Know Your Order Strike...
August 11, 2014
Law360 recently interviewed a number of members of ACAM including me and wrote an article entitled “5 Tips For Serving As A Successful Special Master” which included my comments not to “be afraid to ask for a modification to view certain documents or speak to additional parties if that will better serve the court’s goals.” The Law360 article’s 5 tips are as follows: Create a Culture of Respect Be Accessible to the Parties Talk to the Judge (as Much as You Can) Know Your Order Strike...
The Productization of Legal Services
August 10, 2014
The July/August issue of Law Practice magazine is now out, the theme is “Big Ideas,” and one of the big ideas included...
August 10, 2014
The July/August issue of Law Practice magazine is now out, the theme is “Big Ideas,” and one of the big ideas included...
Cloud at Risk as Microsoft is Ordered to Produce Data in Ireland
August 10, 2014
As part of a drug trafficking investigation the US government persuaded a Court to issue a warrant that “purports to authorize...
August 10, 2014
As part of a drug trafficking investigation the US government persuaded a Court to issue a warrant that “purports to authorize...
Ideology and Legal Scholarship
August 10, 2014
While legal scholars have explored the relation between judges' ideology and case outcomes for years, they have shied away from assessing legal scholarship from a similar lens. Until now. In An Empirical Study of Political Bias in Legal Scholarship, Adam Chilton (Chicago) and Eric Posner (Chicago) explore whether legal scholarship reflects legal scholars' political ideology. Setting aside standard concerns about measurement error, this paper will certainly capture attention (e.g., here). The abstract...
August 10, 2014
While legal scholars have explored the relation between judges' ideology and case outcomes for years, they have shied away from assessing legal scholarship from a similar lens. Until now. In An Empirical Study of Political Bias in Legal Scholarship, Adam Chilton (Chicago) and Eric Posner (Chicago) explore whether legal scholarship reflects legal scholars' political ideology. Setting aside standard concerns about measurement error, this paper will certainly capture attention (e.g., here). The abstract...
University of North Texas Dallas College of Law: A New Law School with the Right Attitude
August 10, 2014
There have been several articles recently on the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law's success in recruiting students. (here, here, here) While the school expected about 350 applications, it received over 600, and approximately 140 students have enrolled with about a month to go before classes start. This success is probably due to the low in-state tuition and fees: $14,540 a year. Notably, the school does not give merit scholarships to attract students with high LSATs and GPAs. Such...
August 10, 2014
There have been several articles recently on the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law's success in recruiting students. (here, here, here) While the school expected about 350 applications, it received over 600, and approximately 140 students have enrolled with about a month to go before classes start. This success is probably due to the low in-state tuition and fees: $14,540 a year. Notably, the school does not give merit scholarships to attract students with high LSATs and GPAs. Such...
