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The Arbitration-Litigation Paradox
October 29, 2018
Assistant Professor of Law Pamela Bookman, Temple University Beasley School of Law, has written “The Arbitration-Litigation Paradox,” Vanderbilt Law Review, Forthcoming; Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-29. In her journal article, Professor Bookman examines whether the United States Supreme Court’s jurisprudence universally favors the arbitral forum. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act...
October 29, 2018
Assistant Professor of Law Pamela Bookman, Temple University Beasley School of Law, has written “The Arbitration-Litigation Paradox,” Vanderbilt Law Review, Forthcoming; Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-29. In her journal article, Professor Bookman examines whether the United States Supreme Court’s jurisprudence universally favors the arbitral forum. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Federal Arbitration Act...
Why We Have an Emotional Connection to Robots
October 28, 2018
We're far from developing robots that feel emotions, but we already have feelings towards them, says robot ethicist Kate...
October 28, 2018
We're far from developing robots that feel emotions, but we already have feelings towards them, says robot ethicist Kate...
The Next Big One? Earthquake Scientists Look to A.I.
October 28, 2018
Countless dollars and entire scientific careers have been dedicated to predicting where and when the next big earthquake will strike. But unlike weather forecasting, which has significantly improved with the use of better satellites and more powerful mathematical models, earthquake prediction has been marred by repeated failure. Some of the world’s most destructive earthquakes — China in 2008, Haiti in 2010 and Japan in 2011, among them — occurred in areas that seismic hazard maps had deemed...
October 28, 2018
Countless dollars and entire scientific careers have been dedicated to predicting where and when the next big earthquake will strike. But unlike weather forecasting, which has significantly improved with the use of better satellites and more powerful mathematical models, earthquake prediction has been marred by repeated failure. Some of the world’s most destructive earthquakes — China in 2008, Haiti in 2010 and Japan in 2011, among them — occurred in areas that seismic hazard maps had deemed...
Swapping Bots for Lawyers Via App: DoNotPay
October 27, 2018
Developer Josh Browder, now barely drinking age here in the US, created DoNotPay as a means of automating the process of challenging parking tickets, mainly inspired by his own excessive collection of tickets generated shortly after receiving his drivers’ license. The ChatBot – a conversational interface that prompts a user to provide information that can then be leveraged by the AI to provide answers or actions – allowed users to select one of several defenses to the ticket, enter details...
October 27, 2018
Developer Josh Browder, now barely drinking age here in the US, created DoNotPay as a means of automating the process of challenging parking tickets, mainly inspired by his own excessive collection of tickets generated shortly after receiving his drivers’ license. The ChatBot – a conversational interface that prompts a user to provide information that can then be leveraged by the AI to provide answers or actions – allowed users to select one of several defenses to the ticket, enter details...
Font Choice Can Improve Memory (Maybe Jurors)
October 27, 2018
That’s a pretty amazing claim, don’t you think? It’s also a very annoying looking font but you can download it free so there is that. We’ve written here about font choices a number of times and it appears that the more you have to focus and concentrate to read a font (that disruption is called “creating a disfluency”), the more you will remember. So. This new font is called Sans Forgetica. No. We didn’t make that up. The font was designed in Australia at RMIT University. The font...
October 27, 2018
That’s a pretty amazing claim, don’t you think? It’s also a very annoying looking font but you can download it free so there is that. We’ve written here about font choices a number of times and it appears that the more you have to focus and concentrate to read a font (that disruption is called “creating a disfluency”), the more you will remember. So. This new font is called Sans Forgetica. No. We didn’t make that up. The font was designed in Australia at RMIT University. The font...
Another Attempt to Create an Exception to Mediation Confidentiality in California
October 26, 2018
Several weeks ago, I posted a blog about the enactment of Senate Bill 954 as Evidence Code section 1129. This new law effective January 1, 2019 requires counsel to obtain a written acknowledgement from their clients as soon as is reasonably possible after agreeing to mediation or to a mediation consultation that they understand the restrictions of mediation confidentiality. What has slipped by unnoticed is a resolution passed by the California Conference of Bar Associations (CCBA) during the California...
October 26, 2018
Several weeks ago, I posted a blog about the enactment of Senate Bill 954 as Evidence Code section 1129. This new law effective January 1, 2019 requires counsel to obtain a written acknowledgement from their clients as soon as is reasonably possible after agreeing to mediation or to a mediation consultation that they understand the restrictions of mediation confidentiality. What has slipped by unnoticed is a resolution passed by the California Conference of Bar Associations (CCBA) during the California...
Litigation Conduct Waivers and the New York Convention
October 26, 2018
Today’s post concerns waiver of the right to arbitrate by an ambivalent plaintiff in a US District Court, and under what conditions it might be appropriate for a US District Court, applying the New York Convention and FAA Section 206 (governing motions to compel arbitration under arbitration agreements covered by the Convention), to decide that such a waiver by virtue of the litigation conduct of the plaintiff renders an arbitration agreement “null and void” (or “inoperative”) under Article...
October 26, 2018
Today’s post concerns waiver of the right to arbitrate by an ambivalent plaintiff in a US District Court, and under what conditions it might be appropriate for a US District Court, applying the New York Convention and FAA Section 206 (governing motions to compel arbitration under arbitration agreements covered by the Convention), to decide that such a waiver by virtue of the litigation conduct of the plaintiff renders an arbitration agreement “null and void” (or “inoperative”) under Article...
Paul Allen May be Leaving Largest Estate in Washington History
October 25, 2018
Paul Allen constructed an empire over the 35 years after he left Microsoft that consists of funding local museums and arts festivals, sponsoring brain science and artificial intelligence research institutes, and even owning sports teams and an enormous real-estate portfolio. The disposition of possibly the largest estate in the history of the state of Washington poses many questions of the future of these endeavors, and the Internal Revenue Service will be poring through all of it. There is familial...
October 25, 2018
Paul Allen constructed an empire over the 35 years after he left Microsoft that consists of funding local museums and arts festivals, sponsoring brain science and artificial intelligence research institutes, and even owning sports teams and an enormous real-estate portfolio. The disposition of possibly the largest estate in the history of the state of Washington poses many questions of the future of these endeavors, and the Internal Revenue Service will be poring through all of it. There is familial...
11th Circuit Thinks Class Arbitrability Is Not That Special
October 25, 2018
Usually the plaintiffs in a class action want to stay out of arbitration, but in the recent case of JPAY v. Kobel, 2018 WL 4472207 (11th Cir. Sept. 19, 2018), it was the class representatives who were fighting for arbitration. In particular, they wanted the arbitrator to decide whether they could have a class action. And they won. In a case that reads as if it is charting significant new ground, even though the court reached almost the same conclusion just a few weeks ago, the Eleventh...
October 25, 2018
Usually the plaintiffs in a class action want to stay out of arbitration, but in the recent case of JPAY v. Kobel, 2018 WL 4472207 (11th Cir. Sept. 19, 2018), it was the class representatives who were fighting for arbitration. In particular, they wanted the arbitrator to decide whether they could have a class action. And they won. In a case that reads as if it is charting significant new ground, even though the court reached almost the same conclusion just a few weeks ago, the Eleventh...
The Disruptive Neuroscience of Judicial Choice by Anna Spain Bradley
October 24, 2018
"Scholars of judicial behavior overwhelmingly substantiate the historical presumption that most judges act impartially and independent...
October 24, 2018
"Scholars of judicial behavior overwhelmingly substantiate the historical presumption that most judges act impartially and independent...
