Menu
Cognitive
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Rules, Standards, and Judicial Discretion
May 24, 2019
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,...
May 24, 2019
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 to ‘Own the Anchor’ in Settlements
May 10, 2019
Anchoring occurs in third-party settlement negotiations when one side throws out a number in an effort to influence—or “anchor”—the way the opposing party values a claim. Our experience shows that anchoring directly affects the settlement value of injury claims, so it’s critically important for insurance adjusters to “own the anchor” in negotiations.
May 10, 2019
Anchoring occurs in third-party settlement negotiations when one side throws out a number in an effort to influence—or “anchor”—the way the opposing party values a claim. Our experience shows that anchoring directly affects the settlement value of injury claims, so it’s critically important for insurance adjusters to “own the anchor” in negotiations.
Affect in the Aftermath: How Goal Pursuit Influences Implicit Evaluations
May 5, 2019
Previous research has shown that the activation of a goal leads to more implicit positivity toward goal-relevant stimuli. We examined how the actual pursuit of a goal influences subsequent implicit positivity toward such stimuli. Participants were consciously or non-consciously primed with a goal, or not, and then completed a goal-relevant task on which they succeeded or failed. We then measured their goal-relevant implicit attitudes. Those who were primed with the goal (consciously or non-consciously)...
May 5, 2019
Previous research has shown that the activation of a goal leads to more implicit positivity toward goal-relevant stimuli. We examined how the actual pursuit of a goal influences subsequent implicit positivity toward such stimuli. Participants were consciously or non-consciously primed with a goal, or not, and then completed a goal-relevant task on which they succeeded or failed. We then measured their goal-relevant implicit attitudes. Those who were primed with the goal (consciously or non-consciously)...
Lawyers and Twitter: Six Ways To Make People Like You
May 4, 2019
Each of Carnegie’s points apply to how you as a lawyer can use Twitter to make people like you. Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.
May 4, 2019
Each of Carnegie’s points apply to how you as a lawyer can use Twitter to make people like you. Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.
Silence is Golden!
April 29, 2019
I came upon an article in the July 2018 ABA Journal (volume 104) entitled, “Sounds of Silence” by Philip N. Meyer (pp. 22-23.) ( “ABA Article”). The ABA article notes that a pause at the right moment can be a very powerful tool. It cites an oral argument in which the issue was whether the police had waited long enough after knocking before entering an apartment to execute a search warrant. The police had waited 25 seconds which the defense argued was insufficient. To make...
April 29, 2019
I came upon an article in the July 2018 ABA Journal (volume 104) entitled, “Sounds of Silence” by Philip N. Meyer (pp. 22-23.) ( “ABA Article”). The ABA article notes that a pause at the right moment can be a very powerful tool. It cites an oral argument in which the issue was whether the police had waited long enough after knocking before entering an apartment to execute a search warrant. The police had waited 25 seconds which the defense argued was insufficient. To make...
The Revision Bias
April 7, 2019
Things change. Things also get changed—often. Why? The obvious reason is that revising things makes them better. In the current...
April 7, 2019
Things change. Things also get changed—often. Why? The obvious reason is that revising things makes them better. In the current...
Preventing Bad Settlement Decisions and Impasse: Using Brain Science, Game Theory, Animated Communication and Micro-Interventions
April 4, 2019
Faculty: Douglas Noll and Don Philbin Please note: This is a high level, advanced course for those engaged in the mediation...
April 4, 2019
Faculty: Douglas Noll and Don Philbin Please note: This is a high level, advanced course for those engaged in the mediation...
Never Give Up: Perseverance In Mediation – And Life?
March 20, 2019
In this post, I return to a familiar theme for mediators and for lawyers acting for clients in mediation: perseverance. • It is really important not to assume that what the other side say is what they really mean• Even if it is what they mean at a particular point in time, that may change for a number of reasons• Your job (as lawyer/mediator) is to challenge assumptions and keep looking for new angles and ways to see things• That involves the classic techniques of really good questioning,...
March 20, 2019
In this post, I return to a familiar theme for mediators and for lawyers acting for clients in mediation: perseverance. • It is really important not to assume that what the other side say is what they really mean• Even if it is what they mean at a particular point in time, that may change for a number of reasons• Your job (as lawyer/mediator) is to challenge assumptions and keep looking for new angles and ways to see things• That involves the classic techniques of really good questioning,...
Gamblers Like Their Odds at MIT Sports Analytics Conference
March 10, 2019
In the early years of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, a couple hundred math whizzes gathered on the school's campus hoping for a breakthrough that would make them the next Bill James. As the event and the field grew, they aspired to professional front office jobs, like Theo Epstein or Daryl Morey. Now the revered names at the cavernous convention center in Boston's Back Bay are people like sports bettor-turned Dallas Mavericks number-cruncher Haralabos Voulgaris and other current...
March 10, 2019
In the early years of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, a couple hundred math whizzes gathered on the school's campus hoping for a breakthrough that would make them the next Bill James. As the event and the field grew, they aspired to professional front office jobs, like Theo Epstein or Daryl Morey. Now the revered names at the cavernous convention center in Boston's Back Bay are people like sports bettor-turned Dallas Mavericks number-cruncher Haralabos Voulgaris and other current...
5 Habits to Develop Mental Toughness
March 9, 2019
Let’s talk mental toughness. Three questions: 1. Is it an essential quality of an effective lawyer? A recent series of books...
March 9, 2019
Let’s talk mental toughness. Three questions: 1. Is it an essential quality of an effective lawyer? A recent series of books...
