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Labor Firm’s App Calculates FMLA Leave
August 7, 2013
In a recent article about mobile marketing I wrote for Law Practice Magazine, I explained why I am skeptical about the marketing value of law firm apps. I made an exception, however, for apps that provide a useful or practical function, whether for existing or potential clients. The new Fisher & Phillips FMLA Leave App is a good example of the kind of practical app I had in mind. From the national labor and employment law firm Fisher & Phillips, the app enables employers and human...
August 7, 2013
In a recent article about mobile marketing I wrote for Law Practice Magazine, I explained why I am skeptical about the marketing value of law firm apps. I made an exception, however, for apps that provide a useful or practical function, whether for existing or potential clients. The new Fisher & Phillips FMLA Leave App is a good example of the kind of practical app I had in mind. From the national labor and employment law firm Fisher & Phillips, the app enables employers and human...
D&O Rates Rise on Flood of Merger Lawsuits
August 7, 2013
Most finance chiefs working for companies involved in a recent merger or acquisition are well aware of the irritating abundance of legal protests against their deals. Now, however, the omnipresence of so-called “merger objection” lawsuits is hitting companies on another front, helping to drive up the cost of directors’ and officers’ liability coverage by 5 to 10 percent or even higher in the second quarter, insurance brokers say. And that’s been occurring at a time when the rates of cost...
August 7, 2013
Most finance chiefs working for companies involved in a recent merger or acquisition are well aware of the irritating abundance of legal protests against their deals. Now, however, the omnipresence of so-called “merger objection” lawsuits is hitting companies on another front, helping to drive up the cost of directors’ and officers’ liability coverage by 5 to 10 percent or even higher in the second quarter, insurance brokers say. And that’s been occurring at a time when the rates of cost...
Institutional-Grade Lawsuits: Fewer Dismissals, Larger Settlements
August 7, 2013
Securities class action lawsuits have a better chance of going the distance with judges when they are led by institutional investors, a study has found. Between 1996 and 2010, judges dismissed 35% of cases led or co-led by an institutional investor, and 42% that weren't. Stanford University's law school and New York-based Cornerstone Research collaborated on the data as part of their Securities Class Action Clearinghouse project. Having institutional investors on the dockets also bodes well...
August 7, 2013
Securities class action lawsuits have a better chance of going the distance with judges when they are led by institutional investors, a study has found. Between 1996 and 2010, judges dismissed 35% of cases led or co-led by an institutional investor, and 42% that weren't. Stanford University's law school and New York-based Cornerstone Research collaborated on the data as part of their Securities Class Action Clearinghouse project. Having institutional investors on the dockets also bodes well...
Bloomberg Law to Rebrand as Bloomberg BNA
August 6, 2013
Bloomberg Law will move under the umbrella of Bloomberg BNA, effective Jan. 1, 2014, CEO Greg McCaffery advised clients...
August 6, 2013
Bloomberg Law will move under the umbrella of Bloomberg BNA, effective Jan. 1, 2014, CEO Greg McCaffery advised clients...
Predictive Coding and Technology-Assisted Review: Hype or Need?
August 6, 2013
Over the last few years, predictive coding has led the way as a hot topic. Recently the new buzzwords have been technology-assisted review and computer-assisted review. While these are nice words to throw around, questions arise: How many cases have any of these been applied and what are the metrics of savings and time to the client? How many cases actually require the use of these items? I can recall that this was the way of future document review, but we find only a few years later that...
August 6, 2013
Over the last few years, predictive coding has led the way as a hot topic. Recently the new buzzwords have been technology-assisted review and computer-assisted review. While these are nice words to throw around, questions arise: How many cases have any of these been applied and what are the metrics of savings and time to the client? How many cases actually require the use of these items? I can recall that this was the way of future document review, but we find only a few years later that...
Posner Tells How Internet Research Has Helped Him Draft Opinions
August 6, 2013
Judge Richard Posner thinks judges and lawyers are too often ignoring a valuable source of information: the Internet. In a forthcoming book, Reflections on Judging, the Chicago-based federal appeals judge writes that the Internet is “an incredible compendium of data” that isn’t going away, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) reports. Posner acknowledges that Internet research can lead to errors, but so can the traditional fact-finding process at trial, he says. Witnesses may lie,...
August 6, 2013
Judge Richard Posner thinks judges and lawyers are too often ignoring a valuable source of information: the Internet. In a forthcoming book, Reflections on Judging, the Chicago-based federal appeals judge writes that the Internet is “an incredible compendium of data” that isn’t going away, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) reports. Posner acknowledges that Internet research can lead to errors, but so can the traditional fact-finding process at trial, he says. Witnesses may lie,...
When Facebook (et al.) Attacks
August 6, 2013
In 1975, PepsiCo began one of the most successful and well-known head-to-head business competitions of all time, challenging its chief rival Coca-Cola to the “Pepsi Challenge.” The ads had an immediate effect on Pepsi’s sales. A survey in Dallas in 1976 showed a jump in market sales of Pepsi from 8 percent to 12–13 percent. The challenge had the hallmarks of good advertising in that it was open to public scrutiny and could be—and was—easily put to the test by anyone with a can of Coke,...
August 6, 2013
In 1975, PepsiCo began one of the most successful and well-known head-to-head business competitions of all time, challenging its chief rival Coca-Cola to the “Pepsi Challenge.” The ads had an immediate effect on Pepsi’s sales. A survey in Dallas in 1976 showed a jump in market sales of Pepsi from 8 percent to 12–13 percent. The challenge had the hallmarks of good advertising in that it was open to public scrutiny and could be—and was—easily put to the test by anyone with a can of Coke,...
Admissibility of Settlement-Related Evidence at Trial
August 6, 2013
Many trial lawyers assume that evidence of settlement offers and negotiations can never be admitted at trial. There is a general belief that placing the legend “Settlement Communication” on correspondence and other documents somehow precludes those documents from ever being seen by a jury. The bar on admissibility of settlement-related evidence is not nearly that broad, however, and can lead to a trap for the unwary. Federal Rule of Evidence 408, which governs admissibility of settlement-related...
August 6, 2013
Many trial lawyers assume that evidence of settlement offers and negotiations can never be admitted at trial. There is a general belief that placing the legend “Settlement Communication” on correspondence and other documents somehow precludes those documents from ever being seen by a jury. The bar on admissibility of settlement-related evidence is not nearly that broad, however, and can lead to a trap for the unwary. Federal Rule of Evidence 408, which governs admissibility of settlement-related...
New Legal Research Site Combines Case Law with Crowdsourcing
August 5, 2013
Imagine if you could combine a full-text case law library for research with crowdsourced editing and annotating in the style of Wikipedia and user rankings of annotations and references in the style of a site such as Digg? That, roughly speaking, is the idea behind Casetext, an innovative legal research site launched this week that provides free access to court opinions together with a platform for crowdsourcing references and annotations. Casetext is the brainchild of two lawyers, Jake...
August 5, 2013
Imagine if you could combine a full-text case law library for research with crowdsourced editing and annotating in the style of Wikipedia and user rankings of annotations and references in the style of a site such as Digg? That, roughly speaking, is the idea behind Casetext, an innovative legal research site launched this week that provides free access to court opinions together with a platform for crowdsourcing references and annotations. Casetext is the brainchild of two lawyers, Jake...
The Cost of Higher Education: The Big Picture
August 5, 2013
In a 2012 speech, Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan summed up the national sentiment regarding U.S. higher education: “The price of college is too high.” This should come as no surprise to students and parents who are making tough higher education decisions, focusing at once on the quality of the education as well as its cost. Many students choose to sacrifice quality in the name of affordability. According to Duncan, tuition is becoming less affordable because institutions are not performance-oriented...
August 5, 2013
In a 2012 speech, Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan summed up the national sentiment regarding U.S. higher education: “The price of college is too high.” This should come as no surprise to students and parents who are making tough higher education decisions, focusing at once on the quality of the education as well as its cost. Many students choose to sacrifice quality in the name of affordability. According to Duncan, tuition is becoming less affordable because institutions are not performance-oriented...
