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Entrepreneurs Get Better with Age
July 4, 2013
Research suggests Kellond and Avey aren't one-offs. "The average age of a successful entrepreneur in high-growth industries such as computers, health care, and aerospace is 40. Twice as many successful entrepreneurs are over 50 as under 25. The vast majority — 75 percent — have more than six years of industry experience and half have more than 10 years when they create their startup," says Duke University scholar Vivek Wadhwa, who studied 549 successful technology ventures. Meanwhile, data from...
July 4, 2013
Research suggests Kellond and Avey aren't one-offs. "The average age of a successful entrepreneur in high-growth industries such as computers, health care, and aerospace is 40. Twice as many successful entrepreneurs are over 50 as under 25. The vast majority — 75 percent — have more than six years of industry experience and half have more than 10 years when they create their startup," says Duke University scholar Vivek Wadhwa, who studied 549 successful technology ventures. Meanwhile, data from...
How People Search for Lawyers: The Consumer Law Revolution
July 3, 2013
In the early days of the Internet, some lawyers did very well for themselves by being among the first to have a website or a blog. As more law firms launched web pages and it became a more crowded field, search engine results became more important. Schemes and tricks to move up in search results were circulated.The law firms and other businesses were hit with a barrage of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts promising to raise your search result profile. Our new Digital Edge podcast features...
July 3, 2013
In the early days of the Internet, some lawyers did very well for themselves by being among the first to have a website or a blog. As more law firms launched web pages and it became a more crowded field, search engine results became more important. Schemes and tricks to move up in search results were circulated.The law firms and other businesses were hit with a barrage of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts promising to raise your search result profile. Our new Digital Edge podcast features...
General Electric Joins the ‘Big Data’ Party
July 3, 2013
Offering a “big data” solution is apparently irresistible to every company on the planet. Megacorporation General Electric has...
July 3, 2013
Offering a “big data” solution is apparently irresistible to every company on the planet. Megacorporation General Electric has...
Mediation Dos and Don’ts
July 3, 2013
Attorney Teresa Beck has collected this advice from experienced mediators. Here are the headlines: Things Lawyers Should Do for Successful Mediation: Exchange mediation briefs. Exchange at least one demand and one offer before mediation. Have a pre-mediation telephone conference with the mediator. Request early mediation if warranted. Things Lawyers Should Not Do During Mediation: Don't engage in surprise negotiations. Don't reject a proposed mediator because you are not familiar...
July 3, 2013
Attorney Teresa Beck has collected this advice from experienced mediators. Here are the headlines: Things Lawyers Should Do for Successful Mediation: Exchange mediation briefs. Exchange at least one demand and one offer before mediation. Have a pre-mediation telephone conference with the mediator. Request early mediation if warranted. Things Lawyers Should Not Do During Mediation: Don't engage in surprise negotiations. Don't reject a proposed mediator because you are not familiar...
Associational Arbitration: First Circuit Finds a New Way to Limit Stolt-Nielsen
July 3, 2013
On June 27, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit joined the Second and the Third Circuits by finding a unique way to allow class arbitration by limiting Stolt-Nielsen to its facts. Fantastic Sams Franchise Corp. v. FSRO Association Ltd.,No. 11-2300. In the dispute, the regional owners association of Fantastic Sams hair salons (FSRO) sued the franchisor (FSFC) alleging breach of the franchise agreement. The FSRO and the franchisor had entered into 35 regional license agreements...
July 3, 2013
On June 27, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit joined the Second and the Third Circuits by finding a unique way to allow class arbitration by limiting Stolt-Nielsen to its facts. Fantastic Sams Franchise Corp. v. FSRO Association Ltd.,No. 11-2300. In the dispute, the regional owners association of Fantastic Sams hair salons (FSRO) sued the franchisor (FSFC) alleging breach of the franchise agreement. The FSRO and the franchisor had entered into 35 regional license agreements...
Third-Party Litigation Funding Comes of Age
July 3, 2013
Law firm Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are on the front line of client development, and thus have an unobstructed view of how the legal market for complex litigation is developing. As budget pressures continue to weigh on corporate general counsel, the need for law firms to adjust their pricing to secure new clients is clearly being felt – some firms are now hiring specialty personnel to focus solely on the question of proper pricing. CMOs are thus actively speaking the lingua franca of today’s...
July 3, 2013
Law firm Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are on the front line of client development, and thus have an unobstructed view of how the legal market for complex litigation is developing. As budget pressures continue to weigh on corporate general counsel, the need for law firms to adjust their pricing to secure new clients is clearly being felt – some firms are now hiring specialty personnel to focus solely on the question of proper pricing. CMOs are thus actively speaking the lingua franca of today’s...
NASA, Deloitte Launch Risk Management Partnership
July 2, 2013
After one small ceremony this week, NASA and Deloitte hope to make a giant leap in improving oil field safety. The space agency and the consulting firm signed off on a partnership to provide advanced risk-management services to oil and gas companies. It will focus on preventing risk scenarios that have a low probability of occurring but have devastating consequences, such as the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil well disaster or the in-flight destruction of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Specific...
July 2, 2013
After one small ceremony this week, NASA and Deloitte hope to make a giant leap in improving oil field safety. The space agency and the consulting firm signed off on a partnership to provide advanced risk-management services to oil and gas companies. It will focus on preventing risk scenarios that have a low probability of occurring but have devastating consequences, such as the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil well disaster or the in-flight destruction of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Specific...
Using Data to Fix Outside Counsel Budget Forecasts
July 2, 2013
Since the 2008 economic crisis hit, U.S. corporations have been ratcheting up pressure on their general counsel to limit legal spending, and on law firms to provide detailed budgets for their work. For firms used to providing clients with ballpark estimates for outside counsel work, the new focus on precision can be a difficult transition. “The old approach to budgeting [for legal services] was to say every case is different and can’t be budgeted,” said Craig Raeburn, vice president of legal...
July 2, 2013
Since the 2008 economic crisis hit, U.S. corporations have been ratcheting up pressure on their general counsel to limit legal spending, and on law firms to provide detailed budgets for their work. For firms used to providing clients with ballpark estimates for outside counsel work, the new focus on precision can be a difficult transition. “The old approach to budgeting [for legal services] was to say every case is different and can’t be budgeted,” said Craig Raeburn, vice president of legal...
Patton Boggs Accuses Burford of Betrayal in Chevron Case
July 2, 2013
Why did Burford Capital Ltd. have a change of heart about backing the Ecuadorian plaintiffs seeking to enforce a multibillion-dollar judgment against Chevron Corp.? According to a declaration filed in April by Burford CEO Christopher Bogart, his litigation funding firm abandoned the case after it realized it had been duped by the Ecuadorians' lawyers at Patton Boggs. But in a new court filing, Patton Boggs tells a very different story, saying that it was "[thrown] under the proverbial bus" after...
July 2, 2013
Why did Burford Capital Ltd. have a change of heart about backing the Ecuadorian plaintiffs seeking to enforce a multibillion-dollar judgment against Chevron Corp.? According to a declaration filed in April by Burford CEO Christopher Bogart, his litigation funding firm abandoned the case after it realized it had been duped by the Ecuadorians' lawyers at Patton Boggs. But in a new court filing, Patton Boggs tells a very different story, saying that it was "[thrown] under the proverbial bus" after...
Ninth Circuit Retreats from Complete Destruction of Broughton-Cruz Rule
July 2, 2013
In AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1740, 1745 (2011) (Concepcion), the Supreme Court struck down the “Discover Bank rule,” California’s judicially crafted prohibition of class action waivers in arbitration agreements. See Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 36 Cal.4th 148, 30 Cal.Rptr.3d 76, 113 P.3d 1100 (2005).Concepcion also brought into question the validity of California’s “Broughton-Cruz rule,” another judicially crafted doctrine allowing plaintiffs...
July 2, 2013
In AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1740, 1745 (2011) (Concepcion), the Supreme Court struck down the “Discover Bank rule,” California’s judicially crafted prohibition of class action waivers in arbitration agreements. See Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 36 Cal.4th 148, 30 Cal.Rptr.3d 76, 113 P.3d 1100 (2005).Concepcion also brought into question the validity of California’s “Broughton-Cruz rule,” another judicially crafted doctrine allowing plaintiffs...
