Menu
News
Rethink Ink: Digital Signatures Are Faster & Safer
June 26, 2013
Pen and paper is an inferior option for executing legally binding agreements. Yet a recent study commissioned by Adobe Systems Inc. found that 98 percent of surveyed managers "still rely on hard copy in the 'last mile' to deliver contracts to get clients and customers to sign on the dotted line." Such madness needs to cease. Electronic signatures are an idea whose time has long since come. First, a confession of bias: I lose physical objects. At this point, family members gift me key finders...
June 26, 2013
Pen and paper is an inferior option for executing legally binding agreements. Yet a recent study commissioned by Adobe Systems Inc. found that 98 percent of surveyed managers "still rely on hard copy in the 'last mile' to deliver contracts to get clients and customers to sign on the dotted line." Such madness needs to cease. Electronic signatures are an idea whose time has long since come. First, a confession of bias: I lose physical objects. At this point, family members gift me key finders...
Outsourcing Justice: The Rise of Modern Arbitration Laws in America
June 26, 2013
Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution in which parties agree to submit their dispute to a private, neutral third person, instead of a traditional court with a judge and jury. This private system of arbitration, which is often confidential and secretive, can be a polar opposite, in almost every way, to the public court system. Over the past few decades, arbitration agreements have proliferated throughout American society. Such agreements appear in virtually all types of consumer transactions,...
June 26, 2013
Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution in which parties agree to submit their dispute to a private, neutral third person, instead of a traditional court with a judge and jury. This private system of arbitration, which is often confidential and secretive, can be a polar opposite, in almost every way, to the public court system. Over the past few decades, arbitration agreements have proliferated throughout American society. Such agreements appear in virtually all types of consumer transactions,...
Equal Contest of Arms, Jurisdictional Proof in Investor-State Arbitrations
June 25, 2013
Frederic G. Sourgens, Associate Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law has publishedEqual Contest of Arms, Jurisdictional Proof in Investor-State Arbitrations, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2013. In his article, Professor Sourgens discusses the procedure for establishing jurisdictional proof in investor-state arbitral proceedings. Here is the abstract: This article develops the process of jurisdictional proof in investor-state...
June 25, 2013
Frederic G. Sourgens, Associate Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law has publishedEqual Contest of Arms, Jurisdictional Proof in Investor-State Arbitrations, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2013. In his article, Professor Sourgens discusses the procedure for establishing jurisdictional proof in investor-state arbitral proceedings. Here is the abstract: This article develops the process of jurisdictional proof in investor-state...
Using Forensic Accounting in Trust Disputes
June 25, 2013
Most people have heard the story of Bernard L. Madoff, the orchestrator of the single largest Ponzi scheme in history, which defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. One of the hallmarks of Madoff’s success in perpetuating the Ponzi scheme rested on his ability to promptly return withdrawal requests to his clients when demanded. The credit crisis induced a large number of Madoff’s clients to become uneasy and, as a result, more of them requested withdrawals than his over-inflated...
June 25, 2013
Most people have heard the story of Bernard L. Madoff, the orchestrator of the single largest Ponzi scheme in history, which defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. One of the hallmarks of Madoff’s success in perpetuating the Ponzi scheme rested on his ability to promptly return withdrawal requests to his clients when demanded. The credit crisis induced a large number of Madoff’s clients to become uneasy and, as a result, more of them requested withdrawals than his over-inflated...
Fifth Circuit Considers Arbitrator’s Authority to Issue Discovery-Related Sanctions
June 25, 2013
The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a district court improperly reduced an arbitrator’s award. In Hamstein Cumberland Music Group v. Estate of Williams, No. 05-51666 (5th Cir. May 10, 2013), a royalty dispute between a company that publishes songwriters and recording artists, Hamstein Cumberland Music Group (Hamstein), and the estate of a deceased songwriter and performer, Jerry Lynn Williams (Williams),was submitted to arbitration. Throughout arbitral proceedings,...
June 25, 2013
The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a district court improperly reduced an arbitrator’s award. In Hamstein Cumberland Music Group v. Estate of Williams, No. 05-51666 (5th Cir. May 10, 2013), a royalty dispute between a company that publishes songwriters and recording artists, Hamstein Cumberland Music Group (Hamstein), and the estate of a deceased songwriter and performer, Jerry Lynn Williams (Williams),was submitted to arbitration. Throughout arbitral proceedings,...
Sebok on Litigation Financing and Insurance
June 25, 2013
Tony Sebok has posted to SSRN Control Issues: Litigation Investment, Insurance Law, and Double Standards. The abstract provides: Investment in litigation, sometimes known as litigation finance, is becoming increasingly accepted around the world. Once disfavored by the common law, it is now embraced in England and Australia, as well as in many civil law nations. In the United States, the development of a robust market for investment in litigation bylaypersons otherwise unconnected...
June 25, 2013
Tony Sebok has posted to SSRN Control Issues: Litigation Investment, Insurance Law, and Double Standards. The abstract provides: Investment in litigation, sometimes known as litigation finance, is becoming increasingly accepted around the world. Once disfavored by the common law, it is now embraced in England and Australia, as well as in many civil law nations. In the United States, the development of a robust market for investment in litigation bylaypersons otherwise unconnected...
Arbitration Cases a Growing Revenue Stream for Law Firms
June 25, 2013
The old refrain, “See you in court!” is so last century. The latest trend in resolving contractual disputes is the less expensive, out-of-court process of arbitration. Even the Kardashians include an arbitration clause in their contracts, and you can’t get any trendier than that. Though arbitration is intended to be cheaper and speedier than a legal trial, for South Florida law firms it also has become an important and growing revenue stream. Twenty years ago, arbitration was considered...
June 25, 2013
The old refrain, “See you in court!” is so last century. The latest trend in resolving contractual disputes is the less expensive, out-of-court process of arbitration. Even the Kardashians include an arbitration clause in their contracts, and you can’t get any trendier than that. Though arbitration is intended to be cheaper and speedier than a legal trial, for South Florida law firms it also has become an important and growing revenue stream. Twenty years ago, arbitration was considered...
NASA Launches Technology Spinoff iPad App
June 24, 2013
Forget space missions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches more apps than any government agency in the galaxy. While sequester cuts threaten to cramp the space agency's style in orbit and beyond, NASA's multimedia multiverse rockets ahead, expanding in May with the release of yet another new iPad app, Spinoff 2012. From the Office of the Chief Technologist, Spinoff 2012 showcases dozens of the latest supercool space agency spinoffs — technologies developed by NASA and transferred...
June 24, 2013
Forget space missions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches more apps than any government agency in the galaxy. While sequester cuts threaten to cramp the space agency's style in orbit and beyond, NASA's multimedia multiverse rockets ahead, expanding in May with the release of yet another new iPad app, Spinoff 2012. From the Office of the Chief Technologist, Spinoff 2012 showcases dozens of the latest supercool space agency spinoffs — technologies developed by NASA and transferred...
An Introduction to Litigation Trusts
June 24, 2013
Over the past decade, Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings have yielded a number of “litigation trusts”—trusts whose raison d’être is solely the pursuit of certain litigation interests belonging to the debtor’s estate at the time of the bankruptcy petition. While litigation trusts are a relatively new creature, they are becoming more common as a category of litigants because their sole purpose is to pursue litigation and their activities are generally funded by an initial cash allocation...
June 24, 2013
Over the past decade, Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings have yielded a number of “litigation trusts”—trusts whose raison d’être is solely the pursuit of certain litigation interests belonging to the debtor’s estate at the time of the bankruptcy petition. While litigation trusts are a relatively new creature, they are becoming more common as a category of litigants because their sole purpose is to pursue litigation and their activities are generally funded by an initial cash allocation...
