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Dewey’s Bankruptcy Lawyer: More Large Law Firms Will Fail
June 20, 2013
While failed law firms make for notoriously difficult bankrupty cases, Dewey & LeBoeuf's time in bankruptcy court was quicker and easier than other notable law firms. Joe Samet, head of restructuring at Baker & McKenzie, and Al Togut, founding partner at Togut, Segal & Segal, talk with Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia about why Dewey's case went so smoothly compared to others; the prospects for other large law firm failures; and how managing partners can keep their firms out of bankruptcy....
June 20, 2013
While failed law firms make for notoriously difficult bankrupty cases, Dewey & LeBoeuf's time in bankruptcy court was quicker and easier than other notable law firms. Joe Samet, head of restructuring at Baker & McKenzie, and Al Togut, founding partner at Togut, Segal & Segal, talk with Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia about why Dewey's case went so smoothly compared to others; the prospects for other large law firm failures; and how managing partners can keep their firms out of bankruptcy....
Triggering the Duty to Preserve
June 19, 2013
Plaintiffs requested email sent to or from the Defendants on November 4, 2011 in their April 10, 2012 discovery requests. The Plaintiffs had filed the lawsuit and an emergency preliminary injunction on November 7, 2011, which was attended by Defense counsel. The Defendants claimed producing the emails was impossible, because the Defendant had a 90 day retention policy and the Plaintiff did not serve the discovery requests until April 10, 2012, more than 150 days after the date in question. Stiriling...
June 19, 2013
Plaintiffs requested email sent to or from the Defendants on November 4, 2011 in their April 10, 2012 discovery requests. The Plaintiffs had filed the lawsuit and an emergency preliminary injunction on November 7, 2011, which was attended by Defense counsel. The Defendants claimed producing the emails was impossible, because the Defendant had a 90 day retention policy and the Plaintiff did not serve the discovery requests until April 10, 2012, more than 150 days after the date in question. Stiriling...
The Anchoring Effect: How The Mind is Biased by First Impressions
June 19, 2013
A psychological bias that illuminates how we negotiate, predict our emotions, agree a price and much more... To illustrate the anchoring effect, let's say I ask you how old Mahatma Gandhi was when he died. For half of you I'll preface the question by saying: "Did he die before or after the age of 9?" For the other half I'll say: "Did he die before or after the age of 140?" Obviously these are not very helpful statements. Anyone who has any clue who Gandhi was will know that he was definitely...
June 19, 2013
A psychological bias that illuminates how we negotiate, predict our emotions, agree a price and much more... To illustrate the anchoring effect, let's say I ask you how old Mahatma Gandhi was when he died. For half of you I'll preface the question by saying: "Did he die before or after the age of 9?" For the other half I'll say: "Did he die before or after the age of 140?" Obviously these are not very helpful statements. Anyone who has any clue who Gandhi was will know that he was definitely...
Former SEC Lawyer Uses Crowdfunding to Bring Whistleblower Actions
June 19, 2013
Ted Siedle figures securities fraud is a growth industry. A Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer-turned-financial industry watchdog, Siedle is raising an investment fund to cash in on the agency’s new whistleblower program. After missing big frauds like the Bernie Madoff swindle, the SEC hopes the financial incentive will bring in more tips that lead to successful enforcement actions. Siedle sees opportunity. In return for a share of the awards, he offers his expertise as a fraud...
June 19, 2013
Ted Siedle figures securities fraud is a growth industry. A Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer-turned-financial industry watchdog, Siedle is raising an investment fund to cash in on the agency’s new whistleblower program. After missing big frauds like the Bernie Madoff swindle, the SEC hopes the financial incentive will bring in more tips that lead to successful enforcement actions. Siedle sees opportunity. In return for a share of the awards, he offers his expertise as a fraud...
The Steve Jobs Emails That Show How To Win a Hard-Nosed Negotiation
June 19, 2013
The US government’s price-fixing lawsuit against Apple goes to trial next month in New York. Ahead of its court date, the US released emails that purport to show Apple was the “ringleader” in a scheme to set artificially high ebook prices with some of the largest American publishers, which have already settled the case. The emails have mostly been viewed in the context of the lawsuit, but they also provide an extraordinary view of high-stakes negotiation between the leaders of two powerful...
June 19, 2013
The US government’s price-fixing lawsuit against Apple goes to trial next month in New York. Ahead of its court date, the US released emails that purport to show Apple was the “ringleader” in a scheme to set artificially high ebook prices with some of the largest American publishers, which have already settled the case. The emails have mostly been viewed in the context of the lawsuit, but they also provide an extraordinary view of high-stakes negotiation between the leaders of two powerful...
State Courts and the Transformation to Virtual Courts
June 19, 2013
Your client calls you in the middle of the night. He was in a terrible car accident, he says. The driver of the other car appears not to be breathing, gasoline is spilling everywhere, and he has been drinking. Crying and distraught, he begs for your help. After you get him to calm down, he assures you that he will call the police but will not say anything to anyone; you tell him that you will be there momentarily. Lawyers have been getting phone calls like these for many years, but technology...
June 19, 2013
Your client calls you in the middle of the night. He was in a terrible car accident, he says. The driver of the other car appears not to be breathing, gasoline is spilling everywhere, and he has been drinking. Crying and distraught, he begs for your help. After you get him to calm down, he assures you that he will call the police but will not say anything to anyone; you tell him that you will be there momentarily. Lawyers have been getting phone calls like these for many years, but technology...
Facebook “Friendship” Alone Does Not Require Recusal in Texas
June 18, 2013
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of Texas, located in Dallas, held last week that a trial judge's undisclosed Facebook ...
June 18, 2013
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of Texas, located in Dallas, held last week that a trial judge's undisclosed Facebook ...
How to Pick a Winner: A Psychological Trick to Improve the Odds
June 18, 2013
Does thinking too specifically about a bet make you more likely to lose? I'm not, as they say, a betting man; but if I were I'd put down the form book and spend my time studying a new paper by Yoon et al. (2013) published inPsychological Science. The Korean researchers are fascinated by the question of whether thinking more carefully about a bet can actually make you less likely to win. In their first test of the idea they looked at 1.9 billion bets placed on baseball and soccer through...
June 18, 2013
Does thinking too specifically about a bet make you more likely to lose? I'm not, as they say, a betting man; but if I were I'd put down the form book and spend my time studying a new paper by Yoon et al. (2013) published inPsychological Science. The Korean researchers are fascinated by the question of whether thinking more carefully about a bet can actually make you less likely to win. In their first test of the idea they looked at 1.9 billion bets placed on baseball and soccer through...
Mind Mapping Streamlines a Business Negotiation
June 18, 2013
The breakup of long-time business partners can be one of the most complicated and emotionally charged situations for a financial adviser to handle. It’s even more difficult when the partners are also family members. That was the challenge facing adviser Rob O’Dell of Wheaton Wealth Partners in 2010, when a client asked for help negotiating the sale of his shares in the family business. Mr. O’Dell’s client was in his early 60s, and together with his younger brother had owned a retail business...
June 18, 2013
The breakup of long-time business partners can be one of the most complicated and emotionally charged situations for a financial adviser to handle. It’s even more difficult when the partners are also family members. That was the challenge facing adviser Rob O’Dell of Wheaton Wealth Partners in 2010, when a client asked for help negotiating the sale of his shares in the family business. Mr. O’Dell’s client was in his early 60s, and together with his younger brother had owned a retail business...
Mandatory Predispute Consumer Arbitration, Structural Bias, and Incentivizing Procedural Safeguards
June 18, 2013
Within the past several decades, there has been an explosion in the creation, institutionalization and use of “alternative”...
June 18, 2013
Within the past several decades, there has been an explosion in the creation, institutionalization and use of “alternative”...
