News
Finding Bad Jurors
April 27, 2013
For the novice and veteran alike, voir dire makes lawyers more nervous than any other part of trial. The dwindling number of cases going to trial means fewer opportunities to participate in seating a jury. Many lawyers do not know how to expose a potential juror’s bias. Others are just plain afraid to talk to people. Yet skillful, confident jury selection can mean the difference between winning and losing. Surveys of jurors show that not only do many form lasting opinions about the case during...
April 27, 2013
For the novice and veteran alike, voir dire makes lawyers more nervous than any other part of trial. The dwindling number of cases going to trial means fewer opportunities to participate in seating a jury. Many lawyers do not know how to expose a potential juror’s bias. Others are just plain afraid to talk to people. Yet skillful, confident jury selection can mean the difference between winning and losing. Surveys of jurors show that not only do many form lasting opinions about the case during...
How Chapter 11 Saved the US Economy
April 27, 2013
It's no surprise that Harvard Business School professor Stuart C. Gilson gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the recently announced $11 billion US Airways/American Airlines merger. The deal, which came after American's parent company, AMR Corporation, declared bankruptcy in November 2011, will allow the airline to work with the court to restructure and unload a significant amount of its debt, giving an iconic company "a second bite of the apple," says Gilson. An unabashed advocate of Chapter 11 and debt...
April 27, 2013
It's no surprise that Harvard Business School professor Stuart C. Gilson gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the recently announced $11 billion US Airways/American Airlines merger. The deal, which came after American's parent company, AMR Corporation, declared bankruptcy in November 2011, will allow the airline to work with the court to restructure and unload a significant amount of its debt, giving an iconic company "a second bite of the apple," says Gilson. An unabashed advocate of Chapter 11 and debt...
What Form of Takings Compensation Is Efficient?
April 26, 2013
The scholarly literature on takings compensation emphasizes incentives for condemnors and condemnees. The widely accepted prediction that full compensation leads to overinvestment by condemnees, however, is not based on the correct understanding of the takings law in the United States. Condemnors are often assumed to be social wealth maximizers or to suffer from fiscal illusion, both theories lacking empirical support. In addition, costs and accuracy of assessing property value for takings compensation...
April 26, 2013
The scholarly literature on takings compensation emphasizes incentives for condemnors and condemnees. The widely accepted prediction that full compensation leads to overinvestment by condemnees, however, is not based on the correct understanding of the takings law in the United States. Condemnors are often assumed to be social wealth maximizers or to suffer from fiscal illusion, both theories lacking empirical support. In addition, costs and accuracy of assessing property value for takings compensation...
Austin Police Department Now Allows Mediation of Citizen Complaints
April 26, 2013
Alternative dispute resolution methods are increasingly being utilized across a wide range of industries. According to a recent news report, the Austin Police Department has instituted a new policy that provides area citizens with the opportunity to engage in mediation with law enforcement officers following a complaint. Under the policy, less serious external complaints such as allegations of inadequate service and rude officers may be mediated in lieu of a formal internal affairs investigation. ...
April 26, 2013
Alternative dispute resolution methods are increasingly being utilized across a wide range of industries. According to a recent news report, the Austin Police Department has instituted a new policy that provides area citizens with the opportunity to engage in mediation with law enforcement officers following a complaint. Under the policy, less serious external complaints such as allegations of inadequate service and rude officers may be mediated in lieu of a formal internal affairs investigation. ...
Circuits Split on Computer-Based Personal Jurisdiction
April 26, 2013
At first blush, two personal jurisdiction decisions, issued on the same day by different federal circuit courts, seem at odds with one another. The defendants in both lived in Canada and had no connections with the forum states other than a few discrete electronic interactions. Yet in one, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, while in the other, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found personal jurisdiction to be present,...
April 26, 2013
At first blush, two personal jurisdiction decisions, issued on the same day by different federal circuit courts, seem at odds with one another. The defendants in both lived in Canada and had no connections with the forum states other than a few discrete electronic interactions. Yet in one, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, while in the other, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found personal jurisdiction to be present,...
S.D. Texas Holds Arbitral Agreement Enforceable in Employment Dispute
April 26, 2013
The Southern District of Texas has compelled a dispute between an oil worker and his former employer to arbitration. In Gonzales et al. v. Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc., No. H-12-1718 (S.D. Tex. March 20, 2013), Daniel Gonzales was employed as an oil refinery worker at Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc. (“Brand”). Upon commencement of his employment, Gonzales signed an acknowledgement that he received a copy of the “Brand Dispute Resolution Program for Employees”...
April 26, 2013
The Southern District of Texas has compelled a dispute between an oil worker and his former employer to arbitration. In Gonzales et al. v. Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc., No. H-12-1718 (S.D. Tex. March 20, 2013), Daniel Gonzales was employed as an oil refinery worker at Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, Inc. (“Brand”). Upon commencement of his employment, Gonzales signed an acknowledgement that he received a copy of the “Brand Dispute Resolution Program for Employees”...
Arbitration Award Attached to Confirmation Motion Not Sealed
April 26, 2013
First State Insurance Company and National Casualty Company arbitrated a reinsurance dispute in which the panel issued a confidentiality order prohibiting disclosure of confidential arbitration information. First State sought confirmation of an arbitration award in its favor by filing a petition in federal district court attaching the arbitration award to its moving papers. National Casualty moved to seal the record, including the award itself, arguing that public interest in access to the documents...
April 26, 2013
First State Insurance Company and National Casualty Company arbitrated a reinsurance dispute in which the panel issued a confidentiality order prohibiting disclosure of confidential arbitration information. First State sought confirmation of an arbitration award in its favor by filing a petition in federal district court attaching the arbitration award to its moving papers. National Casualty moved to seal the record, including the award itself, arguing that public interest in access to the documents...
The Dismal Future for Workers With Few Skills
April 25, 2013
During the past 30 years the market for workers with few skills has been weak pretty much everywhere. The reason is that economies, including developing economies, have increased their demand for knowledge workers at the expense of low skilled workers. The future is not likely to be any kinder to workers with little education and few other work skills. Various forces have favored skilled workers during the past several decades; indeed, many of them began much earlier. Technological changes and automation,...
April 25, 2013
During the past 30 years the market for workers with few skills has been weak pretty much everywhere. The reason is that economies, including developing economies, have increased their demand for knowledge workers at the expense of low skilled workers. The future is not likely to be any kinder to workers with little education and few other work skills. Various forces have favored skilled workers during the past several decades; indeed, many of them began much earlier. Technological changes and automation,...
Arbitrating ‘Arbitrability’
April 25, 2013
Professor Alan S. Rau, Mark G. and Judy G. Yudof Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, has published a paper entitled Arbitrating ‘Arbitrability’, World Arbitration and Mediation Review, 2013; U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper. In his paper, Professor Rau examines threshold challenges to the use of arbitration in both international and domestic commercial disputes. Here is the abstract: It is quite common, in the case law and the secondary literature, to focus...
April 25, 2013
Professor Alan S. Rau, Mark G. and Judy G. Yudof Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, has published a paper entitled Arbitrating ‘Arbitrability’, World Arbitration and Mediation Review, 2013; U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper. In his paper, Professor Rau examines threshold challenges to the use of arbitration in both international and domestic commercial disputes. Here is the abstract: It is quite common, in the case law and the secondary literature, to focus...
Settlement Counsel: 10 Free Internet Resources
April 25, 2013
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the Settlement Counsel concept — I’ve written about it, I’ve published an Updated List of Settlement Counsel, and I’m speaking about the idea in practice with Gary McGowan and Christopher Nolland today at the 15th Annual Section of Dispute Resolution’s Spring Conference. For lawyers and clients wanting to learn more, a quick Internet search for “Settlement Counsel” doesn’t easily lead to the most informative — and free — resources,...
April 25, 2013
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the Settlement Counsel concept — I’ve written about it, I’ve published an Updated List of Settlement Counsel, and I’m speaking about the idea in practice with Gary McGowan and Christopher Nolland today at the 15th Annual Section of Dispute Resolution’s Spring Conference. For lawyers and clients wanting to learn more, a quick Internet search for “Settlement Counsel” doesn’t easily lead to the most informative — and free — resources,...
