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DLA Piper Is Not Alone: Why Law Firms Overbill
March 28, 2013
Some mornings are just nice to wake up to. Confirmation of bias is an underappreciated source of joy. I relish any piece of information that reinforces my preconceptions. Four stories making the rounds have reminded me how right I am that: 1. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get (hat tip to Warren Buffet). 2. The billable hour model creates perverse incentives in aligning price and value. 3. The problem with incentives is that they work — even for lawyers. 4. Despite their expertise,...
March 28, 2013
Some mornings are just nice to wake up to. Confirmation of bias is an underappreciated source of joy. I relish any piece of information that reinforces my preconceptions. Four stories making the rounds have reminded me how right I am that: 1. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get (hat tip to Warren Buffet). 2. The billable hour model creates perverse incentives in aligning price and value. 3. The problem with incentives is that they work — even for lawyers. 4. Despite their expertise,...
DLA Piper Calls E-Mails Cited in Lawsuit an ‘Offensive’ Attempt at Humor
March 28, 2013
After a lawsuit of involving the billing practices of DLA Piper, the law firm on Tuesday issued a memo to its lawyers, calling language in e-mails written by its lawyers “unprofessional.” The law firm is involved in a fee dispute with Adam H. Victor, an energy industry executive, who has accused the law firm of performing superfluous tasks and overstaffing assignments. Mr. Victor’s suit cited several e-mail messages from lawyers at the firm. One e-mail involved a lawyer describing how a colleague...
March 28, 2013
After a lawsuit of involving the billing practices of DLA Piper, the law firm on Tuesday issued a memo to its lawyers, calling language in e-mails written by its lawyers “unprofessional.” The law firm is involved in a fee dispute with Adam H. Victor, an energy industry executive, who has accused the law firm of performing superfluous tasks and overstaffing assignments. Mr. Victor’s suit cited several e-mail messages from lawyers at the firm. One e-mail involved a lawyer describing how a colleague...
Do Lawyers Really Believe Their Own Hype, and Should They?
March 28, 2013
Research suggests that attorneys are too confident in the merits of their clients’ cases. But attorneys often self-select (1) the area of law in which they practice, (2) the side on which to practice within that area, (3) law firms with whom they practice, and (4) the clients they represent. We exploit a natural experiment involving participants in moot court competitions at four U.S. law schools over 2 years to explore whether, after stripping away these selection biases through random assignment...
March 28, 2013
Research suggests that attorneys are too confident in the merits of their clients’ cases. But attorneys often self-select (1) the area of law in which they practice, (2) the side on which to practice within that area, (3) law firms with whom they practice, and (4) the clients they represent. We exploit a natural experiment involving participants in moot court competitions at four U.S. law schools over 2 years to explore whether, after stripping away these selection biases through random assignment...
Texas Bill Would Limit Use of Arbitration in Certain Insurance and Health Benefit Contracts
March 28, 2013
Relating to certain binding arbitration provisions in certain insurance and health benefit plan coverage documents.
March 28, 2013
Relating to certain binding arbitration provisions in certain insurance and health benefit plan coverage documents.
Assessing Litigation Risks Before It’s Too Late
March 28, 2013
There is a well-known adage that “hindsight is 20/20.” Often times, as we are in the midst of a litigation—and long-ago...
March 28, 2013
There is a well-known adage that “hindsight is 20/20.” Often times, as we are in the midst of a litigation—and long-ago...
2nd Circuit Resurrects Jacoby & Meyers Suit
March 27, 2013
With apologies to Monty Python, a Jacoby & Meyers LLP lawsuit challenging restrictions on non-lawyer investment in law firms is not dead yet—despite its dismissal in March by a New York district court judge. As the plague victim on the cart in Spamalot! sang: I am not dead yet—I can dance, I can sing! I am not dead yet—I can do the Highland Fling! The resurrection of the Jacoby & Meyers suit came on Wednesday, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that...
March 27, 2013
With apologies to Monty Python, a Jacoby & Meyers LLP lawsuit challenging restrictions on non-lawyer investment in law firms is not dead yet—despite its dismissal in March by a New York district court judge. As the plague victim on the cart in Spamalot! sang: I am not dead yet—I can dance, I can sing! I am not dead yet—I can do the Highland Fling! The resurrection of the Jacoby & Meyers suit came on Wednesday, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that...
Online Arbitration Clause in Payday Loan Application Held Unconscionable
March 27, 2013
¶34 Kelker presented undisputed evidence in her affidavit that she did not understand the arbitration agreement. Nothing conspicuous denotes the arbitration clause. No bold or capital letters highlight the arbitration clause. Geneva-Roth highlighted several other sections of the Loan Agreement with bold or capital letters. Kelker alleges in her undisputed affidavit that no one explained the arbitration clause. ¶35 In fact, Kelker entered the contract over the Internet with no contact with any employees...
March 27, 2013
¶34 Kelker presented undisputed evidence in her affidavit that she did not understand the arbitration agreement. Nothing conspicuous denotes the arbitration clause. No bold or capital letters highlight the arbitration clause. Geneva-Roth highlighted several other sections of the Loan Agreement with bold or capital letters. Kelker alleges in her undisputed affidavit that no one explained the arbitration clause. ¶35 In fact, Kelker entered the contract over the Internet with no contact with any employees...
IBM CEO Predicts Three Ways Technology Will Transform The Future Of Business
March 27, 2013
With cloud, mobile, social and big data advances all happening at once and at lightning speed, how will shifts in technology impact the way businesses are run? According to Ginni Rometty, the first female CEO of IBM, it will change everything. Last night, speaking at an event organized by the nonprofit Council on Foreign Relations, Rometty predicted that data will be the basis of competitive advantage going forward, calling it the “the next natural resource.” She believes it will change...
March 27, 2013
With cloud, mobile, social and big data advances all happening at once and at lightning speed, how will shifts in technology impact the way businesses are run? According to Ginni Rometty, the first female CEO of IBM, it will change everything. Last night, speaking at an event organized by the nonprofit Council on Foreign Relations, Rometty predicted that data will be the basis of competitive advantage going forward, calling it the “the next natural resource.” She believes it will change...
The Admissibility of Social Media Evidence
March 27, 2013
A lawyer recently expressed to me serious doubts about using evidence from social media websites. According to him, electronically...
March 27, 2013
A lawyer recently expressed to me serious doubts about using evidence from social media websites. According to him, electronically...
On the Trail of Cancer
March 27, 2013
IT’S HIGH TIME a book did for epidemiology what Jon Krakauer’s best-selling “Into Thin Air” did for mountain climbing: transform a long sequence of painfully plodding steps and missteps into a narrative of such irresistible momentum that the reader not only understands what propels enthusiasts forward, but begins to strain forward as well, racing through the pages to get to the heady views at the end. And such is the power of Dan Fagin’s “Toms River,” surely a new classic of science...
March 27, 2013
IT’S HIGH TIME a book did for epidemiology what Jon Krakauer’s best-selling “Into Thin Air” did for mountain climbing: transform a long sequence of painfully plodding steps and missteps into a narrative of such irresistible momentum that the reader not only understands what propels enthusiasts forward, but begins to strain forward as well, racing through the pages to get to the heady views at the end. And such is the power of Dan Fagin’s “Toms River,” surely a new classic of science...
