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Sanctions Against Parties Challenging Arbitration Awards
March 19, 2013
Continuing the recent trend in US Federal courts to push back against frivolous challenges to arbitration awards, the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reminded challengers about the “high risk of sanctions” against parties bringing judicial challenges to arbitration awards. The Court did not in fact award sanctions in the case. The Court did, however, give effect to a “cost-shifting” provision in the distributorship agreement at issue to compel the losing party to reimburse the successful...
March 19, 2013
Continuing the recent trend in US Federal courts to push back against frivolous challenges to arbitration awards, the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reminded challengers about the “high risk of sanctions” against parties bringing judicial challenges to arbitration awards. The Court did not in fact award sanctions in the case. The Court did, however, give effect to a “cost-shifting” provision in the distributorship agreement at issue to compel the losing party to reimburse the successful...
Nudges.gov: Behavioral Economics and Regulation
March 19, 2013
Behavioral economics is influencing regulatory initiatives in many nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The role of behavioral economics is likely to increase in the next generation, especially in light of the growing interest in low-cost, choice-preserving regulatory tools. Choice architecture -- including default rules, simplification, norms, and disclosure -- can affect outcomes even if material incentives are not involved. For example, default rules can have an even larger...
March 19, 2013
Behavioral economics is influencing regulatory initiatives in many nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom. The role of behavioral economics is likely to increase in the next generation, especially in light of the growing interest in low-cost, choice-preserving regulatory tools. Choice architecture -- including default rules, simplification, norms, and disclosure -- can affect outcomes even if material incentives are not involved. For example, default rules can have an even larger...
2013 State of Entrepreneurship Address: ‘Financing Entrepreneurial Growth’
March 19, 2013
Despite recent innovations in entrepreneurial finance, particularly at the early stage of business creation, many new and young companies continue to face hurdles to acquire capital. The Kauffman Foundation addressed current challenges and opportunities in financing entrepreneurial growth, a key driver of job creation and economic expansion, at its fourth annual State of Entrepreneurship Address on February 5, 2013. The event featured remarks from Small Business Administrator Karen Mills, U.S....
March 19, 2013
Despite recent innovations in entrepreneurial finance, particularly at the early stage of business creation, many new and young companies continue to face hurdles to acquire capital. The Kauffman Foundation addressed current challenges and opportunities in financing entrepreneurial growth, a key driver of job creation and economic expansion, at its fourth annual State of Entrepreneurship Address on February 5, 2013. The event featured remarks from Small Business Administrator Karen Mills, U.S....
Why is Privatized Procedure so Rare?
March 19, 2013
Increasingly we hear that civil procedure lurks in the shadow of private law. Scholars suggest that the civil rules are mere defaults, applying if the parties fail to contract around them. When judges confront terms modifying court procedures — a trend said to be explosive — they seem all-too-willing to surrender to the inevitable logic of private and efficient private ordering. How concerned should we be? This Article casts a wide net to find examples of private contracts governing procedure,...
March 19, 2013
Increasingly we hear that civil procedure lurks in the shadow of private law. Scholars suggest that the civil rules are mere defaults, applying if the parties fail to contract around them. When judges confront terms modifying court procedures — a trend said to be explosive — they seem all-too-willing to surrender to the inevitable logic of private and efficient private ordering. How concerned should we be? This Article casts a wide net to find examples of private contracts governing procedure,...
Penn Is Big Law’s Favorite School; Howard Is the Top Underdog
March 18, 2013
Weren't the Oscars just a royal bore? Much more exciting is The National Law Journal'snewly released go-to list—the much anticipated compilation of law schools most favored by the firms of the NLJ 250. First, a quick overview of the market from theNLJ's Karen Sloan: Most law schools sent slightly larger percentages of their 2012 classes into first-year associate jobs at these firms than they did in 2011. Among the 50 schools most popular with hiring firms, 25 percent of graduates landed...
March 18, 2013
Weren't the Oscars just a royal bore? Much more exciting is The National Law Journal'snewly released go-to list—the much anticipated compilation of law schools most favored by the firms of the NLJ 250. First, a quick overview of the market from theNLJ's Karen Sloan: Most law schools sent slightly larger percentages of their 2012 classes into first-year associate jobs at these firms than they did in 2011. Among the 50 schools most popular with hiring firms, 25 percent of graduates landed...
The Receding Tide of Medical Malpractice Litigation
March 18, 2013
The U.S. has experienced three medical malpractice (“med mal”) crises in the past forty years. In response, thirty-one...
March 18, 2013
The U.S. has experienced three medical malpractice (“med mal”) crises in the past forty years. In response, thirty-one...
Costly Litigation and Optimal Damages
March 18, 2013
A basic principle of law is that damages paid by a liable party should equal the harm caused by that party. However, this principle is not correct when account is taken of litigation costs, because they too are part of the social costs associated with an injury. In this article we examine the influence of litigation costs on the optimal level of damages, assuming that litigation costs rise with the level of damages.
March 18, 2013
A basic principle of law is that damages paid by a liable party should equal the harm caused by that party. However, this principle is not correct when account is taken of litigation costs, because they too are part of the social costs associated with an injury. In this article we examine the influence of litigation costs on the optimal level of damages, assuming that litigation costs rise with the level of damages.
A Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Disaster Litigation
March 18, 2013
Disasters happen. Whether they are natural, man-made, or human error, disasters are an unfortunate part of existence in a modern world. Malcolm Gladwell may have said it best: “[w]hat accidents like the Challenger should teach us is that we have constructed a world in which the potential for high-tech catastrophe is embedded in the fabric of day-to-day life.” 1 And quickly following any disaster are the inevitable lawsuits raising claims relating to the rapid response efforts undertaken by the public...
March 18, 2013
Disasters happen. Whether they are natural, man-made, or human error, disasters are an unfortunate part of existence in a modern world. Malcolm Gladwell may have said it best: “[w]hat accidents like the Challenger should teach us is that we have constructed a world in which the potential for high-tech catastrophe is embedded in the fabric of day-to-day life.” 1 And quickly following any disaster are the inevitable lawsuits raising claims relating to the rapid response efforts undertaken by the public...
Court Compels Arbitration of Signatory While Staying Proceeding Against Nonsignatories
March 18, 2013
Security Life Insurance Company was the successor to certain reinsurance agreements covering underlying life insurance risks. Pursuant to the agreements, the reinsurers created a trust in order to fund the required reserves. The trustee, INA Trust FSB, and the reinsurers thereafter allegedly created a new trust, transferred funds from the previous trust to one of the reinsurers, and/or its principal, but did not name Security Life as a beneficiary under the new trust, as allegedly required under...
March 18, 2013
Security Life Insurance Company was the successor to certain reinsurance agreements covering underlying life insurance risks. Pursuant to the agreements, the reinsurers created a trust in order to fund the required reserves. The trustee, INA Trust FSB, and the reinsurers thereafter allegedly created a new trust, transferred funds from the previous trust to one of the reinsurers, and/or its principal, but did not name Security Life as a beneficiary under the new trust, as allegedly required under...
ABA Adopts Unbunding Resolution
March 17, 2013
This Monday the ABA House of Delegates voted to adopt Resolution 108 supporting limited scope representation or unbundling. This resolution was crafted by the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. ABA Staff Counsel, Will Hornsby, and the Committee Chair, Ritchey Hollenbaugh, presented the Resolution to the House in Dallas. Because unbundling is frequently used as a method of legal service delivery for virtual practice, I want to post the actual text of the resolution here. Obviously,...
March 17, 2013
This Monday the ABA House of Delegates voted to adopt Resolution 108 supporting limited scope representation or unbundling. This resolution was crafted by the Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. ABA Staff Counsel, Will Hornsby, and the Committee Chair, Ritchey Hollenbaugh, presented the Resolution to the House in Dallas. Because unbundling is frequently used as a method of legal service delivery for virtual practice, I want to post the actual text of the resolution here. Obviously,...
