DATA ANALYTICS AND PREDICTIVE MODELING: GAME CHANGER FOR HOW YOU MANAGE CLAIMS... AND VIEW YOUR LAWYER
Data analytics ("DA"), and its brother, predictive modeling ("PM") combined with a new and improved cousin, machine learning (also known as "Artificial Intelligence" or "AI") are gradually developing into highly effective tools for insurance companies and even self-insureds to better mitigate and resolve repetitive claims. The use of these tools has improved claims management resulting in decreased litigation and legal spend, better predictions for outcomes, and reduction in overall liability exposure. Eventually, the use of DA and PM tools will not only enable businesses to manage and resolve claims, but it may also actually prevent some claims altogether. And quite frankly, as a practicing lawyer, I applaud and am excited about all of these developments.
 

PRO SE COMPLAINTS FOR WRONGFUL DEATH OR SURVIVAL DAMAGES:
VOID OR AMENDABLE? 

Professional liability claims often involve complex substantive issues, such as medical or legal malpractice. Cases involving allegations of wrongful death and survival damages give rise to the most serious claims any professional will face in his/her career. These cases are typically brought by experienced lawyers, and allegations are established by expert witnesses in the appropriate field. But what happens when the next of kin tries to prosecute one of these claims pro se without the assistance of counsel? In many jurisdictions, such an attempt constitutes the unauthorized practice of law and the Complaint is void. In other jurisdictions, the pleading is defective, but the defect can be corrected if a properly amended pleading is signed by a licensed attorney. Depending on the applicable statute of limitations as well as other potential defenses, the legal significance to a defendant cannot be understated.


BENDING THE GENDER RULES:
A SURVEY OF FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURTS RECOGNIZING TITLE IX HARASSMENT CLAIMS BASED ON FAILURE TO CONFORM TO GENDER STEREOTYPES

It is now well-established that individuals harassed at work for failure to conform to traditional gender stereotypes are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A growing number of courts have extended similar protection to gender nonconforming students under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Such claims may arise when coaches or teammates criticize a male football player for being a "pussy," "sissy," or for "playing like a girl" or when female victims of sexual assault are taunted as "sluts" or "whores." See Stuart, Susan P., "Warriors, Machismo, and Jockstraps: Sexually Exploitative Athletic Hazing and Title IX in The Public School Locker Room," 35 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 377 (2013). School district leaders and the lawyers who counsel them may benefit from a brief review of cases from the handful of Circuit courts which recognize that harassment for failure to conform to gender stereotypes may support a Title IX claim. (Alternative avenues of seeking relief may also be available through Equal Protection and Due Process claims under the Fourteenth Amendment or various state common law tort claims.)


ULTIMATE GAME-CHANGER?
CONCUSSION-RELATED INJURIES AND LITIGATION

Hits to the head have always been part of athletics in America, be it in professional or collegiate sports, and specifically, in football and hockey.  Over the past few years, however, these types of impacts - and the related concussive and sub-concussive injuries they cause - have become the source of significant litigation.

This article first discusses the status and key legal issues of the concussion-related injury litigation by current and former professional, collegiate, and even high school athletes.  Then, in Section III, this article addresses the status and key legal issues of the related insurance coverage litigation.  Section IV of this article explains the medical science which is at the heart of the concussion-related injury litigation, and Section V addresses the plaintiffs' claims for medical monitoring as well as the obstacles to class certification of the plaintiffs' claims.  Finally, Section VI discusses various trial considerations based on lessons learned from past head injury litigation and provides a glimpse into the future of concussion-related injury helmet litigation. 

SOME CASES HAVE TO BE TRIED: POLAROID, KODAK AND THE
PATENT WAR
I just finished reading A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War. Fierstein, Ronald K, A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War, Amer. Bar. Assoc. (2016). Print. As a practicing lawyer and a camera buff, I was fascinated with the story of the development of instant photography which - at least for a short time - disrupted the entire photo business. I was also intrigued by the epic litigation between Polaroid, the relatively small innovative company that developed the instantaneous technology, and Kodak, the corporate giant which Polaroid argued tried to steal its new technology.
 


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Reid S. Manley, Chair, Publications Committee, FDCC