The new award in Merck v Ecuador: one of the most interesting, if not the most, aspects of international {investment} tribunals is what was stated in Loewen:"The line may be hard to draw, but it is real." When should an international tribunal, composed of individuals not accountable to any electorate, [...]

Maybe its just me; but the result in Loewen, a major decision by a distinguished NAFTA Tribunal, is not so remarkable, other than its length. Indeed the facts of the Mississippi trial are scary and outrageous. But as long as a State provides due process which including a meaningful internal system of [...]

Texas, I am sad to say, has low grades in its obligations of Child Find. Child Find is a legal requirement that schools find all children who have disabilities and who may be entitled to special education services. Child Find covers every child from birth through age 21. The school must [...]

A recent arbitration case decided by the Seventh Circuit: Hyatt Franchising v Shen Zhen seems remarkable in two respects. One the author is Frank Easterbrook, one of the best in our judiciary so any opinion of his deserves close attention. Second is the court's construction of the FAA and the standards [...]

After the US election, it was a certainty that in my inbox every morning there was at least one, if not more, email with a discussion on the future of arbitration in our changing society today. And this debate has continued in halls of university law schools to GAR events [...]

It is as inevitable as the sun also rising that Artificial Intelligence is on a collision course with traditional IP principles. AI has not only become part of our daily life, but also we cannot live without it, consider transportation, vehicle or aviation. In copyright law, there is now inconsistent [...]

This last Term, the US Supreme Court spoke unanimously through Chief Justice Roberts of the necessity for a disabled child’s individualized education program (IEP) to set forth a robust and challenging endeavor and objective for the child. The IEP is the education “delivery system” for the Individuals with Disabilities Education [...]

The law of privilege as relating to in-house counsel (especially in civil law jurisdictions) is indeed a controversial and much debated issue. Well-spoken advocates from the “internal” as well as “external” bar have written and spoken on this this issue forcefully. In reading DLA Piper’s Legal Professional Privilege Global Guide [...]

It is a certainty that in my inbox every morning there is at least one, if not more, email with a discussion on the future of arbitration in our changing society today. Further, the debate continues in halls of university law schools to GAR events to law firm seminars. I [...]

In reading DLA Piper’s Legal Professional Privilege Global Guide (2017), http://www.dlapiperlegalprivilege.com/system/modules/za.co.heliosdesign.dla.lotw/functions/export.pdf?country=all, it is absolutely mind boggling how the world’s attorney/client privilege rules are so different, with many nuances that attach to each country, such as competition investigations and dawn raids in the EU (Akzo Nobel), in-house counsel rules, professional secrecy, [...]