Contributing Member of the Legal, Economic & Regulatory Affairs Councils

GLG News by this Author

Apologies and Alternative Dispute Resolution

June 26, 2008

Analysis of:Doctors Say ‘I’m Sorry’ Before ‘See You in Court’ | www.nytimes.com

In addition to the ethical and educational benefits, the cost savings resulting from straight talk with patients and their families that avoids litigation can be extraordinary.  For health care institutions considering this approach -- as they should -- both the effectiveness and the savings may  best be achieved through implementation of a formal Mediation/ADR program. 

Voodoo Economics and Wishful Thinking

May 23, 2008

Analysis of:A plan to reduce the price of oil 60% | www.silobreaker.com

As H.L. Mencken once wrote, "There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong."   Here, based upon a single, uncited study, the author argues that because a "1 percent change in the production of oil produces a 10 percent change in price," oil prices would be reduced by 60 percent if production levels in Iraq were increased to full capacity (thereby adding as much as 6 percent to the world's oil supply).  

Restricting Information Instead of Allocating Costs

May 16, 2008

Analysis of:Congress Passes Bill to Bar Bias Based on Genes | www.nytimes.com

The debate of uses of genetic information for insurance purposes unfortunately masks the underlying problem:  namely, the failure or inability of Congress to address the failure of the US health care system to allocate risks and costs based on rational policy choices, rather than based upon the "luck of the draw." 

Litigation and Accountability Under State, Rather the Federal, Securities Laws

May 15, 2008

Analysis of:Wave of Lawsuits Over Losses Could Hit a Wall | www.nytimes.com

In discounting  prospects for "winning in court" in litigation arising from losses in the mortgage market, the NYT unfortunately ignores a growing, and perhaps ultimately the primary, form of non-class action private securities litigation--litigation under state securities laws, which generally impose far lower evidentiary burdens on private plaintiffs than federal law.  State law securities litigation first began to increase after Central Bank v. First Interstate Bank, 511 U.S. 71 (2006) rejected the validity of "aiding and abetting" securities fraud claims under Rule 10-b5.  Although Congress, by passing the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) and the Supreme Court, in Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Dabit, 547 U.S. 71 (2006) have largely foreclosed class actions under state securities, claims by individual plaintiffs under state securities have, and almost certainly will, continue to grow at an increasing rate.  

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