Introduction:

Corporate litigation disputes are becoming more complex as new issues arise addressing questions on statistical and/or probabilistic facts, expert testimonies, and other intricacies of the business world. This trend in litigation poses a new issue to the courts, and, more specifically to the juries. With these issues becoming more complicated, one can only wonder if lay jurors are able to understand the disputes, judicial instructions, and are capable of applying the facts to the law. [More]

Introduction:

Michael Nifong, the former North Carolina prosecutor made controversially famous for his rape accusations against several lacrosse players from the University of Duke, has filed for bankruptcy. [1] After resigning and being disbarred, the former D.A. filed for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing liabilities in excess of 180 million dollars. [2] [More]

Introduction

As tuition rates climb to an all time high, it is not unusual to hear of students leaving college with 40, 50, or even 60 thousand dollars of debt. Many law and medical students are graduating from school with a degree in one hand and 100 thousand dollars in student loans in the other. This continuing increase in tuition has many eager students pursuing community colleges over four year universities. [1] For example, Mott Community College's Michael Kelly states that enrollement has been up 28 percent in the last five years. [2] Kelly says that for some the choice is simple and "[t]he higher the cost is, the more students we get." [3] [More]

I. Introduction:

In June 2007, the Fair Isaac Corporation announced its plans to modify the FICO scoring system to better ensure the “continued reliability and predictive power of FICO scores.” [1] These changes were set in motion on September 1, 2007, and are declared to be the most significant alterations made to the scoring system in the last ten years. [2] Analysts are unsure how the new scoring model, known as FICO 08, will affect the overall credit system, but they have “no doubt that [FICO 08] will have a major impact on credit scores across the country.” [3] One of the major changes that will affect over 50 million consumers [4] is that FICO scores will no longer factor authorized user accounts into their credit scoring formulas. [5] [More]

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, there were 18,466 non-business Chapter 7 bankruptcy claims filed in the state of Illinois last year.[1] Even though this amount is nearly three times as less as the amount of Chapter 7 claims filed in 2005, analysts at the Federal Reserve indicate that household debt is at a record high relative to disposable income for 2007.[2] Consequently, some analysts are concerned that the high level of indebtedness will lead to more bankruptcies in 2007.[3] Nonetheless, filing for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is not the end of the world for one’s credit. [More]