Top Level Failure

A recent report by left-wing think tank Policy Studies identified 241 CEOs who have ranked the top 25 in yearly compensation since 1993 and compared their pay with their performance. The study went beyond simply shareholder return, also examining the company's overall financial situation (including bankruptcy status and bailout funds given). Policy Studies found that a surprising number of CEOs failed their test: A staggering 38 percent of the CEOs received a failing rating.

8% Top CEOs ousted by their corporate boards

8% Top CEOs' companies that had to pay fines due to corporate misconduct

22% Top CEOs' companies that either collapsed or were bailed out by U.S. taxpayers

Bite of the Apple

Apple Inc. is well known for its innovative products among industry insiders and consumers alike. However, there is a third group that knows all about Apple's focus on innovation as well: patent trolls. And those trolls have attempted to exploit Apple more than any other technology company, according to patent analytics company PatentFreedom. In a recently-released report, Apple has been on the receiving end of more patent troll lawsuits than any other technology company by more than 25 percent.

171 Patent troll lawsuits against Apple during the past five years

137 Troll suits against Hewlett-Packard over the past five years, the second-highest of any tech company

44 Troll suits against Apple in 2012, the highest single figure for any tech company in the past five years

30 Troll suits against AT&T as of June 30, the most of any tech company the first half of this year

The Fight for Jobs

Have you recently graduated law school but can't find a job? Don't worry, you've got plenty of company. But cheer up, says Bernard Burk of the University of North Carolina School of Law, because the job market is improving. Surprisingly, though, the reason for the market's projected improvement isn't the amount of jobs available. It's the supply of law school graduates.

Burk's paper suggests there will be fewer law school graduates in the future, making life easier for those who do graduate and wish to find a job. However, Burk also said it will be the job opportunities at smaller, lower-paid firms that will likely see the decrease in competition, with top firms remaining as competitive as ever.

46,000 Law school graduates in the Class of 2012

26,000 Class of 2012 law school graduates who found law jobs directly out of school

Battle of the Sexes

Looking to stay out of trouble with the law? Perhaps the best way may just be to hire a woman. A recent American Sociological Review (ASR) report indicates that women commit less corporate fraud than men. The ASR looked at 83 cases of corporate fraud that were registered with the Department of Justice, involving 436 defendants. Of those 83 cases, a majority were committed by men alone, whether a single man or a group of only men. None of the cases were committed by a standalone woman or group of only women.

75% Corporate fraud cases that involved only men and no women

59% Men who made more than $500,000 through corporate fraud

33% Men who made more than $1 million through corporate fraud

>50% Women who made “little to no money” through corporate fraud

Land of the Litigation

When InsideCounsel wrote about how the U.S. legal system is the world's most costly according to a U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform report back in August, one respondent on Twitter answered, “Yes, and water is wet.” True, America's reputation precedes it, but the figures surrounding America's litigious nature are astounding.

Only one Western European country had its total liability costs top 1 percent of GDP in 2011: the United Kingdom at 1.05 percent. Canada was slightly ahead of the British Isles, coming in at 1.19 percent. And the U.S., you ask? Look up and keep going: The United States' liability costs came in at 1.66 percent of GDP, over three times higher than the European average.

1.66% U.S. liability costs as a fraction of GDP

0.63% Eurozone liability costs as a fraction of GDP

0.40% Netherlands liability costs as a fraction of GDP, the lowest among all European countries in the study