Legal Research

Madeline is Law Dog of the Week

Posted on September 21, 2008
This week’s Law Dog is Madeline, who belongs to Ana Carlson, class of 2009. Madeline is a 2-year-old Boston terrier, shown here reading and highlighting. Apparently she is very good at it. Click on the picture above for a larger version. ASU law students, submit your pet photos for Law Pet of the Week and enter them in our [...

How Not to Act in the Courtroom

Posted on September 19, 2008
A People’s Court excerpt provides some Friday levity. How Not to Act in the Courtroom Have a nice weekend!

FAQ: Where can I find a law dictionary?

Posted on September 17, 2008
If you are logged in to LexisNexis or Westlaw, you can quickly get a definition. On Westlaw, there is a Definitions search box in the left column on the Law School tab. Enter your term and Westlaw will retrieve all definitions of that term. You can also search the full text of Black’s Law Dictionary by [...

New Service for College of Law Alumni

Posted on September 16, 2008
The Ross-Blakley Law Library is pleased to offer lifetime borrowing privileges to Sandra Day O?Connor College of Law Alumni. Recent graduates of the College of Law will have their student library accounts changed to Law Alumni accounts after graduation and will be able to borrow Law Library materials by presenting a photo ID at the [...

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Legislative History Made Easy

Posted on September 15, 2008
If you are doing legislative history research on a U.S. Public Law, the best place to start is with a compiled legislative history. As the name implies, a compiled legislative history brings together all the legislative documents related to a particular Law...

Firefox Add-ons for Efficient Researching

Posted on September 15, 2008
A student brought this article to our attention: Benson Varghese, Become an Efficient Researcher: Top Twenty Firefox Add-ons that Make Firefox the Researcher’s Browser of Choice. The author, a third-year law student at the Texas Tech, reviews tools to help you efficiently find what you need and “save, organize, annotate, and cite your search results...

Michael is Law Cat of the Week

Posted on September 14, 2008
This week’s Law Cat is Michael, who belongs to Meagan Pollnow, an ASU Law 1L. Michael is three years old and likes to take over Meagan’s desk while she is trying to read. Meagan says that he seems to like civil procedure the best. Michael’s brother Sam is afraid of the camera, but we hope he will [...

Another Phoenix Weather Phenomenon

Posted on September 12, 2008
A huge dust storm rolled into the West Valley late yesterday, lowering visibility to near zero.  Also called a “haboob,” dust storms are most common between May and September in Maricopa and Pima County.  According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, although brief, dust storms must be taken seriously because they cause blinding conditions on [...

Congratulations, Client Counseling Competitors

Posted on September 12, 2008
Congratulations to Adam Reich and Callie Parkinson, who took 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in the Client Counseling Competition.

HeinOnline YouTube Channel

Posted on September 10, 2008
HeinOnline has a YouTube Channel where you can find how-to videos for the various HeinOnline collections, general searching and navigating videos, as well as other useful tips and tricks for using the HeinOnline interface. Some of the videos include:  Quick Start Guide to HeinOnline Searchable PDF’s in HeinOnline Subject Compilations of State Laws - Getting Started MyHein Bookmarking Tool Citations [...

FAQ: Where is ?Law Core?

Posted on September 10, 2008
The library catalog says the books I need are located at “Law Core.” Where is that? “Law Core” is the area of tall shelves in the first-floor reading room. It is the location for many frequently used sets, such as regional and federal reporters, U...

Using Search Engines Better

Posted on September 09, 2008
If you would like to learn more about how search engines work and how you can improve your Web search results, check out this 15-minute Flash video on Using Search Engines Better that I made for the Advanced Legal Research class.

Nacho is Law Cat of the Week

Posted on September 07, 2008
This week’s Law Cat is Nacho, who belongs to Sarah Olson. Sarah is an ASU Law 1L. Nacho is shown here politely begging for a treat.   Click on the picture above for a larger version. Do your pets have what it takes to be Law Pet of the Week? Submit their photos to nominate them.

What is Wikipedia good for?

Posted on September 06, 2008
As a general rule, you may use encyclopedias to find authoritative sources, but you should not quote or cite an encyclopedia. A recent case highlights the dangers of relying on Wikipedia. In Badasa v. Mukasey, an asylum case, the Department of Homeland Security supported its argument by referencing a Wikipedia article, and the Immigration Judge relied upon [...

Save Some Time with the Law Library?s Book Retrieval Service

Posted on September 04, 2008
Do you want one less thing on your to do list?  The Law Library can help.  We offer a free book retrieval service to College of Law students, faculty, and staff.  Law Library staff will retrieve materials from any library on the Tempe campus, including the Law Library...

What Was That Last Night?!?

Posted on August 29, 2008
The sky surely put on a show for us last night! Streaks and bolts of lightning, thunder, heavy rains, and fast moving winds are typical during monsoon season in Arizona. New to Arizona? Don’t fret, monsoon storms offer a much needed break from the intense heat of our summer days, but they are usually best [...

What is Wex?

Posted on August 28, 2008
Wex is a product of the Legal Information Institute. The Legal Information Institute (LII) is a research and electronic publishing activity of the Cornell Law School. WEX is a collaboratively-edited legal dictionary and encyclopedia. It is intended for a broad audience of people and can be a helpful starting point to learn about the different [...

Welcome Back!

Posted on August 25, 2008
The Law Library staff welcomes you to a new semester. We hope you had a relaxing summer. To help you get back into the swing of things we would like to remind you of some of the services we have created especially for you.  The links below have information about services that will help you have a productive law school experience...

Foster and Barney are Law Dogs of the Week

Posted on August 25, 2008
This week’s Law Dogs are Barney and Foster, who belong to Rob and Kathy Farmer. Barney is a 3/4 champion redbone coon hound & 1/4 boxer. Foster is a Heinz-57 mixed breed puppy, who looks like a hyena. She was found as a stray “on the mean streets of Montgomery,” across from the law firm [...

Five Indispensable Tips for Law Students and New Lawyers

Posted on August 21, 2008
In a guest post on Notes from the (Legal) Underground, Matt Homann, offers Five Indispensable Tips for Law Students and New Lawyers. Homann is an Illinois lawyer, a part-time Pretrial teacher at Wash U., and author of the [non]billable hour.  Good advice from someone who has experience and unique and innovative ideas about legal practice...

Don?t Get Caught in the Rain! or Who are You Calling, Stupid!

Posted on August 21, 2008
For those students who are new to the state of Arizona, you may be under the misconception that it never rains in the desert. Well, not only does it rain in Arizona, it monsoons! Monsoons are such a big part of our summers that we have a law which penalizes drivers for not knowing how [...

An Interesting Read: The Importance of Being Honest

Posted on August 21, 2008
Steven Lubet has written The Importance of Being Honest: How Lying, Secrecy, and Hyposcrisy Collide with the Trust in Law. Lubet is a law professor at Northwestern.  Lubet’s book provides short chapters that deal with the issue of honesty in the practice of law...

Resources for First Year Law Students

Posted on August 17, 2008
Welcome first year law students! The Law Library staff would like you to have positive and productive first year of law school. To this end, we have created a guide to introduce you to resources and services we have developed especially for you and other helpful resources to help you have a successful law school experience...

Law Kittens of the Week

Posted on August 17, 2008
This week’s Law Cats live with Kathy and Rob Farmer in Montgomery, AL. The two kittens shown here and two more orphaned kittens were found last month under a bush in the front yard. Since they’re trying to find permanent homes for the kittens, Rob and Kathy haven’t named them...

Katie is Law Cat of the Week

Posted on August 10, 2008
This week’s Law Cat is Katie. Katie belongs to Mitchell Davidson, who works in the law library’s technical services department. Mitchell says that although Katie can appear to be very sweet, she is a tough negotiator and usually takes her place at the front of the food line...

Resources for First Year Law Students

Posted on August 05, 2008
Welcome first year law students! The Law Library staff would like you to have positive and productive first year of law school. To this end, we have created a guide to introduce you to resources and services we have developed especially for you and other helpful resources to help you have a successful law school experience...

Law Cat and Dog of the Week

Posted on August 03, 2008
This week we have special guest Law Cat and Law Dog, Althea and Berkeley. They belong to Deb Quentel, who is the Director of Curriculum Development and General Counsel for CALI. Deb says that Berkeley has a little trouble understanding just how large he is, but Althea is very tolerant...

Do innocent people need lawyers?

Posted on August 02, 2008
If you think that innocent people don’t need lawyers when they talk to the police about a crime, check out these videos on Boing Boing, especially the video of Officer Bruch about how officers interview suspects. Hat tip to Concurring Opinions.

Still waiting for your check?

Posted on July 31, 2008
If you still haven’t received your federal income tax refund or stimulus check, try out the Where’s My Refund? online tools at IRS.gov. It has general information about both refunds and stimulus payments, as well as forms you can submit to find out the status of your checks...

Monty is Law Dog of the Week

Posted on July 27, 2008
This week’s Law Dog is Monty, who belongs to Alison Ewing. Alison is the law library’s evening and weekend reference librarian during the school year. Monty sent us the following greetings a few weeks ago: Happy 4th of July from Montana! My name is Montgomery (Monty for short) and my Mom promises never to dress me [...

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