Legal Research

Google Scholar Has Case Law

Posted on November 18, 2009
There are already tons of tweets and posts about Google Scholar's new case law content, so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. Yes, Google Scholar has case law now! Here's a roundup of posts about this exciting new development:...

The Paperless Law Review? An Experiment at USF

Posted on November 11, 2009
One of ZiefBrief's favorite parts of the job is working with USF four excellent student-edited journals. This year we're excited to watch the University of San Francisco Law Review move toward an entirely paperless editing cycle. Led by Editor-in-Chief Robin...

LexisNexis Releases iPhone App

Posted on November 10, 2009
WisBlawg just posted on the new LexisNexis iPhone app - see Bonnie Shucha's post for reviews and more info!

Blogs and Social Bookmarking

Posted on November 10, 2009
I gave a presentation to the Northern California Association of Law Libraries on getting started with blogs and social bookmarking. Here's my presentation.

To access blog feed reader register for free. (You will also learn about new ways to read and access the freshest law blogs.)

Selling Term Papers Illegal in CA

Posted on November 06, 2009
Above the Law posted today about a recent article in CommonWealth magazine that discusses online term paper trafficking services. The article alleges that a Massachusetts attorney, employed as a staff attorney for the Massachusetts Appeals Court, responded to the journalist's...

New Search Option on HeinOnline

Posted on November 05, 2009
This week, HeinOnline announced a beta "faceted search" option for its Law Journal Library. "Faceted search" is just a fancy way of saying that, if you choose this search option, HeinOnline will cluster your law review search results into different...

New/Updated CALI Lessons RSS Feed

Posted on November 04, 2009
If you assign CALI lessons to students or first-year associates, you'll be happy to know that you can now sign up for RSS feeds that will alert you whenever CALI adds a new lesson or updates an existing lesson. Thank...

Kindle Not So Hot for Academic Pursuits

Posted on November 03, 2009
Alex Golub discusses how the Kindle performs for academic reading, and concludes that "the Kindle is designed to let you read mystery novels, not academic books." Pluses: compact, lightweight, and "terrific battery life." Minuses: very tough to move back and...

Advice for Repeat Bar Takers

Posted on November 02, 2009
Of course, everyone wants to pass the bar exam the first time around. But sometimes, even for the smartest, brightest people, it doesn't work out that way. Our own Attorney General and former (perhaps future?) governor, Jerry Brown, did not...

Minding Your Online Presence

Posted on October 21, 2009
The National Law Journal profiles Drake University law professor Melissa Weresh this week, who is working to raise awareness among law students of the potential professional pitfalls of social networking for aspiring attorneys. Among Professor Weresh's tips: Always use proper...

Shunning Social Networking

Posted on October 15, 2009
The Washington Post has an article today about 18 to 34-year-olds who refuse to sign up for social networking sites, much to the chagrin of their friends and significant others. How odd is this? According to the article, about 84...

Your Brain on E-Books

Posted on October 15, 2009
The New York Times has a fascinating roundup of expert opinion on whether the brain processes information presented electronically differently than information presented on paper. Most fascinating fact from one of the experts -- "people read more slowly on screen,...

To Enjoy TV, Suppress Your Inner JD

Posted on October 09, 2009
Concurring Opinion's Jon Siegel has a great post about all of the legal frailties that occur in the TV series "House." The post helps to explain why attorneys may find themselves watching TV alone at home --it can be difficult...

Senator Franken Takes the DOJ to Task About the USA PATRIOT Act.

Posted on September 28, 2009
On September 23rd the full United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary met to discuss "Reauthorizing the USA PATRIOT Act: Ensuring Liberty and Security" Their guests that day included David S. Kris (Assistant Attorney General in the National Security Division...

Berkeley Law Conference on Social Networking & Ethics

Posted on September 21, 2009
Well, isn't this timely! Just after we blogged the NYT article about attorneys who found themselves in trouble with their state bars due to social networking blunders, we discovered that Berkeley Law will be holding a conference on social networking....

Ethical Hot Water for Social Media-Using Attorneys

Posted on September 12, 2009
The New York Times has a great article today about lawyers who have been subjected to ethics investigations due to material that they posted on blogs and Facebook. After attorney Sean Conway called a Florida judge an "Evil, Unfair Witch"...

Everyone Wants to Help You Get Through Law School

Posted on August 25, 2009
Oh, maybe not everyone.... But lots of blogging law professors do, and Paul Caron of the TaxProf Blog has helpfully collected their posts in his post, Advice for the Incoming Law School Class of 2009. Your own professors would like...

Santa Clara OneL Blog

Posted on August 21, 2009
My colleague, David Brian Holt, is both a law librarian and a law student at Santa Clara, and he just posted about a new OneL blog by SCU law students, From Here to Attorney (ouch! - it hurts a little...

Book Reviews on Concurring Opinions

Posted on August 19, 2009
Concurring Opinions just announced that it will serve as a forum for book reviews - law professors, attorneys, law students, and academics from non-law fields are all welcome to submit "serious yet short" reviews on law-related books to the blog's...

Free Legal Research: We're Not There Yet

Posted on August 19, 2009
Greg Lambert of 3 Geeks and a Law Blog has a thoughtful post on the future of legal research and the role of "free versus fee" sources: The good and bad thing about legal research today is the fact that...

Richard Leo Featured in New Yorker

Posted on August 17, 2009
The New Yorker's August 24 issue features a Jeffrey Toobin piece on Richard Leo's efforts on behalf of the wrongfully-convicted Norfolk Four. In 1997, Michelle Bosko was raped and murdered in Norfolk, Virginia. Despite the fact that "abundant" forensic evidence...

Nailing the First Year of Law School - Help is Out There

Posted on August 17, 2009
At this time of year, as the new law students arrive, we at ZiefBrief can feel the anxiety in the air, as 1Ls wonder if they'll be able to cope with law school. (Confidential to new USF law students: you...

Google's Caffeine

Posted on August 12, 2009
Google announced this week that it is testing a new search engine, code named "Caffeine." According to media reports, the new search engine is supposed to include changes to indexing, ranking, and crawling, although Google is being a bit coy...

Prof. de la Vega Briefs the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Posted on August 06, 2009
Professor Connie de la Vega, who recently filed a Supreme Court amicus brief on the issue of life without parole for juvenile offenders, continues her advocacy on behalf of prisoners. Her latest brief, filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human...

Professors de la Vega and Leighton File Amicus Brief

Posted on July 28, 2009
Professors Connie de la Vega and Michelle Leighton recently filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. (Download a PDF version of the brief here:Download Amicusbrief) The brief, filed...

Good Luck on the Bar Exam!

Posted on July 27, 2009
Best of luck on the bar exam to all of our recent grads - you're going to do just fine!

Students Have Mixed Reaction to E-Book Readers

Posted on July 16, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reported today on several higher education initiatives designed to test student reaction to e-textbooks. At Northwest Missouri State University, 200 students received the Sony Reader loaded with course texts. Although some students stuck with the Reader,...

Reading 1194 Sotomayor Opinions So You Don't Have To

Posted on July 14, 2009
From above the 49th Parallel, our colleague Library Boy alerts us to the latest entry in the "read and analyze all of Judge Sotomayor's opinions" sweepstakes. NYU Law School's Brennan Center for Justice gives us: Monica Youn, Judge Sotomayor's Record...

Digging Deep Into the Sotomayor Record at National Archives

Posted on July 09, 2009
Today we heard that the National Archives has just added 122 Clinton-era emails mentioning Sonia Sotomayor [ginormous 310 MB zip file? took us over 20 minutes to download at T1+ speeds] to its collection of documents related to or mentioning...

Justice Ginsburg's Candid NYT Magazine Interview

Posted on July 08, 2009
The New York Times Magazine just released a very candid and far-ranging interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg answers questions about the importance of having women on the Court, her thoughts on Court nominee Judge Sotomayor, affirmative action,...

Bar Study Break: Awful Library Books Blog

Posted on July 07, 2009
We are reaching that time of year when bar studiers need a little humor and something to distract them -- something that doesn't have anything to do with contracts, community property, con law, civ pro, corporations, crim law, crim pro,...

Is Cheerleading a Sport?

Posted on June 30, 2009
I'm a child of the seventies, and I freely admit that, during fifth grade, my career goal was to become a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. Sadly, my cheering career ended in eighth grade (I still recall that my 1981 pom poms...

Congressional Research Service Analyzes Sotomayor's Opinions

Posted on June 29, 2009
Some of SCOTUS candidate Sotomayor's judicial opinions have been analyzed in a Congressional Research Service report, "Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions." The 59-page report includes a detailed table of contents that helpfully breaks down the discussion by legal...

Michael Jackson -- Singer, Songwriter, Inventor.

Posted on June 25, 2009
We at ZiefBrief were saddened to learn that Michael Jackson, the self-anointed "King of Pop", died today at the age of 50. What, you may ask, is the connection between the Moonwalking Mr. Jackson and the Law? Well, in his...

Standing Out on Your Summer Law Job - Secret Weapons

Posted on June 18, 2009
Law students lucky enough to have landed summer jobs or internships in these tough times are working harder than ever to make a good impression on their employers. One sure bet is to get known as a great researcher. Students...

Judge Sotomayor's Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire ? and More

Posted on June 05, 2009
The Senate Judiciary Committee has released the questionnaire prepared by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The questionnaire comes with a raft of varied and fascinating attachments which include: news stories going back to the 1970s; speeches; minutes of the State...

Savvy Investors Say "It?s always a good time to invest in litigation"

Posted on June 04, 2009
The New York Times recently ran a short article about a practice that is proving profitable even during the current economic meltdown. According to the article "Investing in Lawsuits, for a Share of the Awards" by Times writer Jonathan Glater,...

Search Engine Feature Smackdown

Posted on June 03, 2009
Microsoft released a new search engine this week, bing. I was immediately taken by the bold images on the bing home page -- I add custom images to everything, my Google home page, Firefox, my desktop, etc., so the splashy...

Judge Sotomayor: In-Depth Background

Posted on June 02, 2009
If you're looking to get your hands on comprehenisve information about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, these sources should help. Sonia Sotomayor page, Law Library of Congress. Lists articles and other publications; has information on Judge Sotomayor's 1992 and 1997...

Helping Vets Apply to Law School

Posted on May 29, 2009
The Connecticut Law Tribune's Patrick Linsey has a really interesting story this week about a recent Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who wants to help members of the military with the law school application process. Drew Schaffer is forming a new...

The Dean Tweets From Cambodia

Posted on May 28, 2009
Twittering on war crimes trials and genocide: it sounds like a tasteless joke, or an indictment of social media. But USF's Dean Jeff Brand manages to pull it off in his updates from Cambodia, where he has visited the killing...

Analyzing Judge Sotomayor Opinion by Opinion

Posted on May 27, 2009
Not for ZiefBrief the YouTube clips, the excerpts from the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, or the 8-second sound bites. To to take the measure of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, we prefer to dig right in to her opinions....

Olson and Boies Join Forces to Challenge Prop 8

Posted on May 27, 2009
Remember Bush v. Gore? Of course you do! The whole nation held its breath while Bush and Gore battled each other in the courts to determine the outcome of the 2000 presidential election. Perhaps you don't remember that former Solicitor...

Wolfram Alpha, the New Search Engine on the Block

Posted on May 18, 2009
New search engine Wolfram Alpha launched last week, and so far I'm having a hard time imagining ways in which it will be useful for my usual Internet legal research queries. Sure, it's handy for socioeconomic data, math, and statistics,...

Wikipedia Unveiled on Volokh Conspiracy

Posted on May 18, 2009
Guest blogger and attorney Ira Matetsky has a series of interesting and informative posts on Wikipedia on the Volokh Conspiracy this week. You can access the first post here -- links to all of Ira's Wikipedia posts throughout the week...

New Bar Exam Blog

Posted on May 15, 2009
The Shark, one of our favorite law student blogs, has launched The Wringer, a blog all about the California bar exam. The Wringer will feature links to free Cal bar exam resources and an advice column for all of those...

Free Case Law Websites

Posted on May 11, 2009
Robert Ambrogi at Law Technology News has a very handy list of websites that provide access to free case law, including a description of available jurisdictions, search functions, and date ranges. If you're not going to have access to Lexis...

Supreme Court Nomination Information

Posted on May 07, 2009
There was a time in the not too distant past that Zief law librarians scurried around and printed out everything we could find on the nominees for a newly vacated seat on the US Supreme Court. All of those pages...

Whither Quality in Legal Publishing?

Posted on April 28, 2009
Perhaps it's because ZiefBrief is a cynic, but we weren't at all surprised to learn from the Stanford law librarians' excellent Legal Research Plus blog that two law professors are suing West Publishing Corp. for defamation for daring to claim...

Professor Peter Honigsberg's New Book on the War on Terror

Posted on April 09, 2009
Professor Peter Honigsberg's new book, Our Nation Unhinged: The Human Consequences of the War on Terror, is now available! Published by the University of California press, Professor Honigsberg's book tells "the story of the Bush administration's response to the attacks...

Our Very Own Raiderette!

Posted on April 06, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle has a great profile of attorney Emily Compagno, who is not only a USF Law alum, she's also a Raiderette! In the profile, Emily describes her typical practice and game day routines, which sound demanding and...

Professor Freiwald Files Amicus Brief in Cell Phone Case

Posted on March 31, 2009
University of San Francisco School of Law Professor Susan Freiwald recently authored an amicus briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a case involving the legal procedures under which law enforcement agents can compel...

Technology Hurts

Posted on March 10, 2009
David Cambria, manager of law department operations at Aon Corp., has a great Law Technology News editorial on technology woes and how to fix them. One of Cambria's pet peeves: "Who hasn't been involved in an e-mail stream 15 messages...

3L's Oral Argument in D.C. Circuit Called "Superb"

Posted on March 09, 2009
The BLT reports that Duke law student Sarah Campbell was praised for her oral argument before the D.C. Circuit by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who called her performance "superb." Ms. Campbell argued on behalf of Peter Atherton, a D.C. resident who...

Favorite Searches of ZiefBrief Content

Posted on March 06, 2009
TypePad has lots of nifty features, including tracking how searchers get to your blog posts. By using the "Referring Address" feature, we can review the searches that led someone to click on one of our blog posts in a search...

Visualizing Law Firm Layoffs

Posted on March 04, 2009

Lieberman Launches PACER Inquiry

Posted on February 27, 2009

Kindle Mania

Posted on February 25, 2009
I read a lot more than the average American. According to this Harris poll, only 37 percent of those surveyed read more than ten books a year. Last year, I read 113 books in one year. Given the volume of...

Facebook Bill of Rights

Posted on February 19, 2009
We've all heard an earful this past week about Facebook's unsuccessful attempt to change its Terms of Use. After an avalanche of Facebook user protest, Facebook removed the anxiety-producing language. Now, Facebook is proving its commitment to democracy by developing...

Bringing PACER Into the 21st Century

Posted on February 13, 2009
A few times a month, I'll be happily working on a research project when suddenly I come to an unwelcome and dreaded realization. The document that I need to continue my research is on PACER, and I'm going to have...

Judicial Tongue-Lashing

Posted on February 10, 2009
Just after mentioning Mary Whisner's essay on judicial scolding in yesterday's post, I found an excellent contemporary example of a judge issuing a stern warning about inept legal research. In United States v. Beltran-Moreno, Ninth Circuit Judge Reinhart had lots...

Cost-Cutting Changes Law Firm Legal Research

Posted on February 09, 2009
Above The Law is reporting that law firm Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell has decided to cut legal research costs by requiring its staff to use Loislaw for all non-billable legal research. Staff may no longer use Lexis or Westlaw...

Reference Desk Stumpers

Posted on January 27, 2009
Salem Press maintains a great page on its website with amusing and puzzling reference questions, most of which were asked at public and school libraries. My favorites: "I need a book that tells me how to make my own false...

Whitehouse.gov Gets a Makeover

Posted on January 21, 2009
President Obama's communications staff have been busy! Whitehouse.gov got quite the Web 2.0 makeover and now boasts a blog with RSS feed. All of the President's executive orders and proclamations will be made available on The Briefing Room page. Also,...

Lexis & Westlaw Terms & Connectors Search Presentation

Posted on January 14, 2009
For the OneLs who attended my classes on terms and connectors searching, here is a copy of the presentation: Download PresentationAJW2009

Santa Clara Symposium on Patent Law

Posted on January 13, 2009
The Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal will hold a symposium on recent developments in patent law and their impact on high technology law on Friday, January 30, 2009. The keynote speaker is Judge Randall R. Rader, Circuit...

Heartwarming News

Posted on January 12, 2009
The New York Times reported yesterday that American adults are reading more. According to a NEA report, about 50 percent of Americans said that they read at least one novel, short story, poem or play in the previous 12 months....

Ninth Circuit Revamps Website; Adds RSS Feeds

Posted on January 07, 2009
I was a relatively late convert to RSS feeds, but now I don't know how I would do my job without them. So I am thrilled to see that the Ninth Circuit not only has a very pretty new website,...

Law Students Want More Practical Legal Writing Experiences

Posted on January 07, 2009
The 2008 results of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement were just released, and according to higher ed news sources, more than a third of law students report that they do not have enough opportunities to attempt "practice-based legal...

Feeling the Need For Some Presidential Clemency? This Is the Web Site For You!

Posted on December 15, 2008
While it is doubtful that any of the upright citizens that make up the readership of our fine blog will ever need the services of the Pardon Attorney, it is good to now where to go if you need an...

HeinOnline Search Tips (for Novices & Experts!)

Posted on December 08, 2008
We love HeinOnline, and we are always looking for ways to increase usage among our faculty and students. If you've heard about this database, but are intimidated by the fact that it's quite different from Westlaw and Lexis, this collection...

OJ's Sentencing Hearing, Brilliantly Told by Lowering the Bar

Posted on December 05, 2008
Lowering the Bar has a fabulously snarky recap of OJ Simpson's sentencing hearing that is worth a break from studying to read. A few key excerpts that help to explain the decision to sentence Mr. Simpson to a minimum of...

They're Baaaack! Witkin and ALR Return to Lexis

Posted on December 04, 2008
Masterful negotiators at LexisNexis have evidently coaxed out of Thomson/West a long-term license to two of ZiefBrief's favorite secondary legal research tools: American Law Reports (ALR), and the four superlative Witkin publications. These had disappeared from Lexis when the previous...

Prof. de la Vega Comments on the U.S. and Human Rights

Posted on December 04, 2008
USF's resident human rights expert Professor Connie de la Vega is also one of the voices of IntLawGrrls, where she has recently blogged on Time for US to reaffirm commitment to principles enshrined 60 years ago in the Universal Declaration...

Library's Exam and Holiday Hours

Posted on December 04, 2008
We started getting a lot of questions about our exam and holiday hours at the reference desk, so here's the scoop -- all you need to do is check the hours page on our website. It's up to date and...

Best of the Blogs

Posted on December 02, 2008
The ABA Journal just released its annual list of the 100 best law blogs, which is worth checking out if you have time during finals. This year's list is broken down into useful subject categories, including career management, JDs in...

Bar Exam Results Day

Posted on November 21, 2008
The week before Thanksgiving always feels a little tense to me because it's the week that July bar exam results are released. For all of our graduates who will receive results today, we hope that all of you receive good...

Preparing for Exams with CALI

Posted on November 17, 2008
Zief librarians are starting to see a surge of interest in the library's exam preparation materials, so it seems like a good time to remind students that some of the best exam prep material can be found online on CALI....

Election Day 2008 and Beyond - Following the Legal Issues

Posted on November 02, 2008
While ZiefBrief hopes for an election which all sides will acknowledge as fair and well-run, ZiefBrief has prepared for any contingency by bookmarking Election Law @ Moritz, the place to go for breaking news, analysis, commentary, and actual litigation documents...

2008 Ballot Proposition Resources

Posted on October 30, 2008
Ziefbrief is non-partisan; we will be blogging no matter who wins the election next week. But Ziefbrief wants to make sure that everybody who does vote has all the information available to make an informed decision. Along those lines we...

Can You Sue God?

Posted on October 15, 2008
The answer from Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk is no. According to this Associated Press story on Law.com, a senator in the Nebraska State Legislature, Ernie Chambers, tried to sue God in order to prove that "anybody can...

The Texas Scuffle

Posted on October 14, 2008
Remember our post about a Houston's attorney indignant letter to a Dallas attorney about a deposition cancellation? The Dallas attorney has responded and at great length. Above the Law has full details along with ongoing commentary on this Texas saga.

Typos Matter

Posted on October 08, 2008
Legal writing and research instructors spend a lot of time emphasizing the importance of proofreading briefs and memos, and here's why -- The Legal Intelligencer reports today that a federal judge decided to award just $26,000 in attorneys' fees instead...

Professor Richard Leo's New Book on the Norfolk Four Case

Posted on October 06, 2008
Professor Richard Leo's new book, The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four, will be released on November 3, 2008. Co-authored with Tom Wells, the book traces the prosecution of four innocent men for a murder committed in...

Follow-Up on Kennedy v. Louisiana

Posted on October 01, 2008
Weeks ago, we reported on the legal research omissions that led some parties to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana. To bring closure to our coverage, we are linking to the SCOTUSblog post that...

Practicing Kindness: Dallas Lawyer Chooses Not To

Posted on September 30, 2008
I follow Mary Flood's excellent blog on Houston legal happenings, Legal Trade, because one of my closest friends is a Houston attorney. Thanks to my friend's regular updates, I know just how disruptive Hurricane Ike was for Houstonians. Yesterday, Mary...

Yelpers Weigh In On SF Jury Duty

Posted on September 27, 2008
Even the tiniest mom and pop businesses gather Yelp reviews, but I was surprised to see that the experience of jury duty in San Francisco now has 21 Yelp reviews.* What's not so surprising -- the collective two and a...

Summary of 2007-2008 U.S. Supreme Court Term

Posted on September 09, 2008
Looking for a concise summary of the Supreme Court's major decisions during the 2007-2008 term? You can find it in American Law Reports on Westlaw at 30 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 637 (Westlaw password required for access). In addition to summarizing...

First Year Tips: Better Late Than Never!

Posted on September 08, 2008
Professor David Post from Temple Law has a few more useful tips for first-years in his post at Volokh Conspiracy, and his most important tip, IMHO, is don't blow off your first-year legal writing and research class! More from Professor...

The No Billables Experiment: One Year Later

Posted on September 08, 2008
Last fall, we posted about an Atlanta law firm, Ford & Harrison, which dropped billable hour requirements for first-year associates. So how is the experiment working one year later? According to this National Law Journal article, the experiment is a....

Coping with Information Overload

Posted on September 02, 2008
At the start of every semester, I definitely suffer from a bit of information overload, helpfully defined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (!) as the "provision of information in excess of the cognitive and emotional ability of an individual...

First-Year Tips: The Ever-Popular "How to Read a Legal Opinion"

Posted on August 20, 2008
Orientation has brought a flock of new law students to the Zief Library, and reminded us that one of the hardest things about the beginning of law school was trying to make sense of the cases assigned for the first...

First-Year Tips: CALI Exercises

Posted on August 19, 2008
Even though I was a pretty dedicated law student, there were certain concepts that I had a hard time grasping during my first year of law school. In Property, the rule against perpetuities gave me fits. In Contracts, it was...

Googling Your Way to Trial Victory

Posted on August 13, 2008
Want to find out how members of your jury really think? Google them and read their blogs and social networking pages. The National Law Journal reports that increasing numbers of litigators are turning to the Internet in order to get...

Attorney's Bar License In Jeopardy After Street Racing Death

Posted on August 13, 2008
We all know that having a license to practice law doesn't necessarily stop attorneys from engaging in negligent or criminal behavior. However, until today, I never heard of an attorney who jeopardized his or her bar license by engaging in...

Aftershocks From the LA Quake Hit State Bar

Posted on August 07, 2008
Somehow, we knew that this story wasn't going away anytime soon. The National Law Journal has an article today, "Complaints Surface Over Bar Exam Disrupted by Earthquake," which details concerns that some test-takers had about the proctors' reaction to the...

Bar Examinees All Shook Up

Posted on August 01, 2008
Kevin Underhill's very funny blog, Lowering the Bar, has this wry report on the impact that last Tuesday's 5.4 earthquake had on bar examinees in the Los Angeles area. According to Kevin, some of the test-takers were more rattled than...

Read Law Professor Barack Obama?s Final Exam's

Posted on July 30, 2008
There has been a lot of commentary about an article in the New York Times that discussed Barack Obama?s 12 years as a law professor at University of Chicago (click here to see article). Turns out he was generally considered...

Monica Goodling -- Poor Lexis Researcher?

Posted on July 29, 2008
The release of "An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General" (click here for the 524 KB .pdf file from the DOJ site) has been all over the...

Monday Buzz: Cuil Takes On Google

Posted on July 28, 2008
Well! I was all set to blog today about the new search engine that everybody is talking about, Cuil (pronounced "cool"), but Shawn, my colleague at Gleeson, has beat me to it! Check out Shawn's informative post about Cuil on...

Google Tackles Wikipedia

Posted on July 24, 2008
Google's latest is a new site, Knol, which is basically a rival of Wikipedia. According to Google, a "knol" is a unit of knowledge written about a subject. If you write a knol, you get to take author credit for...

Louisiana Seeks Reconsideration of SCOTUS Ruling

Posted on July 21, 2008
The SCOTUS Blog is reporting that Louisiana has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, basing its request on the Court's omission of any discussion of the federal statute that permits the death penalty for...

Tips for First-Year Law Students

Posted on July 21, 2008
Over at Ms. JD, Carlie Boos has a great post about surviving the first-year of law school. I love her emphasis on the importance of networking and learning to explore the social aspects of law school -- topics that usually...

Neat Research Tools -- Capitol Words and LOUIS

Posted on July 09, 2008
Just so we are clear on this, ZiefBrief is the alter ego for a crew of dedicated law librarians here at the Dorraine Zief Law Library. After surfing the web for a while, some of the members of the team...

Exciting New Features on HeinOnline

Posted on July 03, 2008
Starting this week, HeinOnline allows you to create and organize bookmarks and save search queries. All you need to do is use the MyHein tab when you sign into HeinOnline, create your own user account, and you're ready to start...

Oops...We Missed a Law!

Posted on July 03, 2008
Most of the legal community has heard about the US Supreme Court's recent decision, Kennedy v. Louisiana, a 5-4 decision concluding that the United States Constitution prohibits imposing the death penalty for child rape. According to the NY Times, one...

Take me out to a lawsuit, take me out to a tort...

Posted on June 26, 2008
Ziefbrief usually resists the urge to report on every news report concerning what appears at first glance to be a case of litigation gone wild. But there comes now a report from the American Heartland that we feel inclined to...

Legal Blogs: Inspiration for Finding Law Review Topics

Posted on June 25, 2008
The annual hunt for law review topics is another seasonal activity revealed by ZiefBrief's current usage statistics. Immersing yourself for a time in the legal news is a great way to get at least a kernel of a topic. The...

Summer Reading - Preparing for Law School (2008)

Posted on June 24, 2008
Based on ZiefBrief's statistics, many newly-admitted law students spend these summer months mining Google for tips that will help them survive the beginning of law school. We believe that the best way to spend this summer is relaxing and doing...

Z-Flyer Available For Your Enjoyment

Posted on June 20, 2008
The Dorraine Zief Law Library occasional newsletter, the Z-Flyer, is now available as a .pdf file for your edificationh (click here to download this 544kb file). This edition includes: * A Report from the International Association of Law Libraries 26th...

Is Google Changing Our Brain Wiring?

Posted on June 11, 2008
There's an interesting article in the Atlantic this month, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Author Nicholas Carr worries that Internet use is changing the way that we read and absorb information: Over the past few years I?ve had an uncomfortable...

Indispensable Practice Guide

Posted on June 05, 2008
The Zief librarians are always on the lookout for the next indispensable, "must have" practice guide, and we think all of our readers will agree that Cheerleading and the Law: Risk Management Strategies is a necessity for all lawyers confronting...

Oral Argument Audio Files

Posted on June 03, 2008
Howard Bashman just posted an announcement on How Appealing to let his readers know that the Fifth Circuit is now making audio files of oral arguments available on its website. Here is a short roundup of some other jurisdictions that...

Gossipy Law Blogs and Biglaw

Posted on June 02, 2008
The National Law Journal has an article today, "Gossip Blogs Bedevil Law Firms," which discusses how quickly law firms' dirty laundry -- things like layoffs, firings, associate lawsuits, and "Summer Associates Gone Wild" incidents -- gets aired for public consumption...

Cal. Supreme Court Shares Background on Same-Sex Marriage Cases

Posted on May 23, 2008
As noted in recent ZiefBrief posts (link to post 1, link to post 2) the California Supreme Court recently released a ground-breaking expansion of all Californians' right to marry. In a welcome move, the Court has posted a handy web...

The Debut of Google Health

Posted on May 20, 2008
Following a two-month trial at the Cleveland Clinic and over a year of development, Google Health is now available to anyone with a Google Account. Google Health allows you to aggregate and store all of your medical records online, including...

Full Acme Industries Catalog Will Be Boon To Personal Injury & Product Liability Bar.

Posted on May 16, 2008
As noted in a recent ZiefBrief post, the pressure of exams can lead to the need for some comic relief. One long-time favorite in the tiny realm of legal humor is the essay Coyote v. Acme by Ian Frasier, originally...

Full Acme Industries Catalog Will Be Boon To Personal Injury & Product Liability Bar

Posted on May 16, 2008
As noted in a recent ZiefBrief post, the pressure of exams can lead to the need for some comic relief. One long-time favorite in the tiny realm of legal humor is the essay Coyote v. Acme by Ian Frasier, originally...

Putting Today's Same-Sex Marriage Decision in Context

Posted on May 15, 2008
Those looking to build a law review topic out of today's California Supreme Court decision in In re Marriage Cases (No. S147999, Cal. May 15, 2008) [PDF; 172 pages] (News release [PDF; 7 pages]) might want to explore these research...

CA Supreme Court Rules on Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on May 15, 2008
The California Supreme Court ruled today that language within California laws designating marriage as a union solely between "a man and a woman" is "unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute." A larger excerpt of the court's holding appears...

The *?$%! Bluebook

Posted on May 14, 2008
Let's face it. The Bluebook can be a baffling, frustrating experience for first-time cite-checkers. Our wise colleague, Mary Whisner, at the University of Washington's Gallagher Law Library, has a helpful essay in the Law Library Journal on Bluebook woes, "The...

Lost and Found Items at Circ Desk

Posted on May 09, 2008
Did you ever wonder what happened to your travel coffee mug? Did you leave your phone charger behind somewhere? Are you missing a hat? Stop by the Circulation Desk and look through our Lost and Found items to see if...

McSweeney's List on Law School Classes

Posted on May 06, 2008
At this point in the semester, everybody needs a little dark humor, right? Check out this McSweeney's List of "Classes My Top-Tier Law School Should Have Offered As Warnings About the Profession." Thanks to Above the Law for posting this...

Group Study Rooms

Posted on April 30, 2008
Group Study Rooms are available for groups of 2 or more law students for one 2-hour study session per group per day. To reserve a room in advance, stop by the Circ Desk and get signed up in our book....

Learn How to Find U.S. Congressional Materials

Posted on April 28, 2008
A pair of librarians at U.C. Berkeley have put together a short series of informative tutorials to help you figure out how to find U.S. Congressional materials both on-line and in print. It is pretty basic stuff but it could...

Wireless Printing From Your Mac at USF Law

Posted on April 27, 2008
A question from a student and fellow Macintosh user reminded us at ZiefBrief that we've been wanting to post some handy instructions on how to print wirelessly from Macs at the law school here at USF. A hat-tip to our...

Clever Viral Video: Legal Research - The Movie

Posted on April 23, 2008
It takes a lot to make ZiefBrief chuckle at something on YouTube but our crack librarian-in-training/intern Suzanne Mawhinney shared this with us and we thought we would pass it along. The work of Stanford Law students, it is only NSFW...

Trouble With Food and Drink in the Library.

Posted on April 21, 2008
Due to growing complaints about the noise and odor that accompanies eating, the Zief Law Library is stepping up enforcement of the existing "no food" policy. We are trying to do it as unobtrusively and with as much good humor...

Finding Quotations on Google News

Posted on April 21, 2008
Google News just announced a nifty new feature -- if you enter the name of a prominent figure in the news in the Google News search box, you can (sometimes) retrieve quotations made by this person. You can also search...

The Librarians Are Reading (Part II)...

Posted on April 18, 2008
My personal reading has its own ebbs and flows -- some days I only want to read to escape, other times its heavy on the non-fiction, sometimes its nothing but biography. As it turns out, my recent reading list has...

Fifty Most Powerful Blogs

Posted on April 18, 2008
ZiefBrief's authors are shocked and dismayed to find that ZiefBrief has not made it onto the list of the "50 most powerful blogs," compiled by the UK publication, the Guardian. How could we have been overlooked? The top 5 on...

Some Non-Law Reading

Posted on April 17, 2008
Animals In Translation : Using The Mysteries Of Autism To Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson. Temple Grandin is autistic and is probably best known for her research and expertise in redesigning slaughterhouses in a more humane...

The Librarians Are Reading...

Posted on April 16, 2008
Beginning with last year's National Library Week, we've started a tradition of posting some of the librarians' favorite reads. Here are a few of mine from the first part of this year: The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon. What...

Browsers, Lexis, and Westlaw

Posted on April 15, 2008
We just saw an announcement from Westlaw, warning users not to use certain older versions of browsers when researching on Westlaw -- here's the announcement: Starting in March, westlaw.com platforms will not support Web browser versions earlier than the following:...

Economic Prospects for Attorneys

Posted on April 08, 2008
The Chicago Tribune has a story this week about the financial realities of practicing law that's worth a read.

Westlaw and Lexis Summer Access

Posted on April 04, 2008
Most 1Ls are probably unaware that Westlaw and Lexis switch off law student access to most of their research systems during the summer. Only certain students qualify for continued summer access to the entire Lexis and Westlaw research systems. Westlaw...

Presentation on Cite-Checking Basics

Posted on March 26, 2008
We recently presented a few basic tips for law review and journal members who are getting started with cite-checking, and you can find the presentation here: Download journalcitechecking.ppt

New Internet Meme Would Make Great Law School Final Exam Question

Posted on March 25, 2008
What would you do if you came home one day and found a mob of 30 people looting your home? Robert Salisbury, a Jacksonville, Oregon contractor, faced such a crowd and it appears that the Internet is to blame. Someone...

The Man Behind the Curtain

Posted on March 25, 2008
The ABA Journal's April 2008 cover story on U.S. News & World Report's law school rankings includes an interview with the man who devised the ranking system, Bob Morse. After reading the article, I found out that Bob Morse has...

Google Scholar Indexing HeinOnline Journal Content

Posted on March 25, 2008
WisBlawg reports that you can now find law review article citations from HeinOnline mixed in with your Google Scholar search results. HeinOnline is the "world's largest image-based legal research database" and it features a very large law journal library...

Scalia's Oscar the Grouch Comment

Posted on March 20, 2008
A recent Law.com article notes that Justice Scalia mentioned Oscar the Grouch in his dissenting opinion in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, released last Tuesday. When I was a kid, Oscar the Grouch was my favorite Sesame....

Scientists Re-evaluate Reliability of Child Witnesses.

Posted on March 18, 2008
An entry for the blog ScienceDaily explodes some long held assumptions about the reliability of testimony by child witnesses. Researchers now suggest that child witnesses see and recall events differently from adults. According to the article: "Scientists found that humans...

Meth Labs and Lawsuits

Posted on March 17, 2008
We've all heard of lawsuits over mold infestation or lead contamination within residential properties, but apparently, if you're looking for a new home, you need to worry about more than just mold, old paint, and other maintenance issues. You've also...

Revamping Third Year

Posted on March 12, 2008
Washington and Lee's law school announced recently that it is completely changing the structure of its third year curriculum by replacing all academic courses with experiential courses. According to the school's press release, "traditional classroom instruction will be replaced by...

Nuclear Non-Proliferation ? A New Way Forward from Prof. Jack Garvey

Posted on March 03, 2008
Addressing acknowledged flaws in the consensual regime of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, USF's Professor Jack I. Garvey calls for a New Architecture for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The keystone of the new architecture would be a United Nations Security...

California Supreme Court Hears Arguments Tomorrow in Same Sex Marriage Cases

Posted on March 03, 2008
The San Francisco Chronicle has an extensive article this morning about tomorrow's oral arguments on the same sex marriage cases at the California Supreme Court. Briefs by the parties can be found here. Interested in watching the arguments live? You....

Nuclear Non-Proliferation ??? A New Way Forward from Prof. Jack Garvey

Posted on March 03, 2008
Addressing acknowledged flaws in the consensual regime of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, USF's Professor Jack I. Garvey calls for a New Architecture for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The keystone of the new architecture would be a United Nations Security...

One in 100 Americans Behind Bars -- Pew Report Released

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Chronicle of Higher Education points out in this article that a new report on the US prison population and spending has just been released. The report is the work of the Pew Center of the States and is titled One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008 (click here to link directly to a 37 page ...

Westlaw's KeyRules

Posted on February 29, 2008
Westlaw has released a new tool for litigators called KeyRules.   KeyRules "gathers all applicable rules governing common federal and state court procedures and condenses them" into one document with links to all of the listed rules...

A Flood of Free Federal Appellate Case Law

Posted on February 26, 2008
Suddenly, after years of doing without any decent free source of federal appellate decisions, legal researchers now have least two excellent options: The Public Library of Law (from Fastcase) US Court of Appeals Cases and Opinions (from Justia) Both the Public Library of Law and Justia have federal circuit court cases going back to 1950...

Presentation on Research Strategy & Secondary Sources

Posted on February 25, 2008
Here is a copy of the presentation for students participating in a clinical program: Download ClinicalExternsSpr08.ppt

Helpful Roundup of Law Review Submission Resources

Posted on February 21, 2008
Concurring Opinions has a nice post summarizing some of the online resources for scholars submitting articles to law reviews.  Included are links to online guides to article length restrictions, law review contact info, law review ranking info, and electronic submissions...

The Mother of all Jury Questionnaires

Posted on February 21, 2008
Anne Reed over at Deliberations has posted a proposed jury questionnaire for the upcoming federal corruption trial of former Orange County sheriff Mike Corona, his mistress, and his wife. It's a remarkable document -- because of its length and because of the extraordinarily detailed questions...

So you want to be a law librarian...

Posted on February 15, 2008
You're in law school and intend to complete your J.D., but are not so sure you want to practice law.  You're not alone.  If you're considering alternative careers, give some thought to law librarianship!  Just ask one of the several librarians here at Zief who have made the switch and have no regrets! Anyway, if you're even remotely considering getting a Master's degree in Library & Information Science (required for most professional law librarian jobs), check out the University of Arizona's Law Library Fellowship program...

Valentine's Day

Posted on February 14, 2008
Here is a roundup of notable Valentine's Day posts and news stories: Law and Letters: Against Love, Or At Least The Idea Of It Law Blog: Office Romances & The Law: a Q & A With Ashley Brightwell AP: Radio Station Giving Away Free Divorce.  What a way to observe Valentine's Day! South Carolina Family Law Blog: Valentine's Day Tips to Stay Happily Married CM Law Library Blog: Valentine's Day Research Contest And for you bargain-hunters out there, some recommendations on budget bubbly from the New York Times:  Champagne: How Low Can You Go? Happy Valentine's Day! 

Web 2.0 for Legal Researchers

Posted on February 13, 2008
We're giving a presentation this week on just a few of the Web 2.0 applications that are useful for legal researchers.  You can find a copy of our presentation here: Download Web20LegalResearch.ppt

Successful Statute Searching on Lexis and Westlaw

Posted on February 13, 2008
ZiefBrief has noticed that researchers skilled in other aspects of Lexis and Westlaw struggle at times with statute searching. Diane Murley of Arizona State's Ross-Blakley Law Library must have observed these struggles too, because she's been blogging succinct, invaluable tips for getting the most out of statutes on Lexis and Westlaw...

The US Government Has a Blog.

Posted on February 06, 2008
It seems like everybody, but everybody has a blog these days (including Geoffery Chaucer at the ZiefBrief favorite Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog.) Not wanting to be left out of the fun, the US Government is blogging up a storm at Govgab. This new effort is the product of the Office of Citizen Services and Communications out of the U...

Protections for Workers' Online Recreational Activities

Posted on February 05, 2008
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've heard the story about Anthony Ciolli, a Penn law student who was once "Chief Education Director" for the controversial message board site, AutoAdmit.  Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge withdrew its job offer to Ciolli after the firm discovered that Ciolli was involved in the AutoAdmit controversy...

Kudos to USF IP Publication for Net Neutrality Symposium

Posted on February 05, 2008
As the Internet becomes the major commercial thoroughfare for the American economy and Web 2.0 applications place greater demands on bandwidth, the issue of Net Neutrality is going to become more and more important. For those readers who have been living under a virtual rock, Net Neutrality refers to the struggle between proponents of a ?free? Internet who favor unlimited access versus those who for reasons of maximizing profit or efficiency want to limit (or charge for) access to the Information Superhighway...

HeinOnline Is Blogging!

Posted on January 31, 2008
Need PDF versions of law review articles, sections from the Code of Federal Regulations, or Federal Register pages? Trying to find an older law review article that isn't available on Lexis or Westlaw?  Looking for federal legislative history?  If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, you need HeinOnline, an online resource available to all USF law students, staff, and faculty...

Memo to Associates: Lose the Uggs!

Posted on January 31, 2008
According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, law firm associates are having a hard time figuring out what to wear to the office. The disgruntled partners interviewed for this story told the WSJ that associates are just not getting that suits are still an essential part of good lawyering...

Westlaw Hornbook & Nutshell Initiative Leaves Law Students Out

Posted on January 29, 2008
ZiefBrief was surprised to learn recently that Westlaw now includes some hornbooks and nutshells. (As of today, there are 7 hornbooks, and 16 nutshells ? a tiny percentage of what's available in print.) ZiefBrief was not at all surprised to discover, when we tried to field test these online nutshells and hornbooks, that they are not included in law school subscription plans...

United Nations Treaty Series - Online and Free

Posted on January 29, 2008
The United Nations has quietly eliminated all access fees for its online U.N. Treaty Series. The U.N. Publications office offers this free access via a generic username and password: Username: treaties Password: 12345 To search the treaties, visit the United Nations Treaty Collection, select "Access to Databases"  (near the bottom of the page), then select "United Nations Treaty Series...

Professor Richard Leo's New Book on Police Interrogation

Posted on January 29, 2008
Professor Richard Leo's new book, Police Interrogation and American Justice, will be available from Harvard University Press in February 2008.  Professor Leo "draws on extensive research to argue that confessions are inherently suspect and that coercive interrogation has led to false confession and wrongful conviction...

Handy Guide to Tackling Multi-State Legal Research

Posted on January 24, 2008
If you practice with an institution that represents clients with national or multi-state business activities, you can be sure that, at some point in your career, you'll be asked to "find the laws relating to X legal issue" in a handful of states...

Will Clients Kill the Billable Hour?

Posted on January 03, 2008
It's no secret that most law firm clients hate the billable hour.  Cisco general counsel Mark Chandler recently had this to say about billing by the hour -- "the most fundamental misalignment of interests is between clients who are driven to manage expenses, and law firms which are compensated by the hour...

New Empirical Legal Studies Bibliography

Posted on December 13, 2007
Researchers who are looking for law-related scholarly articles containing substantive empirical studies -- you're in luck!  The Empirical Legal Studies Bibliography is now open for business.  From the Law Librarian Blog (Dec. 5, 2007): "Not officially launched, but now live is the fabulous Empirical Legal Studies Bibliography...

Secret Searching

Posted on December 11, 2007
Ask.com has just announced that you can keep your searches secret on its search engine.  As of today, search engine users can use the AskEraser, located in the top right-hand corner of the Ask.com home page, to delete all search query records.  According to the SF Chronicle's story on the new feature, the AskEraser will eliminate all of your search queries and any related cookies, including IP address and user ID, from Ask...

Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders: A Human Rights Report

Posted on December 10, 2007
Today ZiefBrief celebrates Human Rights Day by featuring Sentencing our Children to Die in Prison: Global Law and Practice [PDF; 51 pages], a newly-released report from the Center for Law and Global Justice here at USF. The report, co-authored by Professor Connie de la Vega and Michelle Leighton, the Center's Director for Human Rights Programs, deals with the practice of sentencing juvenile offenders to life without the possibility of parole ("LWOP")...

Research Epiphanies

Posted on December 07, 2007
Belle Lettre, who blogs at Law and Letters, has a thoughtful post on her research experiences and the importance of libraries.  She notes that online databases like Lexis, Westlaw, and JSTOR are "not so awesome" and that she's rediscovered the efficiency and usefulness of print resources over the past few months...

USF Professor Honigsgberg Adds Expertise to Guantanamo Coverage

Posted on December 06, 2007
No sooner had USF Law Professor Peter Jan Honigsberg returned from attending the oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases than he was asked by the local ABC affiliate to comment. Asked if he thought Guantanamo's combatant status review tribunals are fair he said "Absolutely not...

A Date to Celebrate

Posted on December 05, 2007
I'm a big fan of the New York Times' "On This Day" feature, and as an oenophile, I found today's legal history entry particularly meaningful.  On December 5, 1933, national Prohibition came to an end when Utah ratified the Twenty-First Amendment...

Guantanamo Bay Detainees Cases Heard by the Supreme Court

Posted on December 05, 2007
Intense interest in the Guantanamo detainees' cases of Boumediene v. Bush (06-1195) and Al Odah v. U.S. (06-1196) has led the United States Supreme Court to take the rare step of releasing the audio file of today?s oral argument immediately after the argument...

Lexpionage

Posted on November 26, 2007
Want to know what "precrimination" means?  Or how about "glamping" or "stoozing"?  The Word Spy site tracks usage of new words and phrases in popular media, supplying definitions and examples of how the new word has been used in recent media sources...

Something To Be Thankful For

Posted on November 19, 2007
Westlaw decided to give all legal researchers something to be deeply thankful for this month.  After listening to librarians' pleas for easier access to West Key Numbers on Westlaw for years, West has finally acquiesced, and you can now find a link to West Key Numbers on the main menu at the top of the Westlaw legal research screen...