Legal Research

Breaking News: Cal. Prop. 8 Overturned

Posted on August 04, 2010
In the first case of its kind to go before a federal court, US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that controversial Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional on both due process and equal protection grounds. The decision is...

The Bricks-and-Mortar Zief Library: A Self-Guided Tour

Posted on July 27, 2010
For the new USF law students who want to get acquainted with the layout of the Zief Law Library, we offer a simple PDF self guided tour. Download it now, and if you find yourself nodding off over your casebooks,...

Federal Judge Holds Cheerleading Isn't Sport

Posted on July 22, 2010
A recent federal court decision on whether cheerleading is a sport has made a splash in the legal blogosphere. Since I am mildly obsessed with the intersection between cheerleading and the law (if you're obsessed too, you can check out...

Use of Prison Library Checkout Records in Criminal Proceedings?

Posted on July 21, 2010
We've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus lately due to my shoulder surgery, vacations, and the law librarians' national meeting. I've been catching up on my current awareness reading and saw an interesting article in the NY Times about...

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New Bluebook Edition

Posted on June 18, 2010
The 19th edition of the Bluebook is out! We expect to receive our new copies at Zief any day now. In the meantime, if you're just dying to know what has changed from the 18th edition to the 19th edition,...

The Kindle Reading Experience

Posted on June 15, 2010
I was on the fence about getting a Kindle a year ago, but my husband surprised me with one last fall, and I'm glad that he did. I was doing a lot of traveling between California and the East Coast,...

Technology, Distraction, and the Latest Safari Browser

Posted on June 09, 2010
[Links to items discussed in this post are all gathered at the end, for reasons mentioned in the post itself.] This week the zeitgeist has delivered to ZiefBrief a lot of musing about how our digital life may be affecting...

THOMAS Improvements

Posted on June 03, 2010
The Library of Congress announced some important improvements to THOMAS, the LOC's legislative information website. You can find federal legislation, committee reports, records of floor debates (from the Congressional Record), Congressional committee information, and treaty information on THOMAS...

Brief Writing Tips

Posted on June 01, 2010
Judge Gerald Lebovits has written a fun, tongue-in-cheek guide to writing briefs. Some quotes that warm the heart of a research librarian: Bury the bad cases -- the ones that go against your client's position. If you've found a case...

Cal Bar Website: Past Questions With Sample Answers

Posted on May 18, 2010
We wanted to remind our graduating students who are tackling the bar this summer about the State Bar of California's website, which offers access to almost a decade's worth of past bar exam questions with sample answers. The page includes...

SCOTUS Decision on Juvenile Life Without Parole

Posted on May 17, 2010
The Supreme Court released its opinion today in Graham v. Florida, ruling that juveniles convicted of crimes other than homicide may not be sentenced to life sentences without the possibility of parole. In the 5-4 majority opinion in Graham, Justice....

Surviving Kagan Nomination News Information Overload

Posted on May 11, 2010
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the flood of information about Elena Kagan and her nomination to the Supreme Court, try these sites. They'll give you major news stories, key background information, and some analysis ? all without drowning you. How...

SCOTUSBlog on Kagan

Posted on May 10, 2010
SCOTUSBlog was so confident that President Obama would pick Elena Kagan for the SCOTUS vacancy today that it published an extensive background piece on her two days ago, which includes references to her legal scholarship. I'm also linking to this...

Lexis and Westlaw Summer Access

Posted on April 30, 2010
USF law students and 2010 graduates need to register with Lexis and Westlaw if they want to use Lexis and Westlaw over the summer. There are some restrictions on who can sign up for summer access, and you can find...

New CALI Lesson: CA Primary Sources

Posted on April 30, 2010
UC Davis reference librarian Erin Murphy has created a new CALI lesson to help law students learn more about California legal research. "California Primary Sources" covers the California constitution (often overlooked by new lawyers!), statutes, administrative law, the California court...

Cost-Consciousness and Online Legal Research

Posted on April 26, 2010
Greg Lambert of 3 Geeks and a Law Blog reports that one national firm has ordered any associate "that utilizes or intends to utilize Westlaw" to attend a mandatory Westlaw training session. The impetus for this mandatory training? The firm's...

Lamenting the Lost "Library Voice"

Posted on April 12, 2010
This week is National Library Week, and to celebrate, Zief Library will serve ice cream to the entire USF law school community on the afternoon of Thursday, April 15. Just in time for National Library Week, the NYT Complaint Box...

News Roundup on Justice Stevens' Retirement

Posted on April 09, 2010
SCOTUS Blog has a comprehensive roundup of today's news stories on Justice Stevens' retirement.

Tools to Refine Your Research Skills

Posted on April 08, 2010
The end of the semester is approaching quickly, and many students are starting to look for summer jobs. If you will be doing legal research this summer, it's a good idea to boost your research skills before you start your...

Keith Richards: Librarian at Heart

Posted on April 07, 2010
Keith Richards has always been my favorite Rolling Stone. Mostly because of "Happy" on "Exile on Main Street," which is the best summer driving song ever. So it was heart-warming to read a recent interview with Richards, in which he...

Niche Practice: Marijuana Defense

Posted on April 01, 2010
California Lawyer is on a roll! The April 2010 issue has a fascinating and informative article, High Times in LA, on marijuana defense lawyers and California's murky (or should I say hazy?) medical marijuana laws. A must-read in light of...

Words of Wisdom From CA's Oldest Lawyer

Posted on April 01, 2010
Joseph W. Aidlin will be 100 years old this month, and he still goes to work each day at his law office in Southern California. He has practiced law for 77 years. His advice? ?Don?t try to have everything. Don?t...

NY Times Reviews the iPad

Posted on March 31, 2010
The New York Times just reviewed the iPad in a really useful way. David Pogue's article has a review for "techies" and a review for "everyone else." How do you know if you're a techie? Pogue has three simple questions...

Importance of Public Libraries

Posted on March 31, 2010
There's nothing quite so irksome as meeting people for the first time, telling them you are a librarian, then listening to them declare, "A librarian? But nobody needs libraries or librarians anymore. We have Google and Amazon and the Internet."...

Google Searches in "The Ghost Writer"

Posted on March 22, 2010
A few months ago, I blogged about how watching law-themed movies or TV series with lawyers can be just a wee bit annoying for lay people in the same room with the JDs. I just experienced my first moment of...

SCOTUS Website Redesign

Posted on March 19, 2010
The SCOTUS website received a much-needed redesign - nicely done! I like the prominent, color-coded calendar, and the left-hand navigation is intuitive and gets you where you need to go quickly.

Ethics Opinions on Social Networking

Posted on March 17, 2010
Ken Strutin wrote an interesting article for New York Law Journal, which summarizes recent ethics opinions concerning the ethical issues involved in social networking for judges and attorneys. One of the opinions, written by the South Carolina Advisory Committee on...

Tackling the 50-State Survey Research Project

Posted on March 16, 2010
It happens to most new associates and externs - the dreaded 50-state survey research project. Usually, these projects require you to track down all existing state statutes and regulations on a particular legal issue. The task seems daunting, so how...

:O First-Ever Law Review Title With Emoticon?

Posted on March 11, 2010
The March 2010 issue of the University of Illinois Law Review includes this note, written by Katharine O'Connor: ":O OMG They Searched My Txts: Unraveling the Search and Seizure of Text Messages." I believe that this may be the first...

Mobile Apps for Lawyers & Law Students

Posted on February 24, 2010
Normally, I'm not a big reader of California Lawyer, the monthly magazine that you receive when you're a member of the California bar. But Tom McNichol has a useful article on mobile applications for lawyers that is worth checking out....

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