Legal Research
novalawcity 
Adventures in law and technology at the Shepard Broad Law Center of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Post Frequency: 2.4/day Last Entry: November 19, 2009 at 16:01:11 Recent Entries: 768
Go to novalawcity, find other Legal Research blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Search
Posts
It's OK to Talk About ... The Snitching Blog
Posted on November 19, 2009The Snitching Blog was created by Alexandra Natapoff, a professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She wants it to be "a comprehensive resource on criminal informants ...[covering] legal developments, legislation, news stories, cultural reactions, commentary and...
Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals
Posted on November 19, 2009Media Alerts on Federal Courts of Appeals is a pilot project of the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judicial improvements. The website currently offers summaries of noteworthy cases from the Third, Fifth and Ninth Circuits, with plans to expand coverage...
Newspaper Archive of Florida
Posted on November 06, 2009The full-text collection of Florida newspapers hosted by UF is a rich source of articles and research, and free to the public. Newspapers.
Reaction to Berring
Posted on November 04, 2009Some strong reaction to the Free Legal Information comments of Berring are discussed here.
YouTube Videos and Webcasts from the United Nations
Posted on November 03, 2009The United Nations offers a channel on YouTube, "featur[ing] videos on a wide range of global topics including current news, peace and security, social and economic development, human rights and climate change." If you're a member of YouTube, you can...
A Snap-shot of South Florida Law Firms
Posted on October 29, 2009South Florida firms are cutting in many areas in the new economy: "Flat is the new up." LAW
Bar Passage rates in Japan
Posted on October 28, 2009The new graduate-level law schools are averaging a 27% pass rates, up from the traditional 3%. Asahi
US Code section that doesn't exist
Posted on October 22, 20098 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii) doesn't exist, even though it was cited by a Sheriff. The story highlights the uses and abuses of electronic legal databases. LII
National Jurist's Newest LLM Guide online
Posted on October 15, 2009With 223 LLM programs a good online guide is a must. LLM
Law in a Nutshell in a Nutshell
Posted on October 09, 2009West is making some of its most popular titles available for downloading to Kindle and the Kindle app for iPhone and the IPod touch. Such blockbusters as Federal Income Taxation, 11th ed., Immigration Law and Procedure in a Nutshell, 5th...
FAMU Law after full Accreditation
Posted on October 05, 2009The article "Optimism rules at FAMU law school since accreditation" looks at the law school and a sense of renewed progress. Story
Need an Earlier Edition of the United States Code?
Posted on October 02, 2009Anyone looking for an earlier edition of the United States Code should be aware of the wonderful resource now offered as part of our HeinOnline subscription. The United States Code Collection begins with the 1925-1926 edition - compare Westlaw, which...
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Posted on October 01, 2009Winning a million dollar verdict will qualify a lawyer to join this exclusive trial advocacy group. $$$
Summary of Google Books Settlement Filings To Date
Posted on September 30, 2009Looking for a source to help you make sense of the multitude of filings related to the Google Books settlement proceedings? ARL (Association of Research Libraries) Law and Policy Fellow Brandon Butler has compiled a very helpful chart of these...
Banned Books Week 2009
Posted on September 29, 2009This week is Banned Books Week (BBW). Started in 1982, BBW draws attention to the problem of censorship and celebrates our freedom to read. Check out the BBW website, where you can find an annotated list of the 10 most...
Dictation
Posted on September 29, 2009Lawyers infrequently use this technique today. My first law firm job was the last place I used this, and I remember it fondly. The lost art is discussed in this article.
For those 1Ls just learning to use Wexis
Posted on September 25, 2009Valuable instruction in constructing a subject search from David E. Mills at Courtoons
Grant to spur supercomputing network
Posted on September 25, 2009FutureGrid is born: Grant to spur supercomputing network .
Men's and Women's Earnings by State: 2008 American Community Survey
Posted on September 23, 2009The American Community Survey, a program of the U.S. Census Bureau, has just issued a report on the results of the 2008 survey of women's and men's earnings by state. The report "presents data on men?s and women?s earnings at...
Looking at the cost of Online Legal Research
Posted on September 23, 2009ABA Journal reports on a survey of law firm librarians and the electronic monitoring of database usage to lower costs. ABA
Colbert's Take on Corporate Political Speech
Posted on September 19, 2009The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cThe Word - Let Freedom Ka-Chingwww.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care Protests
International Day of Peace, 21 September 2009
Posted on September 18, 2009"On 13 June 2009, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a multiplatform campaign under the slogan WMD ? We Must Disarm to mark the 100-day countdown leading up to the International Day of Peace ... The International Day of Peace, observed each...
'Climate Week NY°C' Starts September 20
Posted on September 17, 2009From Climate Week NY°C's website: During the week of September 20th, 2009, hundreds of government and business leaders from around the world will converge upon New York City for a series of high-level meetings and events focused on the most...
Mentoring Picnic Gets Noticed
Posted on September 17, 2009The 2009 Mentoring Picnic sponsored by the Shepard Broad Law Center Career Development office and the NSU Law Alumni Association was featured in The Florida Bar News for September 15. The picnic at the Shepard Broad Law Center brought law...
Spell Checker Poem
Posted on September 16, 2009I have a spelling checker, It came with my pea see; It plainly marks four my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I've run this poem threw it, I'm sure your please too no, It's letter perfect in its weight, My...
2008-2009 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study now online
Posted on September 16, 2009Hat tip to the FL-LIB listserv for forwarding this gem... The American Library Association (ALA) released a new report today on the technology opportunities and challenges faced by U.S. public libraries in the wake of the economic recession. "Libraries Connect...
Case Briefs online
Posted on September 16, 2009Quimbee is amassing a case briefs database and offering money for new writers. It should be something to watch.
Corporate Man on the March
Posted on September 15, 2009In an article in the Wall Street Journal titled The Chance for a Free Speech Do-Over, the attorney for Citizens United raises the horrifying possibility that corporations and unions could be sent to jail for five years for broadcasting candidate...
Externships have new status
Posted on September 15, 2009Externships are rising in popularity at law schools as a way for law students of gaining experience and making connections in this difficult job market. Story
ProfHacker: Tips and Tutorials for Higher Ed
Posted on September 14, 2009ProfHacker.com is a new online resource, edited by Jason B. Jones of Central Connecticut State University, and George H. Williams of the University of South Carolina Upstate. As their masthead explains, "Monday through Friday, ProfHacker delivers tips, tutorials, and commentary...
Would you like a little Xanax with that fill-up?
Posted on September 11, 2009According to some court watchers, the Supreme Court appears set to unleash a massive wave of corporate political speech. In an unusual move, the court ordered a re-hearing of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The case was a challenge...
2009 Government Secrecy Report Card released
Posted on September 08, 2009Issued annually by OpenTheGovernment.org since 2004, the Secrecy Report Card measures certain indicators related to openness and transparency in the federal government. The current report is available here.
They're gonna find out who's naughty and nice
Posted on September 04, 2009The Florida Board of Bar Examiners will be checking the Facebook and other social networking sites of bar applicants who: are required to establish, under 3-13(d) of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar, that...
Stimulus Checks used to serve warrants in Ft. Lauderdale
Posted on September 03, 2009Findlaw covers the police ruse incorporating bogus stimulus checks that nabbed 76 individuals recently. Findlaw
Math Majors score the Highest LSATs
Posted on September 01, 2009See the full ranked list of majors and LSAT scores from TaxProf Blog. My own major, history, had a respectable showing! Commentary at ATL.
For Those of You Concerned About the Effects of Swine Flu
Posted on August 28, 2009We offer for your consideration The Eye of the Beholder.
Legal Forms
Posted on August 27, 2009Many law library patrons are in need of a form. This blog post from Justice/e-learning provides a good list of free or nearly free form websites to choose from: Forms. tip: Futurelawyer
Trouble concentrating? Blame your media habits
Posted on August 26, 2009An article in Wired Science discusses a study which identified a connection between multi-tasking behavior (simultaneously watching TV, reading e-mail, browsing the web and talking on the phone) and an inability to concentrate. When self-identified multi-taskers were tested on a...
Why Many Federal Bills Go Nowhere
Posted on August 26, 2009Less than a percent of bills find their way into Law; the process and how to spot the winners are in this intriguing OpenCongress post.
Florida Public Records and Public Meetings in the Sunshine
Posted on August 25, 2009From our friends at OpenTheGovernment.org: The First Amendment Foundation announced dates for one day training session on Florida's public records and public meetings requirements. All attendees also receive a Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual, which contains the most current Florida public records and...
Japan's Jury Experiment
Posted on August 24, 2009Japan's first jury trial in 60 years is detailed in this interesting article from the Jurist.
Rules for Using Law Library Reference
Posted on August 21, 2009Thanks to Mary Rumsey, Foreign, Comparative & International Law Librarian at the University of Minnesota.
Own Your Own Information
Posted on August 21, 2009Everybody has a Facebook page these days. Even the Law Library and Technology Center has a Facebook page. Facebook claims more than 250 million "active users." There are lots of networking benefits attached to a Facebook page, but there is...
Legal Publishing in Trouble?
Posted on August 20, 2009The article 'Trouble in Dayton' suggests so. The high profits of Reed Elseiver (owners of Lexis Nexis) may be unsustainable.
Congratulations, FAMU! College of Law Wins ABA Accreditation
Posted on August 19, 2009The ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar granted full accreditation to the public university law school on July 30. The law school, which opened to students in 2002 and gained provisional accreditation in...
United Nations' International Day of Peace, September 21, 2009
Posted on August 18, 2009Since 1981, the United Nations has been promoting an International Day of Peace (IDP) as a ?day of global ceasefire and non-violence". This year, leading up to the September 21 observance, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon started a campaign with the...
Future Web 2.0: Google Wave
Posted on August 13, 2009A wave will be a hybrid email, wiki, and IM all in one. The video and description of this latest Google effort is here.
The President's Reading List
Posted on August 12, 2009A list of books President Obama has been reading is compiled in this list by the Daily Beast.
Excellent Discussion of Network Neutrality
Posted on August 11, 2009If you know what network neutrality is about, you should read this blog post by Carrie Lowe. It originally appeared in Save the Internet's blog, but I read it in District Dispatch blog from the Washington Office of the American...
Complete Law Papers of Lincoln online
Posted on August 07, 2009The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln can be searched in full-text. Images of the cases, letters, and memos are organized into subject and by jurisdiction. Tip: find the one case Abe argued before the US Supreme Court. LPAL
Thinking, And Acting, Like a Lawyer
Posted on August 07, 2009Readers of Novalawcity may recall a previous post about Paul Lippe's critique of legal education in the United States. Along those lines, a symposium called "It's More than Grades: Matching Law School Preparation with Employers' Needs" was conducted at the...
GovTwit (!)
Posted on August 04, 2009I think I would have favored the name GovTweet, but GovTwit - "the Government Twitter Directory ... of 2,217 Twitter users, 60,295 tweets and 20,879,938 followers" - is still a useful site. The site was started in late 2008 by...
LexTweet
Posted on August 03, 2009Check out LexTweet , a Twitter feed which allows you to follow members of the legal community who use Twitter to discuss the law. The Tweeters there post a variety of interesting links, whatever catches their interest in their legal...
FreelanceLaw.com
Posted on July 31, 2009Still in beta, FreelanceLaw.com is "A national database of freelance attorneys, paralegals, and other legal professionals, offering their services to law firms on an independent contractor basis." It was founded by San Diego lawyer Melody A. Kramer, and reports over...
Exciting New, Drug-Free Soporific
Posted on July 31, 2009From the inimitable David E. Mills, at Courtoons.
The Scoop on Lawyers and Law Firms on Facebook
Posted on July 31, 2009The rising number of lawyers & firms using Facebook is clear from this list at JD Scoop.
Activity for an Idle Summer Day
Posted on July 30, 2009Vote for your favorite legal TV show at the ABA Journal's website. Hat tip to Law Librarian Blog.
Tell Me What You See
Posted on July 29, 2009There's a controversy, chronicled in the New York Times, over the posting, on Wikipedia, of the famous Rorschach ink blots, along with the most commonly given responses. Opponents of the posting argue that this amounts to a virtual cheat sheet...
Bivens to Twombly to Ashcroft
Posted on July 21, 2009The Supreme Court has changed the rules in the game of federal civil litigation, according to Justice Ginsburg. From merely requiring a "short and plain statement of the claim" Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2), the court in Ashcroft v. Iqbal...
Peek-a-Boo! Facebook, and 950,000 Others, See You
Posted on July 19, 2009The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which has a strong mandate to protect the privacy of Canadian citizens under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, has determined that Facebook impermissibly discloses personal information to third-party developers...
Examining Legal Issues In Michael Jackson's Will
Posted on July 15, 2009Legal experts discuss the estate and will of Michael Jackson in this Lawyer2Lawyer Podcast.
Peking University 'Law School' & Legal Research
Posted on July 14, 2009Interesting report from the only Chinese law school seeking ABA accreditation. Legal Current
Laws & Legal Heritage of Florida
Posted on July 10, 2009From the Scout Report: The Florida Law Collections document the laws and legal heritage of Florida through a wide range of texts digitized from the holdings of the University of Florida's Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center, the State Library, and...
An Interesting Twist on the States' Rights Argument
Posted on July 09, 2009Considering who usually makes states' rights arguments, it's intriguing to read that the Attorney General of the State of Massachusetts has filed suit against the federal government. Her claim is that the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally interferes with...
A Treat for Wills, Estates and Trusts Lawyers
Posted on July 07, 2009Here is a link to Michael Jackson's will. Hat tip to Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog.
FAMU Law School closer to full accreditation
Posted on July 07, 2009FAMU Law in Orlando is nearing full ABA accreditation. Story
LawCite - an emerging International Citator
Posted on July 06, 2009LawCite takes cases and journal articles and provides citing reference with links in full text. The world-wide coverage enables a researcher to see where the case or journal article is being used in the world's courts. LawCite is sponserd by...
Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt, and Still Not a Lawyer
Posted on July 02, 2009Finding that he had too much delinquent student loan debt, a five judge panel in New York has held that a New York Bar applicant is ineligible for bar membership. The court held that the would-be lawyer did not possess...
Just in Time for the Fourth, News from the SCOTUS
Posted on July 02, 2009SCOTUSblog has released its report on October term, 2008. Among other things, the report shows how many times each Justice voted with the majority, how many decisions each justice wrote, the ideological alignment of each justice, the court's work load,...
Financial Institutions Fight Creation of Consumer Financial Protection Agency - Wonder Where the Money in Their War Chest Came From?
Posted on July 01, 2009The White House has sent a plan to create a new agency, to be known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to Congress. Whereas now, the enforcement of consumer protection measures is fragmented among the agencies which regulate the various...
Free Alternative to ExpressO
Posted on June 26, 2009LexOpus is a new service from Washington and Lee Law School which allows authors to electronically submit a work to a sequence of law journals they have selected. See the list of participating journals, which includes the Nova Law Review,...
IORG - Beginning to Deal With Information Overload
Posted on June 25, 2009Is information overload a part of your daily work and home life? Then you'll be glad to know that someone's doing something about it! Several someones, as a matter of fact, have banded together to form the Information Overload Research...
Nonlawyer Participation in Legal Firms
Posted on June 25, 2009Contrary to what Peter Lippe believes (see previous Novalawcity blog post), law faculty are not always focused on theoretical topics that are irrelevant to the practice of law. An article soon to be published in the Indiana Law Journal v....
Law School and Medical School - Apples and Oranges?
Posted on June 24, 2009The AmLaw Daily has a thought-provoking piece about the illogic of the current pedagogical method used in law schools. That method, according to author Paul Lippe, results in graduates with a lot of debt but few skills that are useful...
Law School Contest
Posted on June 23, 2009For the second year the Access Group is sponsoring a contest for law students. The One Less Worry Contest offers a grand prize of $10,000 for a law student willing and able to place a video on You Tube about...
All Sotomayor, All the Time
Posted on June 23, 2009The Law Library of Congress has added material by and about Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, to its website. Resources include PDFs of her two previous confirmation hearings, a pointer to the decisions she has written....
Student Loans Capped and Forgiven, if You Quailfy
Posted on June 22, 2009July 1st new options for student loans come into effect. Many could save thousands of dollars under the new College Cost Reduction and Access Act. Horrah! Law.com
Need a Wake-Up Call?
Posted on June 22, 2009Go to KuKu Klok online alarm clock, and use the 24-hour clock to set the alarm, which comes in Classic Clock, Cockerel, Electronic and Slayer Guitar. This could be useful to avoid dozing on the job on a rainy Monday...
Senate saves Cash for Clunkers, remains in war-spending bill
Posted on June 19, 2009Senate saves Cash for Clunkers, remains in war-spending bill Shared via AddThis
THELAW.NET
Posted on June 17, 2009This now-venerable tool for lawyers, found at TheLaw.net, looks like a useful, cost-effective research source for the practicing bar. It usefulness positions it as a low-cost rival to Westlaw and LexisNexis. Costs range from $575 annually for 1 lawyer to...
Any Club that Would Have Someone Like Me as a Member
Posted on June 16, 2009It's interesting, and somewhat cheering, to read that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is having to defend her membership in an all-female networking club. I was recently re-reading Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, and it begins by identifying the...
Customize Your Search Using Google
Posted on June 15, 2009Google has a feature that lets you cut down on the sometimes overwhelming number of results you get from a query. It can be useful if yours is a specialized area of research and you want to exclude irrelevant sites...
USGovernment Channel on YouTube
Posted on June 13, 2009Click refresh for a video on new media for the Federal Government.
Bing Has Lots of Microsoft Bling
Posted on June 12, 2009I have to say that I began looking at Bing , Microsoft's attempt to become a search destination rather than an accidental tourist repellent ("Oh no, I'm using the MSN search function, what happened to my Google Search Bar?"), predisposed...
Kindle reviews
Posted on June 12, 2009If you love your K2 like I do read this: Amazon.com Kindle DX | Wired.com Product Reviews Posted using ShareThis
Summer Travelers - Don't Czech Your Bags for Prague!
Posted on June 12, 2009Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport
The Name Game
Posted on June 11, 2009The view of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor that is emerging is a salutary reminder that the labels "conservative" and "liberal" often obscure more than they reveal. The videos she released to the Senate Judiciary Committee reveal her to be...
Bankruptcy and Hockey: The Phoenix Coyotes
Posted on June 09, 2009The NHL Constitution and rules are cited in this article about the Bankruptcy Court Proceedings over the insolvent Coyotes. NHL.com
Chapter 11, General Motors, and Law Library Sightings in the News
Posted on May 29, 2009Thanks to my C-SPAN addiction, I found myself in thrall to this morning's Washington Journal, most notably a fascinating segment (starting at 32:32) regarding the General Motor's bankruptcy announcement expected on Monday. Law Professor John Pottow from the University of...
Law Library of Congress Resource on Sonia Sotomayor
Posted on May 28, 2009Law Library of Congress Legal Reference Specialist Emily Carr has announced a new resource for information on recent Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. This resource page includes "information on articles and books by Sotomayor, Congressional documents, cases, and web resources...
Florida State Attorney office tags Files and Personnel with RFID
Posted on May 23, 2009The RFID Journal reports that using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on each of the 21,000 files in the State Attorney's Offices in the 15th Circuit Court results in improved case management and cost reductions. RFID Journal.
New Blog Tracking US Supreme Court Justice Nomination Process
Posted on May 23, 2009The Ninth Justice blog focuses on the latest news and analysis in the search for a new Justice. Updated on an almost hourly basis. See: Ninth Justice.
TCM movie clip: I Am the Law
Posted on May 20, 2009Law Professor played by Edward G. Robinson lectures his class on the perils of the Sabbatical in the 1938 movie "I am the Law." Clip
Shepard Broad LLTC's Own Rob Hudson Assumes Interim Directorship
Posted on May 19, 2009It's a pleasure to announce that Rob Hudson, LLTC Head of Public Services, will become Interim Director on June 5, when our current Director, Lisa Smith-Butler, leaves to become associate dean for Library and Information Technology at Charleston School of...
The Brits Bring Us a Treaty Index with FLARE
Posted on May 19, 2009There is a new, free website called the FLARE Index to Treaties which indexes more than 1500 multilateral treaties, beginning from 1856. Launched in March, it is the work of the Foreign Law Research Group, based in Britain. It allows...
Law School Web Innovators
Posted on May 19, 2009Some creative website projects from Law Schools around the country are examined in this National Law Journal article. Some favorites are the ABI Bankruptcy Case Blog at St. John's Law and the The Codicil at Texas Tech Law.
Want a Web Site that Does Calculus?
Posted on May 18, 2009Have I got a site for you! Try Wolfram|Alpha . It's a whiz at math, and knows where all your genes are (handy if you habitually keep them in a pile on your bedroom floor). It can tell you the...
Designers of the New FDsys Site Open to User Input
Posted on May 15, 2009The other day I blogged about FDsys and quickly received an email from Carrie Gibb, Market Research Manager from the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Her email solicited any specific feedback I might have about the new website. Spurred...
The Spirit of Anita Bryant's Anti-Gay Crusade Lives On
Posted on May 14, 2009A group called the Liberty Counsel has filed suit against the Florida Bar Board of Governors disputing the Board's decision to allow the Florida Family Law Section to file an amicus brief. The brief is in support of Eleventh Judicial...
Confessions of an E-Book Reader
Posted on May 13, 2009I have a Kindle, first generation. In many ways, I love it ? it?s light; Kindle books are often less than half as expensive as the print kind; it saves trees; and perhaps most importantly for the impulse buyer, you...
A Rant on an Unlikely Subject
Posted on May 07, 2009I'm not one given to casting stones at the efforts of the government to keep us informed electronically, but a change is under way that is very disturbing. GPO Access, one of the stars in the free electronic resources firmament,...
Professor Obama's view on the Court
Posted on May 06, 2009A recent New York Times article on the President focuses on his days teaching law and his views on the Court by the people that knew him. NYT. HT: Faculty Lounge
Women in the Law 2008
Posted on May 05, 2009The ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession has published A Current Glance at Women in the Law 2008. The pie charts and graphs give an overview of the percentage of women's involvement in all areas of the profession, from...
Who Would You Choose?
Posted on May 05, 2009Today's New York Times has an interactive feature that lets you play President for the day by choosing your favorite from among the potential nominees to fill the spot on the SCOTUS that Justice Souter will vacate in June. After...
A History of West Publishing & Westlaw
Posted on May 04, 2009Everything you wanted to know about John West, West Publishing, Westlaw, and how a small company from Eagan MN became a Global Information Business is in the City Pages article: "Westlaw rises to legal publishing fame by selling free information."...
THOMAS Launches Its First RSS Feed
Posted on May 01, 2009THOMAS has launched its first RSS feed. The feed consists of the Daily Digest which is being added to the family of other RSS feeds from the Law Library of Congress: THOMAS: Daily Digest: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/rss/dd.xml Current Legal Topics: http://www...
From the Department of Hypochondriasis
Posted on May 01, 2009In the category of things you didn't know were there, but now will find endlessly, morbidly absorbing, is Google's Flu trends and now, Google's Experimental flu trends for Mexico. Google created the latter in a spirit of helpfulness, at the...
Souter to Head Home to New Hampshire?
Posted on May 01, 2009Justice David Souter appears poised to leave the Supreme Court before the October term begins. Appointed by the first President Bush, he has been a reliable upholder of reproductive rights throughout his tenure. He joined the minority in dissenting from...
Link to Today's Federal Register
Posted on April 29, 2009If you need to keep up with the Federal Register day-to-day, bookmark Today's Issue of the Federal Register
Florida Bar News Publishes Story on Shepard Broad Event
Posted on April 29, 2009Today's Florida Bar News has an article about the recent conversation between George McGovern and Shepard Broad's Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law, John Anderson. The two former presidential candidates met for an exchange of views at an event in the...
Am Law 100 2009
Posted on April 29, 2009According to an article summarizing the American Lawyer's new Am Law 100 survey results, 2008 (the year covered by the 2009 report) was the first year since 1991 that both average profits per partner and revenue per lawyer dropped. The...
Golf and Law: A legal duty to yell 'fore' before a shot?
Posted on April 28, 2009A New York Court considered the question recently. Law.com
Search with RedZee
Posted on April 27, 2009RedZee search engine displays thumbnails of websites results in a graphical arch of information. Warning: Addictive. Check out the Beta RedZee.
As You Head Into Exams, Enjoy a Look Back at How Far You've Come Since
Posted on April 24, 2009...the first day of CONTRACTS!
Social Networking for Law Students
Posted on April 24, 2009Want to know what it feels like to be a 3L, a tax lawyer or (shudder) a law professor? Check out Top 100 Twitter Feeds for Law Students. Somewhere in this disparate bunch, you're guaranteed to find a stimulating/informative twitterer...
U.S. Government Printing Office Launches New Digital System
Posted on April 23, 2009The Public Printer of the United States, Robert Tapella, today announced the public beta launch of the Government Printing Office's new information management tool for US documents, FDsys. An acronym for Federal Digital System, FDsys currently allows users to access...
Interested in News from Law Schools?
Posted on April 21, 2009Law School Headlines aggregates legal education news from a variety of sources and places it all in one readable blog. New! Law School Headlines
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons..."
Posted on April 19, 2009Many states are now taking DNA samples from people convicted of misdemeanors. DNA is being collected from adolescents who find their way into the hands of the police. California takes DNA upon arrest. This month, the FBI begins taking DNA...
New, Free Online Source for Transnational Commercial Law
Posted on April 16, 2009TransLex.org is a project of CENTRAL, the University of Cologne Law School's research center for transnational commercial law ("lex mercatoria"). The center also focuses on private dispute resolution in international business, including mediation and arbitration...
Calling Names
Posted on April 15, 2009President Obama has made his first judicial nomination, naming federal district court judge David Hamilton as his pick to fill a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Most would view him as a moderate,...
Those who do not learn their lesson from past bailouts
Posted on April 14, 2009Pro Publica has an intriguing site examining the history of government bailouts. By means of varying sized circles, they compare the size of the bailouts, in today's dollars. TARP wins, hands down, but the Savings & Loan bailout of 1989...
They used to call them the nine old men...
Posted on April 13, 2009But since Justice O'Connor stormed the formerly all-male bastion that was the United States Supreme Court, that moniker is no longer appropriate. Paul D. Carrington, writing in The New York Times, draws our attention to the "old" part, though. He...
Following RIAA Lawsuits...
Posted on April 09, 2009Today's props go to Ray Beckerman for his ongoing coverage of the RIAA's attempts to monopolize digital music and redefine copyright law. Follow the latest developments via his blog, aptly named The Recording Industry vs The People. Said blog includes...
FACEBOOK now boasts over 200 Million users
Posted on April 08, 2009This astonishing news means another milestone in the Web 2.0 saga. TechCrunch has more.
Are Florida Courts running debtors' prisons?
Posted on April 07, 2009The Florida court system got a write-up in today's New York Times The courts have adopted a forceful policy to collect unpaid court costs and fines. And by forceful, they mean jail time for failing to pay. Florida courts are...
From the ABA: U.S. Lawyer/Presidents Coloring and Activity Book
Posted on April 07, 2009A gift for lawyers of all ages. ABA
Freeze, Evildoer! Put down that Fruit Bat and put your hands up!
Posted on April 06, 2009Bet you thought, as I did, that the initials EPA stood for Easily Pushed around and Abject. However, the agency is flexing some new muscle, showing that it takes environmental crimes seriously. There is now an EPA Fugitives List which,...
What Happens When Everybody Knows What You're Thinking
Posted on April 03, 2009Thanks to David Mills, of Courtoons! And a hat tip to Joe Hodniki, at Law Librarian Blog.
Chapter III, Article 19 of the Japanese Constitution...
Posted on April 03, 2009...is the section that guarantees that "Freedom of thought and conscience shall not be violated." However, the Tokyo District Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by 172 teachers who were "disciplined" for their failure to join in singing the national anthem...
The Long Arm of Spanish Law
Posted on April 03, 2009The Association for the Dignity of Prisoners has filed a criminal complaint in Spain against the attorneys in the Bush administration who were behind the creation of the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The complaint seeks to hold the attorneys responsible...
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Law Blog
Posted on April 02, 2009Blog pick: the CAM law blog covers regulation & litigation of issues such as dietary supplements, holistic treatments, spas, acupuncture, yoga, massage, meditation, insurance coverage and health licenses.
Will Conficker-Created Botnet Wreak Havoc on April 1?
Posted on April 01, 2009Malware that has infected more than 12 million computers around the world since October is poised to strike today. It is designed to lash together the infected computers into a hugely powerful supercomputer. The aims of its unknown author(s) are...
Qualcomm Announces New Device-Free Wireless in Your Hand
Posted on April 01, 2009Check out this revolutionary new technology at HandSolo Not only do you get connectivity everywhere, but you get a myriad of useful features, including "high five" call transfer and "your voice" volume control. Watch the video!
Fooling around with forms...
Posted on April 01, 2009Every time a pro se asks to see our extensive "forms collection" (ha!), I offer a silent 'thank you' to law librarian Margaret Berkland for her continual maintainance of the Court Rules, Forms and Dockets database available via LLRX.com. The...
Presidential Libraries: NARA Seeks Public Input
Posted on March 27, 2009The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is currently seeking input regarding the development of alternative models for Presidential Libraries. The public is invited to submit comments and suggestions regarding cost effective ways to modify the present system for archiving...
Blogging with the O-Man, Remembering FDR
Posted on March 26, 2009Hey, hip kids! Wanna discourse in real time with the President? Well, now you can! President Obama's first Online Town Hall meeting took place today. Read the transcript of the trial run of Open For Questions and savor the historical...
Learn Computational Mechanics of Materials in Your Spare Time
Posted on March 26, 2009Emerging technologies librarian extraordinaire Meg Kribble, formerly of this address, has been Tweeting about MIT Open Courseware. The initiative at MIT to put all of their graduate and undergraduate course materials online has been in place since 2002...
What Not To Do In The Courtroom: The Broward County Edition
Posted on March 26, 2009Although the defendant was not wearing short-shorts, another clearcut case of "What Not To Do In The Courtroom" unfurled on March 24th when a domestic violence defendant physically attacked his victim in front of Broward County Judge Ian Richards. Elected...
Libraries and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Posted on March 25, 2009Visit the State Library and Archives of Florida?s Economic Recovery Wiki for additional information about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). See how libraries are involved and contribute information on what your library and community are doing...
Forget the stock market -- Invest in Libraries!
Posted on March 23, 2009Don't believe me? Then ask State Librarian of Florida Judith A. Ring who sent out the following stats in regards to the significant role that Florida libraries play in supporting the economy through services such as résumé building, online job...
WorldCat - Cataloging Library Catalogs
Posted on March 23, 2009WorldCat provides access to library catalogs nationally and internationally that are part of the OCLC system. It is a good place to locate materials and find local library holdings.
New Federal FOIA Guidelines Bring Back Presumption of Openness
Posted on March 23, 2009Today's props go to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for issuing an official memo detailing FOIA guidelines that support the transparency in government initiatives set forth by President Obama. Said memo effectively rescinds the guidelines issued on Oct...
US Department of Lost and Found
Posted on March 20, 2009U.S. Department of Lost and Found: Umbrellas and Sweaters
Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 and the AIG Bonuses
Posted on March 20, 2009Stung by public outrage at the bonuses awarded AIG executives, Congress has passed a confiscatory, 90% tax on bonuses of those earning more than $250,000 a year at firms that have accepted at least $5 billion in bailout funds. At...
Spokeo: search engine for social networks
Posted on March 18, 2009Spokeo is a new tool for searching people and their activities within social networks, from Facebook to Twitter. Web 2.0 is not private.
Obama's March Madness Picks
Posted on March 18, 2009See: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/18/March-Madness-At-the-White-House/
Changes to West's Key Number System
Posted on March 17, 2009From the West Librarian Relations Update, 3/17/09: Changes to the Topic & Key Number System On March 1, West released significant changes to the Key Number System. Attorney editors have completed the reclassification of over 300,000 headnotes. The improvements include...
Notario Fraud: ABA
Posted on March 16, 2009The ABA established a 'notario fraud' page to report abuse in immigration legal services. Unlike the US, in many countries Notaries are lawyers and a very few use this to misrepresent to immigrants that they can provide legal services. ABA
An "It's Almost Friday" Friday Funny
Posted on March 12, 2009For anyone who's ever tried to re-design a website bigger than five pages - especially with a committee.
Budding Lawyers May Need to Show More Than Smarts
Posted on March 12, 2009A study funded by the Law School Admissions Council, which administers the LSAT, aims at developing a new test which would test for something called "effectiveness." The idea is to be able to predict, not just how well would-be attorneys...
Department of Novel Ideas
Posted on March 10, 2009I bet a lot of people are slapping their foreheads and wondering why they didn't think of this first. The Sunlight Foundation, the organization whose mission it is to use the Internet to make government more transparent to the people,...
Obama Directs Agencies to Consult AG Before Relying on Bush's Signing Statements
Posted on March 09, 2009The New York Times has a story on Presidential signing statements. Signing statements are the controversial statements accompanying a Presidential signature of a law passed by Congress, which state that a portion of that law is unconstitutional and the President...
Senate and House YouTube Channels
Posted on March 09, 2009The US Senate and House of Representatives have YouTube Channels. Video of House Representatives or Senators is organized by State and Last Name. See for example the personal YouTube Channels of the Senators from Florida, Mel Martinez & Bill Nelson...
Trends in Law School Applications Nationwide
Posted on March 06, 2009Law school application levels and future projections are discussed at the National Law Journal.
Librarians, Working to Put the World In Order, Or At Least to Make It Messy In An Interesting Way
Posted on February 28, 2009Something Old, Something New, Something Complimentary for You
Posted on February 25, 2009Curious if your favorite Thomson West publication has a new edition on the horizon? Check out the West Academic Faculty Online Store. A keyword or advanced search will alert you to newer editions and estimated dates of availability. Professors can...
Can't Find a Job? How Does Agency Administrator Sound?
Posted on February 25, 2009Despite the chilling news about the lack of jobs in academia in our current hard times, it appears that there are still opportunities for legal academics. This article in The National Law Journal details the nomination of JD's with academic...
Florida Bar Selling Members' Email
Posted on February 25, 2009Florida Bar membership has some drawbacks - including email spam linked to the practice of selling member information to third parties. ABA Journal
Florida's Rocket-Docket
Posted on February 23, 2009Florida foreclosure hearings lasting only 15-20 seconds are featured in the WSJ article.
The Supreme Court Hit Parade
Posted on February 20, 2009Here's a trivia question for you lawyers in our reading audience. Which Supreme Court case leads the list of those most-cited, according to HeinOnline's citation metrics? No peeking, now. It's Brown v. Board of Education, followed closely by Roe v....
Facebook Users Face Off with Facebook
Posted on February 20, 2009Faced with the ire of thousands of users who objected to the social networking site's new policy on ownership of user-posted content, Facebook has done an about-face. They have dropped the changes they made to their terms of use, and...
"Why Minnesota 2008 Is Not Florida 2000"
Posted on February 18, 2009Edward B. Foley, director of Ohio State University's Election Law @ Moritz, has posted a very interesting analysis of the current contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for Minnesota's senate seat. Among other points, he argues that, unlike the....
Your Life, a Facebook Production
Posted on February 17, 2009Exploiting the nearly universal tendency of end users to click on through terms of service without bothering to read them, the social networking site, Facebook, has changed theirs in a disturbing way. They now provide that even if you terminate...
A Bit of Comic Relief for Those of Us at Work on President's Day
Posted on February 16, 2009Hat tip to Law Librarian Blog.
American Lawyer Comments on the Job Market
Posted on February 13, 2009American Lawyer discusses BigLaw unemployment and future trends this year. AmLaw
The Complete Stimulus Bill
Posted on February 12, 2009Every amendment, version, and vote on the economic stimulus package in Congress is available at the website ReadTheStimulus.org.
Books We Hope President Obama Will Read
Posted on February 11, 2009Shepard Broad Law Center's own Joel Mintz has written a chapter on how the United States has dealt with hazardous waste in an important new book, Agenda for a Sustainable America, edited by John C. Dernbach. Professor Mintz's chapter, titled...
See your name in the Next Grisham novel
Posted on February 10, 2009West is sponsoring a cool contest with John Grisham to name a character in his next novel with the proceeds to go to the Innocence Project. Put your name in the Grisham inspired video to see, or look at the...
Plea Agreements from US District Court to be on PACER
Posted on February 09, 2009The Southern District Court of Florida Judge Moreno ordered this beginning Feb 20th, 2009. Details
Most-Cited Legal Scholars, from HeinOnline's Law Journal Library
Posted on February 06, 2009This list, which arguably provides a look at which legal scholars are the most influential, is headed by Richard Posner, Cass Sunstein and Richard Epstein. Further down the list of the top 50 are such luminaries of bygone years as...
Something Completely Unexpected, Unless You Were Expecting The Spanish Inquisition
Posted on February 06, 2009Perhaps one of the most searing scenes of torture ever filmed.
11th Circuit Rules that Miami School Board Can Ban Vamos a Cuba
Posted on February 06, 2009See this post on the First Amendment Center's blog. Read ACLU of Florida v. Miami-Dade County School Board at the U.S. Courts website.
The New Administration and the Supreme Court
Posted on February 06, 2009The news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was operated on for pancreatic cancer yesterday has kicked up the level of speculation about the possibility of President Obama making an appointment to the Supreme Court after the end of its present...
New "Plain English" Court Forms Online
Posted on February 05, 2009The U.S. Courts website now has links to a number of both civil and criminal forms written in "simple, modern English". Revised by a group of judges, clerks and staffers at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the PDF...
Law Deans in Demand
Posted on January 31, 2009Prof. Bob Jarvis is quoted in this National Law Journal article on the proliferation of openings for Law School Deans. NLJ
FindLaw's Tax Center
Posted on January 30, 2009Our friends at FindLaw have introduced a 2009 Tax Page with many valuable links to tax laws and materials.
Web 2.0 - Self-referential humor
Posted on January 29, 2009Never let it be said that bloggers can't laugh at themselves.
February 2009 Issue of ABA Journal Is Now Available
Posted on January 29, 2009You can read the entire issue here. And an extra round of snaps goes to writer Steven Seidenberg for his insightful article on Copyright in the Age of YouTube.
Presidential Papers & Irony...Together at last!
Posted on January 29, 2009Hat tip to Jim Suhr, Associated Press Writer... Ulysses Grant's Papers Move to Mississippi School. FYI -- The article is accompanied by pictures of groovy stuff like an original document from the Japanese consulate to Grant welcoming him to their...
Presidential Papers & Irony...Together at last!
Posted on January 28, 2009Hat tip to Jim Suhr, Associated Press Writer... Ulysses Grant's Papers Move to Mississippi School. FYI -- The article is accompanied by pictures of groovy stuff like a welcoming document from the Japanese consulate to Grant welcoming him to their...
Taco Bell's Continuing Chihuahua Litigation
Posted on January 27, 2009The law suits from the Taco Bell ad campaign featuring a Chihuahua have resulted in millions of dollars in liability for the fast food giant. More
United Nations introduces Global Search
Posted on January 23, 2009This new UN website allows for keyword searching across several types of documents including Yearbooks, summaries of ICJ judgments, and other material. First impression is that it is much easier for this type of searching than other UN search engines...
Word of the Day: Herdict
Posted on January 23, 2009Public Knowledge's Mehan Jayasuriya reports that Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society has developed Herdict Web, a new tool that will allow users to map web filtering around the world. Read his discussion here. Where did the name for...
RIP COPA : Supreme Court Declines to Hear Appeal
Posted on January 22, 2009By denying certiorari to the government's appeal in Mukasey v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al. (08-565), the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed to stand the 3rd Circuit's ruling that 47 U.S.C. §231, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), is...
Lessig/ Colbert Remix Redux
Posted on January 22, 2009Fresh from Lawrence Lessig's blog -- Stephen Colbert's response to the remixes of his interview with Lessig. Loyal readers (yeah, you know who you are!) will remember recent posts on Lessig/ Colbert. See: 1/9/09 and 1/20/09.
Obama Overturns Executive Order 13233
Posted on January 21, 2009From today's Chronicle of Higher Education -- See article (subscription required) "In one of his first official acts as president, Barack Obama has overturned a controversial executive order in which former President George W. Bush limited public access to presidential...
In Case You Feel Like Visiting Your Money
Posted on January 21, 2009Pro Publica has created a map detailing which financial institutions have received TARP funds. First Southern Bank, in Boca Raton, is definitely close enough for a day trip. Hat tip to Et Seq.
Presidential Agendas Posted
Posted on January 21, 2009The Obama Administration has posted its agenda on 24 separate pressing issues at White House.gov . These agendas include action plans on the economy, homeland security, education, civil rights, and energy and the environment. In contrast to the soothing, undemanding...
Westlaw Watch
Posted on January 21, 2009This Westlaw tool offers a streamlined process for monitoring legal, news, and business information by having it sent to individuals or groups using email or RSS. Alerts are easier to set up and modify using Westlaw Watch than within the...
Lessig/ Colbert Interview Remixed
Posted on January 20, 2009Hey, hip kids! Now that y'all are done watching the 44th Presidential Inauguration, dig these remixes of the Lessig/ Colbert interview that yours truly blogged about on January 9th. "Remixing is okay...the tractor belongs to everybody."
Presidential Inaugural Committee
Posted on January 20, 2009The PIC website details the extensive work that made the inauguration today possible. The committee's blog, plans, an inaugural store selling collectibles, and live streaming coverage of the event starting at 11 are worth exploring.
"Hear ye! Hear ye! This court is now online!"
Posted on January 15, 2009C/o Wired.com... In Internet First, RIAA File Sharing Hearing to Be Webcast
When Senators Sing...
Posted on January 15, 2009Never make a sports bet with Florida Sen. Bill Nelson or you might end up karaoke-ing if you lose. See: Coburn Sings 'Rocket Man' for Nelson, c.f. hilarious. I still think William Shatner's version is better, cigarette and all. Ah,...
Immigration Cases and Federal Courts
Posted on January 13, 2009Immigration actions now represent half of the prosecutions in Federal Court. More
Library Budgets in the Time Of Recession
Posted on January 12, 2009The January 2009 issue of Library Journal contains a nuts and bolts look at the potential impact of the deepening recession on U.S. libraries. In "Adjustment Time" (pp. 32-34), Norman Oder describes existing budget trends based on the most recent...
Lawrence Lessig Appears on The Colbert Report
Posted on January 09, 2009Sometimes relationships can be really difficult. I was reminded of this fact last night upon realizing that I am probably the only person in the entire state of Florida uninterested in watching the Florida Gators beat the Oklahoma Sooners (24-14)...
Immense, Swollen Financial Industry Attempting to Wrest More Bail-out Money from Congress
Posted on January 09, 2009Oh, no, sorry, my mistake. That's a giant Humboldt squid attacking an ROV, or remotely operated vehicle. Very different, in that the squid eventually gave up and went away.
New Study Asserts Laptops in Law Schools increase Student Engagement
Posted on January 08, 2009The Law School Survey of Student Engagement reports a finding of a high correlation between laptop use by law students in class and student engagement. The National Law Journal has more.
You'll Never Download in this Town Again
Posted on January 07, 2009In a blow to full employment for copyright lawyers, the RIAA has decided to stop suing those who download pirated music. However, in a move likely to prove nearly as painful to hardened copyright infringers, the new policy will be...
Welcome to 2009 and the 111th Congress
Posted on January 06, 2009New members of the 111th Congress will be sworn in at Noon (EST) today. Tune in to C-SPAN to watch the fun and games live! Bonus footage includes Senator-elect Al Franken's (D-MN) comments regarding his narrow win over incumbent Norm...
Best Interests of the Child
Posted on January 06, 2009Before the November elections, Florida was the only state with a statute forbidding an otherwise eligible person from adopting if that person was a homosexual Fla. Stat. 63.042(3) (2008). This despite the fact that Fla. Stat. 63.022(2) (2008) clearly states...
SCOTUSBlog Analyzes Senate's Power to Block Burris Appointment
Posted on January 05, 2009Wondering about the legal precedents in the question of seating the recently appointed junior senator from Illinois Roland Burris? SCOTUSBlog has posted an analysis of the main precedent, Powell v. McCormack (395 U.S. 486)
Friend or Foe? On Facebook, It?s Not So Clear
Posted on December 17, 2008An Australian court has ruled that a mortgage lender may serve a foreclosure notice via Facebook. See Aussie court OKs using Facebook for serving lien. Efforts at contacting the homeowners had failed until the attorney for the lender was able...
Friend or Foe? On Facebook, It???s Not So Clear
Posted on December 17, 2008An Australian court has ruled that a mortgage lender may serve a foreclosure notice via Facebook. See Aussie court OKs using Facebook for serving lien. Efforts at contacting the homeowners had failed until the attorney for the lender was able...
ABA Weighs in with Social Networking Site
Posted on December 16, 2008Did you feel that? That feeling as though the earth had wobbled on its axis? That was the ABA, starting its own social networking site. Called Legally Minded , this giant site is content-heavy, feeding in lots of information from...
The Onion Announces Massive Recall of Lawyers
Posted on December 12, 2008Thanks to alert Novalawcity blogger Rob Hudson for bringing this shocking news to our attention.
No revenue...shall be taken
Posted on December 12, 2008Article I, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution provides, in a section significantly titled Religious freedom: "No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in...
Hard Times in Florida's Courts
Posted on December 11, 2008Florida Bar News chronicles the downturn's impact on the state courts from many perspectives in 'Coping with the Crisis.' FBN
Telecommuting from Florida: Justice Stevens
Posted on December 10, 2008Interesting discussion of lawyers (and a Justice) that work from home instead of being tied to a desk. Article
Ultimate Procrastination
Posted on December 09, 2008If there's one thing that law students understand, it's the fine art of procrastination. In the library, we keep a jigsaw puzzle on the reference desk. Many students find that working on the puzzle is a good way to decompress,...
Not Exactly Cool Hand Luke
Posted on December 08, 2008Sen. John Ensign, of Nevada, has introduced a bill (S. 3695) to allow federal prison Inmates who volunteer to work 50 hours a week. Called the Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and Education Requirement Act (I'll pause here while you work out...
There's Nothing Amusing About Taking Law School Exams...
Posted on December 05, 2008So we've decided to provide you with assistance in studying for your Criminal Law exam. Just memorize the elements of the following crimes. You're welcome.
FrontPage News
Posted on December 05, 2008The Newseum hosts this clickable map with images of the current front page of most newspapers in the United States and many international countries. See whats going on back home. Newseum
Florida's Pet Buyer Protection Law
Posted on December 04, 2008In Florida both cats and dogs are subject to an exhaustive 'pet lemon law' according to the pet-trust-law-blog. Blog
Broward County Courthouse Woes
Posted on December 03, 2008The main courthouse in downtown Ft. Lauderdale burst a water main and the flood damaged the telecommunications array, among other things. The building is closed until Friday at best. More...
Best Blawgs
Posted on December 02, 2008The ABA Journal has published its second annual list of the top blawgs for lawyers.
Not as Many Alternatives as You Might Think
Posted on December 01, 2008Is the Versatility of a Law Degree Just a Myth? Not exactly. An article from the National Law Journal reports on the challenges that law graduates confront as they enter the job market and discover that an alternative career path...
Government Holiday Ornaments
Posted on December 01, 2008From the government search engine usa.gov, you may want to buy your ornaments this year from the Federal Government; featured are White House and Capitol Building Ornaments, as well as the 24-karate Treasury Department ornament for the tree. More
Admitted to Practice at the US Supreme Court
Posted on November 26, 2008A group of twenty NSU Alumni and Professors recently became members of the highest bar in the country. Congratulations! More
Another Meleagris gallopavo Gets Away
Posted on November 26, 2008Seems there's one left that the President didn't pardon. I love the Swedish Chef, but I know who I'm rooting for in this Muppets clip. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Unwilling Counsel
Posted on November 25, 2008In 2007, the Florida Legislature passed a bill which cut fees for private attorneys who take cases when public defenders have conflicts. The bill set the fee at a flat rate of $2500, but allowed a payment of $75 an...
Massachusetts Court Allows Non-Accredited Grad to Take Bar
Posted on November 25, 2008From the ABA Journal: Non-accredited and online law schools are discussed in this article about a recent successful request in MA that makes that state the second to allow online JDs to sit for the bar. ABA
Books Trump the Computer, Even in the Far Distant Future
Posted on November 21, 2008Captain Kirk gets the lecture that law librarians love to deliver - look in the books every once in a while! Hat tip to Law Librarian Blog
New Federal Information Sources: Privacy Act Issuances, 111th Congress New Members Pictorial Directory
Posted on November 21, 2008Two new online Federal information resources were just announced through the Federal Depository Library Program: The 2007 Privacy Act Issuances are now available through GPO Access and the Office of the Federal Register web site. The Privacy Act Issuances contain...
Federal Register Announces Launch of New Electronic Public Inspection Desk
Posted on November 20, 2008Press Release November 19, 2008 Washington, DC?The Office of the Federal Register has created an Electronic Public Inspection Desk to provide free worldwide electronic access to public documents. For the first time in the 72-year existence of the daily Federal...
Law Cartoons at LawComix
Posted on November 19, 2008New law-inspired comics are added weekly at LawComix. One example is a recent cartoon of Prof. Chemerinsky as a Chicago Cub. See the latest at LawComix
Yes, We Have No Gorillas (Or Bananas, Either)
Posted on November 14, 2008This week's Friday Funny pretty much speaks for itself.
Don't Believe (or Blog) Everything You Read
Posted on November 13, 2008You may have heard it reported that a particular vice-presidential candidate was unusually geographically challenged, being unaware that Africa is a continent. This may be true, but the purported McCain adviser who supposedly leaked the story to the press is...
Looking for a "Plum" Job? Check This Out!
Posted on November 12, 2008The 2008 Plum Book, which lists federal government positions appointed by the President, is now available online via GPOAccess. Officially know as the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, this publication is compiled every four years, following the Presidential...
Decision 2008: The First Dog
Posted on November 11, 2008Who should be the first dog? That question has inspired a debate about goldendoodles and pure bred poodles, but it also reminds us that animal welfare is an important issue to many people, including some lawyers. Organizations such as the...
Court Allows E-mail Recovery Effort to Continue
Posted on November 11, 2008Sabrina Pacifici reports that "the National Security Archive may proceed with its effort to force the White House to recover millions of Bush Administration Executive Office of the President (EOP) e-mail records before the presidential transition." Click here to see...
The Obama Administration Gets "IT"
Posted on November 11, 2008President-elect Obama plans to appoint a Chief Technology Officer in his administration. This "Technology Czar" will coordinate the efforts of all the existing government agency information officers. Another of Obama's goals is to bring broadband access to all Americans...
Recalls
Posted on November 10, 2008This federal website covers all U.S. recalls and is searchable by product, company name, agency, and has a recall archives. E-mail notifications and a product defect reporting area are included. Recall
Westlaw China Announced
Posted on November 06, 2008Over on the WestBlog, the announcement includes videos and demos of the new Westlaw research platform. Bilingual in Chinese and English, the promise of accurate translation is featured. Westlaw China
Online Legal Education
Posted on November 05, 2008From law.com, a look at the law schools offering the J.D. completely on-line. Topics include high attrition rates, costs, bar passage rates, accreditation and future prospects. Article
Looking forward to Election day 2012?
Posted on November 04, 2008In the ever evolving area of election law the rules keep changing. Tracking these issues is the author of the Election Law Blog who's new article foreshadows the anticipated rule changes rising from this election cycle. 2012 Article
Congressional Hearings expand the Google Book Scan Project
Posted on October 31, 2008Google is digitizing the 75,000 volumes of Congressional Hearings stored at the Law Library of Congress. Just a few hearings are available presently, but in the future this will be a fantastic resource for Congressional research. Tip to the Scout...
Haunted Libraries
Posted on October 30, 2008Ever wonder which Florida Libraries are haunted? Library ghosts are listed by state and institution at the Britannica Blog.
Prof. David Cleveland interviewed on LLB
Posted on October 30, 2008NSU Law's Prof. Cleveland is featured in this interview with the Law Librarian Blog. The subject: his recent scholarship on unpublished opinions in Federal Court. Interview
What Does the National Archives Have to Do With the Presidential Election?
Posted on October 29, 2008A lot, actually! The Office of the Federal Register, part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is "the 'home' of the Electoral College", as explained by Michael White, managing editor of the Federal Register and formerly chief counsel...
A Nation of Immigrants
Posted on October 29, 2008Faithful readers of Novalawcity may recall when I blogged about questions regarding John McCain's citizenship (Citizen McCain?). The Democratic candidate's citizenship qualifications have been challenged as well. Pennsylvania attorney Philip Berg brought suit against Barack Obama, alleging that he is...
False Light? Not in Florida
Posted on October 25, 2008The Florida Supreme Court decided against allowing false light actions. Article
The 'shortest' law review article explained
Posted on October 24, 2008Nearly eight after the publication of the shortest law review article, the professor explains his thought process writing 'the shortest article in law review history.' Download shortest_law_review.pdf
Professor Stephanie Feldman Aleong
Posted on October 23, 2008The NSU Law community is mourning the sudden and tragically early death of Professor Stephanie Feldman Aleong, whose vibrant presence will be greatly missed. Read more about her life and contributions at NSU Law News and read NSU Law Professor...
Broward Early Voting Estimated Waiting Times
Posted on October 23, 2008Want to vote early, but don't want to wait in line three hours? Check the Broward County Early Voting page for the estimated waiting time at the county's seventeen early voting locations.
Florida Supreme Court Vacancy Filled
Posted on October 23, 2008Governor Crist has appointed another Florida Supreme Court justice, Judge Ricky Polston, of the First District Court of Appeal, to succeed the retiring Justice Kenneth Bell. Two more Supreme Court Justices are slated to step down early next year. In....
Conservative Federal Appellate Justices Assail SCOTUS Second Amendment Ruling
Posted on October 21, 2008Seventh Circuit Judge Posner and Fourth Circuit Judge Wilkinson have attacked the decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. Both likened it to the decision in Roe v. Wade, saying that in both cases, the SCOTUS violated the federalist principle...
It's on the tip of my tongue...
Posted on October 20, 2008Can't quite think of the word you want to use? The Tip of My Tongue website might be able to help. It allows you to search for words based on meaning, fragments at the beginning, middle, and end, word length,...
The Traditional Legal Memorandum in Legal Practice
Posted on October 17, 2008E-mail has supplanted legal memos as the standard method of communication in law firms, according to a new study from Georgetown Law School; the author examines incorporation into the curriculum. SSRN
Just the Facts, Ma'm
Posted on October 15, 2008"North Philly, May 4, 2001. Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He?d made...
Presidential Debates: Past & Present
Posted on October 15, 2008The final Presidential Debate of the 2008 election happens tonight at Hoftstra University. The Chronicle of Higher education has an interesting piece on the machinations required to host a debate of this magnitude. It is so on! Past Presidential Debates...
How Many Legs Does a Bureaupedia Have?
Posted on October 14, 2008The FBI is creating an internal Wiki, called Bureaupedia, in which to store its accumulated insights, subject-matter expertise, and best practices. The goal is to share knowledge within the agency, and to ensure that when an agent or analyst leaves...
Florida Supreme Court looses Thousands of Library Books
Posted on October 13, 2008Construction is underway at the FL Supreme Court building to stop the water damage that has ruined a large portion of the library collection. LISNews
Boost your politcal awareness with just 5 websites
Posted on October 13, 2008PC World highlights five websites that will improve your political awareness on matters like candidate voting histories, legislation, and money in politics. Hat tip: Emily Feldman at the American Association of Law Libraries' Washington Blawg.
Columbus Day? Or Indigenous Peoples Day?
Posted on October 13, 2008When I worked in San Francisco, there was no holiday named 'Columbus Day'. Instead, we had off to commemorate 'Indigenous Peoples Day'. Now that I live in SoFla, it's 'Columbus Day' again. Anyhoo. Loyal readers may recall my recent shout...
What Am I Doing Here?
Posted on October 10, 2008If, as a law student, you've ever asked yourself that question as you toil through the countless cases you have to read, Bluebook a citation or quail before your Socratic method-wielding Constitutional Law professor, read this address, given at Seton...
Hein Online Weaves a Web of Influence
Posted on October 10, 2008Searching in Hein Online's Law Journal Library has become a more richly rewarding activity. Each result which includes your search term now displays the number of times it has been cited by scholarly law review articles. Clicking on the citation...
Legal Research Advice from Chief Justice Roberts
Posted on October 07, 2008Don't miss this wisdom from the Chief Justice on how not to search: "Roberts called computer-based legal tools "powerful," but Roberts suggested lawyers still need to be able to think for themselves to develop their arguments. "There is, I believe,...
Citizen McCain?
Posted on October 07, 2008First Impressions, an online companion to the Michigan Law Review, has devoted its September, 2008, issue to examining whether John McCain (a name you may recognize) is a citizen of the United States and hence eligible for the office of...
U.S. Financial Crisis - documents from USA.gov
Posted on October 06, 2008The Federal Government's search service 'USA.gov' provides links to relevant pages originating from the dramatic Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
Laptops in law school classrooms
Posted on October 05, 2008In the article "No Typing Please" professors and students discuss the laptop-in-the-classroom controversy. Article
Now you can browse Congressional committee prints online!
Posted on October 04, 2008GPO has announced a new browse feature, available for Congressional committee prints on GPO Access, beginning with the 110th Congress (2007-2008). The reports are available in both text and PDF. To use this new feature, go to the GPOAccess website.
"25 Important Legal Issues Every Librarian Should Research"
Posted on October 01, 2008Today the Novalawcity posse tips its hat to reader Kelly Sonora for alerting us to a sparkly-new article titled "25 Important Legal Issues Every Librarian Should Research". Originally posted by Jessica Merritt via the BestCollegesOnline.com blog, the article provides a...
Numbers Crunch: Law School Pays Off
Posted on September 29, 2008The numbers say it all: according to The Conglomerate you can expect a "three bagger" NPV return on investment for your law degree - but it all depends on where you stand. Article.
Voter registration deadline looms
Posted on September 29, 2008If you've recently moved to Florida and plan to vote here, you have just one week left to register in order to vote in the upcoming general election. For more information about registering prior to the October 6 deadline, see...
Dealing with depression in higher ed
Posted on September 29, 2008Although it focuses on the undergrad experience, NPR has an interesting story about college students coping with depression with the added pressure of their studies. The sidebar includes some tips and some advice for getting a feel for your school's....
Web Site Pick: Govtrack.us
Posted on September 26, 2008A federal tracking website for those of us who love RSS! Govtrack.us
Native Peoples Law Blog
Posted on September 26, 2008The Native Peoples Law Caucus is an organization of information professionals who belong to the American Association of Law Libraries. The Caucus provides a forum in which Native law and other issues that impact Indigenous Peoples worldwide can be discussed,...
Wolverine Dreams
Posted on September 26, 2008Sometimes dreams do come true! Would-be lawyers who quake in fear of standardized tests and had the foresight to attend the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor will be permitted to apply to the University of Michigan's law school without...
EPA Libraries to Open
Posted on September 25, 2008The EPA libraries that were abruptly closed and had their collections banished to remote storage units are now set to re-open thanks to the opposition raised by constituents across the country. The opening schedules for each location have been issued...
Westlaw tab tip
Posted on September 25, 2008Adding tabs to your Lexis and Westlaw accounts is a nice way to create shortcuts for frequently used resources, be they based on jurisdiction or area of the law. On both Lexis and Westlaw's main research pages, you can add...
Fact check round-up
Posted on September 25, 2008With the general election less than two months away, we're at a quadrennial high for stretched truths, fact shading, lies, damned lies, statistics, spin, and periodic outbreaks of flaming pants. Ouch! How do you sort out the facts from the...
Law Schools increasing course offerings in American Indian Law
Posted on September 23, 2008As reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, law student & faculty interest in this area has increased along with the economic prowess of the tribes. CHE
Video of the Week: Pirate PSA
Posted on September 19, 2008Avast, me hearties! 'Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Before ye sail about celebratin' with yer mateys an' drinkin' grog, stand fast an' listen t' this important public service announcement from those scalliwags, Cap'n Slappy 'n Ol' Chumbucket:
Who Will Defend the Defenseless?
Posted on September 18, 2008A Miami judge has ruled that the 11th circuit public defender's office can stop taking new third-degree felony cases. The ability of public defenders in the 11th circuit to comply with the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct and to provide...
U.S. Supreme Court Loses Status
Posted on September 18, 2008This article in the New York Times points out that the number of courts of other nations citing to the United States Supreme Court has declined precipitously in recent years. Where once the Constitutional law reasoning and holdings of our...
TheCongressBlog.org
Posted on September 17, 2008The Dirksen Congressional Center announces a new current awareness resource: TheCongressBlog.org. It reviews current legislative activity, and also provides historical notes of interest. Check it out!
Access to Science Information Expands with Science.gov 5.0 Launch
Posted on September 17, 2008Hat Tip to Tim Bynre at the Department of Energy for posting this juicy item on GOVDOC-L ... 200 Million Pages of U.S. Government Science Resources Now Available on the Internet "The latest version of Science.gov was launched September 15th,...
Litigation Funding: Non-Recourse deals examined
Posted on September 13, 2008The FindLaw Newsletter looks at controversial non-recourse or litigation funding services and their consequences. FindLaw
A Ton of Books
Posted on September 11, 2008"A typical law student lugs around 28 pounds of books worth about $1,000 per semester." Read more... Tip: LIS News
New WMD Report Card
Posted on September 11, 2008The Partnership for a Secure America has issued its most recent WMD Report Card. The bipartisan group studied U.S. efforts to combat weapons of mass destruction since 2005, focusing on chemical, biological and nuclear threats.
ABA - Legal Technology Survey Report: Online Research
Posted on September 10, 2008The ABA survey reports 89% lawyers report using free online resources, but cites instances of improper use and their unintended consequences...ABA
Legal Curio
Posted on September 09, 2008From the National Archives, the handwritten note by John Adams nominating John Marshall Chief Justice. Note
Video of the Week: Rock You Like a Hurricane
Posted on September 05, 2008Pyrotechnics. Big cats. Epaulettes. HAIR. It can only be the 1980s. As Tropical Storm Hanna passes us by and Hurricane Ike considers a visit, the Scorpions are here to Rock You Like a Hurricane... If you can't get enough, check...
Message to Ike: stay away from the Hebert boxes!
Posted on September 05, 2008But what's a Hebert box, and why should Ike stay away from it? Hebert boxes are two 335x335 mile areas, one on each side of the Caribbean. They get their name from National Hurricane Center forecaster Paul Hebert, who observed...
Making Legal Arguments based on Wikipedia
Posted on September 03, 2008Attorneys at the Department of Homeland Security relied on Wikipedia as evidence in an immigration proceeding, convincing both the judge and the BIA to order deportation. The 8th U.S. Circuit reversed, discussing the unreliability of Wikipedia as a source...
Headnote of the Day
Posted on September 02, 2008Why not start the day with an amusing headnote from West? The Headnote of the Day is a free, daily email subscription offering unusual, significant, humorous, or strange headnotes with illustrations. More...
Governor Fills Departing Justice Cantero's Seat on Florida Supreme Court
Posted on August 29, 2008In a move that has attracted national attention, Governor Crist has appointed 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge Charles Canady, who, as a Congressman, helped spearhead impeachment hearings against President Clinton. See the story at Law.com
New ABA Ethics Opinion on Outsourcing
Posted on August 28, 2008Sabrina Pacifici of be Spacific alerted readers to the release earlier this month of ABA ethics opinion 08-451 on the outsourcing of legal and non-legal support services. Since outsourcing can range from using the photocopy service around the corner to...
The National Federation of the Blind - They See Better than the Sighted
Posted on August 28, 2008Target (you know, the big red bull's-eye people) have agreed to a settlement in a class action lawsuit brought by the National Federation of the Blind. The suit was certifed by Justice Patel, of the Northern District of California, as...
Your Law Library @ Sharklink
Posted on August 28, 2008Nova Southeastern University's Sharklink portal just went live. The Law Library & Technology Center has created a Sharklink tab containing quick links to our resources, library information, and ways to contact us. Faculty and students can subscribe to the tab...
What Not To Wear (or Say)...in Court
Posted on August 27, 2008After two warnings and a fine of $50.00, a Kentucky woman was jailed for wearing shorts for a court appearance. Who wears 'short-shorts' indeed! Watch the video and pass the Nair. Bonus 'Duh' points go to rapper DMX for saying...
C-SPAN: America & The Courts
Posted on August 26, 2008This is a high quality collection of streaming videos from C-SPAN including titles such as Panel on the American Press in Times of War, Linda Greenhouse, Former New York Times Supreme Court Reporter, & Justice Samuel Alito on Judicial Writing....
Spotlight on LII's US Code Collection
Posted on August 26, 2008AbsTracked takes another look at the Cornell Legal Information Institute's US Code Collection, noting several features to be aware of including the fact that it is updated regularly from the Law Revision Counsel's Classification Tables and that you can stay...
Did Obama Publish while employed at Harvard Law Review?
Posted on August 22, 2008Politico claims he is the author of an anonymous note at 103 Harv.L.Rev. 823. Download Obama.pdf
EDGAR to be replaced with SEC's IDEA Database
Posted on August 20, 2008The SEC has announced the 'eventual' retirement of the venerable EDGAR system. The new IDEA database boasts many new interactive search features and more. The timeframe for EDGAR's withdrawal is not specified. SEC
AARP: Isn't it ironic?
Posted on August 20, 2008ABA Journal reports that the AARP is being sued for age discrimination.
Crist Reported Dissatisfied with List of High Court Nominees
Posted on August 20, 2008This article in the St Petersburg Times reports that Governor Crist is unhappy with the list of nominees provided by the Judicial Nominating Commission. The list contains no women or African-Americans. It does contain the name of 2nd District Court...
Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission Announces Nominees
Posted on August 15, 2008The names of the nominees for the two vacancies created on the Florida Supreme Court by the resignations of Justices Cantero and Bell have been sent to the Governor for his consideration. There were fifty applicants for the vacancies. Their...
reCaptcha - Thinking outside the box
Posted on August 15, 2008You know those annoying collections of distorted letters you have to decipher and type into a box in order to use a variety of internet services? What you're doing is proving that you're a human being, not a spammer's computer....
Bush Administration to Pull Teeth of Endangered Species Act
Posted on August 12, 2008The lame duck Bush II administration appears poised to give the American people one last "gift." Ministering anxiously to the complaints of private developers and some government agencies, they are set to end the requirement that projects funded, built or...
Speech Wars
Posted on August 12, 2008In case you're undecided about the upcoming presidential election, or curious to compare the candidates' use of words, Ben Reis has compiled a neat website. Speech Wars allows you to search speeches given by John McCain and Barack Obama for...
Trial Lawyers College
Posted on August 11, 2008If you admire the trial tactics and personal philosophy of undefeated lawyer Gerry Spence, look at the Trial Lawyers College he established in Wyoming. In operation since 1994, this is continuing professional education for trial lawyers as well as a....
Video of the Week: Opening Ceremonies
Posted on August 08, 2008Here at NSU Law, the beginning of our new 1L students' careers coincides with the opening of the Olympic Games. Like the athletes, law students will reach new heights of endurance and stamina as they learn new skills and expand...
Florida Bar: Opportunities for Election 2008
Posted on August 07, 2008Numerous lawyers this November will volunteer to work election polls, staff voter hotlines, and provide voter education in election procedure. The associated ABA program placed over 25,000 lawyers in key locations for the last national election, and is actively recruiting...
Olympic name hotly protected Property of USOC
Posted on August 01, 2008The US Olympic Committee tracks down and suppresses the use of the name 'Olympic' in dozens venues across the country. The Wall Street Journal details some recent cease-and-desist efforts and their sometimes humorous outcomes. WSJ
"On This Day in History..."
Posted on July 31, 2008Good news for all you history buffs out there! The Law Library has invested in a membership to NewsPaperArchive.com. Login required -- Please contact your friendly neighborhood law librarian to access. Props go to our very own Professor Bob Jarvis...
Florida Lawyers Assist Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Posted on July 29, 2008The Florida Bar, the Florida Bar Foundation, Florida Legal Services and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Business Law Sections, along with the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar have teamed up to offer legal help to...
False Advertisements: What is Greenwashing?
Posted on July 29, 2008Greenwashing is a deceptive advertising practice common today: Examples: 100% natural, environmentally safe, toxic free. These claims are difficult to regulate or detect but are proliferating. Check out the Nolo podcast on this topic - Nolo.
Hein Online: hippest legal info vendor?
Posted on July 29, 2008I've got to give a shout out to Hein Online, which is one of my favorite resources to turn students on to. Their resources, including PDFs of the original publication format of nearly every law review to its debut issue,...
25 Greatest Legal Movies?
Posted on July 28, 2008The ABA Journal has published its list of the 25 greatest legal movies of all time Take a look and see if you agree. Hard to argue with the top three, IMO.
Good Luck on July 29 and 30!
Posted on July 28, 2008All of us here at the Law Library and Technology Center want to wish you the very best of luck on the Bar Exam. Strangely enough, a Bar Exam cartoon won the London Times funniest cartoon contest. Who says there's...
Video of the Week: Real Men of Law School
Posted on July 25, 2008Law students who cut the sleeves off your shirts and wear your hats backward: we're onto you. This week's video, Real Men of Law School from the 2008 George Washington Law Revue, tells us all the secrets of Intramural Sports...
Digital Wrongs Management
Posted on July 25, 2008A month after MSN Music attempted to pull the plug on supporting the DRM music files it had sold consumers, now Yahoo! Music is doing the same thing. The online music vendor announced it will cease operations in September. After...
XKCD on hurricanes
Posted on July 23, 2008We've dodged Bertha, Christobal, and Dolly. (Does anyone even remember Arthur?) But what about the others? XKCD, my favorite web comic, has a handy map of hurricanes to watch out for: On a more serious note, if you haven't started...
Disappearing Legislative History
Posted on July 19, 2008The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has sold off a good portion of the national heritage, documents that were generated with public money. It entered into a deal with Thomson West to digitize the legislative histories prepared by the GAO between...
Lenz v. Universal: DMCA Smackdown!
Posted on July 19, 2008Hat tip to David Kravets at Wired for his piece on yesterday's courthouse dispute which centered on a rarely used clause in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Passed in 1998, the clause permits victims of meritless takedown notices to...
Your Social Networking Site, Your Sentencing
Posted on July 18, 2008These days it seems like just about everyone is cruising around on MySpace and Facebook. Friends, family, employers, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors...er, come again? Yep. Prosecutors are now using damaging pictures gathered from defendants' personal pages to cast doubt on...
Today on "How The House Turns" -- Former A.G. Ashcroft Testifies
Posted on July 17, 2008Juicy stuff happens on C-SPAN3 all the time. It's practically a daytime soap opera. Seriously. Scope this for example... "Former Attorney General John Ashcroft answers questions about his role in the drafting of detainee interrogation rules utilized at Guantanamo Bay...
Privacy Rights Redux : YouTube, Viacom Agree to Mask Viewer Data
Posted on July 16, 2008Avid Novalawcity readers (you know who you are!) will recall my recent post about the ongoing battle over privacy rights in International, Inc. et al v. Youtube, Inc. et al. Well, they're ba-aack. Privacy rights, that is. Read the Wired...
Information Overload Research Group Holds First Conference
Posted on July 15, 2008The Information Overload Research Group held its first annual conference today in New York City. The group's stated goals are "to build awareness of the world's greatest challenge to productivity, conduct research, help define best practices, contribute to the creation...
Confessions of a C-SPAN Junkie: "I'll Tell You When I've Had Enough!"
Posted on July 15, 2008Hi everybody! I'm Stephanie. And I'm a news junkie. My significant other watches ESPN religiously yet fails to understand why I love to bask in the invigorating rays of policy wonkery that emanate from C-SPAN. But I just can't resist!...
Highlighting Japan: Groovier than Hello Kitty
Posted on July 14, 2008Looking for public information about the Land of the Rising Sun? Check out Highlighting Japan! Featuring articles on current events as well as an index to government ministries, Highlighting Japan also serves as a primary resource for official statistics...
Snuggly the Security Bear Explains Why Warrantless Spying Is OK
Posted on July 09, 2008Snuggly the Security Bear explains the FISA Amendments Act and constitutional compromise. Apparently it's because the U.S. government wuvs us vewwy vewwy much. Props to cartoonist Mark Fiore. You rock, dude.
Senate Approves Telecom Amnesty, Expands Domestic Spying Powers
Posted on July 09, 2008Today the U.S. Senate overwhelming voted 68 to 29 to grant retroactive amnesty to the telecoms that aided the Bush Administration for five-years in a secret program that entailed the warrantless wiretapping of Americans, and to expand the government's authority...
Let the Airing of Grievances Begin!
Posted on July 08, 2008Hearty souls who monitor pending legislation are probably well aware of THOMAS, the Library of Congress web site dedicated to making U.S. government information available online. You know, hawt stuff like bills and the Federal Register. However, I'd like to...
Disney Claims Exemption from New Florida Gun Law
Posted on July 03, 2008As you may recall, yours truly recently posted about Florida's newly enacted Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008 that took effect July 1st, 2008. Unsurprisingly, the state's largest single-site...
Happy 4th of July! Home of the free, land of eroded privacy rights...
Posted on July 03, 2008The New York Southern District Court has ruled that Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube. See Viacom International, Inc. et al v. Youtube, Inc. et al for all the...
Justia's New Regulations Tracker
Posted on July 02, 2008New research tool: Follow proposed rules & notices as they progress through the Federal agencies with Justia's Regulations Tracker. Recommended for the ease of search and the display. Justia. HT: VULawcity
Take Your Gun To Work Day!
Posted on July 01, 2008I was so jazzed to learn of enhanced state aid for Florida's public libraries that I totes forgot about the Preservation & Protection of the Right to Keep & Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008. The controversial new...
Legislative Overhaul of Florida Public Library Grants Takes Effect
Posted on July 01, 2008It's official! Today more than thirty new laws recently enacted by the Florida Legislature took effect, including S82 and its companion bill H21. Relating to public library grants that are provided through state aid, the bills revise the eligibility criteria...
Florida Court Fees Increase - Dramatically
Posted on July 01, 2008Florida's State Courts have eliminated many jobs to save costs in the last few months. The increase in fling fees on July 1st is yet another indicia of the financial trials of the State Court System. See law.com.
Florida's New Chief Justice - Peggy Quince
Posted on June 30, 2008Florida's top court has a new Chief and a new first to be proud of: Legal Blog Watch.
This year's important Supreme Court decisions
Posted on June 30, 2008In case you want to catch up or refresh your memory, the New York Times has posted summaries of the most important opinions of the Supreme Court's 2007-2008 term. (edited to add) Linda Greenhouse's analysis of the term is also...
Video of the Week: Joe Cocker "will try not to sing on a Kia"
Posted on June 27, 2008I've seen a few viral videos that re-caption music videos with misheard lyrics to humorous effect, and I found this video of Joe Cocker at Woodstock extra funny due to its helpful visual aids: Tip:Teknoids listserv
Gossip blogging and law firm PR
Posted on June 27, 2008National Law Journal takes a look at the effect gossip law blogs and forums have on law firms' PR efforts. An example: One of the more popular posts* [at blog Above the Law], he said, included that of Nixon Peabody's...
More Live Blogging!
Posted on June 26, 2008And if you didn't get enough live blogging c/o the SCOTUS blog, then click here to watch the First! Ever! Congressional hearings on transgender issues in the workplace. Major props to quench zine for covering these historic hearings now being...
Live Blogging and the US Supreme Court
Posted on June 26, 2008Today's Heller decision on the second amendment was announced at the last session of the Court for the term. The decision was available almost instantly courtesy of the live blogging of the SCOTUS blog team from the Court, underscoring the...
Exxon Valdez legal fees - 19 years of litigation and how much money?
Posted on June 25, 2008The recent US Supreme Court Exxon decision is the latest in the epochal battle over the Valdez oil spill 19 years ago. The American Lawyer breaks down the staggering numbers: AmLaw.
Capital Crimes
Posted on June 25, 2008The Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision, ruled today that administering the death penalty in the case of child rape violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Kennedy wrote the decision striking down a Louisiana law...
ABA's Secrets of Superstar Associates podcast
Posted on June 25, 2008What sets "superstar" associates from the rest? Your ABA, the ABA's Media Relations e-newsletter, has a brief review of the Section of Litigation's podcast episode that tries to answer this question by interviewing twelve partners who were identified as "superstars"...
"My name is a footnote in American legal history...
Posted on June 25, 2008...which I?m perversely kind of proud of," George Carlin said in an interview in February. In memory of Carlin, here's a link to Oyez's presentation, including the written opinion and audio oral arguments, of F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S....
Law Student Blog
Posted on June 24, 2008Wish I Would Have Known, as its name says, provides advice from law students on how they would do things over. Some of the postings are aimed at admitted students, others are love letters (or hate mail) to law school...
Legal Practice Skills can Trump the Bar Exam in NH
Posted on June 23, 2008The Daniel Webster program provides a small number of law students the path to practice without taking the NH Bar exam. Chronicle
Northwestern JD in Two Years
Posted on June 20, 2008The blogosphere united on reporting this news. See the different spins on this: Wall Street Journal ; The Volokh Conspiracy ; The National Law Journal ; Inside HigherEd
New Dean for NSU Law
Posted on June 19, 2008NSU's new Dean Steele is in the National Law Review - with quotes by Prof. Bob Jarvis. NLJ
Baseball and Hockey Legal Trivia
Posted on June 19, 2008Baseball: Ken Griffey Jr.'s 600th homerun ball was caught in Florida during a Marlin's game. The resulting litigation suggests a need to change the rules covering homerun balls. See ATL Hockey: Detroit Red Wings fan throwing a traditional octopus on....
Tracking Search Terms on Google
Posted on June 18, 2008After reading Slaw recently, I discovered Google Trends. This is a graphical interface showing Google search terms logged and news items indexed over the last four years. Here are some trends I found interesting: Law Library as search term is...
Law Librarian (Alternative Careers for JDs)
Posted on June 18, 2008Above the Law recently blogged about law librarianship as an alternative to legal practice for JDs. A little tongue-in-cheek, but true on most points. ATL
Legal Talk Network
Posted on June 17, 2008LTN includes recorded interviews on subject relating to legal practice and law schools. Noted lawyers are interviewed such as F.Lee Bailey. Content is drawn from a variety of legal podcasts. The latest addition from podcast Lawyer-to-Lawyer is entitled: "The Emergence...
Why Would a Law Professor Join Facebook?
Posted on June 16, 2008There are many reasons, according to a comment at the Chronicle.
American Lawyer's "This Week in Law"
Posted on June 16, 2008AmLaw's new blog is even more useful with the addition of a weekly legal news compilation called "This Week in Law." See the inaugural post here.
Alas, Amazon
Posted on June 16, 2008It's a sad day for those of us who have cherished the instant gratification of purchasing books at Amazon, and nourished its phenomenal growth with our dollars. Like an over-indulged, spoiled child, the giant bookseller is throwing its weight around....
Video of the Week: Wait Two Seconds
Posted on June 13, 2008Another video from the 2008 NYU Law Revue. Although card swiping isn't an issue in our library, we would generally discourage you from getting your 80s nostalgia on with quite such enthusiasm in the library! :)
The Market for Summer Associates in South Florida
Posted on June 13, 2008Law firms in South Florida are featured in this NLJ piece about summer hiring programs. NSU Assistant Dean of Career Planning, Robert Levine, is quoted.
Congress Shall Make No Law
Posted on June 12, 2008Most of the world's liberal democracies honor the idea of free speech, but only in the United States do free speech rights come close to being absolute. Nazis in the United States were entitled to First Amendment protection for their...
How to stop cellphone text spam
Posted on June 12, 2008Cellphone text message spam is especially annoying because in addition to having to delete it, those of us without unlimited texting plans have to pay for it. Fortunately, some of the major carriers have created ways that you can block...
Hooray for Habeas Corpus!
Posted on June 12, 2008Apparently our good friend and favorite civil liberty,the Writ of Habeas Corpus, is making a comeback. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that detainees held at Guant??namo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in U.S....
What do you find in Books?
Posted on June 11, 2008People put things inside books and forget them. For example: Money. Baseball Cards. Tickets. This article describes the amazing things discovered inside books. HT: The Chronicle.
Cocktail Refused in Ohio
Posted on June 11, 2008A trial court judge in Ohio has ruled that the three-drug executioner's cocktail which the Supreme Court upheld in Baze v Rees may not be administered to Ohio Death Row inmates. In April, the Supreme Court held that the three-drug...
200 ABA Accredited Law Schools
Posted on June 10, 2008With Elon and Charlotte, legal academia can boast 200 ABA accredited law schools. More from the National Law Journal.
EPA Blog Invites Comments re: Improving Public Access To Environmental Information
Posted on June 10, 2008I just love fresh posts off of GOVDOC-L. They go great with my morning coffee. The post below is especially awesome in light of the ongoing hoopla surrounding the forced closure and (semi) re-opening of several Environmental Protection Agency Libraries...
Our Courts - gaming for legal education
Posted on June 09, 2008Described as an "online interactive civics forum," the avatar-based website is being developed by the ASU College of Law with input from Justice O'Conner (among others). The website is free, but the game is still under development. See a preview...
National Museum of Crime and Punishment
Posted on June 07, 2008The current issue of ABA Journal features a profile of the new National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C: The new National Museum of Crime and Punishment?opening May 22 in Washington, D.C.?will focus on that national fascination with...
Video of the Week: Barbri Girl
Posted on June 06, 2008This week's video, nominated by reference librarian Deb McGovern, comes from the talented students of NYU's 2008 Law Revue. Recent grads, this one's for you!
Baseball: you may fantasize freely
Posted on June 06, 2008Linda Greenhouse reports that the Supreme Court has rejected Major League Baseball's appeal in its case seeking to require fantasy baseball leagues to pay licensing fees for using MLB's player names and stats. In its appeal to the Supreme Court,...
The L Word
Posted on June 05, 2008Now that it appears there's only one lawyer left in the race for the Presidency, it's time for a quasi-legal history quiz. How many of the ten men who occupied the office in the past 50-odd years (and some of...
Law School Movie
Posted on June 04, 2008"The trials of law school" is documentary film about law schools, legal education, and personal growth. The website is worth checking out too. Film HT: Legal Research Plus
Florida State Courts Downsize
Posted on June 03, 2008The Daily Business Review has the details on the over two hundred jobs at stake in Florida's State Courts. Article
Are you ready for hurricane season?
Posted on June 03, 2008June 1 marked the official start of hurricane season. If you're new to Florida and need to start a hurricane kit, or just need a reminder to replenish your kit with fresh supplies, I recommend taking a look at Broward...
Web 2.0 Discovered?
Posted on June 02, 2008This article in LAW.COM considers the intersection between Web 2.0 communications and pre-trial discovery. Requests to produce documents may soon include, in addition to more traditional items such as memos and emails, a request for social or business networking information...
Transitioning from One-L to Summer Legal Work
Posted on May 30, 2008Students, if you're starting summer legal work for the first time this year, you may want to check out a new podcast series from Suffolk University Law School called Transitioning from One-L to Summer Legal Work. The podcasts feature faculty...
Improper Redaction Makes Sensitive Information Easily Accessible via PACER
Posted on May 28, 2008Sealed documents in a 2007 sex discrimination lawsuit filed against General Electric were improperly redacted before being uploaded to PACER, reports Law.com. As a result, the "redacted" information is easily revealed by copying and pasting to a Word document...
Victory for the blind on currency issue
Posted on May 27, 2008American paper currency has long been a problem for the blind and visually impaired. Those of you who have seen Ray probably remember the scene where Ray Charles insists on always being paid in singles, because it was the only...
Want to be an academic?
Posted on May 27, 2008Concurring Opinions features tips for students interested in entering legal academia. There's also a lively debate about the teaching market and law school hiring in the comments.
Putting Some Refinement Into Your Open Internet Searches
Posted on May 27, 2008The Virtual Chase has a useful page on using advanced commands on the Web. One tip is to add (site:.gov) to your searches to limit your results to .gov websites. And did you know that Google lets you search synonyms...
Uh-oh! Everybody makes mistakes sometimes...
Posted on May 23, 2008There's a great post on Slate.com explaining the mix-up this week in which the President vetoed a different version of a 673-page farm bill than the one passed by the House and the Senate. Since the Supreme Court ruled (Field...
Why do you wear purple?
Posted on May 22, 2008Ever wonder why law graduates wear purple? In honor of his university's graduation, Dave Hoffman at Temple re-posted his thoughts at Concurring Opinions on the origin of purple academic regalia and law: Interestingly, the dominant theory seems to be that...
Cornell provides RSS Feeds for the U.S. Code
Posted on May 20, 2008Thomas Bruce, Director of Cornell's Legal Information Institute, has announced a few feature: RSS feeds to alert subscribers to new legislation affecting individual titles of the U.S. Code. Check it out here.
PublicMarkup.org
Posted on May 16, 2008The Sunlight Foundation has launched a new project, PublicMarkup.org, to encourage public participation in the construction of a model government transparency bill, which they've named Transparency in Government 2008. Read more in Joe Hodnicki's post on Law Librarian Blog.
Legal Jobs Take a Passage to India
Posted on May 16, 2008The Professional Ethics Committee (PEC) of the Florida Bar has decided that the ethical rules, as presently drawn, don?t prevent Florida attorneys from outsourcing paralegal work to India - or any other foreign country, for that matter. Its Advisory Opinion...
Picking names for characters in law school exam questions
Posted on May 14, 2008Law exam questions commonly use the names of pop culture or literary characters. Do these influence the test-taker? The 'Concurring Opinions' blog looks at the question.
U.S. Constitution by popular name or nickname
Posted on May 13, 2008Need to identify the Basket Clause, Comity Clause, Elastic Clause, or any of the other 80 nicknamed sections of the Constitution? Check out the full list from UW.
They Don't Shoot Horses Anymore
Posted on May 12, 2008Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court stayed the execution of Earl Wesley Berry. Last Saturday, Eight Belles, the filly who fractured both her front ankles in the Kentucky Derby, was euthanized at the track. What is the common denominator here? The...
Video of the Week: Congratulations, graduates!
Posted on May 09, 2008To all our graduating students: congratulations! Soon-to-be 2Ls and 3Ls: see you next year!
Views on tenure & the memorandum on torture written by John C. Yoo in 2003
Posted on May 09, 2008The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the interaction of the memo with the role of tenure and quotes many views from the legal academy. Chronicle.
Open Access at Harvard
Posted on May 09, 2008The faculty at Harvard Law School has unanimously voted to make all of the faculty's scholarly articles available online for free. See details here. Hat tip to Law Librarian Blog
National Security Letters, Internet Privacy and the First Amendment
Posted on May 08, 2008Internet Archive, which runs the Wayback Machine, has successfully challenged the FBI's demand that they turn over the name, address and e-mail records of one of their subscribers. The Wayback Machine is an archive of 2 billion web pages that...
Property Rights on the Moon? Far out!
Posted on May 08, 2008A new article in the SMU Journal of Air Law and Commerce argues that it's legal under international law to own lunar property, and that the establishment of property rights for the moon is necessary to provide the financial incentives...
Scalia to lawyers: read good literature!
Posted on May 07, 2008Among other tips that come out of the ABA Journal's interview with Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner, authors of the new book Making Your Case: the Art of Persuading Judges, is this one: Scalia: ....the average practitioner is not...
CHEAP GAS!
Posted on May 07, 2008Now that I have your attention, I'd like to give a shout out to Grace York, Political Science Librarian and Coordinator of the Documents Center at the University of Michigan Library, and her talented library staff who continue rocking the...
Will We Need Passports to Drive North on 95?
Posted on May 06, 2008The North Lauderdale City Commission wants to divide Florida into two states - North Florida and South Florida. See why here.
CA Swears in Lawyers from Online Law School
Posted on May 06, 2008The completely online Concord Law School's four new attorneys are featured in the National Law Journal discussion of the school, online legal education, and its critics. NLJ
Mildred Loving has died
Posted on May 06, 2008Mildred Loving, a plaintiff in the landmark case Loving v. Virginia that overturned the last segregation laws, died on May 2 at age 68. From the New York Times: By their own widely reported accounts, Mrs. Loving and her husband,...
UN Pulse: Audiovisual Library of International Law
Posted on May 05, 2008Videos and audios of historic UN sessions and numerous lectures on International Law Topics are offered at this site from the United Nations. UNPulse
Video of the Week: Born to Lose
Posted on May 02, 2008This week's video is the first to feature our own law students: check out Nick Seidule (lead guitar), Joe Reichert (bass guitar), Christopher Pezon (drums), and Kevin Kennedy (lead vocals) performing the Smashing Pumpkins' "Cherub Rock" at Rock Band Rock...
Help improve the Bluebook!
Posted on May 02, 2008The editors of the Bluebook are seeking input as they embark upon revising it for the 19th edition. Visit their survey to provide your feedback and suggestions. Ten responses will be randomly chosen to win a free copy of the...
UM Dean Search Progresses, too
Posted on May 02, 2008The National Law Journal covers the search for a new Dean for UM, now down to three finalists. NLJ
Remember 1984? Of Course Not
Posted on May 02, 2008Nova's Law Library and Technology Center was a signatory on a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), protesting the decision not to preserve a digital snapshot of public federal websites as they will appear at the end...
It's RSS Day!
Posted on May 01, 2008RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a type of web technology that makes it easy to keep up with regularly updated blogs and websites, including nearly all news sites, and to set up customized news alert with Google news or similar...
When I use a word...it means just what I choose it to mean
Posted on April 30, 2008Nova Southeastern School of Law Professor Joel Mintz organized the registering of a highly critical response by professors from law schools across the country to the EPA's plan for how it will re-open agency libraries. The professors decried the lack...
Will Marry for Health Insurance
Posted on April 30, 2008A Kaiser Family Foundation survey taken in April found that seven percent of Americans surveyed said they or someone in their family had married within the last year in order to have access to health care benefits. The survey points...
I knew there was something I intended to do April 15
Posted on April 26, 2008Actor Wesley Snipes, star of the Blade movies, was sentenced to three years in prison by the federal district court in Ocala and ordered to pay $5,000,000 in fines. Prosecutors said that the sentence, the maximum possible for the misdemeanor...
What Voting Rights?
Posted on April 25, 2008In early April, the Eleventh Circuit upheld Fla. Stat. § 97.053(6), which, a coalition of civil rights groups and voter registration groups contended, improperly deprives Florida residents of the right to vote based on clerical errors made on voter registration...
Where the Bill of Rights and Nigerian spam overlap
Posted on April 25, 2008Click through to the Indexed blog to find out!
American Lawyer Blog
Posted on April 24, 2008New from American Lawyer is the AmLaw Daily blog, with a focus on practice and law firm news. Tip to LawBeat. See: AmLaw
Democracy to Blame for High Incarceration Rate?
Posted on April 24, 2008The United States leads the world in the number of its citizens who occupy its prisons. We have 2.3 million inmates, .7 million more than China, which has four times our population. Among adults, one in one hundred Americans is...
Different Feelings on the End of the Law School Year
Posted on April 23, 2008According to the Law School Academic Support Blog, 1L 2L & 3L law students have very different experiences in the waning moments of the law school year. Article.
Duke Redux - Back to the Court of Public Opinion
Posted on April 21, 2008This story has its roots in the charges of sexual assault brought against members of the Duke University lacrosse team in 2006. Charges were eventually dropped, and Nifong, the district attorney who oversaw the case, was disbarred. In February, members...
Debating Laptops in the Classroom
Posted on April 18, 2008Inside Higher Ed published an in depth examination of the recent effort of Chicago Law to inhibit internet access in class. Also a forthcoming article by Prof. Yamamoto of South Texas College of Law examines the issues and concludes by...
State Claims Copyright in Statutes' Arrangement and Subject-matter
Posted on April 17, 2008The Citizen Media law Project has a nice post considering the State of Oregon's assertions of copyright over the state code. citmedialaw
Chicago Law Disables Internet Access in Classrooms
Posted on April 17, 2008According to the National Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law School is suspending internet access in classrooms. Tip to OOTJ.
A Victory for the Deer
Posted on April 16, 2008The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled that FEMA is bound by an injunction prohibiting it from issuing national flood insurance for new developments in the Florida Keys until it satisfies the requirements of the...
Blog Pick: b-screeds
Posted on April 15, 2008Tom Bruce, the man behind Cornell's Legal Information Institute, authors a new blog enigmatically called b-screeds. The blog focus is on access to legal information, technology, and research. b-screeds
Nolocast: Podcasts on the Law and Legal Practice
Posted on April 14, 2008The legal publisher Nolo focuses on practical legal issues and the Nolocast audio companion follows that formula. The latest podcast is on Library Law (a favorite of mine), but previous posts include Bicycle Law, Living Wills, Renter's Rights, and many...
Study Shows Supreme Court Justices Are All "Activist"
Posted on April 14, 2008A study in the Spring, 2007, issue of Constitutional Commentary contradicts the supposition that only liberal justices are "activist." By analyzing the voting patterns of the justices on the Rehnquist court, researcher Ringhand found that both liberal and conservative justices...
Library of Congress Celebrates Thomas Jefferson's Birthday!
Posted on April 12, 2008Sunday is Thomas Jefferson?s birthday, and the Library of Congress is celebrating! Read more about it here. You might also want to see the Library?s online exhibition of Jefferson?s library, and read the Washington Post?s article on the exhibition.
Video of the Week: I.R. Mess
Posted on April 11, 2008In honor of tax day, enjoy this vintage Daily Show clip in which Jon Stewart takes a look at the IRS and efficiency:
Supreme Court Clinics Give Law Students a Heady Taste of Lawyering at the Highest Level
Posted on April 10, 2008A number of US schools, including Yale, Stanford, Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law and University of Texas School of Law, have established Supreme Court Clinics...
Stimulus payment schedule
Posted on April 10, 2008Find out when you'll receive your economic stimulus payment from the IRS here. The dates are determined by the last two digits of your social security number. Note the difference between payments for those who signed up to receive their...
Trump: ?I have a Ph.D. in legal fees. I know when fees are fair and when they are not.?
Posted on April 10, 2008Donald Trump's comments on a spat with his lawyers over fees made news recently. More.
Character Assassination by Anonymous Posting
Posted on April 09, 2008A lawsuit filed by two students at Yale University Law School tests whether anonymous free speech rights trump the right to sue for defamation. The two students were the objects of salacious anonymous posts on at Yale's law school discussion...
Blog pick: Ms. JD
Posted on April 09, 2008From the blog: "Serving women in law school and the legal profession, Ms. JD is an online community that provides a forum for dialogue and networking among women lawyers and aspiring lawyers."
Avvo hits the Florida legal market
Posted on April 08, 2008The growing, free lawyer ratings and referral service called AVVO is moving into FL. More from Law.com
Supreme Court Justice is "not a nut"
Posted on April 08, 2008During a visit to Roger Williams Law School, Justice Antonin Scalia defended his brand of constitutional interpretation, which seeks to discover the original intent of the framers of the constitution. In a question-and-answer session with students, the Reagan appointee said,...
Toddlers can no longer marry in Arkansas, or the importance of proof reading
Posted on April 07, 2008Yahoo reports that because of an extraneous "not" that no one noticed when the Arkansas legislative session ended last year, the state accidentally removed the minimum age requirement for marriage, which meant that any children under the age of 18...
Florida food and lodging inspection reports
Posted on April 07, 2008Courtesy of State Agency Database Highlights, here's a useful site to check before you travel around Florida. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation has a database of Florida food and lodging inspection records that is searchable by name,...
Red, White and Blog
Posted on April 07, 2008Check out Obama Blog, BlogHillary and the McCain Blog . Which candidate (or rather, candidate's staff) has best mastered the fine art of blogging? Hat tip: Law Librarian Blog
Are most felony pro se defendants ill-served by the decision to self-represent?
Posted on April 07, 2008From the SSRN Abstract: "Somewhat surprisingly, the evidence establishes that pro se felony defendants in state court do just as well as represented felony defendants, and the vast majority of pro se felony defendants - nearly 80% - displayed no...
Newseum To Open in D.C.
Posted on April 07, 2008I don't know if it's the caffeine coursing through my veins, the sheer giddiness of having a comp day, or the absolute pleasure of getting to watch Washington Journal feature the Newseum on today's broadcast...but I am having a totes...
Video of the Week: Two Sides
Posted on April 04, 2008Ever feel like there are two answers you'd like to give when people ask you how law school is? So does Jesse, a student at the University of Utah College of Law. Check out his video, Jesse's Two Sides: Students:...
Project Salute
Posted on April 04, 2008Think of it as a Roving Veterans Clinic: The law students & faculty at UDM School of Law are touring communities in a law school RV and consulting with veterans on benefits while raising awareness and coaching local attorneys desiring...
Congress Holds First Hearing in Second Life
Posted on April 03, 2008Appropriately, the topic was "Online Virtual Worlds: Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium". Read the CNN iReport here.
Innocence Week @ NSU Law
Posted on April 02, 2008NSU Law is marking Innocence Week in several ways. (If you're local, you've probably noticed the flyers featuring the 215 and counting exonerated around the Law Center.) Last night, Alan Crotzer, who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for 24 years,...
Supreme Court Justices & "Fantasy Baseball"
Posted on April 02, 2008Apparently, Five of the Nine Supreme Court Justices participate in Fantasy Baseball, and three had to recuse themselves from hearing a case recently granted certiorari on the subject. Article
The Great Firewall of China
Posted on April 02, 2008The internet that foreign visitors will encounter at the Summer Olympics is not the one that the Chinese use. Article
"For the ordinal listing of 3rd and 4th Tier Schools, read on..."
Posted on April 01, 2008The PrawfsBlawg claims to have discovered the ordinal ranks of otherwise alphabetically listed law schools. Article
NSU Law Students Visit U.S. Supreme Court
Posted on March 31, 2008Here is the story: NSU SharkBytes
ISLA Journal vol. 14 issue 1 table of contents
Posted on March 31, 2008Congratulations to the NSU student authors (and ILSA Journal junior staff members) published in this issue, Jamie Rodriguez and Aylia Licor! Torture on Trial: How the Alien Tort Statute May Expose the United States Government?s Illegal ?Extraordinary Rendition? Program Through...
Video of the Week: Nooooooo!
Posted on March 28, 2008Do you need to say no more often? This selection of famous Hollywood "no!"s may provide some inspiration! Hat tip: John Mayer on Teknoids
Interactive Vietnam Veterans' Memorial
Posted on March 27, 2008The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall is now available in an online, interactive version created by Footnote.com and that National Archives. The online version was assembled from 6300 photos of the Wall, and includes 58,320 searchable names linked to each veteran's...
The Man Behind the US News Rankings
Posted on March 26, 2008The ABA Journal looks at the law school rankings created by Bob Morse. Article
And congrats to the 2008-2009 Nova Law Review board!
Posted on March 26, 2008Congratulations! Executive Board: Editor-in-Chief Michael T. Fraser Executive Editor Jeremy Dicker Lead Articles Editor Sanaz Alempour Managing Technical Editor Laurence Krutchik Articles Editors Caroline Ayala, Seth Bogin, Kathrine Gonzalez, David Haas, Vanessa Pellot, Jamie Zuckerman Associate Editors: Subscriptions Editor Maggie...
Congrats, new ILSA Journal editorial board!
Posted on March 25, 2008Congratulations to the 2008-2009 ILSA Journal editorial board: Executive Board: Editor-in-Chief Jamie Rodriguez Executive Editor Giselle Velez Managing Editor Greg Popowitz Lead Articles Editor Laura Geddes-Paez Bilingual Editor Aylia Licor Editorial Board: Lead Technical Editor Laura Gabbamonte Associate Technical Editor...
Audio: a review of the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by Justice Shira Scheindlin
Posted on March 24, 2008The keynote presentation from the 2007 ABA Techshow, this audio is a review of the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on e-discovery by Justice Shira Scheindlin (SDNY). Listen
NSU Law's Voice: WLAW Radio.
Posted on March 24, 2008NSU Law School's Radio Station is in the news.
Mac law students: a resource for you
Posted on March 24, 2008If you're a law student who uses a Mac, the Mac Law Students blog, written by 11 Mac-using law students from around the world, is a resource you may find useful. The most recent post there reviews eight Mac web...
Advice for visual learners
Posted on March 20, 2008If your strongest learning style is visual, take a look at this post from the Law School Academic Support blog about which published study materials provide visual learning resources, as well as other resources and ideas for transforming your own...
Copyright and Intellectual Property Research Will Soon Be Easier!
Posted on March 19, 2008HeinOnline has announced that, at the beginning of April, the complete backfile on CFR Title 37, from inception to date, will be available to subscribers. Read more here.
Frugal tips for book lovers
Posted on March 19, 2008Many frugality websites include books, along with CDs and DVDs, among the items that you should avoid buying new. If you'd like to put that advice into practice, be sure to mark your calendar for the semi-annual NSU Alvin Sherman...
Emerging issues in state courts
Posted on March 19, 2008Academic treatment of State Courts; attitudes towards State Courts; practicing in State Courts: Two State Supreme Court Chief Justices discuss these issues at the Yale Pocket Part. Listen
US currency gets more colorful
Posted on March 19, 2008Greenbacks have been slowly expanding their color palette over the last several years. Starting tomorrow, the treasury will begin circulating $5 bills that feature a bold, purple 5. To see the new bills and learn about other forthcoming security and....
"1.8 million pages of federal case law online, free of copyright or other restrictions."
Posted on March 18, 2008New article "Online Legal Research Revolution" at law.com.
Video of the Week: Stephen Colbert's tribute to the Irish
Posted on March 14, 2008Happy St Patrick's Day, Novalawcity readers!
Want to be a law clerk?
Posted on March 14, 2008If so, you may be interested in a post by Professor Paul Cassell, recently retired from the Federal bench, about what judges look for in law clerks. Strong writing skills, good judgment, and a good fit are the essential elements....
A Set Back for Electronic Access to OK Court Docs
Posted on March 14, 2008At least in Oklahoma, internet access to court pleadings is taking a dramatic step back. Article.
Got information overload?
Posted on March 14, 2008If so, you're not alone. According to a new study by Lexis-Nexis, 70% of the population feels overwhelmed by the amount of information now available, and the number hits 80% among legal professionals. Bonnie Shucha at WisBlawg rounds up some...
Emphasis on Money Can Be Source of Depression in Law School
Posted on March 14, 2008New ABA article on law student anxiety.
Federal Cases Decrease in 2007
Posted on March 13, 2008New statistics from the Federal Bench show that in 2007 new Courts of Appeals filings decreased 12 % and new Bankruptcy filings decreased a staggering 28% compared to 2006 numbers. Tip to TVC Alert.
Interviews of United States Supreme Court Justices
Posted on March 11, 2008In this Video Series hosted at Law Prose eight of the nine Justices talk about legal writing and advocacy. Tip to Law.com
Translated Islamic Laws
Posted on March 11, 2008An English translation of Islamic Law in the tradition of Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani is provided. Also some current case law decisons are linked. More
'Too many lawyers write too much too often' -Judge John G. Koeltl
Posted on March 10, 2008The ABA offers practitioner tips on legal writing by Judge Koeltl. He covers the remedies to common practices such as Circumventing the Page Limits & Verbal Excess. ABA
LL.M. Guide
Posted on March 10, 2008Looking for the latest LLM programs? The best single website is the LLM Guide.
UNESCO Cultural Heritage Laws Database
Posted on March 07, 2008UNESCO recently developed a searchable database of cultural heritage laws. The database is designed to assist with the preservation and regulation of cultural property. National laws from UN Member states are included covering art, archeology, shipwrecks, historical sites, oral traditions,...
NSU Law Library participates in PACER Pilot
Posted on March 07, 2008NSU Law Library & Technology Center is the only Florida Law Library providing free public access to federal court records. As a selected depository library, NSU becomes part of this new effort supported by Chief Justice Roberts and endorsed by...
Michael Clayton and the legal profession
Posted on March 05, 2008Frank Pasquale over at Concurring Opinions has published an interesting post analyzing what the film Michael Clayton says about the current status and public perception of the legal profession.
Fake Bad Scale - Impeached
Posted on March 05, 2008The WSJ Law Blog discusses the weaknesses in this common PI tool for uncovering malingerers. WSJ
MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE BLOG
Posted on March 04, 2008If you practice or plan on practicing Criminal Law in Miami, the JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG is an essential feed for news, rumors, and humor.
Tax Rebates
Posted on March 03, 2008The USA.gov blog details the amount taxpayers can expect under the new Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Article
CaseMap - Lexis Case Management Software
Posted on March 03, 2008CaseMap is a case management application enabling litigators to organize case materials and access them quickly. Lexis provides access to Law Faculty & Students (from the flyer): CaseMap® provides a central repository for all the critical information in a case,...
Loan repayment assistance programs - ABA
Posted on February 26, 2008This ABA article outlines some of the substantial changes in student loan repayment options recently proposed for lawyers. Legal aid lawyers with three years of service, public defenders, and prosecutors may benefit. ABA
Video of the week: a leap ahead on leap year
Posted on February 22, 2008Next Friday marks the periodic observation of Leap Year. Get a leap ahead with some fun facts delivered by Jon Stewart in this vintage Daily Show clip:
TV movie recommendation: A Raisin in the Sun
Posted on February 22, 2008The Law School Academic Support blog suggests catching the remake of A Raisin in the Sun starring Sean Combs aka Puff Daddy aka P. Diddy etc. for "a great example of how restrictive covenants impacted real families, and power of the law to change people lives...
Federal Law - Electronically Authenticated
Posted on February 21, 2008Courtesy of the GPO, some electronic copies of Federal documents for the first time are being authenticated using digital signatures. These digital signatures validate that the document has not been tampered with and appear on the top of PDF versions of the document...
UN Data - new search tool for statistics
Posted on February 21, 2008The United Nations now has a unified statistical database search engine. The search interface supports keyword searching across multiple databases. UNdata
Analysis of yesterday's Danforth v. Minnesota decision
Posted on February 21, 2008From ScotusBlog's Lyle Denniston, thoughts on one of the Supreme Court's most recent decisions: Analysis: 'Creating' or 'declaring' rights.
Today's Supreme Court Decisions
Posted on February 20, 2008Ben Winograd of ScotusBlog has provided links to five new Supreme Court opinions. The link to the ScotusWiki discussion of Danforth v. Minnesota is incorrect (correct link here), but the link to the opinion is right.
Debating the Ups and Downs of Law Reviews
Posted on February 20, 2008What is the value and status of Law Reviews? Prof. Jarvis is quoted in this lively piece at the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. WSJ
Researching Florida Initiatives
Posted on February 19, 2008The Florida Department of State, Division of Elections, maintains a listing of current Florida Initiatives, Amendments, and Constitutional Revisions. The database is searchable and initiatives are archived back to 1978. DOS
Video of the Week: Don't Stop Believin'
Posted on February 15, 2008In honor of Valentine's Day yesterday, a law school romance today. The music of Journey can do some strange things to you. Just ask Tony Soprano. This week's video, from the University of Queensland Law Revue, demonstrates its power over two law students destined to be together...
And now for some sleep tips...
Posted on February 14, 2008Last week we covered how to productively stay up all night. This week, some tips from Reader's Digest for getting a good night's sleep. A few examples from the list of 24: Figure out your body cycle. Ever find that you get really sleepy at 10 p...
New resources for free Federal caselaw
Posted on February 14, 2008If you need to do Federal caselaw research cheaply, your options just expanded with two great new resources. Justia.com is now offering free Courts of Appeals opinions from F 2d and F 3d back to 1950. You can browse by series, year, or circuit...
Advice on Oral Arguments - ABA
Posted on February 12, 2008The ABA litigation podcast contains a great list of DOs & DO NOTs in the latest addition to the audio series. Great for all students preparing for oral arguments in Moot Court and Beyond. ABA
Fort Lauderdale Lawyer Prosecuted for Handshake
Posted on February 11, 2008A handshake between two attorneys went very wrong in Fort Lauderdale.... Story from the Legal Reader
Florida Law Online Directory
Posted on February 09, 2008Washlaw created an easy to access portal to Florida Law. Everything from government information to Practitioner Resources are included. Other states are also linked from the page. Very usable.
Video of the Week: Bill It!
Posted on February 08, 2008This week's video looks at the pressure at the pressure to bill placed on associates, with a little vintage Michael Jackson flair. From NYU's Law Revue:
Islamic Law In Our Times
Posted on February 05, 2008Blog Recommendation: Islamic Law In Our Times. Haider Ala Hamoudi, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law writes a very interesting blog on Islamic Law.
If you MUST pull an all-nighter...
Posted on February 05, 2008All-night study/writing sessions should generally be avoided, but if you must stay up till dawn, Lifehacker links to some tips for getting the most out of a sleepless night. Here's one from the Cranking Widgets blog on how to work effectively for 24 consecutive hours:Map Out Objectives Before Starting Work - a very GTD-ish notion, but worth pointing out...
New Florida Government Electronic Rulemaking System
Posted on February 05, 2008For Florida Administrative rulemaking and the Florida Administrative Code, the Florida Department of State created a capable new website. Why not Search the Code, comment on proposed rules, browse the Florida Administrative Weekly, or just find Florida Agencies? F...
Mid-week Video: 50+ years of voting for change
Posted on February 05, 2008Change has been a perennial theme of political campaigns. In this Slate video, David Schwartz of the Museum of the Moving Image shows us just how pervasive it is with a look at campaign videos dating back to Eisenhower's 1952 campaign. Happy Super Tuesday!
A Few African American History Month Resources
Posted on February 04, 2008The Federal Department of Education offers over 65 interesting resources on law topics and other subjects such as Jim Crow, Slave Narratives, Civil Rights, and the Scottsboro Incident. The Simthsonian includes related coverage of the Amistad Case, Slavery Laws, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott...
Florida Lawyers Blog Watch
Posted on January 28, 2008If you want to keep up with what Florida lawyers are blogging about, check out the new site Florida Lawyers Blog Watch. Created by law librarian Steve Matthews and Florida criminal attorney Ron Chapman, the site will aggregate "the 50 most recent postings by blogging Attorneys who reside in the State of Florida...
Quirkiest Law School Elective
Posted on January 26, 2008The WSJ law blog asks: what is the quirkiest law-school elective? Our favorite: ?Harry Potter and the Separation of Powers."
Law Firms more 'Cuddly?'
Posted on January 26, 2008The NYT reports that Biglaw firms are becoming better places to work recently due to employment policy changes. Article
Video of the Week: Beavis and Butthead meet Palsgraf v. LIRR
Posted on January 25, 2008In this week's video, an animated short from the 2007 Cardozo Law Revue, Beavis and Butthead take part in a slightly altered version of the landmark torts case, Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad. Pop culture savvy readers may recall that Beavis and Butthead were themselves the subjects of a 1993 law suit that led MTV to remove their obsession with fire from the show.
Ethics of Googling Jurors & Lawyers
Posted on January 24, 2008Google & other search engines are challenging legal ethics. For example, may lawyers ethically Google jurors to obtain information? A recent ABA litigation podcast considers this question: ABA . On the other hand, jurors may Google Trial Lawyers and Judges - may web pages be modified to communicate with the jury panel? See New Jersey Law Journal Article discussing this question...
New Supreme Court wiki
Posted on January 23, 2008From the authors of SCOTUS Blog comes another tool for keeping up with the Supreme Court, SCOTUS Wiki. To learn more about the goals of the project and why the creators of the site chose the wiki format, read the About SCOTUS Wiki page. Thanks to the University of Baltimore Law Library Blog for the tip.
Snacking for productivity
Posted on January 23, 2008What foods will help boost your brain power and productivity while studying? Lifehack.org lists 20 suggested snacks including avocados, walnuts, olives, and dark chocolate. Yum! Snacks on the list that are permitted in the law library: water and green tea! Thanks to Lifehacker for the tip.
Pro Se Handbook
Posted on January 22, 2008The Florida Bar puts out this nice volume for Pro Se litigants in Appeals. It is very useful because it is offered as a free PDF and is easier than many of the self-representation titles in our Law Library. Pro Se Handbook
AAUP Article: The Supreme Court, Affirmative Action, and Higher Education
Posted on January 22, 2008A recent American Association of University Professors article focuses on law school admissions and affirmative action through the analysis of two recent Supreme Court Decisions. Article
YouTube gangster arrested
Posted on January 17, 2008Miami police have arrested a local gang leader who taunted police in a YouTube video. According to the Miami Herald: In the clip -- filmed by Villanueva's girlfriend at Logan's apartment in December -- the two point rifles and handguns at the camera in a message apparently directed at the Miami-Dade police street gang unit...
Google is ?white bread for the mind?
Posted on January 17, 2008According to a recent article, Google is filling but not nutritious when it comes to research. Times
Can successful people really do without sleep?
Posted on January 17, 2008Many world leaders, including Margaret Thatcher and Bill Clinton, have bragged about how little sleep they need. But can you really be successful on 5 hours of sleep a night? This NPR story (text, though you can listen too) tries to sort out myth and reality...
Charitable giving in Florida
Posted on January 17, 2008State Agency Database Highlights features a website useful for Floridians making charitable donations: Gift Givers' Guide: A Guide to Charitable Giving in Florida, from the Florida Division of Consumer Services. It provides data including the charity's license number, revenue, and what portion of funds goes toward program services, and what portion goes toward administrative and fundraising costs...
Constitutional Question: Could Bill Clinton be Hillary's VP?
Posted on January 16, 2008If Hillary Clinton selected Bill Clinton to be her running mate, would the constitution allow that? Could Bill then become President again if something happened to Hillary? Possible answers at WP
Map of SC Justices Burial Sites
Posted on January 14, 2008Oyez created this nice mash-up of the burial location of Supreme Court Justices. All are in the Eastern U.S. See: Map. Hat tip to V.U.lawcity.
NSU International Citator and Research Project
Posted on January 14, 2008A very interesting initiative by NSU law recently came to this blogger's attention: the International Citator and Research Project. Among other things, the idea is to create a publication entitled 'The Greenbook' covering FCIL research using scholars from around the world...
Nova Law Review table of contents for volume 32 number 1
Posted on January 12, 2008Articles and Surveys Criminal Law: 2004?2007 Review of Florida Law William E. Adams, Jr. 2006?2007 Survey of Florida Law Affecting Business Owners Barbara Landau Twin Cases of a Taxing Sort James McAuley 2006?2007 Survey of Florida Public Employment John Sanchez Demystifying Florida Mediator Ethics: The Good, the Bad, and the Unseemly Fran L...
Video of the Week: I'll Sue Ya
Posted on January 11, 2008You know him from such classics as ?Eat It? and ?Achy Breaky Song,? and now he?s taken on our legal culture. Here?s Weird Al Yankovic with ?I?ll Sue Ya? from his 2006 album Straight Outta Lynwood. And just a reminder: the Law Library & Technology Center is not responsible if you bathe with your laptops! For another take on the same song, check out this video starring a cute kid...
Dealing with the spring semester blues - especially for 1Ls
Posted on January 11, 2008If you had a surprise in your first semester grades, you're not be alone. Law school is a whole different ballgame from other educational experiences. As Out of the Jungle notes: Even MDs, engineers and PhD holders can get a shock at their first law school exam and grades...
Lawyer Ad Ethics: "Don't settle for less than you deserve"
Posted on January 11, 2008Is this phrase ethical in Florida lawyer advertising? A Jacksonville law firm is suing the Florida Bar to find out. Story from the ABA Journal.
Akerman Senterfitt Growing Pains
Posted on January 10, 2008This National Law Journal reports that eight partners have recently resigned from the Miami office of Akerman Senterfitt. Entitled 'Mutiny in Miami' the story can be accessed here: NLJ (Call Library if Password required).
Digital Federalist Papers
Posted on January 10, 2008The Federalist Papers have been put online in a thoughtful and beautiful digital edition. Read them here. Edward O'Connor, the web developer who created this edition, has some interesting stats about which of the papers have received the most hits...
Frugal Law Student tips for the new year
Posted on January 09, 2008The Frugal Law Student blog has rounded up their best posts of 2007. If you're a student resolving to take better care of your finances in 2008, there are lots of useful places to start. Don't forget to subscribe to their RSS feed to keep the tips coming...
Judge: Kiss my what?!
Posted on January 09, 2008Nuts and Boalts points to an amusing AP story:Note to defendants: Don't tell the judge to kiss the body part you sit on. The South Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld a judge's contempt order against a St. Matthews woman who signed a court document with just such an instruction and told a probation officer to return the document to the judge...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-28 at 21:13PM
Ten months later, Fed must reveal names of emergency lending recipients #FOIA
On 08-25 at 19:02PM
Squeaky Fromme, would-be Ford assassin and Manson devotee, released from prison
On 08-14 at 15:19PM
Likely unintended consequence of cash-for-clunkers stimulus is dampening of 2010 spending
On 08-14 at 14:34PM
Palm seeks to halt Palm Pre Android theme on copyright and trademark ground
On 08-12 at 17:30PM
Congressional investigation demonstrates Karl Rove lied about his active role in US attorney's firing
On 08-12 at 16:20PM
Family of New York City swine flu victim to sue city for failure to secure school #nyc #swineflu
On 08-12 at 12:59PM
Real Network's DVD copying software deemed to break DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions
On 08-12 at 12:57PM
Prepaid funeral operators indicted for $100 Million fraud
On 08-12 at 12:53PM
NY Jets join Cincinnati, Dallas, Green Bay, Houston & Seattle #NFL teams offering branded state lottery games
On 08-12 at 12:43PM
Are you the author of this blog? Adding USLaw.com to your Blogroll increases relevance. You qualify to display a USLaw Network badge.
Suggest changes to this blog's description or nominate another for inclusion. Register for updates.
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material © 1999-2009 by USLaw.com. |