Finding Study Guides

In addition to CALI lessons online, you can find some great study guides and study aids--such as the Examples & Explanations series, flash cards, CD's, and more--at the Law Library.  Many of the Library's study aids are kept on reserve at the Circulation Desk and circulate for 3-hour periods; others are found in the main stacks.  Finding the right study aid for a 1L or advanced course is easy with "Study Guides," one of the research guides on the Library website.  The "Study Guides" research guide organizes these resources by both subject and series, including some online and media series.  Print copies of "Study Guides" are kept at the Reference Desk handout rack for students' convenience.

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Research Resources

The Law Library provides helpful online research guides, all created specifically for Hofstra Law students by our librarians. 

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1L Law Library Survival Guide: Types of Legal Materials

1L Law Library Survival Guide:  Types of Legal Materials
 
This research guide explains the resources, both print and electronic, in a law library for a new law student. There are brief explanations of the types of legal resources that a law student is likely to encounter for research and exam preparation.

While this is written with the 1L student in mind, upper level students may find it useful as a quick refresher.  
 
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Research Resources: ERISA Litigation Tracker (BNA)

If you are interested in a source that provides significant ERISA cases as they are being litigated then check the BNA ERISA Litigation Tracker.  This source also provides alerts and full text of court filings such as complaints, briefs, motions, settlements, and decisions. The ERISA Litigation Tracker also provides litigation news as well as a feed of the latest firm mergers and attorney moves in ERISA litigation.

To access the ERISA Litigation Tracker (BNA):

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "BNA" link, click on the tab "Alphabetical List of Products"
• Scroll down to "ERISA Litigation Tracker  (BNA)"

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Summer Research tip - Treatises

Really this applies all year round, but for those diving into legal research for a Summer job, remember to see if there is a treatise in your subject area.  Let someone else do the work for you!

You can investigate treatises on Bloomberg Law, Lexis or Westlaw (if you have access to these expensive systems - beware of high costs for resources outside of your plan).  Or, you can check out our Recommended Legal Treatises guide.  For NY specific research, this New York Treatises guide provides a detailed and extensive list.

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Research Resources: Finding State Government Websites

If you are looking for quick way to find a state web page, try USA.Gov. The site provides access to  the government website for each state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and associated states.

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Research Resources: Family Law Reporter (BNA)

If you are looking for a family law resource, try the Family Law Reporter (BNA).  Family Law Reporter provides access to court decisions, including those before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as legislative and regulatory news, conferences and other developments in key areas of family law from across the country.

You can skim articles by date, topic, or category with the tools on the banner.  By using the Hot Topic link, you can access recent news articles published under a particular category, or create your own using the Customize feature.

For a quick search of the entire collection, use the search box at the top of the page. limit your search by date, focus on specific fields, or use Boolean search operators, access the Advanced Search tool

To the Family Law Reporter (BNA):

• Go to the the law library's home page.  Click "Topic List."
• Then, click "Family Law"
• Scroll down to Family Law Reporter (BNA)

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RAND Health

If you need to research (or just have an interest in) health law, policy, or other health care issues, RAND Health resources are invaluable.  The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization focused on policy research and solutions, has gathered more than 280 experts from many disciplines to create its RAND Health division, "one of the largest independent health research groups in the world."

At RAND Health you can explore many facets of the Affordable Care Act, including research briefs on current developments and issues in implementing the Act. The Rand Health menu also links to a broad range of health policy commentary, research articles, and contemporary health care and policy surveys.  Rand Health is one of the best objective health policy resources for exploring these topics.

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World Death Penalty Resources

Are you interested in where and how the death penalty is applied throughout the world and researching the death penalty as a foreign or comparative law topic?  A goldmine of country-by-country information--statistical data, background, and legal analysis--is available at the Death Penalty Worldwide website and in its Death Penalty Database.  Created by Professor Sandra Babcock, Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell University Law School, in partnership with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the database is searchable by keyword and country. Searches can be further filtered by items such as crimes punishable by the death penalty, methods of execution, and treaties to which the country is a party.  Another good source of recent statistical information is Amnesty International's report, "Death Sentences and Executions, 2013," which includes a comparative international map. To find additional information and suggested sources for the criminal law and death penalty of particular countries, search for "death penalty" at the Foreign Law Research page of New York University's GlobaLex site. 

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Online Research Resources: Medical Research Law & Policy Report (BNA)

If you are interested in a publication that offers coverage of regulatory and legal developments concerning the medical research industry, then take a look at BNA's Medical Research Law & Policy Report.  Dates of coverage are from March 20, 2002 to the present.

To access the Medical Research Law & Policy Report (BNA) :

• Click the "Online Resources Subject List" link
• Then, click "Health Law/Medicine" link
• Scroll down to "Medical Research Law & Policy Report (BNA)"

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New Study Reveals Data on Lynching

The extra-judicial practice of lynching in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is a subject of interest to many students of legal history and civil rights. But compiling the hard statistical data, the victims and the when and where of the lynchings that took place in the United States, as well as the context of these events, has been a major challenge and an ongoing effort of historians and other scholars. Today, a New York Times article described a brand new report, "Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror," produced by the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, after five years of research.  The Report Summary is available here, and the full report is available upon request from the organization.

As the article explains, "efforts to count the number of lynchings in the country go back at least to 1882, when the The Chicago Tribune began publishing each January a list of all executions and lynching in the previous year." In 1995, sociology professors Stewart Tolnay and E. M. Beck compiled what may be the most accurate inventory to that time, based on previously published lists.  The book based on their inventory, A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930, is available at Axinn Library. Both the new report and the books and articles by Tolnay and Beck are important resources for research on this topic.      

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State Ballot measures database

Interested in state laws and politics?  Doing research on issues of interest to the public?  Check out the Ballot Measures Database from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The database is searchable by topic area, with options such as abortion, bond measures, criminal justice, education, elections, health, labor and employment, natural resources, tax and revenues, transportation and more. The database is updated as new ballot measures qualify to be on the ballot and goes back to 1902.

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Online Research Resources: BNA Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts

If you are looking for a source that reviews information about negotiating and administering contracts, in addition to providing sample contract clauses relating to collective bargaining, try Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts (BNA).  The manual contains chapters on pay plans, employee benefits, working conditions and provides sample clauses on economic weapons of labor, wages/hours and more.

To access the Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts manual:

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Labor and Employment Law" link
• Scroll down to "Collective Bargaining Negotiations & Contracts (BNA)"

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New York State Library - Selected Law Resources

The New York State Library - Selected Law Resources links to external websites of value and interest to a New York lawyer.  The websites have been vetted by NYSL.  There are links to courts in New York both state and federal; bar associations; codes - federal, state & local; other comprehensive legal research portals; and much more.

This is a good entry to free and reliable legal resource sources on the web.

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Research Resources: Guide to Law Online

The Guide to Law Online, prepared by the Law Library of Congress Public Services Division, is an annotated guide to sources of information on government and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal information.

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Online Sources: Kluwer Arbitration

If you are looking for an online resource for international commercial arbitration research, try Kluwer Arbitration. It includes case law, commentary, journals, conventions, awards, practice tools, news, blogs, legislation, rules and more. 

To access the Kluwer Arbitration:

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Alternative Dispute Resolution / Mediation" link
• Scroll down to "Kluwer Arbitration"

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HeinOnline Library: World Constitutions Illustrated

HeinOnline's World Constitutions Illustrated is a library in the HeinOnline database, which contains "the current constitution of every country in the world in its original language. For countries where multiple original-language versions exist, we will provide each one. Also included will be at least one English translation." (source)

For every country there are additional research resources, such as commentaries and editorially selected relevant scholarly articles.  Also included for each country is a bibliography of selected works and Internet links to additional information about the country. 

HeinOnline can be directly accessed at Hofstra Law without a login when signed in to the Hofstra Law School network or accessed through the My Hofstra portal while off-campus.

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Research Resources: Daily Report for Executives (BNA)

If you are interested in a daily news service that covers legislative, regulatory, news, and expert analysis for business and commercial issues check the BNA Daily Report for Executives.  The Report also provides in-depth coverage of leading legislative, regulatory, and judicial news as well as BNA insights and special reports.  Dates of coverage are from January 2, 1998 to the present.

To access the Daily Report for Executives (BNA):

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Commercial and Corporate Law" link
• Scroll down to "Daily Report for Executives  (BNA)"

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Paper Writing Resources

Are you taking a seminar that requires writing a paper?  Or, on a journal and starting work on your note?  Are you aware of resources beyond Westlaw Next and Google?

For help with getting started with your paper and resources available to you at Hofstra Law, check out the Paper Writing Resources research guide.  Tips for:

1.  Resources to help you find and narrow your topic;

2.  Find topic specific research guides;

3.  Resources for identifying legal and non-legal articles on your topic;

4.  How to obtain the articles you find;

5.  Find books on your topic;

6.  Current awareness resources.

 For the best paper you want to be thorough in your research.  Paper Writing Resources helps you move beyond your regular research strategy.



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Trade Secrets Law

For those interested in intellectual property law, especially the national and international world of trade secrets, a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report, Protection of Trade Secrets: Overview of Current Law and Legislation, provides an expert, objective summary of the subject.  It covers topics from the historical development of trade secrets law to the current landscape of federal, state, and international law in this area, and trade secrets legislation in the current Congress. This is a good place to start for students researching or writing on the subject.

To keep up with current developments in trade secrets law, including new case decisions and legislation, the resources in BNA's Intellectual Property Resource Center, especially Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law Daily, Patent Trademark & Copyright Journal, and World Intellectual Property Report are some of the best available.  You can link to the BNA Intellectual Property Resource Center through the Law Library web site's Online Resources Subject List, or search the Intellectual Property BNA resources on Bloomberg Law from the "BNA Titles" page.     

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