"Law School" Music Video a Hit

If you haven't seen it yet, take a break this weekend with "Law School," a music video capturing the essence of law school life with lyrics written by Andy Loud, a 2L at West Virginia University College of Law.  Loud teamed up musically with a local friend, Tyler Murray, featured on the vocals, who make music together as the band Chocolate Ghost House.  He worked for months on the lyrics, and added fellow law students who were either good friends or excited about creating an entry for this year's Above the Law blog Annual Law Revue Video Contest. They came up with a You Tube success. The parody video of Maroon 5's "Payphone" with references and reactions to the law school experience that every student will recognize--including some nice library shots--is just over 4 minutes of fun that Loud hopes will put West Virginia University on the Law Revue Video Contest map.  This article from the Charleston (West Virginia) Daily Mail has more about "Law School" and its creators.

Hat tip to the ABA Journal.   

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

On the Ides...Beware of missing this!

Research Strategy 101 - Mon. March 18  at 12:10-1pm in Room 205
Pizza  and surprise gift included

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Gender Jurisprudence and International Criminal Law Project

From the "About" page of the project:  "The Gender Jurisprudence and International Criminal Law Project is a collaborative project between the War Crimes Research Office (WCRO) and the Women and International Law Program (WILP) at American University Washington College of Law. ... the project aims to raise awareness of and encourage research and debate about the jurisprudence emerging from international and hybrid tribunals regarding sexual and gender-based violence committed during times of conflict, mass violence, or repression and to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of these crimes under international law."

" The Gender Jurisprudence Collections (GJC) is a powerful database containing judgments, decisions, orders, and other relevant documents issued by international/ized criminal courts and tribunals that have been coded and made readily searchable for issues relating to sexual and gender-based violence."

This site offers even more:  Digest; Commentaries; a Blog; Events; and Resources.  This is an important contribution to the study of these issues.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Research Resources: Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements (BNA)

If you are interested in a database that contains thousands of employment discrimination verdicts, settlements, and awards, take a look at BNA's Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements.  It has an easy-to-use search template and you can search entries by monetary amount of award, cause of action or statute, names of parties, date of verdict or settlement and more.
To access the  Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements (BNA):

• Go to the Library's home page, click "Online Resources"
• Click the "Litigation/Advocacy" link
• Scroll down to "Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements (BNA)"

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Law, Past and Present

The Law Library of Congress has a popular blog, In Custodia Legis, written by a team of 15 librarians.  It covers modern legal trends, international law sources, and much more, in addition to gems of legal history that you won't find anywhere else.  Yesterday's "Pic of the Week" is sure to bring a smile to the faces of today's law students, because it shows how little some things have changed since the days of their medieval predecessors.  If you've ever been bored during a class lecture with a heavy casebook open on the desk, you can relate to the medieval law student who created a doodle of his boring instructor right on this page of Justinian's Institutes, the introductory textbook for Roman Law.  And if you want to find out how Richard III, the king whose remains were recently unearthed in an English parking lot, used the law of his day to take revenge on enemies and expand his legendary reputation as a cruel monarch, Thursday's post will fill you in on that subject. Count on these librarians for some different takes on the legal world.     

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Excitement On The Civil Procedure Front

Fans of the first-year staple known as Civil Procedure will be excited to learn that the U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari to hear a case that raises questions involving jurisdiction and venue.

Not so exciting, you say? Well, the case also involves two professional gamblers who filed a lawsuit against a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officer after he confiscated their winnings at the airport. Read more about it here and here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Google's New Patent Filing

Have you ever wondered how Google News works?  How does its algorithm push information to you?  Well, "the search giant updated its patent filing with a new document detailing the 13 metrics it uses to retrieve and rank articles and sources for its news service."  


Computerworld uncovered the document "while conducting an unrelated patent search on the United States Patent Office's website." Here is  an  inside look at Google’s news-ranking algorithm via Computerworld.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New Lawyer Tips for Success

Above the Law recently posted an article that gives new lawyers the inside track on success when first starting out at a firm.  These are the kind of tips that many new lawyers wish someone had told them before they had to find out the hard way. (Never go near the office of the managing attorney without a yellow legal pad in your hand was my own "new lawyer" lesson learned.)

10 Things Your Law Firm Boss Wants You To Know, but Isn't Going to Tell You is a quick read of small things that seem obvious...but are not. The article also references Greenhorn Legal, a company that regularly posts a New Lawyer Tip of the Week on their blog and also posts real world legal tales of horror by the (formerly new) lawyers that suffered through them.  An example? The Disaster Stories Part IV: Using Social Media Irresponsibly. 

The blog's author, Desiree Moore, has written a book that explain the unspoken rules to surviving in a law firm as a new lawyer.  Find Thrive : a new lawyer's guide to law firm practice by Desirée Moore at the Hofstra Law Library.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) prepares nonpartisan analysis for the U.S. Congress.   The CBO was founded in 1974 and the purpose of the CBO is to produce independent analysis of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.  The CBO is well known for objectivity and quality work.

Reports and projections are available to the public on the CBO website.  The most recent CBO Blog post is a response to questions they received regarding the automatic reductions in government spending (sequestration) that went into effect on March 1st. 

The CBO website is easy to navigate and offers clear and in-depth analysis of the U.S. budget. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Article on Legal Research Litigation Practice Materials

Shawn G. Nevers (Brigham Young University-J. Reuben Clark Law School) recently published an article entitled  "Legal Research: Litigation Practice Materials."  The article is intended for 1L students who don't always get experience in the first year classes with litigation documents but definitely can find themselves working with these documents at their summer internships.  The article provides a number of legal research resources that can be used to draft complaints, summons, motions and other litigation documents.  Click here to read the entire article.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat