Strategies for Success

Get started now for success in law school and in practice.  The Law Library created a "Strategies for Success" collection of materials for what you can do now to successfully reach your goals.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

ABA's 25 Greatest Law Novels

The ABA Journal frequently does a greatest fictional lawyers and best legal movies feature.  This year they have added the 25 greatest law novels as well.  The books are chosen by a panel of experts and are intended to provide the best portrayals of lawyers and the law in the world of literature.  This year's top 25 include the Ox-Bow Incident, The Fountainhead, Bleak House and more.  Click here for the entire top 25 list.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Constitutional Law Prof Blog

Returning 2Ls are diving into Constitutional Law textbooks as the semester begins.  Here's a good way to get out of the case book, see what some other Con Law professors are saying about the latest court decisions and other developments, and get some informational background and perspectives for class discussion: read Constitutional Law Prof Blog. The blog features posts written by Professors Steven Schwinn (John Marshall Law School, Chicago) and Ruthann Robson (CUNY School of Law), along with comments by other professors in the field and links to media commentary.  It is part of the Law Professor Blogs Network, "the nation's only network of legal blogs edited primarily by law professors." One or more blogs in the network may cover subjects of special interest to you.   

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Online Bluebook

I know how much you all love the Bluebook.  Who doesn't?

Now you can get a Bluebook app for your iPhone or iPad (not sure when Android will be available).  It is part of the Rulebook app libraries - which also includes court rules and the ABA  Model Rules.  The app is free but you have to pay to access the Bluebook ($39.99) and other titles (court rules $0.99 - $2.99; ABA Model Rules $24.99).

You can also purchase web access to the Bluebook  at www.legalbluebook.com .

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

The Case of the Litigious Composer

“As the lawyer Gary Rosen recounts in Unfair to Genius, an entertaining […] new biography-cum-legal-history, the minor early-twentieth-century composer Ira B. Arnstein not only ruined his musical career through the chronic litigation of music plagiarism cases; he literally went mad.”

Read more here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

LLRX: LinkedIn Has Growing Value for Lawyers

"LinkedIn is billed as the “professional” social network, which is why lawyers dipping their toes into social media for the first time often start with LinkedIn. The problem is that as far as social networks go, LinkedIn hasn’t always been very, well … social. In fact, up until very recently, it was a fairly static site without much daily activity worth following." Click here to read more from Nicole R. Black.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Get Organized with Evernote for Lawyers

The mobile productivity app Evernote has been expanding its app offerings and many features are useful for lawyers and law firms.  Find a list of the Evernote app family here.

Evernote lets you:

"Capture anything.

Save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see.

Access anywhere.

Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device out there.

Find things fast.

Search by keyword, tag or even printed and handwritten text inside images."

Evernote is available for most platforms and mobile devices, including Android, Mac and iOS.

Rocket Matter has created a short, free e-book that highlights some of the best ways to use Evernote called Evernote for Lawyers.  To access this free e-book, click here, fill out the short form and download the PDF.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Welcome to Fall Semester 2013!

The start of a new school year is exciting – frustrating – confusing – and sometimes all of these at once.

Please remember that we are here to help you.  If you don’t know something, ask.  We may not have the answer, but we can usually connect you with the person who does.

Please remember that the Law Library’s website provides nuts & bolts info (hours, study room policies, audio tour, etc.)  Start on our homepage and then click on Students for links to important student services (Past Exams).

Past Exams, you can ask a reference librarian for the password.

Please remember that you can stop at the Reference Desk anytime it is open.  The Reference Librarians will also meet with you on a one-to-one basis for research assistance if you ask.  For simple questions, you can phone, text, or IM the Reference Desk.

Please be aware of announcements.   We use a number of ways to keep you informed of activities. 

Take advantage of the opportunities offered to you while you are here.  Join one or more student groups and be involved. 

So welcome to Fall Semester 2013, a start of a new adventure!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New on HeinOnline: Author Tracking Feature

HeinOnline recently announced a new feature in which users can utilize the search query function to follow a certain author's work.  This great feature will allow users to follow a certain author's legal research and will even alert users to when their own articles are available on HeinOnline.  Once the search query is set up, you will receive e-mail alerts when new material becomes available and these alerts will be sent monthly.  To learn more about this new feature or to set up a search query click here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legal Research and New Attorneys: A Survey

As the 1Ls experienced their first law school class this week, delving into Legal Writing, Analysis, and Research, a timely report appeared summarizing how legal research is really performed by new attorneys.  "Rebooting Legal Research in a Digital Age," authored by Steven Lastres, Director of Library & Knowledge Management at the New York-based international law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, is drawn from the recent "New Attorney Research Methods Survey" conducted by the Research Intelligence Group.  The 190 survey respondents from both small and large firms, nearly forty percent of them 28 or younger, included many graduates from the classes of 2011 and 2012.  If you are like most of them, in your first few years of practice you will spend more than 30% of your time doing legal research, and you will likely spend most of this time using paid online services.  Like nearly half of those surveyed, you may think that legal research should be a larger part of the law school curriculum.  So focus in on those LWR classes and those training sessions and workshops given by the librarians.  And check out this revealing report on the current state of legal research for new attorneys.

Hat tip to Law Librarian Blog.          

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat