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Law librarians teach law students and new lawyers that state and federal appellate court briefs are treasure troves, but they are not the easiest documents to search.

For example, in Oregon, unless you have a subscription to Lexis or Westlaw, and can afford to buy into their briefs databank, and need to search only relatively recent briefs, you have to resort to needle-in-a-haystack types of research. (A law librarian can recommend some research tips, but the research still takes time.)

Web-based, publicly-accessible, moderately priced, and searchable digital briefs banks rise and fall, but that’s a good thing. One needs to experiment a lot to find the right online business model and database.  To read about a recent effort:

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High school, college, and law students: the following quick tips might do the trick:

1) If you’re a current law student, visit your law school’s career services or student affairs office.  If you plan to take a bar review course, check out the discounts and fee waivers that are available to law students.

2) If you’re a current or future law student and want a brief primer on the bar exam in a specific state, visit that state’s Bar Admissions website. In Oregon, visit the Oregon State Bar Admissions website and look for the Bar Exam Information links.

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Justice Bedsworth’s take on these matters makes as much sense as anyone’s – and maybe a little more. And he’s a real judge! (Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal.)

OC Lawyer, A Criminal Waste of Space: September 2012: Schools by the NCAA

Excerpt: “…. So we, greenhorns all, learned the rules of evidence and the complexities of human nature by trying misdemeanors. If you dropped the blood vial in a driving-under-the-influence case and watched it shatter on the floor—as actually happened to one of my contemporaries—you were not turning a puppy-raper loose on society. If you over-prosecuted a petty theft case, it was unlikely your mistake would change the earth’s rotational rate.

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On September 13th, 2012, California Governor Brown signed SB1075 into law, enacting the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act in California (UELMA).

From Law Librarian listserv:

“SB1075 provides that the California Constitution, the state statutes, and the California codes will be authentic and permanently available online to the citizens of California.   The bill, sponsored by the Senate Committee on Rules, leaves open the option to include additional categories of material through amendment and it establishes that the Legislative Counsel Bureau is the official publisher.

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Marketplace Money ran an interview with Ron Lieber, author of the recent NYT story on discharging student loan debt in bankruptcy:

1) Marketplace Money (9/7/12) podcast: Student loans and bankruptcy

2)  Ron Lieber’s (9/31/12) New York Times article:
Last Plea on School Loans: Proving a Hopeless Future

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An Oregon Law Practice Management, 9/10/12 post aims to get you to think outside the big city box:

New Solos: Go Where You’re Needed


Check out MyShingle and other solo and small law firm blogs for more on the joys and rewards of small town and/or solo practice.
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