If nothing else, lawyers and judges care about what words mean:
SPORTS: What Exactly Is ‘Locker-Room Talk’? Let an Expert Explain,” by Bill Pennington, Oct.10, 2016, New York Times:
“….Having just left the locker room after his team’s victory over the Broncos in Denver on Sunday night, Tamme wrote: “I showered after our game but I feel like I need another one after watching the debate.” [Link to NYT article.]
Home Free: How a New York State prisoner became a jailhouse lawyer, and changed the system,” by Jennifer Gonnerman, in: New Yorker, A Reporter at Large, June 20, 2016 issue.
“Derrick Hamilton was wrongfully convicted of murder, and spent more than two decades trying to prove his innocence…. He started spending time in the library, and eventually taught himself enough criminal law to become one of the most skilled jailhouse lawyers in the country….” [Link to New Yorker article.]
Hat tip to Longform.
Short of performing a bundy-ectomy (formerly reserved for Al or Ted), let’s get another view of this particular cathedral. Here is an old Law Librarian’s take on protest and occupation:
Read a Book, Read the Law:
The history of protest goes back to the beginning of human time (check out the Flintstones if you doubt me).
LoisLaw is dead; long live Fastcase/Loislaw.
Research Tip: Good word searches won’t get you very far if you don’t update your research.
(And all good legal researchers know how to “update the law.”)
“The library is a growing organism.” [Ranganathan, the fifth of “Five Laws of Library Science”]
Visit the new website of the Multnomah Law Library for your legal research adventures. Note that Saturday hours have returned, remote and in-library database access is expanding, and the online catalog will earn its keep as a time-saver.
And don’t forget the Oregon legal research databases I featured in last week’s blog posts, from the State Law Library and OSB.
Every working stiff needs a laugh and a boost on Friday-Eve morning (better known as Thursday morning) and we are no exception to that truth. So, we often turn to the Legal Research is Easy blogger who never fails to tickle our funny bones – and he’s willing to spill the beans about his patrons. What more could you want?! We all have these public law library patrons, but who can tell their stories with such humor and exasperation – and with excellent legal research tips!
(Public libraries everywhere have these patrons. If you don’t believe me, read Unshelved and the “Black Belt Librarian” author who thought he knew everything about libraries and security until he actually started working in one.)
The latest Legal Research is Easy posts (and previous ones for that matter) are hilarious AND interesting AND smart AND the facts described would elicit a my, my, my from our favorite Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell). (The rest of us fall about laughing. Auntie Mame was nothing if not a classy dame.)
Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites is always interesting and he travels the same roads all legal researchers do: legal research, law libraries, law practice management, solo and small law firm practioners, big law, etc.
His list of “Most Popular Posts (Published Any Year)” is interesting and humorous, especially the: “Top 4 from Any Year:
What Do You Pay for Westlaw or LexisNexis? (July 13, 2011).
The January 2015 ABA Journal has these articles and more:
“Washington state moves around UPL, using legal technicians to help close the justice gap,” by Robert Ambrogi
“It’s unethical for prosecutors to allow debt collectors to use official letterhead, says ABA opinion,” by David L. Hudson, Jr. (ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 469)
I recently asked law librarians for alternate, non-proprietary, ways of saying “Shepard’s” or “KeyCite” (or Shepardizing or KeyCiting). Below you’ll find a short list and a long list of responses, and not a few “namemushs.”
We focused primarily on case citators, but keep in mind you can cite-check a lot of things, including law review articles, court rules, statutes, and regulations (to name only 4).
What’s a citator? We like this concise description of Online Citators, from the University of Washington Law School librarians.
I could use this case to teach an entire course on Oregon legal research to lawyers, law students, legislators, and self-represented litigants:
City of Damascus v. Henry R. Brown, Jr. (A156920)
“ARMSTRONG, P. J.
Oregon Legal Research Blog