Here is a very simple database for free legal research, www.nolo.com/legal-research. NOLO has a basic page with definitions and explanations of law and legislative law enactment. The main web page has links to a federal laws section with access to the United States constitution, United States code, and Code of Federal Regulations. All of these databases are searchable by citation or by keyword. There is also a corresponding State law database for all 50 states. Most of these links are to the State’s code web page but they are all together in one spot for quick searching. This is a good, free, basic set of resources. (Post-Del)
Free Legal Research Database
February 8th, 2010Interested in Public Interest Law?
February 5th, 2010Visit Equal Justice Works at http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/ and subscribe to their weekly E-Clips newsletter; check out their blog; or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Also, explore summer and fellowship programs available to law students and visit their Resources page to learn more about how to launch a public service career and debt relief possibilities. FYI: The Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair will be held in D.C. in October. (Post-TC)
Legal research on your iPhone
February 2nd, 2010Fastcase – a competitor to Casemaker – has introduced a legal research app for iPhones. Robert Ambrogi reviews it on his website, Lawsites. The app, which is awaiting approval from Apple, “will be free to download and searching the Fastcase library using the app will also be free. First-time users will be required to register, but there will be no cost. Current Fastcase subscribers will be able to use their existing log-on and password.”
Other legal vendors are in the apps market. For example, Lexis has a free iPhone app, for Lexis subscribers. Lawbox, yet another legal research app, is reviewed on a website called iPhone J.D.
It’s the future – now.
[PRM]
Ethical use of social media
January 27th, 2010An article in the February-March ABA Young Lawyers Division newsletter touted the benefits of social media (such as Facebook & Twitter) to a law practice. The author uses social media to enhance his practice and to stay connected with family and friends in spite of the demands of a busy legal practice. The uses he mentions do not seem to raise any ethical red flags. But he did not mention using social media to discover facts about people, such as opposing parties or witnesses.
A recent post on the RIPS (Research instruction and Patron Services) blog highlighted some of the ethical issues that might arise through the use of social media as fact-finding tools. The post links to a Philadelphia Bar Association’s advisory opinion and several discussions of “how far a lawyer can go to access information found on social networking sites.”
On the other hand, the law might offer some desirable enhancements to social media. For a look at what would happen if one of the most popular social networking sites added an essential legal research tool, go here: http://www.courtoons.net/index.php?s=Shepardizing.
[PRM]
Keeping Up with the Statehouse
January 25th, 2010Two weekly resources for keeping up with issues addressed by the SC General Assembly this session are the SC Statehouse Report and the SC Bar’s Weekly Legislative Report. Every Friday, the SC Bar reports on legislation addressed and passed that week. The SC Statehouse Report includes commentary on political and policy issues, as well as political cartoons (check out the year in cartoons for 2009). You may subscribe to the SC Statehouse Report and have it delivered to your inbox every Friday. (Post-TC)
Top 20 Must See Legal Movies for Law Students
January 22nd, 2010The Jurist has posted the Top 20 legal movies that ALL law students should see. Additionally, the legal wwebsite has recommendations for other legal movies of interest to law students. Check it out you may be surprised about movies on the list. For your information here are the top 5.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1961)
2. 12 Angry Men (1957)
3. Anatomy of a murder (1959)
4. Kramer v. Kramer (1978)
5. Michael Clayton (2007)
To find out the rest go to The Jurist (click link) (Post-DEL).
Video of LAW.GOV Kickoff Event
January 22nd, 2010Interested in Open Access and the possibility of a national registry of law? On January 12th, the Stanford Law Library hosted the kickoff event to begin a dialogue about how this might be accomplished. To read more and to access a link to a video of the event’s panel discussion, visit Stanford’s Legal Research Plus blog. (Post-TC)
New “Twist” in the Law
January 22nd, 2010
The Social Security Administration Commissioner, Michael J. Astrue, and rock and roll legend Chubby Checker recently announced a new campaign to inform Americans about a new program to help seniors and disabled citizens who are struggling to pay for their prescription drugs. Check out the Extra Help program at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/prescriptionhelp/. Yes, there is a video! Also of interest is the About.com article on why it is easier to qualify in 2010. (Post-TC)
LAW.GOV
January 21st, 2010Wouldn’t it be great if we had free access to all U.S. legislative, regulatory, and judicial resources?
Well, according to the new Law Librarian of Congress, Roberta I. Shaffer in her holiday letter:
“The Law Library is pursuing the registration of the ‘LAW.GOV’ domain where researchers throughout the world will be able to find authoritative local, state, national, foreign and international legal and legislative information. The Law Library envisions hosting the site and collaborating with federal agencies, state, local, and foreign national governments, and international organizations to maintain a ‘one-stop’ URL”.
For more information on the proposed repository of United States primary legal materials, visit http://resource.org/law.gov/. Of course, access is not complete without assurance that these materials are authentic. Visit the American Association of Law Libraries’ website to read about its authentication initiative. To view a digitally signed and certified document, browse the Public and Private Laws from the 110th Congress forward on the Government Printing Office’s website. (Post-TC)
The More Things Change. . .
January 19th, 2010. . .the more they stay the same. Privacy rights is a hot topic in the Internet Age, but the issues have been around for a long time. For example, back in 1976, a sports figure plaintiff sued a popular magazine for invasion of privacy. The defendant had reported activities from the plaintiff’s earlier years, including putting cigarettes out in his mouth, diving off stairs to impress women, eating insects, and hurting himself in order to collect unemployment and create free time for bodysurfing at the beach. The court found that the activities reported, “though generally unflattering and perhaps embarrassing, were simply not offensive to a degree of morbidity or sensationalism as would have precluded their publication in defendants’ magazine as newsworthy.” Check out Virgil v. Sports Illustrated, 424 F.Supp. 1286 (D.C.Cal. 1976). [Research hint: if searching online, use party names or reporter citation as your search query.]
(RKM)
