New Website for State Online Legal Information

The bold highlights are my addition.

The Digital Access to Legal Information Committee (DALIC) has created a new website to host information about the status of online legal materials in every state with respect to authentication, official status, preservation, permanent public access, copyright, and universal citation. The new website brings together information from AALL’s National Inventory of Legal Materials and updates AALL’s Preliminary Analysis of AALL’s State Legal Inventories, 2007 State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources, and 2009-2010 State Summary Updates. State pages will be updated as information changes. DALIC members will monitor the site and periodically check in with AALL’s state working groups to ensure the accuracy of the information. (Via Emily Feltren, AALL)

Litigation Training for Human Trafficking Cases – San Jose

Law students, take advance of this free litigation training this fall. This is an opportunity to supplement your classroom education as well as network with the different entities in the legal, social work, and law enforcement fields.

Attend a 5.5 hour litigation training for Human Trafficking, and current legal professionals can earn up to 5.5 MCLE credits as well. This is a daytime event, and is free to current law students. Just be sure to take your school ID with you. The event will be held at the Mexican Heritage Plaza from 9am – 4:30pm. Lunch will be provided.
Register online @ litigationtraining.eventbrite.com. Make sure to select Lincoln Law School of San Jose as your designated group in the registration form.

$50 for Law Offices ($75 after Oct. 31st)

$20 for Nonprofit or Government Employees ($25 after Oct 31st)

FREE for law students, professors & staff ($10 after Oct. 31st).

Election Day 2012 – Time to do your homework

The 2012 Presidential selection is only 47 days away. It will be held on Tuesday November 6th.

If you’re not prepared, here are some resources to help you make the key decisions that impact the state and its residents.

Register to vote

Starting today, California residents can register to vote online. Sen. Leland Yee authored the bill in 2011. For those have an electronic signiture on file with the DMV will be able to transfer their voter registration form electronically to county elections officials from the secretary of state’s website. Prior to this change, residents had to mail in the registration form. All voter registration forms must be turned in (by mail or electronically) by Oct 22nd in order to be eligible for the November election.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/California-voters-may-now-register-online-3876090.php#ixzz26wMQA7BM

Qualified Statewide Ballot Measures

Do you know what is going to be on the ballot this year besides Romney and Obama? The CA Secretary of State website offers a breakdown of the various propositions and measures for the state.

Voting in Santa Clara County

The County of Santa Clara website has clear instructions and information regarding the 2012 election. Check the website for information regarding early voting times, candidate and measure information, among other resources. Starting Oct. 1st, you will be be able to locate your polling place on the website as well.

League of Women Voters of California

The League of Women Voters of California have all the same information as the websites above with a few extras. One of which is a PDF of the Pros & Cons of the statewide ballot measures.

These resources are filled with all the pertinent information to help you make the right decision for yourself, your city, county and state in November.

Dictionary of Pronunciation via Yale Law School

Students at Yale Law School have compiled and published what they call the Pronouncing Dictionary of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Although the United States is famously a nation of immigrants, Americans often struggle with the pronunciation of foreign words and names. Mispronunciation of even common foreign words is ubiquitous (Eye-rack and Eye-ran spring to mind). Foreign names in legal matters present a particular challenge for legal professionals. The purpose of the Pronouncing Dictionary of United States Supreme Court cases, … is to help conscientious lawyers, judges, teachers, students, and journalists correctly pronounce often-perplexing case names.

You can either view the names on the website or download the full PDF (15 GREEN BAG 2D 433)

There is also an explanation of the phonetic symbols and transcription practice used pronunciation notes (PDF) 

The chart notes the Americanized pronunciation of the difficult name, Bryan Garner’s, and the International Phonetics Association American and Native Speaker Pronunciation. This might be a great asset when having to cite these cases in court or for a class presentation.

Technology for Lawyers: Proposed Model Jury Instructions

Proposed Model Jury Instructions – The Use of Electronic Technology to Conduct Research on or Communicate about a Case. Prepared by the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management, June 2012

A proposed 2-page handout in regards to jurors use of technology, (namely Twitter and Facebook) in relation to the case they have been selected to sit for. The instructions review the basic rules of conduct.

1. No researching the case:

You should not consult dictionaries or reference materials, search the Internet, blogs or use any other electronic tools  to obtain information about this case or to help you decide the case.

2. Communication during the case:

You may not communicate with anyone about the case on your cell phone, through e-mail, Blackberry, iPhone, instant messaging, or in Twitter, through any blog or website including, Facebook, Google+, MySpace, LinkedIn or YouTube.

Similar rules apply after the case has concluded.

 

California Lawmakers Approve Bill Protecting Students’ Social-Media Privacy

The California State Senate on Tuesday approved a bill protecting the privacy of college students who use social-media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, according to the Los Angeles Times. The bill would prohibit the state’s public and private colleges from requiring or requesting that students divulge their passwords or other information about their social-media accounts. It would also prevent colleges from taking disciplinary action against students who refused to comply with such requests. Similar legislation has recently passed in other states. The California bill will now be sent to the governor for his signature.

via The Ticker

Back to School Study Tips For Law Students

The final bell of summer recess has rung and school is back in session. To help you get back into the swing of things, I’ve put together a compilation of the study tips and resources mentioned on this blog. Don’t forget to chat with your school librarian for more research tips and study aids. Don’t forget to check out our California Legal Research and Resources page as well as the Link Directory for a complete list of all the databases and website mentioned on this blog.

• Resources At Your Fingertips – Using the resources available at Lincoln Law’s Boccardo Law Library.
• Google Scholar: Legal Research – How to implement Google’s academic search engine for law students.
• WestlawNext: A Beginner’s Guide to Online Research Part One & Part Two
• WestlawNext: Key Numbers for Better Searches
• 80 Twitter Feeds for Law Students
• Online Bluebook Citation Tutorial Videos
• Zimmerman’s Legal Research Guide
• Mobile Apps for Law Students and Legal Professionals

Streamline Your Law School Experience by Taking the Right Classes

As of last Thursday the 16th, the public has access to what was previously only for students of Stanford’s Law School.

The SLSNavigator is a career and academic guide on the internet that helps law students learn about various law careers so that they can choose their courses accordingly. It is made up of 1,500 various classes from almost all departments on the campus. Although this tool had been available only for Standford students as a way to choose courses based on need, professor and other content on the site which includes: includes interviews with practicing attorneys, faculty, alumni and many other legal professionals.

This tool is now available to the public for all entering and current law students.

Screen Shots of the Navigator

 

Apps for Law Students – The Bluebook Citation Guide

As much as law students love to carry around 5 or 6 tomes of law school text with them all the time, one can now be dropped from the pile. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, is now available as a mobile app. The rulebook app provides easy reference to federal and state court rules, codes and style manuals. You can highlight, bookmark and take-notes with the app, just as you would with the actual book.

The app is available for sale on all Apple IOS devices (iPhone, iPad, etc) at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rulebook/id454619081?mi=8.

Starting on August 22nd, the Federal Rules of Appellate, Procedure, Bankruptcy Procedure, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure and Evidence may be downloaded to the rulebook at no extra charge.

Screenshots

 

Press Release

Resources at Your Fingertips

Classes are starting this week, are you prepared? Do you know how to best maximize your time in the library preparing for class assignments and research projects? Here’s how we can help.

We hold copies of all the required and recommended texts found on your booklist each semester. These can come in handy if you forget your textbook for class. We also have a diverse collection of supplementary materials available for student use in our Reserve Room. Titles range from climate control and natural resources law, to torts, to study guides and more. In addition to your textbooks and research conducted on Westlaw Next, these books can provide some insight into your research methodology and help strengthen your class assignments.

These titles are for in-house use only, and cannot be taken out of the building. Speak with the librarian or front desk staff about reviewing the titles. All of these titles can be found with a simple search on our school library catalog.