Legal Research: Which Court is Binding?

Are you having trouble figuring out which courts’ rulings are binding for your particular legal issue? If so, check out Which Court is Binding? a guide drafted by the Writing Center at the Georgetown University Law Center. This guide is a useful tool in determining whether federal or state law applies, and then determining which court’s rulings are mandatory and which are persuasive.

Bestlaw – Improving WestlawNext Citations and Functionality

Have you ever been searching in Westlaw or Lexis and experienced that wonderful moment when you finally locate the perfect case for your argument or the best law review for further research?  Whether that moment occurred two minutes or a couple hours into your search, relief should set in, but all too often the most difficult and stressful part of research and writing has only begun: citing to your source in proper Bluebook format!

Well, fear no more!  Your citation needs have finally been answered, or so touts Bestlaw designer Joe Mornin, a law student at UC Berkeley School of Law.  Bestlaw is a Google Chrome extension, which can be installed from their site.  Bestlaw adds functionality and citation assistance for WestlawNext. 

 

The Bestlaw toolbar is located just below the "Return to list" tab on left side of the screen.

Over the past few days, I have utilized this extension and realize there is great potential for this free support product, but that there are currently many limitations that prevent this from being truly revolutionary.

Legal Research Tune-Up for Summer Employment

The Seattle University law library is offering a legal research workshop to help prepare students for summer employment or to brush up on their legal research skills. The workshop will cover state and federal legislative history, regulations, and practice materials using a problem-based approach. Students will have hands-on practice working through research scenarios. Please bring your laptop.

UW law students are invited.  The workshop is free and will be held on Wednesday May 21st from 9:30 – 11:30 am in Sullivan Hall room 109. Coffee and snacks will be provided.

Please RSVP by May 19th.

If you have any questions please contact Barbara Swatt Engstrom.

Mayor McGinn Loves Libraries

As you probably/hopefully know by now, we are busy celebrating National Library Week here at Gallagher (Dubs did not disappoint yesterday, he brought smiles to everyone who visited with him and posed for many, many adorable photos with eager law students). 

Of course, we are not the only library in town that is celebrating this week.  Mayor Mike McGinn has proclaimed that this week is National Library Week in Seattle!  Mayor McGinn provides compelling and excellent reasons why libraries and librarians matter, especially the Seattle Public Library.  And we couldn't agree more!  Our community benefits in so many ways from the great work and dedication of the SPL and other area libraries and we join in honoring them this week.

Stay tuned for more fun as we wrap up our Peepshow and candy jar contests.  And, as always, come see us in the reference office for research help.

Put a Peep on it!
Photo credit: Fernando O. Gonzalez (and Peep placement by Anna Endter)

Top Ten Things Law Librarians Wish Law Students Would Know or Do.

stus.com

It’s finals week, and the library is filled with law students preparing for exams. While the knowledge and reasoning skills amassed from doctrinal classes is undeniably important, don’t neglect cultivating your legal research and lawyering skills, as well!

To help you out, law librarians at the University of Wisconsin law school library have pulled together a list of the Top Ten Things Law Librarians Wish Law Students Would Know or Do. Gallagher Law Library has a large collection of legal research guides to give you a hand.

Library Resources and Tour for FLS

For today's Library-related sessions in Foundations for Legal Study, students can follow along on their own laptops.

Library Resources, PowerPoint 2010 or PDF

Library Tour, PowerPoint 2010 or PDF

Also visit the 1L Wonderland for links to essential information on the UW Law and Law Library websites.

Need legal research help this summer?

Summer Legal Research Refresher at Gallagher Law Library

It’s your first few weeks at your summer employer, and you’re tasked with a challenging legal research assignment. You’ve identified a few areas where you could use a refresher on how to (fill in your legal research question here!).

To help you refine your on-the-job legal research skills, Gallagher Law Library is hosting a Summer Legal Research Refresher workshop for all law students working in Seattle this summer. Reference librarians will be on hand to meet with you, suggest research strategies, and recommend useful resources, specifically tailored to your topics of interest.

Choose a date that is most convenient for you, and submit your questions and the topics of interest that you would like to discuss using the registration form link below.

Snacks and summer refreshments will be provided.

  

When:

Monday, June 18, 2012, 5:00—7:00 p.m., Room 118

Monday, July 2, 2012, 5:00—7:00 p.m., Room 119

Where:

William H. Gates Hall, University of Washington School of Law. Directions and parking information

Registration:

Please use this form to register.

We hope to see you there!