What cases did the Supreme Court decide last year? You could sit down and read them all (they're on the Supreme Court's website here). But for a quicker overview, check out Supreme Court: The Term in Review, a 90 minute video from the Federal Judicial Center.
SCOTUSblog is a great tool for keeping up with what's going on at the Court—petitions for cert, arguments, and trends, as well as decided cases.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
How to Print to Gates Hall Printers
You can print from library computers or from your own laptop.
To print from a library computer:
To print from a library computer:
- Click on the printer icon (or click File > Print).
- Fill in your name (e.g., "Beyonce" or "Justin Bieber").
- Name the print job (e.g., "memo 1" or "Hadley v Baxendale").
- Go to one of the Gates Hall printers.
- Swipe your Husky card or a Dawg Prints card.
- Choose your print job.
- Print.
- Your card will be charged 12 cents a page.
- Go to this list of Dawg Prints locations.
- Scroll down to GATES LAW SCHOOL.
- Choose the software for your computer (Mac, Windows, etc.).
(Even though each printer is listed separately, you only have to download the software once.) - Install.
- There are two printers in the law library, one in each copy alcove on L1.
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| Map of Floor L1 showing copy alcoves |
- Law students may also use the printer in the law student computer lab (room 222). A law school Husky card is needed to enter that room.
Library Hours Change
The Law Library and the Reference Office will be closed from 11am - 2pm this Friday, Sept. 14.
Otherwise the Library will be on its regular interim schedule: open at 8am and closed at 5pm.
Otherwise the Library will be on its regular interim schedule: open at 8am and closed at 5pm.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Keeping up with Washington Law Blogs
Dozens of Washington lawyers write blogs, covering topics as diverse as veterans' law (Lawyers for Warriors), construction law (e.g., Groundbreaking Law), and women's rights (Speaking of Women's Rights). There's even a blog about beer law (Brewery Law Blog).
To sample these blogs, take a look at our newly updated guide, Law Related Blogs in Washington State.
To sample these blogs, take a look at our newly updated guide, Law Related Blogs in Washington State.
Paid Sick and Safe Time
Starting Saturday, Sept. 1, Seattle employees will beging earning paid sick and safe time, when the Paid Sick and Safe Time ordinance takes effect. The Seattle Office for Civil Rights provides a summary of the ordinance. The ordinance (#123698, signed by the mayor Sept. 23, 2011) is here.
For more, see the website and blog of the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce.
For more, see the website and blog of the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Globalization of America's Pastime
Baseball is not just a game: it's big business. And like much business, these days, it operates globally. One way is in its search for talent.
Twenty percent of professional baseball players come from the Dominican Republic, a country that ranks 132 in area and 85th in population. How could such a small country produce so many expert ballplayers? It's because thousands of boys train full time in baseball facilities for a chance to sign a major league contract. Critics of the system are concerned about the targeting and possible exploitation of poor children. For an excellent overview of the issues, as well as a few reforms in the last couple of years, see Arturo J. Marcano & David P. Fidler, Ballplayer: Pelotero—Major League Baseball, Human Rights, and the Globalization of Baseball, ASIL Insights, Aug. 22, 2012.
The authors discuss a documentary, Ballplayer: Pelotero, that was released last month. The film follows two sixteen-year-old ballplayers trying to sign on with teams in 2009. The film's website has a trailer. The film is available on iTunes and Amazon; a DVD will be released in September.
Several years ago, the authors wrote a book on this topic: Stealing Lives: The Globalization of Baseball and the Tragic Story of Alexis Quiroz (2002), publisher's page. It's available through Summit; here's the catalog record.
The Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies devoted an issue to Baseball in the Global Era: Economic, Legal, and Cultural Perspectives (volume 8, number 1, Fall 2000). It's available on HeinOnline (UW restricted). You can start with David P. Fidler's Introduction.
Graphic adapted from Western hemisphere map from U.S. Dep't of State.
Source for rank by area and population: CIA World Factbook.
Twenty percent of professional baseball players come from the Dominican Republic, a country that ranks 132 in area and 85th in population. How could such a small country produce so many expert ballplayers? It's because thousands of boys train full time in baseball facilities for a chance to sign a major league contract. Critics of the system are concerned about the targeting and possible exploitation of poor children. For an excellent overview of the issues, as well as a few reforms in the last couple of years, see Arturo J. Marcano & David P. Fidler, Ballplayer: Pelotero—Major League Baseball, Human Rights, and the Globalization of Baseball, ASIL Insights, Aug. 22, 2012.
The authors discuss a documentary, Ballplayer: Pelotero, that was released last month. The film follows two sixteen-year-old ballplayers trying to sign on with teams in 2009. The film's website has a trailer. The film is available on iTunes and Amazon; a DVD will be released in September.
Several years ago, the authors wrote a book on this topic: Stealing Lives: The Globalization of Baseball and the Tragic Story of Alexis Quiroz (2002), publisher's page. It's available through Summit; here's the catalog record.
The Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies devoted an issue to Baseball in the Global Era: Economic, Legal, and Cultural Perspectives (volume 8, number 1, Fall 2000). It's available on HeinOnline (UW restricted). You can start with David P. Fidler's Introduction.
Graphic adapted from Western hemisphere map from U.S. Dep't of State.
Source for rank by area and population: CIA World Factbook.
Bluebook Technologies
The Bluebook is the standard citation guide for legal materials. (See our guide, Bluebook 101. It links to PowerPoint presentations that cover the basics.)
There are now three format choices for the Bluebook: paper, online subscription (since 2008), and—as of August 10—iPad app.
This post talks about the features and pricing of each.
There are now three format choices for the Bluebook: paper, online subscription (since 2008), and—as of August 10—iPad app.
This post talks about the features and pricing of each.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Interim Library Hours Beginning Aug. 25
With School of Law summer classes ending today, the Law Library begins operating on its interim schedule tomorrow, August. 25.
The Law Library will be closed Saturday - Monday, Aug. 25 - 27 and Friday - Monday, Aug. 31 - Sept. 3.
The Law Library will be open from 8am - 5pm, Tuesday - Thursday, Aug. 28-30 and Tuesday - Friday, Sept. 4 - 7.
During the interim period, the Library is generally open Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm and closed on Saturday and Sunday. The Reference Office is open from 9am - 12pm and from 1 - 5pm, Monday - Friday.
Interim hours will continue until the first day of autumn quarter classes, Monday, Sept. 24.
The Law Library will be closed Saturday - Monday, Aug. 25 - 27 and Friday - Monday, Aug. 31 - Sept. 3.
The Law Library will be open from 8am - 5pm, Tuesday - Thursday, Aug. 28-30 and Tuesday - Friday, Sept. 4 - 7.
During the interim period, the Library is generally open Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm and closed on Saturday and Sunday. The Reference Office is open from 9am - 12pm and from 1 - 5pm, Monday - Friday.
Interim hours will continue until the first day of autumn quarter classes, Monday, Sept. 24.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Court Puts the Brakes on Armstrong Lawsuit
For cycling fans following Lance Armstrong’s legal
challenges in connection with doping allegations, in a 30 page opinion [Armstrong
v. United States Anti-Doping Agency, No. 12-0606 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 20, 2012),
posted by the Wall Street Journal at the article link below] U.S.
District Court Judge Sam Sparks granted the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA)
motion to dismiss Armstrong’s federal lawsuit.
Part I of the opinion is helpful for researchers wanting to
learn more about the various international and U.S. entities tasked with regulating
sport, such as the Olympic Movement (the International Olympic Committee), Union Cycliste Internationale/InternationalCycling Union (UCI), the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), and USA Cycling.
Also mentioned in the opinion is the World Anti-Doping Program (WADA), whose web site includes comprehensive information on international anti-doping standards, a Digital Library with links to free educational information, and a Legal Library with links to articles on the World Anti-Doping Code, advisory and legal opinions, case law, and national legislation.
Armstrong’s legal counsel and the USADA
have posted official statements.
For news coverage, see Reed
Albergotti, Armstrong Lawsuit Dismissed,
Wall St. J. (Aug. 20, 2012, 6:10 PM) (with a link to the full text of the opinion), and Juliet Macur, Armstrong’s Suit Against Anti-Doping Agency is Dismissed, N.Y. Times
(Aug. 20, 2012).
Competitive Intelligence Resource Guide
An updated guide to Competitive Intelligence research is now
available on LLRX.com, the Law Library Resource XChange.
Compiled and published
by LLRX.com founder and editor Sabrina I. Pacifici, the guide includes a selected
list of useful web sites where researchers can locate news sources and news
transcripts, blogs, data sources, country profiles, directories,
and other information.
Web site descriptions and search tips are provided.
The Law and the Links

For golf enthusiasts everywhere, this past weekend proved to be a very exciting Masters tournament, from Bo Van Pelt and Adam Scott's holes-in-one, to Tiger's club-kicking frustration to the final sudden-death match up between Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen --after the latter had already delivered with an incredible double eagle (or albatross, if you prefer).
Of course, the law is everywhere, and golf is no exception. Just as we have the Little White Book of Baseball Law, so we also have the The Little Green Book of Golf Law. Check it out in the Good Reads section.

The Supreme Court itself has weighed in on golf, in the 2001 case of PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin (532 U.S. 661). The case concerned the Americans with Disabilities Act, and whether a professional golf player, Casey Martin, could ride a golf cart because his disability precluded him from walking. One of the more memorable quotes from Justice Scalia's dissent:
"If one assumes, however, that the PGA TOUR has some legal obligation to play classic, Platonic golf–and if one assumes the correctness of all the other wrong turns the Court has made to get to this point–then we Justices must confront what is indeed an awesome responsibility. It has been rendered the solemn duty of the Supreme Court of the United States, laid upon it by Congress in pursuance of the Federal Government’s power “[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States,” U.S. Const., Art. I, §8, cl. 3, to decide What Is Golf. I am sure that the Framers of the Constitution, aware of the 1457 edict of King James II of Scotland prohibiting golf because it interfered with the practice of archery, fully expected that sooner or later the paths of golf and government, the law and the links, would once again cross, and that the judges of this august Court would some day have to wrestle with that age-old jurisprudential question, for which their years of study in the law have so well prepared them: Is someone riding around a golf course from shot to shot really a golfer? The answer, we learn, is yes. The Court ultimately concludes, and it will henceforth be the Law of the Land, that walking is not a “fundamental” aspect of golf."And finally, one issue that has been in the news recently has been Augusta's lack of female membership. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have stated that they are against the club's policy. Check out the Tarnished Twenty for a brief discussion of the legal issues.
[Image from www.augusta.com, with minor tweaking by a Gallagher Library Intern] Update (Aug. 21, 2012): Augusta National Adds First Two Female Members, N.Y. Times, Aug. 20, 2012.
Labels:
ADA,
golf,
good reads,
women
Friday, August 17, 2012
Proposed Federal Court Rules Available for Comment
The Judicial Conference Advisory Committees on Appellate, Bankruptcy, Criminal, and Evidence Rules is accepting comments on proposed rules changes.
The Proposed Amendments Published for Public Comment contains a preliminary draft of all of the proposed changes.
Interested parties may submit comments via email to rules_comments@ao.uscourts.gov. Comments become part of the official record and may be viewed by others at this same website. The public comment period ends on Feb. 15, 2013.
Proposed changes affect certain rules dealing with appellate, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, and evidence procedures.
The Proposed Amendments Published for Public Comment contains a preliminary draft of all of the proposed changes.
Interested parties may submit comments via email to rules_comments@ao.uscourts.gov. Comments become part of the official record and may be viewed by others at this same website. The public comment period ends on Feb. 15, 2013.
Proposed changes affect certain rules dealing with appellate, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, and evidence procedures.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
New Faculty Publication: Toshiko Takenaka on the German Employee Invention Act
Toshiko Takenaka, Serious Flaw of Employee Invention Ownership under the Bayh-Dole Act in Stanford v. Roche: Finding the Missing Piece of the Puzzle in the German Employee Invention Act, 20 Tex. Intell. Prop. L.J. 281-326 (2012).
In Stanford v. Roche, the Supreme Court highlighted a serious flaw of employee invention ownership under the Bayh-Dole Act (BDA). This article argues that the current BDA is incomplete without a mechanism for contractors to secure the ownership of all federally funded inventions and proposes a revision to introduce such a mechanism. Universities' failure to execute an express assignment will subject federally funded inventions to the common law ownership rules, which would not give the ownership to universities. Even with a written assignment, the different state laws and state legislation prevent contractors from securing the ownership of all federally funded inventions, thereby preventing the federal government from implementing a uniform policy. Therefore, this article proposes to adopt a mechanism for contractors to secure the ownership of federally funded inventions from the German Employee Invention Act (EIA). Because the EIA influenced the drafting of the BDA, the EIA and BDA share key features, which make it easy for the BDA to adopt an ownership transfer mechanism from the EIA. It also proposes to adopt a mechanism to protect inventors‟ rights for compensation from the EIA so that contractors can secure the ownership of federally funded inventions not only from their employees but also non-employees with just compensation through royalty sharing without a violation of the Fifth Amendment. --Abstract from the SSRN posting
In Stanford v. Roche, the Supreme Court highlighted a serious flaw of employee invention ownership under the Bayh-Dole Act (BDA). This article argues that the current BDA is incomplete without a mechanism for contractors to secure the ownership of all federally funded inventions and proposes a revision to introduce such a mechanism. Universities' failure to execute an express assignment will subject federally funded inventions to the common law ownership rules, which would not give the ownership to universities. Even with a written assignment, the different state laws and state legislation prevent contractors from securing the ownership of all federally funded inventions, thereby preventing the federal government from implementing a uniform policy. Therefore, this article proposes to adopt a mechanism for contractors to secure the ownership of federally funded inventions from the German Employee Invention Act (EIA). Because the EIA influenced the drafting of the BDA, the EIA and BDA share key features, which make it easy for the BDA to adopt an ownership transfer mechanism from the EIA. It also proposes to adopt a mechanism to protect inventors‟ rights for compensation from the EIA so that contractors can secure the ownership of federally funded inventions not only from their employees but also non-employees with just compensation through royalty sharing without a violation of the Fifth Amendment. --Abstract from the SSRN posting
Law Man: Memoir of a Jailhouse Lawyer Now Law Student
Law Man is second-year law student Shon Hopwood's memoir of his unusual path to law school, written with Dennis Burke.
Unlike the students who come to law school after 17 years of playing by the rules, kindergarten through college, Shon Hopwood made some significant mistakes. He dropped out of college after less than a year, drank so much while he was in the Navy that he landed in the hospital, had some low-level jobs, and had to get his father to help him with his debts.
And then he made some really big mistakes: he robbed five banks.
In federal prison, Hopwood was assigned to work in the kitchen but was lucky to be reassigned to the prison law library, where he started reading and studying law. Over time, his diligence paid off. He became the go-to guy for inmates who wanted help with a motion or an appeal.
And he was remarkably successful. The great majority of petitions for certiorari are denied, but Hopwood's first cert petition, on behalf of a fellow inmate, was granted. Seth Waxman, the prominent Supreme Court advocate appointed to represent the inmate, kept Hopwood involved with the case. Hopwood's fellow inmate eventually had his sentence shortened. Through his relationship with Waxman and another lawyer, Hopwood got encouragement and more opportunities to learn.
During Hopwood's ten years in prison, he not only took college correspondence courses and taught himself law: he also grew emotionally by forming a strong relationship with a young woman he had known in high school—a woman who is now his wife.
After he was released and was working, Hopwood was profiled in the New York Times: Adam Liptak, A Mediocre Criminal, But an Unmatched Jailhouse Lawyer, Feb. 8, 2010. And last fall, he began studying law the more typical way: in a classroom.
Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption, catalog record. (The Law Library's copy hasn't arrived yet; we'll update this post when it gets here.) Publisher's page. Shon and Ann Marie Hopwood's website.
Unlike the students who come to law school after 17 years of playing by the rules, kindergarten through college, Shon Hopwood made some significant mistakes. He dropped out of college after less than a year, drank so much while he was in the Navy that he landed in the hospital, had some low-level jobs, and had to get his father to help him with his debts.
And then he made some really big mistakes: he robbed five banks.
In federal prison, Hopwood was assigned to work in the kitchen but was lucky to be reassigned to the prison law library, where he started reading and studying law. Over time, his diligence paid off. He became the go-to guy for inmates who wanted help with a motion or an appeal.
And he was remarkably successful. The great majority of petitions for certiorari are denied, but Hopwood's first cert petition, on behalf of a fellow inmate, was granted. Seth Waxman, the prominent Supreme Court advocate appointed to represent the inmate, kept Hopwood involved with the case. Hopwood's fellow inmate eventually had his sentence shortened. Through his relationship with Waxman and another lawyer, Hopwood got encouragement and more opportunities to learn.
During Hopwood's ten years in prison, he not only took college correspondence courses and taught himself law: he also grew emotionally by forming a strong relationship with a young woman he had known in high school—a woman who is now his wife.
After he was released and was working, Hopwood was profiled in the New York Times: Adam Liptak, A Mediocre Criminal, But an Unmatched Jailhouse Lawyer, Feb. 8, 2010. And last fall, he began studying law the more typical way: in a classroom.
Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption, catalog record. (The Law Library's copy hasn't arrived yet; we'll update this post when it gets here.) Publisher's page. Shon and Ann Marie Hopwood's website.
New Faculty Publication: Dongsheng Zong on China's "Attitude toward Human Rights
Dongsheng Zang, China's "Attitude" Toward Human Rights: Reading Hungdah Chiu in the Era of the Iraq War, 27 Md. J. Int'l L 263-303 (2012).
This article aims to challenge the way these questions [of China's rising economic power and its human rights records] are framed. By examining human rights as an example in the area of international law, this article argues that while China continues to be defensive on human rights, either by overstretching the notion of sovereignty, or by limiting human rights to a developmentalist point of view, a major shift emerged in its basic legal and political strategy in its relations with the United States on human rights after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It shifted from a defensive discourse to an offensive discourse by embracing the legal norms and standards established by existing international law and demanded that the United States comply with them. The popular view about China in the United States still insists on an old-fashioned conceptual framework. It creates new fears and yet offers little new insights. The so-called "realism"—characteristic of the Bush Administration‘s political philosophy within neocon policy circles—is simply out of touch with reality. [Id. at 265.]
This article aims to challenge the way these questions [of China's rising economic power and its human rights records] are framed. By examining human rights as an example in the area of international law, this article argues that while China continues to be defensive on human rights, either by overstretching the notion of sovereignty, or by limiting human rights to a developmentalist point of view, a major shift emerged in its basic legal and political strategy in its relations with the United States on human rights after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It shifted from a defensive discourse to an offensive discourse by embracing the legal norms and standards established by existing international law and demanded that the United States comply with them. The popular view about China in the United States still insists on an old-fashioned conceptual framework. It creates new fears and yet offers little new insights. The so-called "realism"—characteristic of the Bush Administration‘s political philosophy within neocon policy circles—is simply out of touch with reality. [Id. at 265.]
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Library and Building Early Closure, Wednesday, August 8
The Law Library will close at 4pm on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday; August 9, 10, and 12, 2012. Gates Hall will close at 5pm and everyone must leave the building at that time.
Purple Heart Recipient Recognition Day
The legislature has declared August 7 to be purple heart recipient recognition day (RCW 1.16.050).
General George Washington began honoring soldiers with a Badge of Military Merit on Aug. 7, 1782. The badge was "the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding." After the Revolutionary War, the Badge was no longer used. In 1932, in honor of the bicentennial of Washington's birth, the Purple Heart was created.
At first, the Purple Heart was for meritorious service, which might include being wounded. Now it "is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after April 5, 1917 has been wounded, killed, or has died after being wounded."
Source: National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, History page. See also Military Order of the Purple Heart, History of the Medal (longer article).
To research veterans' benefits law, see our guide.
To track some of the policy issues related to veterans, see the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (the chairman is Senator Patty Murray, from Washington State). You can find information about proposed legislation (e.g., S. 3340, the Mental Health Access Act of 2012, introduced in June) and get information about hearings and more.
A few more links:
Looking for something to do on a Friday or Saturday downtown? Stop by the Seattle Veterans Museum (near Benaroya Hall).
Graphic: Purple Heart stamp from USPS.com.
General George Washington began honoring soldiers with a Badge of Military Merit on Aug. 7, 1782. The badge was "the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk edged with narrow lace or binding." After the Revolutionary War, the Badge was no longer used. In 1932, in honor of the bicentennial of Washington's birth, the Purple Heart was created.
At first, the Purple Heart was for meritorious service, which might include being wounded. Now it "is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after April 5, 1917 has been wounded, killed, or has died after being wounded."
Source: National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, History page. See also Military Order of the Purple Heart, History of the Medal (longer article).
To research veterans' benefits law, see our guide.
To track some of the policy issues related to veterans, see the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs (the chairman is Senator Patty Murray, from Washington State). You can find information about proposed legislation (e.g., S. 3340, the Mental Health Access Act of 2012, introduced in June) and get information about hearings and more.
A few more links:
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs
- Irag and Afghanistan Veterans of America
- Disabled American Veterans
- Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
Looking for something to do on a Friday or Saturday downtown? Stop by the Seattle Veterans Museum (near Benaroya Hall).
Graphic: Purple Heart stamp from USPS.com.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
New Features Make it Easier to Use Google Scholar for Case Law Research
At the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting in Boston this week, I had the opportunity to see a presentation by Anurag Acharya, one of two founders of Google Scholar.
Mr. Acharya had two goals in setting up Google Scholar's case law database:
1. Everyone should be able to find the law that governs them.
2. The law should be free to search and free to read
Google Scholar contains full text published opinions from the following courts/time periods:
- U.S. Supreme Court: 1791 to present
- Federal District, Appellate, Tax, and Bankruptcy Courts: 1923 to present
- State Appellate and Supreme Courts: 1950 to present
Google Scholar has had this case law content for quite a while but it recently changed its look and added a number of features that link together cases and make it easier to use:
- While scrolling through a case, the case citation floats at the top of the screen, making it easier to pincite
- The footnotes link to their accompanying text
- Citations to other cases within Google Scholar are now live links to those cases, and significant attention was given to linking up short cites to the cases to which they refer
- Level of discussion feature allows reader to see the extent to which a citing case discusses the original case, much like Westlaw Star Treatment. The levels are three bars for most significant discussion, two bars for significant discussion, and one bar for the least significant discussion
- Results lists can now also be sorted by date, which could allow a thorough researcher to check the currentness of a particular case or rule of law.
The "new" Google Scholar is still not nearly as sophisticated as its commercial counterparts. It is, however, making headway in becoming a useful tool not just for the average person who needs to know what law governs but also for expert legal researchers.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
What Happens at a Meeting of Law Librarians?
Hundreds of law librarians from around the country (and dozens from around the world) will converge on the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Boston for the 105th annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries.
As at other professional conventions, librarians will:
This meeting is a wonderful opportunity to learn what services other law libraries offer their users, hear about new gadgets and resources, and generally check in with our professional colleagues from all types of law libraries: academic, corporate, court, government, and law firm. We come back exhausted but invigorated and eager to incorporate what we've heard and seen to improve and enhance what we can do for the people who use the Gallagher Law Library.
As at other professional conventions, librarians will:
- attend educational programs (Are e-books the Future?, Building Mobile Apps, Digging Legal History in Boston: The Case of the Boston Strangler, Guerrilla Usability Testing, Lost in Translation: Immigration Detention and Access to Legal Materials, The New Generation of Legal Research Databases, Searching Legal Opinions: The Google Scholar Approach, etc.)
- share social events (a Boston Red Sox game,the UW Law Librarianship Alumni and Friends Reunion)
- participate in committee meetings
- network with each other
- talk with vendors in the exhibit hall.
This meeting is a wonderful opportunity to learn what services other law libraries offer their users, hear about new gadgets and resources, and generally check in with our professional colleagues from all types of law libraries: academic, corporate, court, government, and law firm. We come back exhausted but invigorated and eager to incorporate what we've heard and seen to improve and enhance what we can do for the people who use the Gallagher Law Library.
Reference Office Hour Changes
While the Reference librarians are attending the annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries in Boston, the Reference Office will be open on an abbreviated schedule.
Friday, July 20
Open 9-11am and 1-4pm
Monday, July 23
Open 9-11am and 1-3pm
Regular hours resume on Wednesday, July 24th.
Friday, July 20
Open 9-11am and 1-4pm
Monday, July 23
Open 9-11am and 1-3pm
Regular hours resume on Wednesday, July 24th.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Congress and the Courts
The "Congress and the Courts" collection is now available on HeinOnline (UW Restricted).
This new library includes an impressive array of useful research materials.
A highlight of this collection includes William H. Manz's Congress and the Courts: A Legislative
History 1787-2010, a compilation of congressional documents and materials concerning Article III Courts and the purpose and structure of the federal government. This work may be browsed by volume or part. Parts include: Courts of Appeals; Creation and Growth of the Federal Judiciary; Federal Courts; Judges and Judicial Conduct; Other Courts; Proposed Reforms and Emerging Issues; and the Supreme Court.
Also compiled and organized within this library is an extensive collection of Federal Judicial Center Publications, scholarly articles and periodicals, CFR Title 28 on Judicial Administration, and other related works.
To access this new library, browse to HeinOnline from the Gallagher Law Library web site, and select "Congress and the Courts" under Subscribed Libraries.
This new library includes an impressive array of useful research materials.
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| East Front of the Capitol at sunset. Credit: Architect of the Capitol |
Also compiled and organized within this library is an extensive collection of Federal Judicial Center Publications, scholarly articles and periodicals, CFR Title 28 on Judicial Administration, and other related works.
To access this new library, browse to HeinOnline from the Gallagher Law Library web site, and select "Congress and the Courts" under Subscribed Libraries.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
CRS Report on Health Care
The Congressional Research Service has issued a new report, "Health Care: Constitutional Rights and Legislative Powers." The 20-page PDF, dated July 9, can be found here.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Cite-Seeing
![]() |
| Fred Shapiro, Associate Librarian, Yale Law Library |
The top ten most-cited law review articles, as determined by Shapiro are:
- R.H. Coase, The Problem of Social Cost, 3 J.L. & Econ. 1 (1960).
- Samuel D. Warren & Louis D. Brandeis, The Right to Privacy, 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193 (1890).
- O.W. Holmes, The Path of the Law, 10 Harv. L. Rev. 457 (1897).
- Gerald Gunther, The Supreme Court, 1971 Term—Foreword: In Search of Evolving Doctrine on a Changing Court: A Model for a Newer Equal Protection, 86 Harv. L. Rev. 1 (1972).
- Herbert Wechsler, Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law, 73 Harv. L. Rev. 1 (1959).
- Guido Calabresi & A. Douglas Melamed, Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral, 85 Harv. L. Rev. 1089 (1972).
- Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 Yale L.J . 733 (1964).
- Charles R. Lawrence III, The Id, the Ego, and Equal Protection: Reckoning with Unconscious Racism, 39 Stan. L. Rev. 317 (1987).
- William J. Brennan, Jr., State Constitutions and the Protection of Individual Rights, 90 Harv. L. Rev. 489 (1977).
- Robert H. Bork, Neutral Principles and Some First Amendment Problems, 47 Ind. L.J. 1 (1971).
Since the second iteration of Shapiro’s study, new legal research resources have made tracking the most cited articles much easier. In particular, HeinOnline has an immense collection of law journals, titled the Law Journal Library, that enables users to sort all articles in the database by number of citations to them, further sortable by author, article, and journal. While Shapiro incorporated citations in the Social Sciences Index in his study, thus allowing R. Coase’s The Problem of Social Cost to rise to the top of the most-cited list, HeinOnline itself provides an easy way to visualize citations from strictly legal journals.
HeinOnline is, of course, accessible from the list of databases on the right side of the Law Library’s homepage. Browsing by “Most-Cited,” you can see that Cass Sunstein, whom Shapiro calls a “citation superstar,” leads the pack among most-cited authors of law review articles, and that articles in the Harvard Law Review have been cited the most number of times. From this list, a researcher can find and access all the articles that cite these famous pieces of legal scholarship, as well as search among the most-cited articles for particular keywords or dates. The cool thing about HeinOnline’s list is that it is updated every month, allowing you to keep current on all your citological needs!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The Kentish Story of Brookland Steeple
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| Brookland Parish Church, with grounded steeple. |
Perhaps unique among the items in the collection, The Religion of a Lawyer is a poem. The work’s full title reveals more about the book’s contents: The Religion of a Lawyer: A Crazy Tale (in four Cantos), Analytical of the Kentish Story of Brookland Steeple. Written in 1786 by an anonymous author, the work relates how the steeple of the church in Brookland Parish, Kent, England, came to be situated not on top of the church building but right next to it as a separate structure.
The poem’s explanation, that the steeple jumped from the top of the church to the ground because a religious attorney got married there, is much more fantastic than the real reason: the steeple was built next to the building by design, as the steeple would have caused the church to sink into the marshy, Kentish grounds.
The poem’s explanation is a jumping off point for the author to spin a wry anecdote about attorneys and their place in the social fabric.
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| "Your Honor, I pray for relief." |
Although the poem is an anonymous publication, there are numerous clues as to the book’s publication history and its prior owners. A handwritten title page indicates the publisher was “J. Walker in Paternoster Row,” who is likely John Walker, a bookseller located in Paternoster Row in London from the early 1780s to around 1820. At some point, the text was rebound, and many unusual extratextual materials were bound along with the poemt. Whoever commissioned the poem to be rebound surely had an eye for legal humor, as the rebound book includes
- a bawdy proverb relating to the Inns of Court
- a handwritten poem about an attorney reaching the pearly gates titled “The Lawyer”
- an engraving from The Oxford Magazine lampooning judges’ behavior, and
- a newspaper clipping from The Standard about a Mr. Chamberlain’s roast of attorneys at a dinner in Birmingham, England. These materials appear to be from the 1880s, and it is likely the owner rebound the work shortly thereafter.
While not much is known about the work, besides that it is exceedingly rare -- only five libraries in the world list the poem in their holdings -- I envision the poem’s author as a clever, irreverent attorney with sufficient skill to craft an 80-page comedic poem. Hints about the book’s recent provenance, including a bookplate, indicate that Gallagher received the poem from Fred T. Darvill in September 1974. Mr. Darvill owned and ran Darvill’s Rare Print Shop on Orcas Island, north of Seattle in San Juan County, from 1942 to 1971, when he retired at the age of 90. Although the story of how an anonymous poem came to Washington State is likely unrecorded, we can still enjoy this work for its rarity and unusually funny look at the important role attorneys play in society!
Monday, July 2, 2012
New Faculty Book: Andrews & Aronson on the Law of Lawyering in Washington
UW Law Professors Tom Andrews and Rob Aronson are the lead authors in the just-published Law of Lawyering in Washington.
This new Washington State Bar Association deskbook is a mammoth accomplishment, logging in at 800 pages.
It compares Washington's Rules of Professional Conduct with the American Bar Association's Model Rules. The volume is full of references to the rules, court opinions, and secondary sources.
Chapters cover:
Congratulations to Tom and Rob for creating such a substantial and useful resource!
This new Washington State Bar Association deskbook is a mammoth accomplishment, logging in at 800 pages.
It compares Washington's Rules of Professional Conduct with the American Bar Association's Model Rules. The volume is full of references to the rules, court opinions, and secondary sources.
Chapters cover:
- Authority to Regulate the Practice of Law
- Admission to Practice and Unauthorized Practice
- An Introduction to the Rules of Professional Conduct: Their Purpose and Limits
- Defining the Attorney-Client Relationship
- Competence, Diligence, and Communication: The Essential Three
- Confidentiality
- Conflicts of Interest
- The Rules of Advocacy
- Fees and Trust Accounts
- Candor
- Law-Firm Marketing
- Maintaining the Integrity of the Profession
- Lawyer’s Responsibilities for Assisting in Access to Justice
- Law-Practice Organization, Management, and Sales
- Legal Malpractice and Other Theories of Lawyer Liability
- Disciplinary System
Congratulations to Tom and Rob for creating such a substantial and useful resource!
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