Winter Cooking at the Law School

With the weather getting colder, and the leaves dropping off trees I find myself locked away baking in my home more and more. In the spirit of chilly weather cooking, I have reached out to faculty and staff of the law school to contribute some of their favorite recipes.

MATTIE BESS

Events & Conferences Coordinator

Recipe: Banana Nut Bread

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

3 large ripe bananas

½ cup of sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup chopped walnuts

In large bowl mash bananas and add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In smaller bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into wet but don’t over-mix. Add oil and chopped nuts and transfer to loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 45 minutes.

KAREN BOXX

Professor of Law

Recipe: THE MIX

*this is great for studying, bringing to potlucks or giving as gifts.  It’s easy to make but sticky. You need a large baking pan with sides. 

2 large boxes Barbara’s original Morning Oat Crunch (the size box they sell at Trader Joe’s)

2 8oz bags of pecan halves

2 bottles trader joe agave syrup (about 24 oz total)

2 sticks butter

Brown sugar (up to you; I go light - maybe a cup)

4 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 250.  in large baking pan, mix the cereal and the pecans.

In VERY large bowl, microwave butter until melted.  Add syrup and brown sugar and microwave at high until boiling.  Stir in vanilla.  Then slowly stir in baking soda.  THE BAKING SODA WILL MAKE THE MIXTURE FOAM TO ALMOST DOUBLE IN VOLUME.  

Immediately pour over the cereal and nuts and stir to coat evenly.  (Stir a lot).  

Bake 1 hour, stirring frequently.  

Let cool, break into pieces, and store in a large cookie tin. 

NOTE:  it usually takes me at least a batch to get the proportions right, because this is somewhat of a science experiment.  

                                           

TOM COBB

Senior Law Lecturer

Recipe: Low Carb Lasagna Puttanesca aka "LARW-sagna Puttanesca"

I kind of make it up as I go:

1.       Cut a couple of big eggplants lengthwise, and slice them up in a mandolin, usually on the thickest setting (but still quite thin). 

2.    Get out the other ingredients:  tomato sauce, green olives, red peppers, mushrooms (optional), chopped onion (optional), lots of capers, several cloves of garlic, oregano, a few dried Thai chilies, olive oil, ricotta (you can throw an egg into the ricotta if you want), sour cream, Parmesan, mozzarella, black pepper, fresh cherry tomatoes, some almond meal or slivered almonds. If you like fish or want more umami get out some anchovies, too.

3.    Start making layers with a little olive oil, a layer of eggplant, tomato sauce, some of the cheeses, cream, a squeeze of the garlic press, some olives, capers, etc.

4.    Repeat a few times.

5.    When you get to the top of the baking dish, mash everything down a little so it feels compressed, then put tomatoes, olives, and capers on the top, add just a little of the chili, and a thicker layer of mozzarella and Parmesan. Add in some almond slivers or meal and salt and pepper and viola.

6.   Bake at around 450 for 45 mins to 1 hr with foil, then broil the top for 5 minutes while watching without foil.

7.     Let it cool and solidify for a couple of hours. Garnish with fresh parsley or serve with a parsley salad and bold red wine.

         

RUSSELL EALY

Helpdesk Technician

Recipe: !!!!!!!!CHEESECAKE!!!!!!!!

What You Need

1 cup graham cracker crumbs 

 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 

 1/4 cup butter, melted 

 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened 

 1 cup granulated sugar 

 2 Tbsp. flour 

 1 tsp. vanilla 

 4 eggs 

 1 tsp. zest and 1 Tbsp. juice from 1 each lemon, lime and orange

Let's Make It

1.       Heat oven to 325°F.

2.       Combine graham crumbs, brown sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 min.

3.       Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, flour and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Stir in remaining ingredients; pour over crust.

4.       Bake 1 hour 5 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours.

How to Prepare in 13x9-Inch Pan

Prepare recipe as directed, increasing the graham crumbs to 1-1/2 cups and the butter to 1/3 cup, and decreasing the final cheesecake baking time to 40 min. or until center is almost set.

How to Avoid Cracked Cheesecakes

After adding the eggs, be careful not to overbeat the batter since this can cause the baked cheesecake to crack.

Note

If using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan, reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

CINDY FESTER

Editor-Research Publications I

Recipe: Cheese soufflé

This is a family favorite my Grandma taught me to make. It was one of my Grandpa’s favorites. It was a frequent go-to recipe when I was in school because I always had the ingredients on hand, it was quick to mix up and bake, and any not consumed at dinner was great warmed up the next day.

2 T butter	1 heaping T flour
3 egg, yolks and whites separated	1 C milk
1 C grated cheese	paprika to taste
1/2 t salt	pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat separated egg yolks until smooth. Set aside.  Beat egg whites until frothy and they hold a peak when you remove the beater from the whites.  (I use a hand-powered egg beater, but an electric mixer can be used). Set the whites aside.

Melt butter in a 1 qt. pan, slowly stir in sifted flour. Add milk slowly, a bit at a time, stirring constantly to make mixture smooth. Add salt, pepper, and paprika, stirring constantly.

As mixture begins to thicken, remove from heat.

Use a tablespoon to spoon some of the mixture into the beaten egg yolks.  Stir.  Then add another tablespoon of the mixture into the beaten egg yolks.  This is helping the eggs adjust to the heat of the mixture so that they don’t curdle when you put all of the egg yolks into the mixture.  Repeat this until the egg yolks have warmed up with the incorporation of the heated flour/milk mixture.  Then scrape the yolks mixture into the pan with the flour/milk mixture and stir until smooth.

Add the cheese to the pan with the flour/milk mixture and the egg yolks and stir until cheese begins to melt. (The cheese doesn’t have to be entirely melted as it will melt while the soufflé bakes.) Then add the frothy beaten egg whites and stir just enough to incorporate the egg whites into the mixture.  You don’t want to stir too much and deflate the egg whites as that’s where the rise of the soufflé will come from.

Use a 2-quart round glass baking dish, buttered on the inside (you won’t use the lid). Pour the soufflé mixture into the buttered glass baking dish and place the dish in the pre-heated oven at 350° and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes.  Soufflé will rise above the top of the baking dish and when it is golden brown on top, remove from the oven.  Serve while hot.

Note:  Try not to open the oven door repeatedly while cooking as this can cause the soufflé to fall.  Use any kind of cheese you like.  My family usually used a mixture of sharp cheddar, Colby jack, and pepper jack cheeses.

INGRID HOLMLUND

Co-Editor, Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP)

Recipe: Chocolate Cake

I got this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine a long time ago.   I’ve made it countless times.  It’s a dark chocolate cake with cinnamon undertones and a rich chocolate frosting.  Quite easy to make!

AUNT GERALDINE’S CHOCOLATE CAKE

Cake:

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

¼ t. salt

1 c. strong coffee

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces

½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

½ c. buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten to blend

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking soda

1 t. vanilla extract

Frosting:

½ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

½ c. (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces

6 to 8 T. buttermilk

1 lb. powdered sugar (3-1/2 to 4 c.)

1 t. vanilla extract

1 c. chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

For cake:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter 9x13 pan; dust pan with flour.  Mix flour, sugar and salt in large bowl.  Combine coffee, butter and cocoa in heavy medium saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until mixture is smooth and comes to a boil.  Pour coffee mixture over flour mixture; stir until blended.  Add buttermilk, eggs, cinnamon, baking soda and vanilla, and stir until well blended.  Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Cool cake in pan on rack.

For frosting:  Combine cocoa, butter and 6 tablespoons buttermilk in heavy large saucepan over high heat.  Stir until mixture is smooth and comes to boil.  Remove from heat.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat frosting until smooth, adding more buttermilk by tablespoonfuls if frosting is too thick.

Spread frosting over cooled cake in pan.  Sprinkle walnuts over.

PEARL MCCREA

Library Technician II

Recipe:  

Chicken Marbella, Easy Chicken Recipe

Chicken Marbella is delicious and so easy, the original recipe says to marinate ahead of time and bake in the oven. NO that is too much extra effort. I throw everything in the crockpot/instant pot and call it a day. This recipe is easy to scale up or down depending on whether you want to eat it all week or just for a meal or two. Buying a pack of boneless chicken thighs makes it really easy.

The original recipe is for 4 CHICKENS! Totally unreasonable for a college student.

Ingredients for original recipe if you need to feed an army:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup pitted prunes

1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives

1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice

6 bay leaves

1 head of garlic, peeled and finely pureed

1/4 cup dried oregano

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley or fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Modified to feed 1-4 people:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil if I have it otherwise vegetable/canola

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

8-10 pitted prunes

1 can green olives drained

1 can black pearl olives drained

2 large spoonful’s capers with a splash of juice

1 bayleaf

3-5 cloves garlic (smashed with a press or finely chopped)

2-3 tablespoons dried oregano

Salt & pepper to taste

1 pack chicken thighs (or legs or combo of the two, could also do breasts if you prefer white meat or a whole chicken)

2 tablespoons brown sugar (sometimes I forget to put this in or don’t have it on hand. It’s great with or without)

½ cup dry white wine (I rarely include this ingredient)

No parsley or cilantro because I rarely have it on hand.

I don’t mix these ingredients, I throw them all in the crockpot and turn it on low for 8 hours. Or high for 4. This goes really well with rice, mashed potatoes or garlic bread. It can also be mixed ahead, stick the whole thing in the crockpot stick the pot in the fridge then pull it out and turn it on before you leave for class so you can come home to a hot meal.

If you made the above recipe and are confused what to make with the rest of your capers…

You can also cook this easy chicken dish.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

1/2 onion, peeled, and chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup capers with brine

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

1/4 cup white wine (but only if you have it)

3 cups Chicken Broth (less is fine)

1 can artichoke hearts

1 cup Kalamata olives (black or green olives or a combo of all three works too)

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (use tablespoon of dried if you have it)

3-5 spoonful’s of pesto

The linked recipe has all sorts of fussy cooking instructions like browning the chicken and deglazing the pot. NOPE I do not have time for all of that! I throw all of this in a casserole dish and bake it in the oven (for about an hour then check for doneness), it would be even easier done in the crock pot. Same cooking time as above recipe. As a side dish I cook two cups of white rice with chicken broth and a couple spoonful’s of pesto. All of the ingredients for both recipes can be found at Trader Joe’s, within walking distance of the law school and are pretty affordable.

If you still have leftover capers…

You can also eat them for breakfast on your fancy bagel.

Ingredients

Plain or savory bagel of your choice toasted

Cream cheese

Smoked salmon or lox

Thinly sliced red onion

A few drained capers per bagel slice

Recipe notes: Onion can be left off if you don’t like raw onion. And Trader Joe’s is the cheapest place I’ve found to get lox. If I have a ripe avocado sometimes I also include a couple slices of that. This is also a great lunch.

TERRY PRICE

Executive Director, Center for Law, Science and Global Health & Asian Law Center and Visiting Scholars Program

Recipe: Gingerbread

From The Silver Palate Cookbook, by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, c. 1982, Workman Publishing, New York.

1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup molasses

½ cup boiling water

½ cup vegetable oil

Lemon glaze

1.       Preheat oven to 350

2.    Sift dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl. Add egg sugar and molasses. Mix well

3.    Pour boiling water and oil over mixture. Stir thoroughly until smooth

4.    Pour batter into the prepared pan. Set on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until top springs back when touched and the edges have pulled away slightly from the sides of the pan

5.    While the gingerbread is still hot, pour glaze over top and cool in the pan, set on a rack.

12 portions

Lemon Glaze

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1.       Sift sugar into a bowl

2.    Add lemon juice and mix well

                      

                     

MAYA SWANES

Assistant Librarian, Research Services

Recipe: crock pot turkey chili 

  

1 lb. ground turkey

2 cans kidney beans (or replace one with a can of great northern beans)

1 can black beans

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

½ medium onion, chopped

2 tbs. chili powder

½ tbs garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

½ tbs ground cumin

1 pinch black pepper

1 pinch allspice (or not)

1.       Brown turkey in skillet

2.    Coat inside of crock pot with cooking spray, add everything else

3.    Cover and cook on high for four hours or on low for 8 hours.

LEA VAUGHN

Professor of Law

Recipes: Butterscotch Shortbread, Coco brownies, Gingerbread, Malted Brownies, Peppermint Pats, Praline Cookies

BUTTERSCOTCH SHORTBREAD

Source:  Based on  Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book (1963; 12^th printing 1972)

Temp: 300º

1 cup shortening (part butter

            Or margarine; L – use no shortening; only

            good UNSALTED butter-French/Danish - cultured)         

½ cup brown sugar (packed)

¼ cup granulated white sugar

2 ¼  cups all-purpose flour  (L-2 cups white; ¼ oat flour)

1 tsp. salt (optional)(L – NO)

Preheat oven.  Mix shortening/butter and sugars thoroughly.  Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting (L-dip).   Mix flour and salt; stir in.  Mix thoroughly.  Roll out ¼” think on floured board.  Cut into desired shapes.  (L – If in a rush, roll dough into cylinders. Can chill or refrigerate for later use.  Slice rounds from cylinders of approximately ¼” thickness.)  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 20 -25 minutes.

L – Varying thickness can affect crispness – the thinner you’ve rolled it, the crispier they will be. 

Makes about 7 ½ dozen small cookies.

Cocoa brownies (From B. Crocker cookie cookbook):

½ cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup flour

½ cup cocoa

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt (optional)

½ cup walnuts (optional)

½ cup chocolate chips (optional) or spring top with broken peppermint, etc.

Oven: 350 degrees

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Measure and add flour, cocoa. Add and blend dry ingredients into the egg/sugar mixture. Stir in nuts or any add ins.  Don’t overstir! Spread in greased 8” x 8” pan. Bake about 30 minutes. Cool. EAT

GINGERBREAD

Source: Spice Cookbook – Late 19th century (owned by Leslie Tentler)

2 ¼ cup flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt (optional)

½ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. powdered mustard

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger (powder)

½ cup shortening

½ cup sugar

1 cup unsulphured molasses

1 egg

1 cup hot water

Directions

1. Sift first three ingredients together. (I never do but whatever.)

2. Mix all of the spices into the shortening until evenly blended.

3. Blend sugar and molasses into shortening mixture. Beat in egg.

4. Alternately add hot water and flour mixture. Beat batter for ½ minute.

5. Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 9 backing pan.

Bake at 350º for 45 – 50 minutes. Cool. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Malted Brownies

Roxanne Chan, Albany, California. Sunset, compiled by Karyn I. Lipman

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

¾ cup malted milk powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ cups (9 oz.)  semisweet chocolate baking chips

About ½ cup (1/4 lb.) butter or margarine

3 large eggs, separated

2 teaspoons vanilla

Chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

About 20 pecan halves (optional)

In a bowl, mix flour, ½ cup sugar, malted milk powder, and baking powder: set aside.

            In a 2- to 3-quart pan over law heat stir ½ cup chocolate chips and ½ cup butter until melted. Remove from heat. Add four mixture, egg yolks, and vanilla beating to blend. Stir in remaining 1 cup chocolate chips.

            In a deep bowl whip egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining ½ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until whites hold stiff, moist peaks. Stir 1/3 of the whites into chocolate mixture, then gently fold in remainder.

            Butter and flour-dust a 7-by11-inch or 9-inch-square pan. Pour batter into pan; smooth top. Bake in a 325 oven until the top looks dry and brownie begins to pull form pan sides, about 45 minutes. Set on a rack and spread with chocolate glaze. When cool, cut brownie unto 20 pieces and top each with a pecan. Serve, or wrap airtight up to 2 days. Makes 20

Chocolate Glaze

In a 1- to -1 ½ -quart pan over low heat stir 1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate baking chips with 1/3 cup whipping cream and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Use warm.

Peppermint Pats

BH Gardens Jr. Cookbook circa 1955

            4 cups confectioners’ sugar

            2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

            Few drops green food coloring

            ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract

1.       Sift confectioners’ sugar onto a piece of waxed paper. Measure 4 cups

2.    Mix milk, flavoring. Shake 3 drops coloring into spoon first. Then mix it in well

3.    Beat in sugar gradually. Mix smooth with hands when the candy gets stiff

4.    Form in 30 small balls. Place on waxed paper. Flatten with fork tines.  

Praline Cookies

1 2/3 c sifted flour

1 ½ t baking powder

½ t salt

½ c butter

1 ½ c firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg, unbeaten

1 t vanilla

1 c pecan halves

Praline frosting (recipe follows)

Sift flour again with baking powder and salt into small bowl; set aside.

            In large bowl of electric mixer, cream butter until smooth; gradually add brown sugar and cream it until light and fluffy. Blend in egg, vanilla and reserved dry ingredients; beat until well combined. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet, about three inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet immediately and cool on wax paper. Break up pecan halves and place several pieces on top of each cookie. Drizzle a teaspoon of praline frosting (recipe follows) on top of pecans “cementing” them to the cookie. Makes about four to 4 ½ dozen three inch cookies.

Praline Frosting

            1 c firmly packed brown sugar

            ½ c cream

            1 c confectioner’s sugar

In small saucepan combine brown sugar and cream. Bring to boil, stirring constantly; boil two minutes. Remove from heat and blend in confectioner’s sugar; beat until smooth. If frosting becomes too thick, thin with a few drops of cream. Makes about 1 ½ cups Praline Frosting.

THAYER YORK

Director of Technology Services

Recipe: Molasses Crinkles

These recipes are also posted in a Gallagher Law Library in a display, so come check them out! We have physical packets as well with some of the listed recipes. We hope you enjoy, and happy winter!

Native American Heritage Month

Dip Net Fishing on the Columbia River
Illustration from Personal Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles
(1896), p. 377, available in British Library's photostream on Flickr. 

To mark Native American Heritage Month, why not take a few minutes to vist the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) website? It's a good way to get an idea of the legal issues in Indian Country. After a little browsing, you can pop over to the National Indian Law Library (part of NARF) for the Tribal Law Gateway and a variety of research guides. To keep up with new developments in Indian law, sign up for one or more of the Indian Law News Bulletins.

For more research tips, see our own Indian & Tribal Law research guide. Interested in history? The guide's last section, Selected Books Related to Indian Law, lists some great books.

Washington Lawyers Are Blogging

Lawyers blog for different reasons: for instance, to share opinions and resources with other lawyers, to offer a public service, or to attract clients.

And you can read blogs for different reasons: to learn about a topic, to learn about a lawyer, or just to see what lawyers' blogs are like.

If you're curious about who's blogging locally, check our our guide, Law-Related Blogs in Washington State. You'll find blogs on a wide range of topics, from cannabis to construction law, from personal injury to police news.

Checking Case Treatment with Shepard's

Using citators is important. You want to find out whether something has happened to your case on appeal or whether, years later, it was overruled by another case. And you also want to find how much it's been cited by other cases and how they've used it.

To get a handle on the features of Shepard's (the citator on Lexis), see Be confident in your cases with Shepard's. You can also view short videos:

• Shepard's Preview on Lexis Advance
• Shepard's Graphical on Lexis Advance
• Shepard's Briefcheck (This tool lets you upload a memo or brief and automatically Shepard's all the citations to create a report.)
• Full Text Citing Decisions from Shepard's Reports on Lexis Advance

. . . or get into more depth with the Shepardizing YouTube playlist from LexisNexisLawSchools.

Overruling Risk -- Wrongful Discharge Example

The tort of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy is an exception to the general rule that at-will employees can quit or be fired for any reason. Gardner v. Loomis Armored, Inc., 128 Wash. 2d 931, 935 (1996). In Weiss v. Lonnquist, 173 Wash. App. 344 (2013), the Court of Appeals said that a discharged attorney couldn't claim the tort because she had an effective alternative: filing a bar association complaint about her boss's allegedly improper conduct.

If you're looking at Weiss v. Lonnquist on Westlaw, you'll see a new icon, an exclamation point in an orange circle. This is a new feature of KeyCite that alerts you a case that overruled a case your case relies on.

Overruling Risk icon
(redrawn to make it scale well)

In 2015, the Washington Supreme Court explicitly abrogated a rule that the existence of an "adequate" alternative means a plaintiff can never claim wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. Rose v. Anderson Hay & Grain Co., 184 Wash. 2d 268, 286 (2015). The Washington Supreme Court cited three cases that had developed that rule: Hubbard, Cudney, and Korslund. (If this were more formal writing than a blog post, I'd give the full citations, but the nicknames will do for now.)

The court didn't mention Weiss v. Lonnquist. BUT WEISS RELIED ON THE THREE CASES THAT WERE MENTIONED. So before you relied on Weiss for its statement of the rule, you would sure want to know about the newer case.

Westlaw's programmers have created an algorithm that looks for cases that rely on an overruled case, not just any case that cited it. In this example, the algorithm worked very well.

Westlaw's own documentation:

• Introducing KeyCite Overruling Risk page
• KeyCite Overruling Risk on Westlaw Edge (54-second video)

UW Law users have this new feature now because we adopted Westlaw Edge in September. Students from most other law schools will have this feature in January. (Faculty from most schools get it in November.)

Compare Statute Versions with Westlaw Edge

Sometimes it's hard to get a handle on what changes have been made to statutes over time. You can look at the credits at the end to see the citations to amending statutes—but what's the difference between today's statute and the statute that was in effect two, three, or ten years ago?

Westlaw Edge has a new feature that helps us sort out the changes.Suppose you're looking at 26 U.S.C.A. § 164, the part of the Internal Revenue Code that allows taxpayers to deduct some state and local taxes from their federal tax bill. You can see in the credits at the end that the section dates from 1954 and has been amended a couple of dozen times.

Credits for 26 U.S.C.A. § 164

It might take a lot of plodding to figure out the differences between any two versions.

But now there's the Compare Versions feature!

Screen snip showing  Compare Versions button

If you click on the Compare Versions button, you'll get a "redline" version showing what has changed since the last version—in this case the version that was effective between Dec. 18, 2015, and December 21, 2017.

Screen snip showing new subsection, 26 U.S.C.A. § 164 (b)(6)

It leaps out at you that § 164(b) has a new subsection, 164(b)(6), putting a lid on the amount that a taxpayer can deduct for state and local taxes.

That's pretty handy. But what if you wanted to look at older changes?

At the top of the screen, click on History, then Versions. Westlaw has 12 versions of this code section, going back to 1996. You can choose any two of the versions to compare

Screen snip showing "Add to compare" button for 1996 version of 26 U.S.C.A. § 164

If you paste a comparison into Word, you'll find that it's just like Word's compare documents feature. You can omit the redlining by choosing Simple Markup and see it again by choosing All Markup (in the Review tab of Word's ribbon).

Try out this new feature. It's handy!

By the way, in January all law student Westlaw users in the country will have access to this new feature in Westlaw Edge. We are one of the law schools that got the new features in September.

Library now closing at 4:30 on Friday

The library will now be closing at 4:30 on Fridays. Please remember that this now means that the circulation desk will also be closing at 4:15, and the Reference Office will be closing at 4:00. This change will be going into effect immediately.

The Friday before exam week, December 7, we will remain open until 6.

All other hours remain unchanged. Thank you for your understanding.

Day	Library	Reference Office
Monday - Thursday	8am – 8pm	9am – 5pm
Friday	8am – 4:30pm	9am – 4pm
Saturday	Closed	Closed
Sunday	11am – 6pm	Closed

Library Closing at 3:00 on Friday

Due to staffing issues, the law library is closing 3 hours early on Friday, Oct. 12th. The library will close at 3:00 pm on that day.

Library Closing at 4:00 on Friday

Due to staffing issues, the law library is closing 2 hours early on Friday, September 28. The library will close at 4:00 pm on that day.

Researching Lawyers & Legal Employers

You've heard that informational interviewing can be really helpful as you try to figure out your career. You're willing, but how do you find someone to talk to? Try some of the tips in Researching Lawyers & Legal Employers.

You have an interview with a lawyer you don't know anything about. How can you prepare? Try some of the techniques in Researching Lawyers & Legal Employers. 

You want to find medium-sized firms in Denver or public defender offices in California. Where do you look? Try some of the sources in Researching Lawyers & Legal Employers. 

We have a new guide, Researching Lawyers & Legal Employers. We hope that it's helpful for you. Give it a try!

Library Closed 9/3/18

The Library will be closed on Monday, September 3rd for Labor day. We will reopen again on Tuesday at 8:00 am.

What's Front-Page News?

Newspaper editors don't always select the same stories to highlight. One editor might judge an event to be less significant than another does, or they may choose stories that are important locally but not nationally.

This morning a friend posted on Facebook that his local paper did not put Michael Cohen's plea and Paul Manafort's convictions above the fold on the front page. That inspired me to visit the Newseum's cool collection of today's front pages. You can browse hundreds of papers. 

Compare the treatment in Columbia, SC, in The Post and Courier, which puts Cohen's plea in a small story in the bottom corner: 

with that in The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), which has a banner headline:

or the Arizona Republic (Phoenix), with a big headline, photos, and analysis of the possible impact of the two cases::

In The Birmingham News, the Cohen case didn't make the front page at all:

By the way, I copied the images from the front pages here (rather than simply linking) because the links will lead to tomorrow's front page tomorrow and the next day's the next day. The Newseum provides access to an archive of selected front pages "from events that are considered of historical significance and fit its educational mission." A free registration is needed to view them. 

Visualizing "Lines" of Cases: the SCOTUS Mapping Project

Are you a visual learner? Are you fascinated with the myriad tangled ways in which cases fit together to form the complex legal doctrines associated w/topics like "reasonable expectation of privacy" or "clear and present danger"?

If so, you should definitely check out Baltimore Law's SCOTUS Mapping Project.

These maps can help law students navigate the salty seas of Supreme Court jurisprudence by plotting the relationships between cases, making the different "lines" of cases quite literal. A quick look at the "clear and present danger" map should give you an idea of how it works:

The project has a library with plenty of useful maps on a wide variety of important doctrines and subjects, including a detailed "atlas" for charting the tortuous strains of the 4th Amendment.

Plus, if you fancy yourself a constitutional cartographer, the mapping tool is available online.

Check out our libguides on related topics like constitutional research and legal resources for the public.

Corpus Linguistics and Legal Research

When it comes to constitutional interpretation, it's safe to say that Originalism is a pretty big deal. But until recently, it was frustratingly difficult to approach original meaning from an empirical angle with any degree of real precision.

Enter Corpus Linguistics. This cool tool helps to resolve the tricky evidentiary problems (Yale L.J.F.) that attend to discerning what scholars like to call original public meaning: that is, the meaning that the Constitution (or even a regular old statute) would have had to ordinary folks readings a document of its type at the time it was adopted/enacted.

So, what is a corpus? Simply put, corpora are searchable bodies of text used to determine meaning through language usage. For legal research, we are most interested in corpora that are large (consisting of tens of millions of words) and historical (providing a linguistic "snapshot" of a certain time period).

For legal research, the corpus collection at BYU Law is the gold standard, especially the Corpus of Founding Era American English ("COFEA"). The BYU corpora are also designed by linguists, so they incorporate a balance of texts from different genres and offer a slew of analytical tools to aid your research.

This is cutting edge stuff. You might have read this WaPo op-ed using COFEA to shed some light on the OPM of "bear arms." In a similar vein, the LAWnLinguistics blog has a great series on "Corpora and the Second Amendment." There are also signs that corpus linguistics is becoming a valuable tool for litigants and courts: check out this 2015 decision used corpus linguistics to find the original meaning of a Utah statute. And for those who want to take a deeper dive, law profs are working together to write some excellent scholarship.

For more on a few related topics, check out Gallagher's libguides on constitutional research, legal dictionaries, and stats for law & policy.

Law360 For Legal News!

For current awareness, it is important to keep up with news-related changes in the law. Law360, a LexisNexis company, is a subscription-based news service that can help there. It is listed in Selected Databases on the library’s homepage. The articles provide insights into various subject areas such as intellectual property law and Native American law. One of its main features provides users an opportunity to search by topic using the Advanced Search tool. Through this tool, one can search by topic using the standard search operators such as AND, OR, or NOT along with other search fields. For instance, if one wants to learn more about Uber or Lyft and the gig economy, one can perform the following search:

1. Go to Law360 Advanced Search (UW Restricted) (in Gates Hall only).

2. Construct the search as follows: (Uber or Lyft) AND "gig economy" into the search box.

3. Examine the results.

For more information or helpful tips on this tool, visit the Law360 Advanced Search Guide. For more information on staying up to date with new legal developments, make sure to check out the law library research guide on staying current.

(Law360 is only available in Gates Hall. You can get some content via Lexis. 8/3/18)

"We Were Best Buddies"

With the bar exam a looming specter a few months away you may be thinking of going into a deep dark hole until after the Bar. Don't. Your friends can be a tremendous fountain of strength and support. The friendship between Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia illustrates a deep and supportive friendship. 

Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States/Dey Street Books

The Justices often spent time with each other outside the court room. Ginsburg and Scalia often spent New Year's Eve with their spouses. Upon Justice Scalia's death, Justice Ginsburg told reporters that "We were best buddies." The Justices shared a love of Opera, even serving as extras in a party scene of Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos” in 2009.

STEPHEN R. BROWN / ASSOCIATED PRESS

So remember to take a little time out of each day to enjoy the passions that make life enjoyable.  For more tips on maintaining wellness during bar prep, checkout Gallagher's LibGuide on Wellness.

Library Summer Hours 2018

The law library summer schedule will start on June 13th, this will continue through August 20th. 

Sunday June 10th - 12th Interim:

The library is closed on Sunday June 10th to Tuesday June 12th for Interim. 

Summer Quarter Schedule (June 13-Aug. 20):

Mon: Library open 8am to 8pm; Reference open 9am-12pm, 1pm-3pm

Tus-Fri: Library open 8am to 5pm; Reference open 9am-12pm, 1pm-3pm

Sat-Sun: Library is closed

July 4th Holiday:

The library is closed on Wednesday, July 4.

August 20th Interim:

The library is closed on Monday, August 20th for the first day of interim.

More information about our hours.

Congratulations, UW Law Grads!

From all of us at the Gallagher Law Library, CONGRATULATIONS to the UW Law Class of 2018! We wish you the best of luck with the bar exam and beyond!

Please know that graduating law students retain overnight access to the law library throughout bar prep. We'd be happy to see you-- even if you're a little stressed!

Don't forget to also check out our new guide on WA state bar exam preparation, which provides a number of informational (and stress-reducing) bar-related resources.

Finally, make sure to bookmark the UW Law Alumni page to remain up to date on all the latest in UW Law alumni news, events, reunions, and more. 

CONGRATULATIONS again to the UW Law Class of 2018!

Prune Your URLs: Snip the UTM Codes

Lots of websites put “UTM” codes in their URLs to help them figure out where their site traffic is coming from. (See UTM Parameters in Wikipedia. If you're a web developer, you can find many sites offering tips on using UTM codes.)

For example, I get email updates from the National Academies Press. If I click through on an interesting title (“The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States”), the URL that appears in my address bar is: 

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24950/the-safety-and-quality-of-abortion-care-in-the-united-states?utm_source=NASEM+News+and+Publications&utm_campaign=2ef9c95225-NAP_mail_new_2018_05_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_96101de015-2ef9c95225-102549701&goal=0_96101de015-2ef9c95225-102549701&mc_cid=2ef9c95225&mc_eid=c3bd4bb049 

From that, the web managers can tell that their email marketing is doing its job because I went to their website from the email alert.

But if I want to tell you about this publication, do you need to know all that? No! I can snip off everything before the ? and get to the same place:

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24950/the-safety-and-quality-of-abortion-care-in-the-united-states 

Let’s try it again. I also get email alerts from the Brookings Institution. I click on an interesting story title (“No, Dodd-Frank was neither repealed nor gutted. Here’s what really happened.”). The URL in the address bar is: 

https://www.brookings.edu/research/no-dodd-frank-was-neither-repealed-nor-gutted-heres-what-really-happened/?utm_campaign=Brookings%20Brief&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=63330945 

The Brookings web managers can tell that I used their email. But if I want to cite this story, I just use the part before the ?: 

https://www.brookings.edu/research/no-dodd-frank-was-neither-repealed-nor-gutted-heres-what-really-happened 

 Isn’t that better?

In Praise of Using Facts

image from Critical Merchandise

We in the library biz tend to like the idea of seeking out reliable sources and basing decisions on what we find. But we aren't the only ones.

You can even find T-shirts to show your support, with captions like "Facts and Evidence: They're Gr-r-eat!" or "Demand Evidence and Think Critically."

The Pew Research Center and the RAND Corporation—two non-partisan institutions many people trust for gathering and analyzing facts—are looking at American society's changing attitudes toward facts.

RAND calls it Truth Decay, "the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life." You can download a report (326 pages!), Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life (2018) to dig deep or you can explore the website for commentary and videos, Truth Decay and the Spirit of the Law, which was originally in the Daily Journal (California).

Pew's project is called Trust, Facts and Democracy It includes lots of interesting reports on Pew's public opinion research.

See also Facts Matter, from the Urban Institute.

image from Tee Shirt Palace

If you're as fascinated as I am, here are some books for your summer reading:

Jennifer L. Hochschild, Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics (2015)

Dave Levitan, Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science (2017)

Daniel Levitin, Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era (2017)

Tom Nichols, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters (2017)

And if you'd like some data for your area of interest, check out our guide, Statistics for Law & Policy.

Are you still frustrated with the Bluebook?

Are you still frustrated with the Bluebook? Do you find yourself wondering what all those abbreviations mean and where they go?

GOOD NEWS! LexisNexis has a resource that can help.

LexisNexis Interactive Workstation Homepage

LexisNexis Interactive Citation Workstation provides over 250 citation problems on the fundamentals of BlueBook citations. These questions will help you hone your Bluebook skills. This exercise set covers everything from case names to those perplexing signals. There is even a section on Law Review Citations. 

To access the LexisNexis Interactive Citation Workstation click on the window icon at the top left of the Lexis Advance Home Page.  This will display a box of several of LexisNexis' modules, including the Interactive Citation Workstation.

LexisNexis Interactive Workstation Icon

The Washington Style Sheet also gets a shout-out in the Washington specific exercises. You can get a free copy of the LexisNexis' version of the Style Sheet from the Lexis Nexis Store.

For more tip and tricks see our Bluebook 101 research guide.

Happy Law Day 2018!

Image from the American Bar Association

Happy Law Day 2018 from the Gallagher Law Library!

Per the American Bar Association, Law Day is held on May 1st every year to celebrate the role of law in our society and to cultivate a deeper understanding of the legal profession.

This year's Law Day theme is "Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom."

You can learn more about Law Day and this year's theme on the American Bar Association's Law Day 2018 page.