Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Ranking Congressional Liberals and Conservatives
SOURCE: Moritz Legal Information Blog
107 Years and Out--Berghoff's in Chicago Closes Today
Another Trib article reports that "Herman Berghoff, the 70-year-old grandson of the restaurant's founder, and his wife, Jan Berghoff, 68, are retiring. Herman Berghoff, who's been working at the German-style restaurant since 1952, owns the building at 17 W. Adams St. and will lease it to his daughter Carlyn Berghoff's catering company. She plans to reopen the bar this spring under a slightly different name but convert the elegant dining room to a private banquet hall, thus ending the reign of one of Chicago's oldest and most fattening restaurants."
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Law Dog of the Week
This week's SIU Law Dog is Samson. He is an 8-month-old yorki/poo mix puppy, who lives with Joy Krohne, a 3rd-year law student.
Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. We will feature a dog each week until we run out of photos.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Final Report of Katrina Bipartisan Committee Available
Congressional Bloggers
NYT Article Describes Security Risks of High Tech "Gadgets"
Joachim details some of the security options businesses are using to combat the growing problem.
SOURCE: beSpacific
Monday, February 20, 2006
Internet and Word Processing Text Tip: Paste Special
Instructions: using your mouse, select the text you want, then either cut (Ctrl + X or Edit, Cut) or copy (Ctrl + C or Edit, Copy) as usual. Position the cursor at the point in your document where you wish to insert your cut or copied text, and choose paste special (Edit, Paste Special). Depending on your text destination(i.e., word processing choice, etc.), you will be given a number of choices of formats in which to paste the text: unformatted text is usually the safest since it will copy the cut or copied text into the default format of whatever text document you are currently using.
Single Source for Federal Forms
SOURCE: Law Librarian Blog
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Law Dog of the Week
This week's SIU Law Dog is Chloe. She lives with Jane Miller, who works in the law library.
Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. We will feature a dog each week until we run out of photos.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Procrastination and Time Management
David Swanner has an excellent post about making more time at the South Carolina Trial Law Blog. His conclusion:
In reality, when we say that we don't have time for something, we’re saying "It's not a high enough priority to get to".
His post reminded me of a study I posted about a year ago on Why We Overcommit. The authors of the study found that we always expect to have more time in the future than we have in the present.
But as Dave points out, "Everyone gets the same amount of time." And even though you can't make more time, you can make better choices about how you spend your time.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Don't Let This Happen to You
Read this story from the Boston Globe about a recent law graduate who declined a job by email. Her would-be employer chided her, also by email. Emotions escalated, and the final email was a short one from the graduate: "bla bla bla."
Soon the exchange was traveling around the world at the speed of – well – email. Have you ever sent an email you would rather not see in a newspaper? Enough said.
Thanks to Betsy McKenzie for pointing out this story at Out of the Jungle.
Update: See also The email that roared from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Great Resource for Pre-Law Students
Most law professors who work with first-year law students have probably wished for a resource that would give incoming law students a head-start on their first semester of law school. But we never seem to find the time to do much about it.
CALI (the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction) is working on just such a resource, Learnthelaw.org. Parts of the new site are still under construction, but you can find information about CALI and CALI lessons, links to other online resources, and book recommendations. A pre-law-school set of CALI lessons will be offered for $50.
There is also a Pre-Law Blog on which CALI podcasts and other material relevant to incoming first-year students will be posted. The first set of podcasts gives incoming students insight on how law school exams work, how to prepare for and take a law school exam, and what professors expect from students on law school exams.
Westlaw's RegulationsPlus Offers Annotated CFR
Other features of West's enhanced federal regulations database include an online CFR Index newly created by West editors ("more than 1.4 million references, arranged by topic and linked directly to CFR sections"), links to related to code sections ("CFR sections are linked to cited sections and sub-sections of the U.S. Code"), links to prior versions of current CFR sections ("know how a CFR section appeared at a specific point in time"), and access to administrative materials ("While viewing a regulation, link to relevant agency manuals, guidelines, bulletins and other agency content that help you interpret the regulation") and agency decisions ("While viewing a regulation, link to relevant administrative decisions. Covers decisions from more than 150 agencies.).
Monday, February 13, 2006
Guide to Finding Web Sites You Can Trust
SOURCE: BarclayBlog
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Website for Common Errors in English
grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak." He also notes that his site "is dedicated to errors in usage. This is not a site dealing with grammar in general."
There are literally hundreds of entries (e.g., reign/rein, if I was/if I were, premier/premiere), arranged alphabetically.
source: MoLIB
Law Dogs of the Week
This week's SIU Law Dogs are Stoli and Asti Tosti. They live with two SIU law students who choose to be unnamed.
Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. If you haven't already sent in your dog photo, there is still time. We will be post all photos received, featuring one each week.
Audio Introduction to Researching Administrative Law
Listen to Introduction to Researching Administrative Law. This summary does not include step-by-step instructions, which will be covered in later podcasts. Duration of audio: ~5.3 minutes. Transcript of the recording.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Appellate Practice Tips from the North Dakota Supreme Court
The North Dakota Supreme Court has had one of the best court websites for years. It includes the Court's opinions from the beginning of 1970 to the present, feeds for news and opinions, webcasts of live and recorded oral arguments of cases, and much more information for attorneys and the public.
You might be interested in the Court's compilation of Appellate Practice Tips. The tips include general advice, such as:
Summary judgment can't be reversed on appeal based on what you wish you had presented in the trial court, only on what was presented as competent evidence in the trial court.
There are also tips specific to the record, stays, briefs, the appendix, mootness, oral argument, petitions for rehearing, and the Administrative Agencies Practice Act.
My favorite five tips on briefs are:
- Don't make your brief a mystery. Tell the reader what the case is about right up front. ...
- The word "clearly" is no substitute for authority or logic.
- Never use many words when a few will do. A longer brief is not necessarily a better brief.
- Cite only cases you have actually read.
- Clear language—not pompous or ponderous language—is most effective.
I will highlight some of the tips about oral arguments closer to first-year oral arguments.
Thanks to Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog for his tip about these Appellate Practice Tips.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
New Law Librarian Blog
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Chipper Is Law Dog of the Week
This week's Law Dog is Chipper. He is shown here with his neighbor, Lilly. Chipper is the taller of the two.
Chipper is about 13 months old, and he lives with Nate and Sharon Bailey. Nate is a 2L.
Join us next week for another Law Dog of the Week. If you haven't already sent in your dog photo, there is still time. We will be featuring one each week all year.