Author: farrah nagrampa

Bloomberg Law Training Sessions

Bloomberg Law is offering a series of trainings on how to use Bloomberg Law to search for various content types.  If you are a 1L, these trainings satisfy the Research Skills Workshops component of your Legal Practice Course requirement.

The current schedule of training classes is as follows:

Finding and Researching Administrative Regulations on Bloomberg Law (B5)

Oct 11 — 12:50 pm — 1:40 pm (Tuesday)
Oct 14 — 2:00 pm — 2:50 pm (Friday)

Finding and Researching Statutes on Bloomberg Law (B4)

Oct 12 — 1:00 pm — 1:50 pm (Wednesday)

Formulating Effective Searches on Bloomberg Law (B2)

Oct 15 — 12:30 — 1:20 pm (Saturday)

All classes will be held in the Mendik Library in L207.

Please contact Omesh Seemangal (contact information below) if you would like to reserve a spot for one of the above listed dates.  Bloomberg Law may add more dates as needed.

 

Omesh V. Seemangal, Esq.
Law School Relationship Manager Bloomberg L.P.
oseemangal@bloomberg.net
(212) 617-6632 (Phone)
(917) 369-66587 (Fax)

www.Bloomberglaw.com

 

First Monday in October

The 2011-2012 term of the United States Supreme Court begins Monday, October 3, 2011, the first Monday in October.  In most terms, the Court usually completes its work by the following July 1.  Of the approximately 10,000 petitions filed with the Court each term, very few cases are granted review and receive signed opinions.

Many interesting cases are on the 2011 October Term docket, including the indecent broadcast regulations case between the FCC and Fox Television and the 4th amendment case dealing with the warrantless use of a GPS tracking device.  Two great sources for learning about the new term are the ABA’s Preview of the United States Supreme Court Cases and Scotus Blog.  Preview is published eight times during the term.  Each issue provides a concise analysis of cases granted review and summarizes decisions reached by the Court.  The Preview website links the researcher to a list of the cases granted certiorari for the 2011-2012 term with links to the merits briefs filed in each case.  Scotus Blog provides comprehensive coverage and discussion of the Supreme Court and generally reports on every merits case before the Court at least three times: before argument; after argument; and after decision.

In preparing for the new term, you may also want to look back at earlier terms.  At the end of each term, a number of journals and blogs provide a wealth of information on the types of cases heard by the Court, a breakdown of cases by major subject areas, analysis of key cases and opinions, and discussion of interesting voting trends.  For example, the eighth issue of Preview is a special issue devoted to a review of the newly completed term.  Harvard Law Review devotes its November issue to coverage of the previous term and the Scotus Blog provides a comprehensive end-of-term statistical analysis.  As noted in the analysis of this past term, the Court decided a total of 82 merits cases.  That number includes 75 signed opinions, five summary reversals, and two cases that were affirmed by an evenly divided court.  End-of-term reviews are a great way to learn more about the work of the nation’s highest court.

Websites:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/about/institution.aspx

http://www.supremecourtpreview.org

http://www.scotusblog.com

Harvard Law Review (via HeinOnline)

Cases:

FCC v. Fox Television Stations, No. 10-1293, 613 F. 3d 317 (2d Cir. 2010) http://www.americanbar.org/publications/preview_home/10-1293.html

United States v. Jones, No. 10-1259, 615 F.3d 544 (D.C. Cir. 2010)
http://www.americanbar.org/publications/preview_home/10-1259.html

 

Celebrate National Punctuation Day!

Take a break from the tedium of law study and enjoy the pleasures of punctuation!  September 24 is National Punctuation Day:  “A celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.”  How do you celebrate such an event?  Enter the Punctuation Paragraph Contest; entries must be one paragraph, a maximum of three sentences – this post isn’t – and use the thirteen punctuation marks (you may use a mark more than once) you see used in this post [apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark, semicolon . . . and don’t forget the ellipsis].

 

Learn to Use BNA Online for Legal Research

BNA, a leading legal publisher used extensively by practicing attorneys, can be a valuable component in your legal research toolbox.  Don’t miss these opportunities to learn how to use it effectively. No preregistration is required for any of the 45-minute sessions.

Legal Research Using BNA

Students will learn how to conduct legal research using BNA online resources. Using BNA’s current awareness services, students will learn how to recognize emerging legal trends, locate paper topics, and sign up for e-mail alerts in subject areas of interest. Using BNA’s online Web libraries, students will gain an in-depth exposure to specific sources such as tax, labor and employment law, and intellectual property law, and will gain an understanding of how to use these secondary sources of law to conduct comprehensive legal research.

Friday September 23rd at 11:00 am – 11:45 am
Tuesday September 27th at 11:00 am – 11:45 am
Room L206

Federal Tax Research with BNA Tax Management Portfolios

Participants will learn how to use BNA’s Tax and Accounting Center (BTAC) — an all-in-one resource—to get the complete answer to any federal tax question quickly.  Learn how to use a variety of search methods, including code section or word searching, and how to use BNA’s topical indexes. The Tax and Accounting Center fully integrates all BNA Federal Tax Management Portfolios— US Income, Estate Gifts & Trusts, Foreign — as well as news and analysis in the Tax Management Weekly Report and primary sources.

Friday September 23rd at 12 noon – 12:45 pm
Tuesday September 27th at 12:00 noon – 12:45 pm
Room L206

 

Free Federal Rules Ebooks

Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII), in partnership with the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), now offers free electronic versions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence.  These electronic files become ebooks when viewed on a Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPhone, or any other device that supports .epub or .mobi files.

The federal rules ebooks include the text of the rules and the Advisory Committee notes.  They support handy electronic features such as internal hyperlinks and external links to the LII website’s version of the US Code.

To download these ebooks, visit http://elangdell.cali.org/content/federal-rules-ebooks-legal-information-institute.  You’ll find links and complete tech help instructions on that site.

 

Sweet Stuff (Prizes and Treats)

Attend tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) 1:00 p.m. or 5:45 p.m. prize drawings (1:00 for 1Ls in the day division and 5:45 for 1Ls in the evening division) where we will select and announce the winning entrants in the Legally Clueless Info Hunt.  We’ll be awarding prizes to a total of 3 lucky winners (in each division) and 1 consolation prize (in each division).  There will also be sweet treats (for winners and non-winners).  The drawing will take place right outside the library entrance.  We’re hoping to see you there. 

Are You Legally Prizeless?

There’s no need to be legally clueless or legally prizeless anymore.  All you need to do is turn in your completed Legally Clueless Info Hunt answers at the Library Reference Desk before Thursday, August 25 at 8:30 p.m. (Thursday August 31 for evening students) and you may win one of more than a dozen valuable study aids and texts we will be giving away.  Among the titles winners will choose from are:

Reading like a Lawyer – Time-Saving Strategies for Reading Law like an Expert

Questions & Answers: Torts

Understanding Contracts

Property – Examples & Explanations

The Law & Harry Potter

Persuasive Written and Oral Advocacy

A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage

Guide to Legal Writing Style

Legal Writing and other Lawyering Skills

The Process of Legal Research

Foundations of Criminal Law

New York Practice Hornbook

The Legally Clueless Info Hunt form is in the blue folder you received on your library tour.  If you can’t find your copy, pick up another one at the Reference Desk.  Remember, you can work with a partner or a group and you should always feel free to ask one of the reference librarians for help.

Good luck to all!

Welcome from the Library Director

On behalf of the entire staff of the Mendik Library, I want to extend my welcome and congratulations to the entering classes of 2014/15. The library staff is looking forward to meeting you. You are about to begin a challenging and exciting journey.

For most law students, the law library quickly becomes a constant feature of their lives, a second home, if you will. We have worked hard to make our home a comfortable study and learning environment and you can be assured that you are getting the benefit of an outstanding library collection, an extensive offering of services, and an excellent library staff.

We describe our collections and our services in great detail on our web pages and numerous handouts. What you might not realize from these publications is the outstanding quality of each and every person on the staff of the Mendik Library, and why that is important to you. Our staff of twenty-two includes seventeen professionals with master’s degrees, ten of whom also have J.D. degrees from law schools around the country. They all have many years of experience working in law libraries and teaching legal research. Many also have years of legal practice experience and most have been at New York Law School for several years. They can all help you with your library and research needs, of course, but their value to you goes far beyond that. Do not hesitate to ask your librarians questions about the law school, particular courses, or any of the extracurricular activities available.  We can help you, or we will direct you to the best person to give you the help you need. 

We all realize that law school is a new experience for each of you, and we are committed to making that experience a rewarding one. We welcome the opportunity to work with you throughout your law school career.

 Sincerely,

Professor Camille Broussard
Library Director & Associate Dean

Expand your Research Toolbox

As you begin a research project, remember to take advantage of one of our most valuable electronic resources, HeinOnline.  Although best known for its Law Journal Library, a PDF-based collection of more than 1,400 law review/journal titles (in most cases beginning with the first issue of each), HeinOnline also offers archival libraries of federal and state primary law (including the CFR, the Federal Register, and the Statutes at Large), federal legislative histories, U.S. treaties, foreign and international law sources, and classic American law treatises. Each library is full-text searchable, and search results are PDF files that can be printed and downloaded.

The Challenge is On!

Join us next Wednesday June 29 (and on any or all of the following Wednesdays through July 20), for the Mendik Library’s 2011 Summer Research Challenge! Hone your research skills and have some fun (and snacks) at the same time. Get all the details here.