Law School

2024 Summer Research Challenge and Research Skills Workshops

Ramp Up Your Research Skills!

This summer, take advantage of multiple opportunities to up your research game and learn more about tools you’ll need in practice through our popular Summer Research Challenge! Click here for details. Each virtual session begins at 6:00 p.m., with a short introduction to the research area, and then moves on to a concrete research problem where you need to efficiently identify the law bearing on your client’s situation. The sessions are two hours long and will wrap up with a discussion of results and strategies.

Attend whichever sessions most interest you, but researchers who successfully complete all four will receive a certificate signed by both Dean of Faculty William LaPiana and Associate Dean & Library Director Camille Broussard recognizing this achievement. It’s a great practical skill certification for your resume.

May 29: Researching Congressional Documents: Statutes and Legislative History
June 5: Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Research in Administrative Law
June 12: Research on the Road to Trial: Experts, Juries, Discovery and More
June 26: Legal Research for Transactional Lawyers

For more information and to register, click here. Select the sessions you would like to register for and you will be taken to the registration page.

Research Skills Workshops
In addition to the Summer Research Challenge, we will also be offering our regular Research Skills Workshops. These virtual sessions are intended to give pointers on how to handle research situations you might face this summer. The workshops are 30 minutes long and will be offered on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. from June 4 through June 27, 2024. To register, click this link. Select the sessions you would like to register for and you will be taken to the registration page.

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The Law School Survey of Student Engagement

NYLS students recently received an email from LSSSE (Law School Survey of Student Engagement) asking you to complete the survey on your thoughts about legal education and your experiences in law school. The Library hopes you will participate and complete the survey by the March 24, 2023 deadline.  The LSSSE survey is anonymous and is centered on providing insights about student viewpoints on legal education and their law school experiences.  This information is very helpful to NYLS in making sure that our programs focus on areas of importance to you and your colleagues.  We hope you will use the link provided in your NYLS email and complete the survey.  If you would like more information on LSSSE, visit their website.

 

Remember to set up your Bloomberg, LexisNexis and Westlaw accounts

All 1L students—If you haven’t already done so, please set up your Bloomberg, LexisNexis and Westlaw accounts. You’ll need them later in the semester for legal research and citation checking.

The information necessary to retrieve your registration codes and create your accounts can be found at: https://nyls.libwizard.com/f/2022_BL_Lexis_Westlaw

If you need any help, please contact the Reference Desk (reference@nyls.edu or via MS Teams).

Coronavirus Legal Research

The Law Librarians at the Library of Congress have created a Coronavirus Resource Guide, a regularly updated source of federal and state legislation as well as presidential executive orders and proclamations addressing COVID-19. The guide also provides links to Congressional Research Service Reports relating to the coronavirus (43 published to date).

Remote Access to Casebooks and Texts

The publishers of law school casebooks and texts recognize the current health emergency, and have agreed to make these books available electronically to our students. The Mendik Library is working out the details of remote access with the publishers.

Below are access details we’ve received so far, organized by publisher. If you’re not sure which company publishes your book, consult the Library’s Online Catalog. Click on “Course Reserves” and you can search by course or professor’s name. The catalog record will indicate the publisher.

Our goal is to make this list as inclusive as possible. While these are the major publishers of law texts, your text may not be included. We’ll be adding and enhancing this information continuously, so check this page frequently. If you experience difficulty with remote access, or have any questions, contact us at reference@nyls.edu.

LexisNexis and Carolina Academic Press: Many of these publishers’ textbooks are available through the VitalSource platform. Click on this link, to access the VitalSource login page. You MUST use your New York Law School email address to create a VitalSource account. Then click on the “Explore” link to search for your casebook or text.

West Academic and Foundation Press: You should call 877-888-1330 and identify yourself as a student at a coronavirus-impacted school. You’ll be connected with a customer service representative who will give you access instructions.

Wolters Kluwer, Law & Business, and Aspen Publishers: Many of these publishers’ textbooks are available through the VitalSource platform. Click on this link, to access the VitalSource login page. You MUST use your New York Law School email address to create a VitalSource account. Then click on the “Explore” link to search for your casebook or text.

The Bluebook – a Uniform System of Citation: Watch this page for further details

Remote Access to Required Texts

The publishers of law school casebooks and texts recognize the current situation, and have agreed to make these books available electronically to our students.  If you use a textbook published by West Academic you should call 877-888-1330, and identify yourself as a student at a coronavirus-impacted school.  The Mendik Library is working with additional publishers to work out the details of access.  Please consult the Library homepage http://www.nyls.edu/library for further information.

Law School 411

The study and practice of law can encompass both the scholarly and popular aspects of culture. The Mendik Library’s Law School 411 LibGuide provides an online portal to books, movies, television shows and websites addressing many facets of law.

Take a moment to explore the Guide’s offerings, from inspiring stories about social justice, to ways in which students can maximize their law school experience.

Selecting Your Courses for Next Year: Why You Should Consider Legal Research

Selecting Your Courses for Next Year: Why You Should Consider Legal Research

Among the most important skills all lawyers rely upon is the ability to do legal research—to find what’s needed to interpret and analyze legal issues. Legal research is an integral part of the “competencies” that NYLS and the ABA require of law students. Effective research skills are vital to students engaged in any type of legal writing, to those who are clerking or participating in externships, and to those entering legal practice.

To help you prepare for the realities of law practice, we offer a number of courses that build upon skills learned in the first year and will make you a more efficient, confident and successful researcher.

Legal Research: Practical Skills (1 credit)
Builds on fundamental research skills through refining students’ techniques, introducing shortcuts and new approaches, and developing effective strategies. The course focuses on finding legislation, administrative materials, and related cases; using the secondary sources relied on by practitioners; attaining greater proficiency and comfort with Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, and other online research tools, including reliable free and low-cost sources. We also offer this class with a focus on a particular substantive practice area, including Corporate & Business Law; Criminal Law; Family Law; Foreign and International Law; Intellectual Property Law; Labor and Employment Law; and Real Estate Law.

Legal Research: Skills for the Digital World (3 credits)
Continues to build on the fundamentals described in Legal Research: Practical Skills. Students concentrate on more advanced techniques and strategies and learn to evaluate online and print materials in order to choose the best and most cost effective source for particular projects. Some assignments are geared to students’ individual subject interests. Take-home assignments test and enhance students’ ability to perform various research tasks and strengthen their understanding of important research process and strategy considerations.

Want more information? Contact Prof. Michael Roffer

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King Day

Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a federal holiday, celebrated on the third Monday of each January. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service, now led by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

This year, the NYLS community is honoring Dr. King’s legacy by expanding its traditional day of service to a week of volunteering, trainings, and discussions. The “Week of Action” is being organized by NYLS’s Impact Center for Public Interest Law, one of its six academic centers. Click here for more information.

 

Did You Know?

A historic moment in New York Law School’s  126-year history came on December 27, 1974, when we received accreditation as the 133rd member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).

Accreditation came just four months after submission of the school’s application, and made NYLS the first AALS-accredited law school not affiliated with a university.

To learn more, read (or download) the February 1975 issue of Equitas, available on New York Law School’s Digital Commons.