Law School

Course Registration: Why You Should Consider Legal Research

Among the most important skills all lawyers rely upon ins the ability to do legal research– to find what’s needed to interpret and analyze legal issues. It’s 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 prepare you for the realities of law practice, we offer a number of courses that 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 BNA, 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 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 consideration.

Want more information? Contact Associate Dean and Professor Camille Broussard or Professor Michael Roffer.

Attention 1Ls: A Westlaw Scholarship opportunity awaits!

From now until November 19th, 1Ls have the opportunity to enter into Westlaw’s “Ready to Go Pro?” Sweepstakes. To enter the sweepstakes, complete the short interactive eLearning modules and/or the “Ready to Go Pro?” Challenge. See the official rules for details.

Sweepstakes prizes include:

Grand Prize: Five (5) – $5,000 scholarships

First Prize: Ten (10) – $500 scholarships

Weekly Prizes: Each week Westlaw will award 15 winners with a $120 Spotify e-gift card (one year subscription)

To enter:

  1. Go to lawschool.westlaw.com
  2. Click on the blue “Take the Challenge” button under Are you “Ready to go pro?” OR select “Training Tools” and then select “Ready to Go Pro Sweepstakes”

 

Good luck!

NYLS To Close Thursday, February 9, Due To Winter Storm – Law School building and Library will be open

This evening, it was announced that the New York City public schools will be closed tomorrow due to expected significant snowfall. As a result, New York Law School is closing its administrative offices tomorrow and all of tomorrow’s classes, meetings, and events are cancelled. Despite these cancellations, the Law School building will be open for use by community members from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. The Library will be open from ‎10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We expect that NYLS will resume all scheduled classes, meetings, and activities on Friday, February 10. Please watch for emails, texts, and voice messages from our NotifyNYLS emergency communication system to ensure you have the latest updates.

Thank you, and please stay safe and warm.

Bar Study Update

Extended Library study hours begin on Tuesday, July 5. On Sundays thru Thursdays, the Library will remain open until midnight. Starting on July 11, classroom space available outside the library for bar studying will be limited before 5:30 p.m. The Library understands that many of you like to study in small groups and occasionally converse.  To that end, beginning on July 5, reasonable conversations will be allowed on L-4 for the remainder of the bar study period.  If the group study room (L400), the compact shelving area, and two seminar rooms (L402 and L405) are available, please use those first for group study.  The group study rooms on L-2 and L-3 are also available for your use.  As our signs have always said – one person is not a group. But if a group study room is not available, you are welcome to engage in reasonable conversation at the table spaces on L-4.  Floors L-2 and L-3 will remain quiet study spaces.  We understand that July can be a stressful month in bar study land.  Please remember to be kind to your colleagues:  Control the decibel levels and help us keep your Library clean.

 

If you have questions, please let the reference librarians know.  Good Luck and Stay Focused!

Law School 411

The study and practice of law has frequently been described as encompassing both the scholarly and popular aspects of cultural life. The Mendik Library’s Law School 411 LibGuide provides an online multimedia bibliography to students thinking about law school as well as to those currently enrolled. It features books, movies and websites dedicated to the all-pervasive discipline of law.  Take a moment to explore the Guide’s many offerings, which run the gamut from inspiring stories about social justice, to ways in which students can maximize the many facets of the law school experience.

Free E-Book Provides Overview of Emerging Law Office Technology

The former director of the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center  recently published an e-book, Law Practice Technology: An Introduction for Law Students, that introduces law students to current law office technology.  Targeting law students interested in starting their own practice, the e-book covers cloud computing, calendaring, security, training, document management, speech input to create documents, intake and conflicts checking, and technology to assist with discovery.  It’s short enough to read or browse quickly and it links to additional internet resources. We recommend checking it out!

Back to Carnegie Hall!

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2014 and their upcoming Commencement Exercises—the Law School’s 122nd—on May 21st!

This year’s ceremony is particularly meaningful because it marks a return to Carnegie Hall, site of the Law School’s first Commencement, on June 7, 1892, and those for the following twenty-one years (through 1913).  

Commencement ceremonies enable us to celebrate our new graduates and to honor previous ones.  It’s always fun to view this slice of our history by looking back at our Commencement Exercises Programs. The Library has created two exhibits of NYLS Commencement Programs spanning three centuries!  We invite you to visit both.

•           In The Honorable Roger J. Miner ’56 Reading Room display case (L302) you’ll find programs from 1950, 1975, 1985, 1991, and 1997.

 •           In the display case near the Event Center (second floor of 185 West Broadway) you’ll find programs from 1892, 1894, 1899, 1900, 1903, 1906, 1913, and more . . . .

 Enjoy the Law School’s rich history!

 

The Bluebook App

Have you tried the Bluebook app yet?  It’s available for iPads, iPhones, and iPods (with an Android version probably in the works we’re told). The app supports full-text searching, browsing, highlighting, bookmarking, and annotating.  Among its features, the continuous display of the Table of Contents and hyperlinking of cross-references make navigation a breeze.  You don’t have to worry about losing your Internet connection either.  Once downloaded, the rules reside on your device for offline use.  Give it a try!  Here’s the link.  There is a special promotion for law students; with purchase of the app, you will also get access to the 2013 Federal Rules.

A few things to note:  If you have an iPhone and an iPad, one purchase enables you to use it on both devices.  Second, at $39.95, it is a little more expensive than the print Bluebook (which is $37.15 (new) at the NYLS bookstore).  But for folks who want the convenience and search capability of digital access it may well be worth it.  An extra benefit is that all Bluebook updates between editions are automatically added to the app and you “own” the app; there’s no need to purchase it again unless you want to once a new edition is published.  (New editions of the Bluebook are published every five years, with the 20th edition scheduled for 2015.)

Comparing it against the Bluebook’s online version, the app’s pricing may still be more favorable.  The online version is $32 for one year, with annual renewals priced at $15, although you can pay $42 for two years or $50 for three years with corresponding $15 renewals. But that is only available “online,” meaning on a PC or Mac, and you’ll need an Internet connection while using it.  Remember: the Mendik Library has a subscription to the online Bluebook, which can be accessed from two PCs in the Library.  Contact the Reference Desk for password information.

NYLS Commencement Through the Centuries

An early congratulations to the graduating class of 2013!  May 19th will mark New York Law School’s 121st Commencement Exercises.  This year’s ceremony will be held at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  Did you know that in 1899 the graduation ceremony was held at Carnegie Hall?

Commencement ceremonies give us time to celebrate our new graduates and time to honor all the Law School’s previous graduates.  It’s always fun to view this slice of our history by looking back at our Commencement Exercises Programs. The Library has created two exhibits of NYLS Commencement Programs spanning three centuries!  We invite you to take a quick break and visit both if you can!

  • In the Library’s Rare Book Room display case (L302) you’ll find programs from 1894, 1900, 1904, 1912, 1950, 1961 and more . . . .
  • In the display case outside the Matasar Commons on W2 (on the way to the Event Center) you’ll find programs from 1899, 1913, 1975, 1991 and more . . . .

 

Enjoy the Law School’s rich history!