This Saturday, June 19, 2021, is Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the day in 1865 that Union soldiers reached Texas and the African Americans living there, who only then learned that President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, declaring freedom for the more than three million slaves living in the Confederate states.  When the soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news of freedom the former slaves began to celebrate immediately.

The next year, on June 19, 1866, official celebrations took place in Texas.  In 1980, Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas.  New York recognized Juneteenth as an official holiday in 2020 as has Massachusetts, Virginia, and Oregon.  The majority of other states make it a day of recognition or a day of observance.  Just this week, the United States Senate passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing June 19 as a legal public holiday.

Visit the National Archives newsletter (National Archives News) to read about Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and former NYLS faculty member Annette Gordon-Reed’s June 2^nd talk at the National Archives about her new book, On Juneteenth.  The National Archives also launched an online exhibit regarding Juneteenth, which is available here.

For Pride month, the National Archives is showcasing historic archival material providing “a rich documentary history of the experience of LGBTQ+ individuals.” You can find additional LGBTQ+ holdings and resources in this issue of National Archives News.

If you’re an NYLS alum studying for the Bar Exam, we invite you to choose your own personal Library carrel (on L3 or L4) for your exclusive use through the July 27-28 Bar Exam.

We’ll put your name on the carrel, and you can use it as your temporary home away from home.  Who knows…you may occasionally find study treats left just for you.

All you need to do is send an email to darlene.young@nyls.edu, and indicate the number of the carrel you’d like to call your own.  All carrels are labeled by floor and carrel number.  For example, the first available carrel on level L3 is labeled L3-C1, the second is labeled L3-C3; the first carrel on level L4 is labeled L4-C4, etc.

Due to Covid-19 distancing requirements, the number of carrels available for use this summer is limited.  If you would like to reserve a carrel, please do so as soon as possible.  Here are the currently available socially distanced carrels:

Regular habits are essential for Bar Exam study.  And we in the Library CARE about your success.  We look forward to seeing you.

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! See the attached flyer for details.

Each 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 received a certificate signed by both Associate Dean William LaPiana and Associate Dean & Library Director Camille Broussard recognizing this achievement. It’s a great practical skill certification for your resume.

June 9:   Researching Congressional Documents: Statutes and Legislative History

June 16: Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Research in Administrative Law

June 23: Where in the World is the Law: Tools and Strategies for International Law Research

June 30: Research on the Road to Trial: Experts, Juries, Discovery and More

For more information and to register, click this link, scroll down to the June calendar, and select the sessions you would like to register for.  You will then be taken to the registration page for that session.

Research Skills Workshops

In addition to the Summer Research Challenge, we will also be offering our regular Research Skills Workshops.  These 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 8 through July 1, 2021.  To register, click this link, scroll down to the June calendar, and select the sessions you would like to register for.  You will then be taken to the registration page for that session.

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. 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 several 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.

Below are the revised schedules for the Mendik Library’s summer hours of operation, from Saturday, May 22 through Sunday, August 8, 2021.