The new Supreme Court term will begin this Monday, October 2d, 2023.

The Court has an active term ahead with cases surrounding the ADA and hotel online reservation systems, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and whistleblowers, racial gerrymandering in South Carolina, and a statutory interpretation question under the federal sentencing statute.

You can find more information on the upcoming Supreme Court term at HeinOnline’s Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases or the SCOTUS Blog (includes case summaries).  You can also view the case briefs at the Supreme Court’s website (under CASE DOCUMENTS click the link for Docket Search and enter the docket number of the case you are interested in).

The Court will again be making available to the public live audio of the arguments.  Click the ORAL ARGUMENTS link on the Supreme Court’s web site on the day of argument.

 

The Library will be open on Monday September 25, 2023  from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Legally Clueless Info Hunt during your Finding the Law class last month.  We have randomly selected 15 lucky prize winners, each of whom can choose a prize from our selection of study aids, law dictionaries, NYLS commuter mugs, Starbucks gift cards, Westlaw fleece blankets, Lexis points, maybe a Bluebook or two and who knows what else.

The lucky students are:

1. Stevye   Rose
2. Cassidy DiPaola
3. Madeline Dill
4. Hailey    Kennedy
5. Kyle Dressel
6. Mary McCafferty
7. Heather Creamer
8. Nicole Dos Santos
9. Michael Ribeiro
10. Tony Gradante
11. Sebastian Guccione
12. Joycelyn Berbec
13. Israel Vargas
14. Jessica Anastasia
15. Race Johnson

 

Prize winners will receive a separate email from Michael Roffer with instructions for claiming their prize.

If you didn’t win this time, fear not. Next month you’ll have the opportunity to enter the Haunted Halloween Info Hunt for a chance to win more great prizes and maybe learn a little more about legal research.

Congratulations to all the winners.

–Mendik Library Staff

September 17 marks Constitution Day, commemorating the 1787 date on which thirty-nine of the Philadelphia Convention’s delegates signed the new Constitution.

 

Stop at the Reference Desk in the Mendik Library to pick up a free pocket-size constitution (while supplies last!).

September 11, 2023 marks the twenty-second anniversary of “9/11,” the horrific terrorist attacks on America that took nearly 3,000 lives.

New York Law School sits just blocks away from what became known as ground zero, the site of the former World Trade Center’s “twin towers,” which collapsed after being struck by two hijacked jetliners.

In the weeks immediately following the attack, NYLS students, staff, and faculty—eyewitnesses all—were asked to put their thoughts about what they had experienced that day on paper. These essays and reflections were compiled and published as Eight Blocks Away: Memoirs of September 11, 2001.

A PDF of Eight Blocks Away is available on the NYLS Digital Commons.  You may access it for free here.

If you would like to pick up a free copy of the book, please stop by the Mendik Library Reference Desk. Only a limited number of copies are available.

How can you find unclaimed money owed in New York State?  Need to get a birth certificate for someone born in New York City?   Find all sorts of vital statistics about persons, companies, government, building codes, attorneys and other licensed professions, police and fire department data, incarcerated persons and more in New York State and New York City by checking the Public Records Research LibGuide.  Get there by accessing the Library home page/Academics/Resources and Services/Research Tools.  In the left column, choose Research Guides.  Scroll down to Public Records and you are ready to find all that elusive information.  And most of it is free.

During the summer, continuing students retain access to all of NYLS databases (HeinOnline, ProQuest, TaxNotes, etc.) including Lexis and Bloomberg Law.  Westlaw access for current students includes some restrictions.

LEXIS

You will automatically have free unlimited use of your law school Lexis ID this summer. This includes workplace related research (but check with your employer first; many firms prefer summer associates use a firm-issued Lexis ID for client work). If you have any questions, please contact our account manager, Nejat Bumin.

WESTLAW

You can use Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw, Practical Law, and the Practice Ready solutions, over the summer for non-commercial research. You can turn to these resources to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills, but you cannot use them in situations where you are billing a client. Examples of permissible uses for your academic password include the following:

• Summer coursework
• Research assistant assignments
• Law Review or Journal research
• Moot Court research
• Non-Profit work (either required for graduation or as part of a class)
• Clinical work
• Externship sponsored by the school

If you have any questions, please contact our Westlaw Account Manager Shawn Lopez.

BLOOMBERG LAW

You may continue to use your Bloomberg Law account for any purpose. If you haven’t already signed up for a Bloomberg Law account, go to www.bloomberglaw.com and click on “Academic Registration” (you must use your NYLS email).

For assistance using Bloomberg Law, students and graduates continue to have free access to the 24/7 Help Desk at (888) 560-2529 or help@bloomberglaw.com. You can also contact our Bloomberg Law Relationship Manager, Stefanie Schuette.

OTHER DATABASES

Continuing students have full access over the summer to most other online library resources. You’ll need to login with your NYLS network password. If you need HeinOnline, Law360, Proquest Congressional or most other databases, you’re all set!

QUESTIONS? Please contact the Reference Desk with any questions about summer access, or any other research related questions over the summer:

T 212.431.2332

E reference@nyls.edu

Chat With the Reference Desk

Log in to Microsoft Teams with your NYLS network ID, and use Microsoft Web App to connect.