To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day simply and soberly, use Brooklyn Law Library’s AV Collection in Rm. 111 and check out In America, a 2003 drama directed by Jim Sheridan. Sheridan directed and co-wrote with his two daughters the semi-autobiographical screenplay, loosely based on the Irish director’s experiences coming to New York with his family as a young man. The film focuses on an immigrant Irish family’s efforts to survive in New York City, as seen through the eyes of the elder daughter.

The story is about Johnny and Sarah Sullivan and their two daughters who slipped illegally over the border from Canada into the US to move to NYC. No matter how squalid the building and how questionable the other tenants (including Mateo, the angry Nigerian painter who lives below them), they move into a large walk-up tenement in a seedy (unspecified) neighborhood. There Dad can pursue an acting career. In truth, he is trying to escape Ireland and the sad memories of the loss of a young who died of a brain tumor. The film locations include County Wicklow and Parnell Street in Dublin, Ireland as well as Times Square, Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem in New York City. See the trailer here:

The film received nominations for Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay for Sheridan, Best Actress for Samantha Morton and Best Supporting Actor for Djimon Hounsou. From Ireland and Nigeria and elsewhere, America benefits from the will and faith of its immigrants. Imagine what it takes to leave home to try for a better life in another country. “In America” offers insight about the many ways in which it is hard to be a poor stranger in a new land.

On March 1, 2012, the Washington and Lee School of Law released its 2011 list of Law Journal Rankings with the top 10 law journals listed here. The project ranks legal journals based on the number of times they have been cited over the preceding eight years as a measure of their impact on legal scholarship. W&L Law’s ranking system is based on a composite of each journal’s impact factor—the average annual number of citations to the journal’s articles—and the total number of citations to the journal in the preceding eight years. Complete rankings and a detailed description of the methodology are available at its web site. The W&L Law rankings are considered the authority on journal quality and are used by authors to select journals in which to publish.

Brooklyn Law School Library’s new Lib Guide entitled Brooklyn Law School Law Journals: Impact Factors and Citations has data for Brooklyn Law School’s four student-edited law journals: The Brooklyn Law Review, Brooklyn Journal of International Law, The Journal of Law and Policy, and The Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law. The guide gives the combined score, impact factor (calculated by taking the number of citing articles in the JLR database and dividing that by number of items published by the journal), citations from journal articles, and citations from federal and state court cases. It also provides the 2012-2013 Editorial Boards for each of the journals.

Brooklyn Law School Professor Lawrence Solan and co-author Peter Tiersma of Loyola Law School Los Angeles recently posted The Language of Crime on SSRN. The 27 page paper is one of 40 chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law which Prof. Solan co-edited with Prof. Tiersma. Oxford University Press expects to publish the volume in 2012. The book is part of the Oxford Handbook Series of which the BLS Library has eight titles in its collection. Here is the abstract for The Language of Crime:

Many crimes are generally performed by using language. Among them are solicitation, conspiracy, perjury, threatening, and bribery. In this chapter, we look at these crimes as acts of speech, and find that they have much in common – and a few interesting differences. For one thing, they involve different acts of speech, ranging from promises to orders. For another, most language crimes can be committed through indirect speech. Few criminals will say, “I hereby offer you a bribe,” or “I hereby engage you to kill my spouse.” Thus, many of the legal battles involve the extent to which courts may draw inferences of communicative intent from language that does not literally appear to be criminal. Yet the legal system draws a line in the sand when it comes to perjury, a crime that can only be committed through a direct fabrication. We provide a structured discussion of these various crimes that should serve to explain the similarities and difference among them.

While campaigning in 2008, the Obama-Biden ticket listed “ethics” as a core element of their agenda, promising to shine light on lobbying through the creation of a central database focused on exposing special interests. The idea that government is more accountable when it is transparent is a principle that President Obama has worked hard to make a reality in his administration.

This site, ethics.data.gov, is designed to be a fulfillment of that promise.
It’s one place where anyone can come and search through the records of seven different datasets:

• White House Visitor Records
• Office of Government Ethics Travel Reports
• Lobbying Disclosure Act Data
• Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Data
• Federal Election Commission Individual Contribution Reports
• Federal Election Commission Candidate Reports
• Federal Election Commission Committee Reports

While all this information has previously been available elsewhere, it’s never before been aggregated in a centralized location.

In other locations, this data exists in a range of formats. At ethics.data.gov, the information all exists in a uniform, digestible, user-friendly format.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Hayes v. State of New York Attorney Grievance Committee of the Eighth Judicial District overturned part of a NY requirement that lawyers advertising professional certifications include particular disclaimers, saying sections of the rule are unconstitutional encroachments on free speech. Ruling that a requirement that ads that say certified lawyers are not necessarily more competent than others is “far more intrusive than necessary” and impermissible under the First Amendment, the court also voided a part of the rule requiring advertisements to explain that lawyers can practice without special certifications, saying the state had not shown that consumers would otherwise be misled.

J. Michael Hayes, who holds board certification in civil trial advocacy, faced several investigations by the State of New York Attorney Grievance Committee for inadequate disclosures on his letterhead and on one of two billboards advertising his services in 1999. To receive certification, a lawyer must have been lead counsel in at least five trials and actively participated in at least 100 matters requiring the taking of testimony. Although the Committee dismissed the investigations, Hayes, fearing further investigations, filed suit pro se in 2001, asking a US District Court for the Western District of New York to declare the disclaimer requirement void. The trial court rejected his void-for-vagueness claim following a bench trial in 2010.

The Second Circuit reverssed finding questionable the requirement that lawyers explain that the certification is not required to practice law, saying the state did not demonstrate that the disclaimer is needed to protect the public. “The alleged harm is surely not self-evident. It is difficult to imagine that any significant portion of the public observing the thousands of lawyers practicing in New York without certification believe that all of them are acting unlawfully.” The Second Circuit did rule that New York can require lawyers to say a certifying organization is not government-affiliated, since “avoiding such a possible misconception furthers a substantial governmental interest in consumer education and is not more intrusive than necessary to further that interest.” However, the court barred the Grievance Committee from enforcing that requirement against Hayes without clear notice of specific problems with his advertising and what he can do to comply. Finding that there was a lack of clear standards for enforcing Rule 7.4 on attorney specializations, the appellate judges ruled that “It is therefore void for vagueness as it has been applied to Hayes.” The New York Rules of Professional Conduct are available via SARA, the Brooklyn Law School Library catalog.

For more on the case, see the NY Law Journal article Circuit Finds Attorney Ad Rule on Specialty Violates Free Speech. How the issue of lawyer specialization impacts law students and law schools was the subject of a post, The end of law schools by Ray Campbell, in the Legal Ethics Forum last month that is worth reading.

Often legal documents are incomprehensible because of long, complicated sentences, and unnecessarily elaborate words. Readers want legal writers to state their points clearly and succinctly. Language is communication. Written language should be just as easy to understand as spoken. Writers are not communicating in a clear, direct way if they send their readers to the dictionary several times to define words or make the audience re-read a sentence because of its length and complexity. They simply appear as pedantic and pompous.

The Brooklyn Law School Library has in its collection The Lawyer’s Essential Guide to Writing: Proven Tools and Techniques by Marie P. Buckley (Call #KF250 .B83 2011 with tips for communicating clearly and effectively in writing. The Table of Contents lists key suggestions to show that legal writing is about the reader. Chapter One, Why Writing Matter, says: “What is excellent legal writing? Strong legal writing speaks a modern language—plain English. It respects our readers’ time and intelligence by being concise but thorough. It takes complex ideas and makes them clear.” This textbook shows lawyers how to stop sounding like lawyers. Among the suggestions:

• Avoid lengthy sentences and wordiness.
• Be concise – sometimes less is more.
• Avoid redundant phrases and needless qualifiers.
• Use plain language instead of pretentious words (like plethora and myriad).
• Use the active voice instead of the passive voice.
• Write in a visually appealing style using headings, subheadings, lists, and graphics to help your readers find the information quickly.

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Notice and request for information into the impact of banks’ overdraft practices on consumers. The inquiry will look into whether banks are reordering customers’ debit-card charges to maximize overdraft fees. Reordering transactions can double or triple penalties. The practice has been the target of several class-action lawsuits against the nation’s biggest banks. In Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 730 F. Supp. 2d 1080 (2010), US District Court Judge William Alsup for the Northern District of California ordered Wells Fargo to return $203 million in overdraft fees to customers whose transactions were reordered. Earlier this month, JP Morgan Chase agreed to pay $110 million to settle litigation on overdraft fees for checking accounts. Last November, Bank of America agreed to pay $410 million without admitting liability to settle an overdraft lawsuit brought by its customers. See In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation Order of Final Approval of Settlement. The CFPB’s inquiry also will focus on bank overdraft policies, how they market the plans, and their impact on low-income and young consumers. The agency will solicit feedback from the public. Consumers complain that withdrawals of as small as $3 result in penalties as high as $37.

The CFPB said it is seeking information on how prevalent the practice remains and how it affects consumers. It is also concerned about a 2008 FDIC report that found that 9 percent of checking account customers made up about 84 percent of overdraft charges, suggesting that the fees were concentrated among low-income customers. CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in remarks earlier this week that the agency hopes to educate consumers about the overdraft rules with a campaign called “What’s your overdraft status?” and that that the CFPB has developed a “penalty fee box” that would appear on checking account statements to help consumers understand any overdraft charges.

Researchers at Brooklyn Law School can use CCH’s Intelliconnect platform to access the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Reporter, a comprehensive resource covering the federal laws and regulations governing consumer financial protection and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with practice commentary and analysis by Ralph C. Ferrara. The reporter provides the full text of the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the consumer laws over which the Bureau has regulatory authority, as well as the regulations of the Bureau. It has explanations that discuss the enumerated consumer laws, with case annotations included. In addition, the reporter provides the full text of consumer financial protection court opinions, pertinent agency issuances and related materials, Bureau rulemaking proposals and adoptions, and a list of articles.

On Friday, March 2, 2012, the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial and Commercial Law is hosting a Symposium: The CFPB After a Year.

Episode 074 – Conversation with Prof. Marsha Garrison.mp3

In this podcast, Brooklyn Law School Professor Marsha Garrison discusses the forthcoming book, Marriage at a Crossroads (2012) which she co-edited with Prof. Elizabeth S. Scott of Columbia Law School. The book has articles by legal scholars and social scientists examining marriage at a time when advocates for same-sex marriage are clamoring for the right to marry while heterosexual couples are marrying less than in the past. Marriage at a Crossroads, due for publication later this year by Cambridge University Press, examines contemporary marriage in historical and social context and explores alternative policy paths at this critical juncture. It captures the complexity of the current political and ideological debate about marriage through contributions by authors of widely varying perspectives. The introduction to the book states: “A generation from now, marriage may be quite different than it is today. Will marriage be less or more important as a family form? Will access to marriage be extended to couples who cannot marry today? Will lawmakers increase or reduce support for marriage?” This book provides tools to resolve these questions.

To follow up on a post here earlier this month, see this video of an interview of Brooklyn Law School Professor Roberta Karmel with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia discussing the Dodd-Frank reform of the financial industry. Viewing Dodd-Frank as weak, Prof. Karmel discusses alternate proposals such as breaking up large American banks and combining the Securities Exchange Commission with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.



In the interview, Prof. Karmel comments that the Dodd-Frank financial reform is not strong enough to stop another financial crisis. “This is not a recipe for strong regulation.” Karmel said that the Dodd-Frank Act “has improved some financial regulation, but it did not work any real structural change either in the regulatory system or in the financial system.” She added “What we’ve moved away from is holding people responsible for business failure.”

Bloomberglaw’s interview with Rodge Cohen, of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP takes a difference perspective on “too big to fail”.

For more videos, see Bloomberglaw’s Channel on YouTube.

The BLS Library recently added to its collection The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: From Legislation to Implementation to Litigation by David Berson and Susan A. Berson, two noted banking and tax lawyers. The book is a practical guide to help attorneys who represent clients in the financial services industry untangle the complexities of the provisions of Dodd-Frank and regulations issued in response to it. Divided into eight parts, each section represents a financial services sector where the book addresses the factual and regulatory background behind the pertinent Dodd-Frank provisions. It also features practical advice on steps that should be taken by financial services companies to prepare for the statutory and regulatory changes.

The Brooklyn Law School Library’s subscription to CQ Press Political Reference Suite of Online Editions combines a number of CQ’s government and political reference materials. Among the titles in the suite are:

• CQ Almanac (with analysis on politics and policy in Congress since 1945)
• The Supreme Court Yearbook (coverage of the Court updated yearly since 1989)
• Vital Statistics on American Politics 2010–2011 (complete, authoritative, data-rich resource on the full-spectrum of U.S. politics)
• Political Handbook of the World (the most authoritative resource for political information on more than 200 countries)
• Historic Documents Series (key documents and analysis-updated yearly since 1972)
• Washington Information Directory (essential guide to key contacts at government and nongovernmental organizations).

Users can search the whole Reference Suite or work with selected titles. The opening screen provides a single search box, Search Your Online Editions, as well as an advanced search link. Further down the page is the option to Browse Your Online Editions followed by a column of all the titles to which the library subscribes. Users can link to the Your Profile link to Log in/Create Your Account, Document History, Favorite Documents, and Saved Searches

A search for “Fiorello La Guardia” yielded 16 results ranging from Unions and Labor-Management Relations Legislation, Background, 1900-1945 in Congress and the Nation Online Edition to CQ Almanac and from Guide to U.S. Elections Online Edition to Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. The first document refers to the Norris–La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act of March 23, 1932; another is a state-by-state account of the 1914 House of Representatives elections, with candidate names, party affiliations, and the votes each received.

The Advanced Search permits searches of the entire database or of specific titles only, as well as queries that include only certain topics—Congress, The Courts, Elections, Executive and Federal Government. Users can limit by document type, such as case summary or election (an icon labels the type, and an explanation of each is available under User Resources), and by event date. An advanced search for “Fiorello La Guardia,” limiting results to biography,  returned one result: an entry for Lloyd N. Cutler from the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment (Cutler’s father was one of the mayor’s law partners).

A review in the October 15, 2011 edition of the Library Journal used the search term “immunization refusal” and found the results were “right on target, ranging from information on public health programs to a mention of immunization programs in a state of the union address.” Users can change the display ranking by date, number of hits, type, or alphabetically by title or source. The type and quality of information includes legislative analyses, primary-source materials, encyclopedias, in-depth current issues and archival reports, biographies, maps, chronologies, images, case summaries, bibliographies, and more.