Category Archives: Bloomberg Law

Being in the Know

While working at your summer job or internship, it is important to stay up to date on legal developments and current events. One way to do this is to monitor legal news by using an RSS feed. If you have never set up an RSS feed, watch this easy to follow video demonstrating how to do so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU (Note: this video refers to Google Reader, which is no longer in service.)

As the video describes, you need to complete two steps to create an RSS feed. First, you need to sign on to a reader, which is a website where you view the latest news from your favorite sources. The second step is to set up a connection between your reader and your favorite legal news providers. You do this by subscribing to legal news sites or legal blogs.

Listed below are a few free RSS readers, and a few popular and reliable legal news sources.

RSS Readers

Feedly (Web/iOS/Andriod): Great looking design and easy to use interface.

Reedah (Web): Simple minimalist design. Good feed for beginners.

Comma Feed (Web): Designed to be superfast

FeedBooster (Web): Site is ad-free and can sort feeds in multiple ways

Legal News Providers

Law360: Very current coverage of law. Browse news by practice area or jurisdiction. Need to implement proxy instructions for off-campus access.

New York Law Journal: Covers New York legal developments. It is the go to source for attorneys practicing in New York. Browse news by practice area. Also publishes decisions from New York State and Federal Courts. Need username and password to access some articles. Contact refdesk@brooklaw.edu for credentials.

Jurist Law: Free source supported by the University of Pittsburgh, School of Law. Very current, real time coverage or U.S. and World Legal News.

BNA Law Reports: Available via Bloomberg Law. BNA publishes law reports on over a 100 different legal topics. To access BNA Law Reports, sign on to Bloomberg Law and select BNA Law Reports from the “Getting Started” menu on the home page.

Summer Access (& Beyond) to Bloomberg Law, Lexis & Westlaw

0e2ba5_c6af0e49ed0e47a9a37a6829ff43672b.png_srz_173_140_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_png_srzThe three legal research databases, Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance and WestlawNext, are available to Brooklyn Law School students this summer.  May 2015 graduates will also have access to these databases for six months after graduation.  See the details below:

 

Bloomberg Law:  Provides unlimited and unrestricted access over the summer.  Student accounts will remain active and available all summer.  Students may use Bloomberg Law without restrictions.  Graduating students have continued access for six months after graduation.

For questions, contact Erica Horton, Esq, Law School Relationship Manager, Bloomberg BNA, ehorton@bna.com, 1-800-542-1113, ext. 1884.

Lexis Advance:  Students will have continuing access all summer for academic, professional and non-profit research.  All legal and news content will be available and there is no limitation on the number of hours of use.  Graduating students will have extended access until December 31, 2015.

Lexis ASPIRE:  Students graduating in Spring 2015 working for a non-profit 501(c)(3) employer may apply for an ASPIRE ID which provides free access to Lexis Advance for as long as their non-profit work continues, until September 1, 2016.  ASPIRE provides free access to federal and state cases, codes, regulations, law reviews, Shepard’s, and Matthew Bender treatises to use in their non-profit employment.

  • Use the Graduate ID Form which will open ASPIRE details and extended access to Lexis Advance when you fill in your non-profit employment status.
  • Review the eligibility requirements, and if your non-profit employment qualifies, use the Graduate Program form to apply for an ASPIRE ID.  You will need to provide verifying documentation.

For questions, contact Mary Beth Drain, LexisNexis Account Executive, marybeth.drain@lexisnexis.com, 845-598-3203.

WestlawNext:  Students may extend their passwords for the following academic uses on WestlawNext:

  • Summer law school classes and study abroad programs
  • Law Review & Journal, including writing competitions
  • Research assistant
  • Moot Court
  • Unpaid internship/externship

To extend their passwords, students can select the “Need Westlaw this Summer” banner on the Westlaw homepage for continued access.  They can then complete the online summer extension form to request the summer extension.

Graduating students will need to complete an online password extension request on the Westlaw homepage for continued access.  Once they complete the online extension request, they will have continued access through November 30, 2015.

For questions, contact Stefanie Efrati, Academic Account Manager, Thomson Reuters, stefanie.efrati@thomsonreuters.com, 212-548-7432.

 

Legal Research Beyond Westlaw & Lexis

data baseWhile in law school, you may find the vast majority of the sources you need through the two main online legal platforms, Westlaw and Lexis. There is a reason why they are the leaders of the pack. They provide you with a comprehensive set of primary and secondary sources of law. But Westlaw and Lexis do not necessarily have every resource you may need. Listed below are three other key legal online platforms with a brief description of each platform’s unique content. Before you graduate, make sure to utilize and become familiar with these tools. If you have any questions about accessing or using them, please contact a reference librarian. (refdesk@brooklaw.edu)

Bloomberg BNA:

For legal news, Bloomberg BNA Law Reports are the industry standard. There are over 100 different law reports, which cover a range of topics including: securities, patent, trademark, copyright, white collar, health care, environmental law, labor and employment, etc. Besides BNA Law Reports, Bloomberg BNA provides access to Bloomberg News which monitors the latest legal, regulatory, and industry developments. One of my favorite features of Bloomberg BNA is the dockets database. Only Bloomberg BNA searches both the text of the docket sheets as well as the retrieved underlying court documents. The dockets database is a great way to monitor litigation of interest and to identify sample court documents.

CCH Intelliconnect:

CCH is a platform that focuses on highly regulated areas of law. The database contains related cases, statutes, agency regulations, agency decisions, agency handbooks and guidance documents, editorial commentary, and legal news. Areas of law covered include securities, banking, antitrust and trade, corporate governance, products liability, secured transactions, and tax. If you end up practicing in one of these areas, this is a key platform for research and keeping current on the law.

Heinonline:

Heinonine has cornered the market for legal history platforms. Compared with Lexis and Westlaw, whose coverage for many sources begins in the late 80s or early 90s, Heinonline contains volumes which often date back to the publications’ inception. For example, Heinonline contains every volume of the Congressional Record, the entire Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations, volumes of the United States Reports that date back to 1754, as well as classic legal treatises from the 16th to 20th century. Unlike Westlaw and Lexis, Heinonline also carries the complete run of law review and law journals.

Welcome First Years!

The Library staff wishes our new entering class the very best of luck as you embark on your law school career.  We are here to help you in using the Library and with its electronic and print resources.  You will learn about some of these resources at your combined IT/Library orientation sessions next week.

Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law are three of the many electronic resources you will have access to while you are a student.  These are the three major legal databases, and during your Fundamentals of American Law class, or your Case Reading Workshop next week, you will receive your Lexis and Bloomberg Law registration cards and your Westlaw password.  Please follow the instructions on each of these items and register yourself in all three systems as soon as possible.  Training sessions in Lexis and Westlaw will be held in September and in Bloomberg Law in the spring semester.

Reference assistance is available to you in person at the first floor reference desk, by email (refdesk@brooklaw.edu), by phone (718-780-7567) or by Live Chat from the Library homepage

We have several events planned for you this fall:  two Bluebooking with Success Workshops and two Research Review Sessions in late October/early November and our 3rd Annual Legal Research Fair on September 30th.  Stay tuned for more details about these events.

Best of luck and we’ll see you in the Library!

 

Summer (& Beyond) Access to Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis & Westlaw

Bloomberg Law—Summer Access Policy:
All law students may continue to use their Bloomberg Law accounts during the summer without restriction for any type of research (for work, for class, etc.). Student accounts automatically stay active all summer.
Bloomberg Law— Access Policy for Graduating Law Students:
All law students’ Bloomberg Law accounts automatically remain active for six months after graduation.
Bloomberg Contact for Questions:
Erica Horton, Esq., Law School Relationship Manager, Bloomberg BNA, ehorton@bna.com, 1-800-542-1113 ext. 1884

LexisNexis—Summer Access Policy for 1Ls & 2Ls:
Law students may continue to use their Lexis Advance IDs for any purpose (including work performed at a law firm, corporation or government agency). This includes unlimited access to all legal content and news available through current law student IDs.
LexisNexis—Access Policy for Graduating Law Students:
Graduating law students can register for Graduate Program IDs that will extend their access beyond graduation. The access for graduates ends at the end of December (12/31/2014). To learn more, visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/grad-access.
LexisNexis Contact for Questions:
Mary Beth Drain, Esq., Account Executive, LexisNexis, marybeth.drain@lexisnexis.com, Cell 845-598-3203

Westlaw—Summer Access Policy for 1Ls & 2Ls:
Westlaw will extend 1L & 2L passwords for:
• Summer law school classes
• Law review and journal work
• Moot court work
• A project for a professor
• An unpaid intern/externship or pro bono work required for graduation.
If a student is being paid for summer work or an internship, then the student is not eligible for Westlaw’s summer extension. To extend passwords, students can click on the banner on the http://lawschool.westlaw.com site that says “Need Your Westlaw Password this summer” and indicate the reason for the extension.  If students do not complete the online summer extension form, they will receive a set number of hours of Westlaw usage for June and July. If they exceed those hours, then they will see a warning screen indicating that their summer access is limited unless they complete the summer extension form.
Westlaw—Access Policy for Graduating Law Students:
Graduating law students can extend their passwords to have the same level of access to WestlawNext as they did as students for up to six months after graduation. The access for graduates ends at the end of November (11/30/2014).
Instructions for graduating students to extend passwords:
1. Log on to http://lawschool.westlaw.com
2. Click “Rewards”
3. Click “My Messages”
4. Look for the extension email with link in the inbox
a. If not in the inbox, click “Deleted/Archived Items” and the email should be there.
Westlaw Contact for Questions:
Stefanie Efrati, Esq., Academic Account Manager, Thomson Reuters, stefanie.efrati@thomsonreuters.com, 212-548-7432

 

 

Bloomberg Law Enhancements to BCite

Bloomberg Law has made significant enhancements to their citator, BCite, available on BloombergLaw.com:

“The enhanced Bloomberg Law Citator (BCite) makes it easier to navigate the content related to a case and to find related documents across all of Bloomberg Law. BCite now features separate tabs for the Direct History, Case Analysis, and Table of Authorities and provides expanded filtering options designed specifically for related tasks. For instance, the Direct History tab includes filter options for History, Court, and Date, while the Case Analysis and Table of Authorities tabs add filters for Analysis, Case Status, Citation Frequency, Court, and Judge. The new Citing Documents tab provides the ability to find documents citing to your court opinion across many content sets, including court materials, administrative and regulatory documents, legislative content, and secondary sources, like books, treatises, and BNA analysis.”

BCITE

Users can now easily see all documents, including secondary sources, that cite to a particular case, and filter or search within those citing documents. Remember that BloombergLaw.com is free for all BLS students with no academic use restriction. Your passwords will be active until the end of the calendar year in which you graduate.

For questions on how to access or use BloombergLaw.com, see a Reference Librarian, or contact our BLS Bloomberg Relationship Manager, Erica Horton (ehorton@bna.com).

Law Schools Use Merit Scholarships To Boost Rankings

Brooklyn Law School Dean Nicholas Allard recently sat down with Bloomberg Law’s Lee Pacchia for an interview. In the 13 minute interview, Dean Allard said that law schools need to find ways to cut the expense of merit scholarships, which they “use to buy students . . . with high LSATs” to improve the schools’ US News rankings. The money would be better spent on scholarships for students with financial need, he says. See the  video of the interview below:

Summer Access to Bloomberg, Westlaw, and Lexis (Update)

All three of the research platforms available to Brooklyn Law School students provide students access over the summer. However, there are different steps that students must take to keep their passwords activated, and some limitations do apply.

Bloomberg

Bloomberg is offering students full access to BloombergLaw.com all summer with no academic use restriction. This means that students are able to use all of the available resources on the BloombergLaw.com platform even when performing research in their summer jobs. Passwords can be obtained by contacting our Bloomberg Account Manager, Pamela Haahr. For students who need some additional training on Bloomberg, three Prepare to Practice trainings are coming up on Tuesday, April 3rd, 5:00pm-6:00pm, Wednesday, April 11th, 1:00pm-2:00pm, and Tuesday, April 17th, 1:00pm-2:00pm, all in Room 603. To reserve a spot, email Pamela at oribe@bloomberg.net with the subject line, “Bloomberg Law Training.”

Westlaw

All students will automatically receive 40 hours of Westlaw and WestlawNext usage this June and July. For additional access to Westlaw and WestlawNext over the summer, students just need to register at www.lawschool.westlaw.com. Look for the image that says “Need Westlaw this summer” and follow the instructions to register. Academic use only restrictions apply for summer.  Passwords may NOT be used for research for law firms, government agencies, corporations or other purposes unrelated to law school coursework. Students graduating this year can extend their passwords by following the special link for graduates. in addition

LexisNexis

LexisNexis will be offering students full access to Lexis Advance all summer for educational use only. To participate in this program, students need to have a registered Lexis Advance ID. This is a separate and different ID from the standard Lexis.com ID. Lexis Advance Summer Access does not include international content. Students that need access to specific content available only on Lexis.com (i.e. international materials) can content our LexisNexis Account Executive, Megan Cowden, at megan.cowden@lexisnexis.com