If you are one of the many students who are writing a law note or seminar paper this semester, you may feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment.  Several questions maybe running through your head such as:  how do I identify a “good” topic; where do I begin researching; when should I stop researching; how do I organize my paper. Well, there is no need to fear.  Listed below are several resources available from the BLS library that can help you research and write your law note or seminar paper.  

General Resources for Legal Research and Writing

• Elizabeth Fajans & Mary Falk, Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes and Law Review Competition Papers (3rd ed. 2005).

The quote below is provided by the publisher.

In order to inspire and motivate their readers, the authors have appended a selective list of student notes and comments and a chapter on techniques to help writers narrow their subjects and find theses. The authors added a section on reading for types of legal argument and an exercise to address increasing student concern over plagiarism. Includes a short section on the importance of editorial cooperation and communication. Offers a new chapter on entering writing competitions and publishing.

• Eugene Volokh, Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review (4th ed. 2010).

The quote below is taken from the book’s Foreword, which was written by Court of Appeals Judge for the Ninth Circuit, Hon. Alex Kozinski.

This book fills a void in the legal literature: It teaches students how to go about finding a topic and developing it into a useful, interesting, publishable piece.  It gives detailed and very helpful instructions for every aspect of the writing, research and publication process.  And it comes from the keyboard of someone who has authored articles on a dizzying variety of legal topics and is widely regarded as one of the brightest lights in legal academia.  

• Jean Davis, Paper Topic Development: International and Comparative: A Research Guide (2010), http://guides.brooklaw.edu/developing

This research guide provides links and descriptions of sources to identify articles, dissertations, books, case documents, and treaties when writing an international or comparative law paper.

• Jean Davis, Paper Topic Selection: International and Comparative: A Research Guide (2010), http://guides.brooklaw.edu/selecting

This guide provides links and descriptions of sources to identify developments concerning international law and foreign law.

• Kathleen Darvil, Selecting and Developing Your Seminar Paper Topic: A Research Guide (2010), http://guides.brooklaw.edu/seminarpaper

This online research guide is designed to help law students select and develop a research topic for their seminar paper.

Legal Writing: Style & Grammer

• Bryan A. Garner, Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text with Exercises (2001).

The quote below is provided by the publisher.

In Legal Writing in Plain English, Bryan A. Garner provides lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The book encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and sharpen editing skills. In essence, it teaches straight thinking—a skill inseparable from good writing.

• Bryan A. Garner, The Elements of Legal Style (2nd ed. 2002).

 The quote below is taken from the book’s Foreword, which was written by Charles Alan Wright.

There are often many ways, all of which correct by the rules of usage, in which to express a particular idea.  Making the best choice among the possibilities requires an ear for the language, a good sense of taste and of tactics, and an instinctive feel for what will work best in a particular situation.  These choices are more informed, however, if the writer or speaker is aware of the possibilities and sensitive to the considerations that go into the choice.  Garner provides sound guidance on these matters of style for the legal writer.

TIP: Review the appropriate Bluebook rule(s) for the type of source(s) that you need to check.  Your editors want you to review Bluebook-compliant sources.    

TIP: SARA catalog accepts titles of, or keywords in titles of:  books; journals; various treaty series; statutory compilations; case reports; other types of reports; and websites.   SARA catalog does not permit you to enter the cite to a specific article.  You can, however, enter in SARA catalog the title of a journal (example: Brooklyn Journal of International Law), and, in many cases, retrieve a catalog record for an electronic version of the journal.  When you follow the blue link to an e-journal, you can then try to retrieve an article by citation.

TIP: Always check SARA catalog before creating an ILLiad account and requesting an item through interlibrary loan.  Also, with regard to material needed for a source-check, do not order the material through interlibrary loan unless your editor asks you to do so.  Follow your journal’s instructions for each assignment. 

TIP: Please feel free to approach a librarian at the reference desk for help.  We know that source-checking is a new task for you, and we want to save you time.  

Question: A student asked my colleague, Kathy Darvil, whether the student could provide a journal editor with a copy of a law review article from HeinOnline.

Answer: Yes, the HeinOnline article is a scanned image of the original–it is identical to the text that you would find in a print journal volume.

Question: A student asked me for help in finding the source: I.L.R.

Answer: http://guides.brooklaw.edu/developing > tab: Legal Abbreviations links to the free Cardiff Index of Legal Abbreviations  I advised the student to enter abbreviation: I.L.R. in this Index.  The student discovered the source’s title: International Law Reports.  The student then searched SARA catalog by title: International Law Reports.  BLS Library owns this source in print. It is in the International Collection, call no. K9 .N886. This is not in the overflow area (which contains KZ books), it is in the room that you first walk in to when you enter the basement of BLS Library.  International Law Reports is not available through LN or WL.

Remember: our librarians are here to help you with this new process!

If you are an incoming first year student, the reference librarians and the entire library staff look forward to meeting you in August.

You should have received in the mail an envelope from the BLS Admissions Office which includes your Lexis activation code and your Westlaw password.  Lexis and Westlaw are the two major legal databases that you will have access to as law students.  There will be many other databases available to you as BLS students, but more about those when you get here!

Please make sure you register your Lexis activation code and your Westlaw password before school begins.  The registration instructions were included in the mailing you received, as well as some basic information about both systems.  You will be introduced to Lexis and Westlaw by your legal writing instructors, but the reference librarians will give you a “peek” at both systems during your orientation sessions. 

If you are an incoming first year student and did not get your Lexis and Westlaw numbers in the mail for some reason, please stop by the first floor library reference desk and we will assist you.  See you soon!

Legal researchers interested in UK legislation now have a new online tool as the UK government has launched a website with public access to UK legislation dating back to 1267 providing 743 years of legislation (with a few exceptions) in one database. The new website of the National Archives, the UK government’s official archive, brings together every single piece of UK legislation, from the Magna Carta (1215) to the present day, in one place for the first time free of charge. With 6.5 million PDF documents and original versions of UK legislation covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland along with details of any amendments, the site provides an interactive browse facility and timeline.

Oliver Morley of the National Archives described the launch of the site as “a bold statement of transparency”. He said: “By using the latest technology and opening up the raw data underpinning legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives has given global access to the nation’s ‘operating system’. I’m proud to say this website is the only example of its kind in the world. It provides access to an invaluable and historical resource for anyone wanting to know what the law actually says.”

A post at the Resource Shelf has answers to FAQs about the site. Going back to the 13th century, the site makes if easy to view historical Acts of Parliament, such as the Act of Union in 1707, the Libraries Offences Act 1898 and the Public Records (Scotland) Act 1809. New legislation such as the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2010 is included along with the archived material.

The 21st Annual Public Interest Career Reception takes place on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY, between 5th and 6th Avenue. The Reception is co-sponsored by twenty law schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, including Brooklyn Law School.

Employers are expected to bring materials about their organizations. The format of the Reception is informal with tables set up for representatives of employers to talk about their work. First, second, third-year and fourth year evening students, LL.M. students, as well as alumni are welcome to attend. Employers who plan to attend are asked to RSVP by Friday, August 6th by clicking on the “Register” button at the Fordham Law School website and filling out the form found there.

Students can register at the door on arrival and do not need to register ahead of time. For more information contact Albilda Hernandez at (212) 636-6952 or by emailing her at ahernadez@law.fordham.edu. According to her, last year there were 79 Public Interest Employers that attended the reception. This year, those who have already RSVP’d are:

ACLU Women’s Rights Project
Advocates for Children of New York, Inc.
American University Washington College of Law
ATF – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Brennan Center for Justice
Bronx County District Attorney’s Office
Catholic Charities Community Svc
Children’s Rights
City Bar Justice Center
Civilian Complaint Review Board
Consumers Union
Essex-Newark Legal Services
FDIC
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Global Justice Center
HUDSON RIVER PARK TRUST
Human Rights Watch
LATINOJUSTICE PRLDEF
Legal Information for Families Today
Legal Outreach
Legal Services NYC
Legal Services NYC – Bronx
Legal Services of the Hudson Valley
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Medicare Rights Center
National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Neighborhood Defender Service
New Jersey Judiciary
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Division of Law
New York City Fire Department
New York City School Construction Authority
New York Civil Liberties Union
New York County District Attorney’s Office
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York Legal Assistance Group
New York State Division of Human Rights
NJ State Judiciary
NY County Defender Services
NYC Department of Social Services
NYC Dept. of Buildings
NYLAG
NYPD Legal Bureau
NYS Attorney General’s Office
Office of Attorney Recruitment & Management
Pro Bono Partnership
Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
SAFE HORIZON Domestic Violence Law Project
Sanctuary for Families’ Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services
The Door – A Center of Alternatives, Inc.
The Legal Aid Society
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Nuclear Regulatry Commission
UN Employment Information & Assistance
United States Postal Service
Urban Justice Center, Mental Health Project
US EEOC

On July 26, 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 became law when President George H.W. Bush signed the bill enacted by Congress enacting Public Law 101-336. On September 25, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). Congress passed the ADAAA to give broader protections for disabled workers and “turn back the clock” on court rulings which Congress deemed too restrictive. These included Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999), which narrowed the broad scope of protection intended to be afforded by the ADA, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002), which further narrowed the broad scope of protection intended to be afforded by the ADA.

The ADA’s mission is to “make it possible for everyone with a disability to live a life of freedom and equality.” This video from the ADA National Network features Dr. Temple Grandin and others discussing the importance of this landmark legislation.

The Brooklyn Law School Library has in its collection several titles on the subject of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 including Understanding the Americans with Disabilities Act by William D. Goren, 3d ed. (Call #KF480.G67 2010) with these chapters: Concepts underlying the ADA and key definitions — Essential functions of the job — Concept of undue hardship and reasonable accommodation in the employment context — Treatment of alcoholics and drug addicts — Pre-employment medical exams/disability-related inquiries — The ADA, health insurance, and the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act — ADA and the public sector (Title II of the ADA) — Places of public accommodations and commercial facilities — The ADA and the health care provider — The interrelationship between the ADA and other laws — Remedies and procedural issues — ADA and sports — Hot areas — Are you ready to rock and roll with your ADA case?

Although school is out for most students, it is wrong to think that school is out for your librarians. In fact, the summer months are busier than ever for your crackerjack library staff. We spend the summer getting it all ready for everyone to return to school in the fall, students and faculty. It is called planning ahead – and it encompasses hours spent at conferences, local educational sessions, meetings with librarians at firms and other schools, and getting to know the research agendas for other faculty members at Brooklyn Law School.

Many of our professional conferences are held in the summer to accommodate academic summer schedules and the usual slow down in business at firms and court libraries. The two major conferences that BLS Librarians attend in the summer are the Computer Assisted Legal Instruction conference (also known as CALI), and the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries  (AALL), which typically attracts about 2,000 of our colleagues to a single venue.

Frightening, isn’t it?

We go to professional conferences to hear from our colleagues about new ways they are helping you – our clientele – to discuss products with our vendors (like Westlaw, Lexis, BNA, CCH, and Bloomberg), and, to share our own knowledge with others. For example, Jean Davis spoke at AALL about preparing students to work at clinic offices in foreign venues. This was based on her experience working with BLS students who were doing internships at South Africa and Hong Kong. Kathy Darvil, as a newish law librarian (less than 5 years), is charing a committee to welcome new law librarians into the profession. Interestingly, I have spoken to three BLS grads in the last month about becoming law librarians. I personally moderated a well attended panel discussion on how law firms and academic institutions are going to have to change to meet the economic pressures felt on Main St. (and Wall St.).

We also use this time to do some housekeeping. Just a small sample includes:

• Associate Director Linda Holmes, along with Acquisitions Librarian Singh and several members of the paraprofessional staff, are painstakingly going through our physical collection to get rid of materials that are no longer relevant or needed. This will free up shelf space, and ultimately study space, for more productive use.
• Hainan Yu and his staff are replacing workstations in the computer labs to accommodate faster processing speeds and newer Office applications.
• Jeff Gabel is going through our database subscriptions to ensure we do not violate our copyright restrictions when printing or lending to other libraries.
• Rosemary Campagna is designing new library maps to help orient our entering class and possibly even our returning students.
• Librarians Maria Okonska and Karen Schneiderman are experimenting with building mobile applications to allow students and faculty to use library resources easily on their handheld devices.
• Harold O’Grady built a new online research guide to accommodate his new course on Securities Law research. And of course, all librarians are updating their research guides, contacting faculty members about their research projects, and helping with expanding the library collection to meet your research needs.

Finally, the best thing that librarians are doing is taking a vacation because all of this summer work is exhausting  – and they want to be ready to greet with energy and enthusiasm in August! (VS)

Episode 055 – Conversation with BLS Professor Jonathan Askin.mp3

This podcast features Brooklyn Law School Associate Professor Jonathan Askin who talks about the legal work performed by the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) which Professor Askin began in 2008. In this conversation, he discusses the recent news that the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has drafted BLIP as a contributor to its amicus brief to be submitted to the Supreme Court in the case of Schwarzenegger v EMA. Students from the Clinic will work with ECA and the law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP on the brief for the case which the Supreme Court will consider in the fall term.

Professor Askin was recently quoted as saying “It is important to ensure that the rights of both the producers and consumers of video games are guaranteed in this modern day challenge to the First Amendment. We relish this opportunity to help create the best legal understanding at the intersection of law and emerging technology.” In the podcast, he also talks about other types of matters where the Clinic has helped new entrepreneurs.

An article entitled Libraries Reach FY2011—Some Relieved, All Wary in American Libraries, the online magazine of the American Library Association News, reports on recent funding activity for New York area public libraries. To summarize:

• The New York Public Library staff members averted a catastrophic $37-million budget cut. The NYPL web page says that 130,000 people wrote letters and made phone calls toprotest. The library also received $144,000 in online donations. All of this will allow the library to stay open at least five days a week.
• Queens Library’s web page gave public thanks to elected officials and supporters alike for restoring $17 million to the budget, thus “making libraries a priority, for ensuring every one of our libraries remains open an average of five days a week.” This means that its 62 libraries will remain open and that it can maintain an average service schedule of five days a week.
• Brooklyn Public Library still maintains its Keep Your Library OPEN web site in order to avert closure of 16 libraries, severely limited weekend hours, layoffs of hundreds of library staff members and cuts in library materials, free programs and free public computer sessions. Brooklyn Public also had funding restored as noted on its webpage thanking supporters.
• The New Jersey Library Association praised the budget agreement between Gov. Chris Christie and the legislature restoring $4.299 million restored for library programs.

Researchers at Brooklyn Law School look to many of the print and electronic resources available at the BLS Library. They also look beyond the law library to public libraries for non-legal materials. To imagine life without public libraries, read Jonathan Stock’s article Chambers of the Sea: Who Needs Law Libraries? It’s All Free on the Internet in the July 2010 issue of AALL Spectrum. Stock wrote the article as an allegory after his efforts to help save many of the court law libraries in Connecticut from possible oblivion.

The Federal Trade Commission’s recent report, Repairing a Broken System: Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration, saying that many consumers face debt collection lawsuits for unpaid bills even though there is scant proof against them, calls for tougher state and federal laws to protect the public. The report also called for safeguards to ensure that consumers do not first learn they have been sued only after a judgment has been recorded against them. The proposed reforms include requiring collection lawsuits to provide crucial information about the alleged debt, including a breakdown of the total amount owed by principle, interest and fees.

In the current economic downturn, consumer debt collection cases have flooded civil court dockets around the country, according to a NY Times article Automated Debt-Collection Lawsuits Engulf Courts. The article cites the Woodbury, NY law firm of Cohen & Slamowitz as filing some 80,000 lawsuits a year. The firm filed 59,708 cases in 2005, 83,665 in 2006, 87,877 in 2007 and 80,873 in 2008. One of the partners, David A. Cohen is a member of Brooklyn Law School’s Class of 1979. The firm’s 14 lawyers averaged more than 5,700 cases per lawyer because of computer software to help prepare its cases. With debtors selling their uncollectible debt to debt buyers at discounted rates and debt buyers facing non-payment from debtors, the increase in filings is straining the court system. The article states that “Collection law firms are able to handle such large volumes of cases because computer software automates much of their work. Typically, a debt buyer sends a law firm an electronic database that contains various data about consumers, including name, home address, the outstanding balance, the date of default and whether interest is still accruing on the account.”

The article tells of a civil court hearing in Brooklyn in which BLS alum Judge Noach Dear (Class of 1992) demanded documents from Cohen & Slamowitz to support its claim that the defendant owed $3,797.27 in credit card debt. When the firm’s lawyer responded that the only documentation was the Social Security number, date of birth and address, Judge Dear dismissed the case and issued an order requiring, among other things, that Cohen & Slamowitz provide further proof of a debt if a defendant challenged the firm’s claim.

The Brooklyn Law School Library has in its collection several items on the subject of debt collection including Collection Actions: Defending Consumers and Their Assets by Jonathan Sheldon (Call #KF1024 .S54 2008). The item record has a link to the online version of the consumer law manuals companion website. The National Consumer Law Center site has a large number of forms in PDF format including Statutes/Regulations, Federal Agency Interpretations and Pleadings.