This Day In The Law: Earl Warren

Former United States Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren was born on this day in 1891. Warren led the Court through an important period of social change during the 1950's and 1960's.

The President who nominated Warren to the Court, Dwight D. Eisenhower, later famously regretted his choice.

Warren is perhaps best known for his opinion in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.

Acknowledgment to Jurist.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New on HeinOnline: Tax Foundation Archive Publications

The Tax Foundation Archive collection provides convenient access to the complete archive of the Tax Foundation’s publications, which contain information on taxation, fiscal policy, finance and more.  Browse by publication title or subject, or use HeinOnline’s search capabilities to search for specific topics.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New Survey: "State of the Legal Field"

You may have heard that the number of students enrolling in law school in 2014 was the lowest in 41 years, while law school debt increased and the job market is still tough.  BARBRI, the bar exam and law student preparation firm, decided to assess the current state of the legal field by conducting the first survey of its kind including all three groups: current law students; practicing attorneys; and law school faculty.  Released this month, State of the Legal Field Survey: Insights from BARBRI's First Annual Survey of Law Students, Law School Faculty and Attorneys, summarizes the results.

Conducted by an independent research firm, the survey asked some key questions. How did 3L's assess their preparedness to practice law?  What did practicing lawyers and law school faculty consider the most important skill for newly graduated attorneys? What were all groups' expectations and experiences of paying off student loan debt? How did attorneys assess expected job openings in the next few years?  Would the new and experienced lawyers choose to go to law school again?  Take a look at the findings. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Setting pen to paper

Place your laptop to one side and start taking notes and other writing by hand with pen and paper.  Recent research appears to show that students who take notes by hand comprehend and retain course material better than those who use a laptop for note taking. 

There are other benefits to writing by hand:
1.  It has a calming effect.
2.  It coordinates the left brain and the right brain.
3.  It boosts cognitive skills.
4.  It inspires creativity.
5.  It sharpens aging minds.
6.  It improves memory.
7.  It uses more of your brain.

Check the linked posts for more information.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Chronophilia weekend

This is a weekend for the time lovers among us.  

As a black cat, not only do I not suffer from triskaidekaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th), I celebrate it. Today is the second one in as many months I have enjoyed.  Fear not,  I get one more in November.

And tomorrow, of course, is one of my favorites . . .  Pi Day.  This is no ordinary Pi Day, however.  This is a once-in-a-century Pi Day, since we are in 2015, we celebrate tomorrow as 3.14 15.  And for those true devotees, make sure to set your alarm for 9:26:53 tomorrow morning and evening, so you can celebrate  Pi out to its 9th decimal - 3.141592653.

Have a great time ;) this weekend.  I will.

Hat tip to Lingua Franca.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

This Day In The Law: First Female U.S. Attorney General

On this day in 1993, Janet Reno was sworn in as the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General. Read more here, courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

Acknowledgment to Jurist.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

New CRS Report: Freedom of Information Act Legislation in the 114 th Congress: Issue Summary and Side-by- Side Analysis

 “Both the House and Senate are currently considering legislation that would make substantive changes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA was originally enacted in 1966 and has been amended numerous times since—most recently in 2009. FOIA provides the public with a presumptive right to access agency records, limited by nine exemptions that allow agencies to withhold certain types or categories of records."

“ While these bills address a number of similar topics, often in similar ways, there are substantive differences between them.”

Daniel Richardson and Wendy Ginsberg discuss current FOIA legislation in their new CRS Report: Freedom of Information Act Legislation in the 114 th Congress: Issue Summary and Side-by- Side Analysis.  

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

World Death Penalty Resources

Are you interested in where and how the death penalty is applied throughout the world and researching the death penalty as a foreign or comparative law topic?  A goldmine of country-by-country information--statistical data, background, and legal analysis--is available at the Death Penalty Worldwide website and in its Death Penalty Database.  Created by Professor Sandra Babcock, Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell University Law School, in partnership with the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the database is searchable by keyword and country. Searches can be further filtered by items such as crimes punishable by the death penalty, methods of execution, and treaties to which the country is a party.  Another good source of recent statistical information is Amnesty International's report, "Death Sentences and Executions, 2013," which includes a comparative international map. To find additional information and suggested sources for the criminal law and death penalty of particular countries, search for "death penalty" at the Foreign Law Research page of New York University's GlobaLex site. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Library Hours change

For the next several months, there will not be any Reference librarian available on Sundays.

If you are a member of the Hofstra community, attorney or judge, please use our email reference service - hofstralawlib@gmail.com.  A Reference librarian will respond to your question during Reference Desk hours.   Details are posted at the Reference desk.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

WestlawNext - Profiler

Want some background information on a lawyer or judge?  A place to start is  WestlawNext's Profiler.  This can be found under Tools, Directories or just start typing Profiler in the search box.

Westlaw Profiler provides biographical information about attorneys, judges, experts, arbitrators and intellectual property professionals, as well as links to documents that reflect their work history. 

Appearing in court?  Learn about the judge.
Have an interview?   Investigate not only the firm but the person(s) you will meet during the interview.

 You can also use Profiler to look for attorneys who practice in an area of law in a defined geographical location.

Caveat, profile information is not always up-to-date so this is not a one-stop tool. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat