Justia Regulation Tracker: Rules, Proposed Rules, & Notices

The Regulation Tracker is yet another product from Justia. Like the Justia site described in last Thursday's post, the Regulation Tracker remains in beta, but it is quite usable as is.

Regulation Tracker offers free access to Federal rules, proposed rules, notices, administrative orders, executive orders, and proclamations. Users may search by department or agency and by keywords, and users may also limit their searches by document type or by date.

Coverage begins from January 1, 2005, and includes links to full text in PDF format. The full text also provides links to related documents available from the GPOAccess Web site.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Legalese or Plain English?

From my cozy spot near the reference librarians, I've noticed many law students working hard at legal writing, business drafting, and other adventures in writing like a lawyer. This is a great time to become acquainted with Party of the First Part: Adventures in Legalese, a humorous and helpful legal web site. Adam Freedman, a former litigator who writes the "Legal Lingo" column for the New York Law Journal Magazine, created the site "for everyone befuddled, enraged, or intrigued by legalese--yes, even lawyers." Features, including "Legalese Hall of Shame,"make the site both fun and instructive. Freedman's new book, The Party of the First Part: The Curious World of Legalese (Henry Holt and Company, September 2007) should arrive in the Law Library soon.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Finding and Researching Experts

Finding experts is not only for trial lawyers. Experts in any field are good sources for substantive paper research and analysis, i.e. for those currently enrolled in a seminar with a writing requirement. Finding and Researching Experts: “The purpose of this article is to suggest various online resources that can be used to find experts, gather information about them (whether your own or the opposing party’s), and assess the admissibility of their testimony – as well as tips on how the information uncovered might be utilized. In addition, to assist in research efforts, some potentially-relevant web sites have been included.”



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Advice for 1L's from Lawyer/Authors

For first year law students who are making a hobby of collecting advice about law school, the Wall Street Journal's law blog has posted advice for 1L's from several lawyer/authors. The advice comes from Ron Liebman, Saira Rao, Jeffrey Toobin, Cameron Stracher, Jeremy Blachman, and Scott Turow. (Ernster does not necessarily endorse any of this advice, or the advice offered by the opinionated attorneys and students who have commented on these posts.)



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat