Transnational Law Blog

Transnational legal issues are part of the typical summer associate and new attorney experience. Check out Transnational Law Blog, which encompasses "all law regulating actions or events transcending national frontiers." This blog is authored by law students and recent law school graduates enthusiastically involved in transnational law and issues, and features wide-ranging topics and diverse perspectives. Posts often reflect the authors' recent and continuing experience with foreign and international law and practice in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

PLoL: Public Library of Law

In keeping with our recent theme of suggesting sources for free online access to primary legal materials, here is yet another source for such information. The Public Library of Law (PLoL) offers free online access to primary sources of United States law. An unusual and worthwhile feature of PLoL is that PLoL obtains results from what it determines to be the most authoritative free online source.

The case law database includes all U.S. Supreme Court opinions, federal circuit court opinions from 1950 to the present, and state supreme and appellate court opinions from 1997 to the present. (Note that viewing judicial opinions requires free registration).

Also available are state and federal statutes and constitutions, state and federal court rules, federal regulations, and selected state regulations.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

HeinOnline on Youtube

If you are looking for instruction on using HeinOnline, take a look at the the HeinOnline YouTube channel. The channel features how-to videos for HeinOnline collections. To date, there are eleven videos available, including a "Quick Start Guide".



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice & Recent Developments

Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice & Recent Developments is a CRS report recently updated. It includes an Appendix listing claims of executive privilege from the Kennedy administration through the George W. Bush administration.

We read about claims of executive privilege in the news and this report provides a good basis for understanding the issues.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) works for the U.S. Congress providing policy and legal analysis. CRS is well known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objection and nonpartisan.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Google Date-Limiting

Is currency an important factor in your search query? Try Google date-limiting and restrict your search results by a date specification that you set.

To use date-limiting, go to advance search on the Google home page, click on “date, usage rights, numeric range, and more.” Choose a date from the pull down menu – past 24 hours, past 2 months ...

You can also create a unique date specification by adding “&as_qdr=dn” to your SERP (search engine results page) URL, where n is the number of days. For example “&as_qdr=dn14” will limit you search results to pages spidered or updated over the past 14 days.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Lawyers and Social Networking

A recent post on the KM Space blog lists some Facebook groups of big law firms (particularly groups made for summer associates), and a post on the Lexblog points out that, despite what some may say, online social networking may be around for awhile, including for lawyers. Adjust your profiles accordingly.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat