Changes Proposed for Civil Trials

In their final report issued this week, a task force of prominent plaintiffs' attorneys and defense attorneys from the American College of Trial Lawyers agreed on something. They called for changes that would transform the current civil discovery rules--including replacing notice pleading with fact-based pleading, revising the rules for initial disclosures, and making civil discovery more targeted and time-limited. The College's Task Force on Discovery and the University of Denver's Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, issued the report based on an 18-month joint project to examine the role of discovery in perceived problems, such as delays and prohibitive litigation costs, in the American civil justice system. The anticipated "public discussion and debate" will no doubt follow.





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What employers want you to know - workshops next week

You have seen the emails, now find out how to handle that first scary research assignment from your new employer. The Reference librarians will be leading workshops starting Monday. The schedule and description is below. For those who are curious to read the article TOP 10 THINGS LAW LIBRARIANS WISH NEW ASSOCIATES WOULD KNOW, sign on to Westlaw and Use Find for 4/7/2006 Legal Intelligencer 7.

Monday, 3/16, 5pm-6 in Room 205 Kevin Shelton will present "Civics 101: What Every New Lawyer Should Know, But Doesn't"

In this workshop, you will learn the difference between statutes and regulations and get the basic background you will need for all legal research.

(Discussing item 1 in the article).

Tuesday, 3/17, 11am-noon in Room 227, Toni Aiello will present "Where do I start? Getting Background with Secondary Sources."

In this workshop you will learn how to find and effectively use Secondary Sources.

(Discussing item 2 in the article).

Wednesday, 3/18, 3pm-4 in Room 243, Mary Godfrey-Rickards will present "Location, Location, Location: Where to find Cases, Statutes and Regulations"

In this workshop, you will learn the best way to research cases, and where to find statutes and regulations

(Completing the discussion of item 1 in the article).

Thursday, 3/19, 4pm-5 in Room 243, David Dames and Tricia Kasting will present "Putting it all Together"

Learn how to formulate a research strategy based on your assignment, your time limits, and the resources you have available--when to use what.

(Finishing up with items 3,5-8 in the article).



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Federal Budget 2010

The United States Government Budget overview for the 2010 fiscal year is now online. This document offers an overview of the full Fiscal Year 2010 Budget that is expected to be released this Spring.


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SEC Interactive Data for Mutual Funds - Final Rule

To improve the usefulness of business intelligence, the SEC recently adopted rule amendments changing the form in which mutual funds provide risk/return summary information. The rule outlines what firms must file using XMBL tags and when they must file using these tags.

What is XBRL? XBRL or eXtensible Business Reporting Language, “creates taxonomies of "tags" for labeling specific pieces of business information." For example, a “tag” created for “gross profits” will identify where it appears in every corporate report. This will not only allow easier access to information for cross comparisons, but it will standardize the automation of business information.

The conversion of U.S. GAAP into XBRL is not new. In 2006, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced that the “SEC awarded three contracts, worth $54 million, to transform the 20-year-old EDGAR database that now houses corporate regulatory filings, into an interactive database that uses the XBRL programming language.”

At a news conference in 2007, Cox announced that translating GAAP into the XBRL data tags was a “major step that will help every U.S. public company and investor."

Easier access to business intelligence is a good thing. Click here to access the SEC Final Rule.



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Obama on Presidential Signing Statements

Presidential signing statements have been controversial in recent years. Yesterday President Obama released a memorandum that sets forth how and when he will issue signing statements.

From the memorandum:

1. The executive branch will take appropriate and timely steps, whenever practicable, to inform the Congress of its constitutional concerns about pending legislation. Such communication should facilitate the efforts of the executive branch and the Congress to work together to address these concerns during the legislative process, thus minimizing the number of occasions on which I am presented with an enrolled bill that may require a signing statement.
2. Because legislation enacted by the Congress comes with a presumption of constitutionality, I will strive to avoid the conclusion that any part of an enrolled bill is unconstitutional. In exercising my responsibility to determine whether a provision of an enrolled bill is unconstitutional, I will act with caution and restraint, based only on interpretations of the Constitution that are well-founded.
3. To promote transparency and accountability, I will ensure that signing statements identify my constitutional concerns about a statutory provision with sufficient specificity to make clear the nature and basis of the constitutional objection.
4. I will announce in signing statements that I will construe a statutory provision in a manner that avoids a constitutional problem only if that construction is a legitimate one.
   

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The Glass Hammer

The Glass Hammer is a great blog dedicated to issues relevant to women in the legal and business professions. The articles offer useful advice and insight to women navigating their careers and the blog is updated frequently. Recent articles have discussed the "mommy penalty", handling sexual harassment and the recession. You can also sign up at the Glass Hammer network and join discussions with other professional women.



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Research skills needed in your new job

As you read in your email, this week the Library begins our Top 10 Research Skills workshops.

Start with our special feature workshop, this Wednesday, March 11 at 11:10am-12:30 in Room 206. Two law firm librarians will share their insights on Cost Efficient Research and other Law Practice Survival Tips.

(Discussing items 4,9 and 10 in the article).

During the week of March 16th, the librarians will continue with workshops on more of the Top 10.

Monday, 3/16, 5pm-6 in Room 205 Kevin Shelton will present "Civics 101: What Every New Lawyer Should Know, But Doesn't"

In this workshop, you will learn the difference between statutes and regulations and get the basic background you will need for all legal research.

(Discussing item 1 in the article).

Tuesday, 3/17, 11am-noon in Room 227, Toni Aiello will present "Where do I start? Getting Background with Secondary Sources."

In this workshop you will learn how to find and effectively use Secondary Sources.

(Discussing item 2 in the article).

Wednesday, 3/18, 3pm-4 in Room 243, Mary Godfrey-Rickards will present "Location, Location, Location: Where to find Cases, Statutes and Regulations"

In this workshop, you will learn the best way to research cases, and where to find statutes and regulations

(Completing the discussion of item 1 in the article).

Thursday, 3/19, 4pm-5 in Room 243, David Dames and Tricia Kasting will present "Putting it all Together" (David,Tricia)

In this workshop, you will learn why KeyCite and Shepards are so useful for research, when to stop researching and how to formulate a research strategy.

(Finishing up with items 3,5-8 in the article).

No need to sign up. Come to as many of the 5 workshops as you can.

Each workshop is independent, so if you miss earlier ones, you can still come to later ones.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

More on Pacer

To follow up from this post, Sen. Lieberman recently used his position as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to question why federal court documents are not provided for free (hat tip: Out of the Jungle). This was apparently in response to the previously mentioned New York Times article. The future may hold a move toward free federal court documents.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat