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Showing posts from January, 2014

The Super Bowl of Libraries

In the spirit of friendly competition, the Seattle Public Library and the Denver Public Library began a Twitter Reading Bowl . The library that can get the most people to Tweet what they are reading wins. To score points for Seattle, tweet the title and author of what you are reading to @SPLBuzz using the following hashtags: #SEAreads and #ReadingBowl To score points for Denver, tweet the title and #DENreads and #ReadingBowl. Seattle Weekly

Immigration Issues for Justin Bieber?

Justin Bieber's travails bring us two interesting legal issues: on what grounds can a non-U.S. citizen be deported, and do those petitions to the White House really work? CNN asks "What crimes lead to deportation?" Though they provide some illustrations, as an attorney, you know you have to look for more formal sources than a news story. The news story is simply a source of keywords to get your research started. A legal research guide on immigration is one great place to begin your research, and Pace Law has two  good ones. The Ohio State Bar Association has useful CLE info (which we have in our collection ) on the topic. You could also try an e-book: The Social, Political and Historical Contours of Deportation . Outside the normal course of immigration law, can American petition to have Mr. Bieber deported? CNN again brings us the story: "A petition calling for the deportation of Canadian-born Justin Bieber surpassed the 100,000 signature threshold, meaning th

Case of the Curious Juror

The Seattle Times brings yet another story of juror misconduct due to the lure of the Internet. We've brought you similar stories in the past. In this case, the jury foreman looked up the statute for first-degree rape and linked through to the crime's penalty as well. The trial had lasted five weeks and was already concluded. A new trial would mean the woman would have to testify again about being threatened, choked and bitten. A new trial would mean money wasted. [The defendant] speaks Somali. During the trial, the court spent more than $20,000 on interpreters alone. Ultimately, the judge ordered a new trial due to the misconduct.

Dem Bones: Paleontological Property

A property to question to ponder on your day off:   Who owns a dinosaur fossil –those who discover it or the owner of the land on which it is found?   And what if the land in question had been put in trust with the federal government? These are the facts at issue in the documentary that kicked off this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Dinosaur 13 .  The film, directed by Ohioan Todd Miller,   features a dispute over the ownership of a Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil discovered in South Dakota, as explained by the Columbus Dispatch . Read the last in the line of court cases here .   To learn more, check out Tyrannosaurus Sue:  the extraordinary saga of the largest, most fought over T. Rex ever found or this BLM guide to paleontological laws and policies.

Ball in Your Court

Looking for a new specialty blog to follow? Check out Ball in Your Court for the latest insights into e-discovery and computer forensics. The site's not just for litigators; it's for any attorney who regularly uses a computer, smart phone, or other technology for practice because the blog may help you develop a better understanding of how those tools work. Knowing how things work ensures you make the best decisions for your practice and avoid any ethical pitfalls or embarrassment related to misuse. For more great information on technology and law practice, check out these books in our collection: The Technology You Need to Start or Overhaul a Law Practice Digital Lawyering: How to Make Use of Technology to Improve Your Law Practice Law Office Technology The 2013 E-Discovery and Information Governance National Institute

Sherlock Holmes Copyright Issues

Can you start posting your Sherlock Holmes fan fiction now that the third season of the BBC's Sherlock has begun airing? The answer is your typical attorney response: maybe. According to a recent Publisher's Weekly article , In a December 23 decision , an Illinois federal court held that Holmes and other characters and story elements in more than 50 Sherlock Holmes stories are in the public domain. But attorneys for the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle this week insisted that the complete characters of Holmes and Watson won’t be freed until the final 10 stories published after 1922 enter the public domain, in 2022. According to an attorney/Holmes scholar who brought suit against the estate, Klinger says that ruling means that based on the more than 50 public domain stories, " creators are free to use the characters of Holmes and Watson without licensing them from the Conan Doyle Estate." He also noted, however, that the Court "cautioned that new stories a

Cheap Airfare

Whether you're flying for work ( D.C. Summer Program anyone?) or recreation this summer, check out the New York Times' recent article on How to Choose an Air Travel Search Site . The article not only offers helpful tips for getting the "best" price, it offers an excellent example of how to find the "best" legal research database as well. The author's conclusion for travel sites is the very same conclusion I hope researchers reach when considering online databases: "The real solution is finding the sites that best fit your specific [] needs — all the more true for the heavily budget-conscious." Different legal research databases and websites offer different benefits and have different drawbacks. For example, ProQuest Congressional  and FDSys both offer federal legislative history, but they have different coverage dates. (You can't always get material more than a couple of decades old on FDSys.) But FDSys is free.  Similarly, Casemaker (

Human Trafficking Week: January 20-24, 2014

To commemorate Human Trafficking Week here at Moritz, we've put together two displays to showcase some of the books and resources on the subject that we have in the library. The first display is in the large case just outside the library entrance; the second is by the reference desk. We’ve also created a research guide on the subject if you’d like to peruse the collection (including web videos and e-books) online. For more on Moritz's efforts to raise awareness, check out this article from NBC News: OSU Law School Fights To Raise Awareness On Human Trafficking .

Happy Birthday Gunnar Birkerts!

Who is Gunnar Birkerts ? He's the gentleman you have to thank for the stairs that take many visitors up to the law library (i.e., "the spreading cascading stairs that bring continuity from the grounds to the learning spaces"). He is also the man who believed that "the [law school's] edifice presents the first view of the campus for those coming from downtown. It is an introduction to the larger campus beyond. It is where the "town meets the gown."" Intrigued? Check out Architecture + Urbanism (volume 294) in the law library's collection.

Wide World of Sports Law

At the start of a new semester, the news brings us a rich real world example of contracts, arbitration, and more in the form of Alex Rodriguez.  The Yankees play was recently suspended for 162 games, as reported by ESPN .  An arbitrator found A-Rod violated both the Basic Agreement (a collective bargaining agreement) and the Joint Drug Agreement. Both agreements are available on the MBL site .  A-Rod has appealed to federal court, and the complaint includes a copy of the arbitration panel's opinion. Our collection includes many books (including ebooks) on sports law -- check out our catalog for more.

Disability Benefits Fraud

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has charged 106 people with disability benefits fraud in relation to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Former police officers who had told government doctors they were too mentally scarred to leave home had posted photographs of themselves fishing, riding motorcycles, driving water scooters, flying helicopters and playing basketball. For more on disability law, check out these great books (including CLE materials) in our collection. For insight into the social media evidence that can be admitted at trial, check out Social Media as Evidence: Cases, Practice Pointers, and Techniques .

Legal Research Video Tutorials to the Rescue

We are working on our legal research guide collection with the aim of giving you more ways to find the things you need in your law library. If you're interested in the latest, you can even sign up for alerts to find out when we've added new content: In the meantime, if you're looking for research help online, check out the guides and video tutorials created by the law librarians at the University of Cincinnati: Legal Research Video Tutorials .

How to Write Well? Read Well

Legal writing professors are always looking for innovative ways to help law students improve their writing. One tried-and-true(-and-fun) technique: Encouraging students to read well-written novels. Here is the latest list of recommended reading from legal writing professors around the country with links to the Ohio State libraries' catalog records: E.B. White, Charlotte's Web , The Trumpet of the Swan , and Stuart Little George Orwell, Politics and the English Language  (an essay) Russell Kirk, The American Cause Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays Martin Luther King Jr., Letter From a Birmingham City Jail T.S. Eliot, Selected Essays, 1917-1932 G.K. Chesterton, Selected Essays Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World Markus Zusak, The Book Thief Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird John Grisham, Pelican Brief Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet Joan Di

One Last List: 2013 Crime Awards

Slate.com's crime blog has provided fodder for the Moritz blog on several occasions. In honor of the crime blog's first full year in existence, they've put together a list of awards , including dumbest Criminal, most valuable cop, least valuable cop, best exculpation, worst excuse, biggest mystery, least successful fugitive, most cinematic heist, lowest-stakes robbery, and most valuable criminal. For more legal superlatives, check out Legal Blunders in the Moritz Law Library collection.

Getting Ready for 2014

The end of the year means the beginning of lists. Best-of lists are rampant as people take stock of what worked and what didn't in 2013. It's time to start looking ahead as well. A simple Google search for "2014 legal predictions" found the following: 21 Expert Predictions for the Legal Industry in 2014 Legal Loop: Legal technology predictions for 2014 Legal Trends in 2014 Law school isn't just about making good grades; it's about building relationships and getting to know the legal community. Reading the 2014 prediction lists isn't just about killing time; it's about getting to know the legal community better so that you are better positioned for interviews. If you are looking for more job resources, look no further than our other jobs-related blog posts .