Moritz Legal Information Blog

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 .

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

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.

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 .

The ABA Journal has released its list of the ten most popular legal news headlines on its site ABAJournal.com. I have two favorites: It's not an April Fool's joke: Illinois bar exam gets harder; which states have hardest tests? Attorney who billed for 29-hour day did the work, his lawyer says I know this makes you wonder, "What did the Moritz Law librarians blog about most in 2013?" Happily, I can tell you: Criminal Law Ohio Law Jobs The U.S. Supreme Court Pop Culture

Copyright ownership is a lucrative business . Some families have had success reclaiming ownership while others have not . In the latest permutation, the family of the composer of Santa Claus is Coming to Town was not successful in reclaiming the composer's copyright. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) , it's debatable whether the decision can be attributed to a contract issue or the reversion clause of the Copyright Act.

Now we know that even what you don't post on Facebook might be saved forever on Facebook. From Slate.com : Most of us have, at one time or another, started writing something and then, probably wisely, changed our minds. Unfortunately, the code that powers Facebook still knows what you typed—even if you decide not to publish it. It turns out that the things you explicitly choose not to share aren't entirely private. The article raises two interesting issues for attorneys: (1) in addition to requesting Facebook emails, messages, and photos as part of discovery, attorneys should consider requesting this unposted information as well; and (2) if you represent tech companies like Facebook, make sure this type of data collection is permitted in your Terms of Use.