Moritz Legal Information Blog

You've likely seen predictions like this:   Computers could replace law clerks.   Maybe you've read more in depth forecasts about how the practice of law will change, like those of Richard Susskind . What's in your crystal ball?   It could pay off! One law firm is offering a $10,000 essay prize for law students writing on this topic: "a pragmatic plan on how lawyers can re-engineer the way they interact with and serve their clients, so that our legal system can better serve the public."   See this announcement for more details.

Finally! Slate brings us a use for Big Data we can all endorse: "In his blog, Matt Daniels, a data scientist, compared the lyrics of 85 rap artists using a method called token analysis. A computer program counts the number of unique words that appear in a text of a given size." Using this program, one can determine which Supreme Court justices in history have the most complex vocabularies and how those justices compare to rappers. For those of you wringing your hands, troubled you may have a less complex vocabulary, take heart. "[N]ot all great justices are great writers. John Marshall, who scores even lower than DMX, was the greatest justice of all time."

Mister Softee v. Master Softee has been litigated, and per the usual, Mister Softee prevailed . For more on trademark law, check out these books in our catalog: Understanding Trademark Law: A Beginner's Guide Mastering Trademark and Unfair Competition Law Trademark and Unfair Competition Law in a Nutshell

Today's Dispatch explains how to request public records in Ohio. "It’s your government and your money, and they’re your records." The recommendation: make an oral request rather than a written one so as to avoid "dragging" lawyers in causing delay. It seems lawyers really are the Rodney Dangerfield of professions. That dig at lawyers aside, the article is a helpful primer and provides insights like the following: Ohio is among only a handful of states that doesn’t set a deadline for government to provide records. The legal standard is “prompt.” Court rulings have signaled, though, that waits of more than two weeks likely are unreasonable. What's more, the article suggests folks might try working with a lawyer if they get any friction when making requests. "Lawyers who know Sunshine laws could help shake your records loose."

From beSpacific , a research paper from the Pew Research Center identifies patterns on Twitter that may help us understand social media conversations better. "There are at least six distinct types of conversations on Twitter based on the structure of people's networks, the subjects and content sources that matter to them, and the way they interact. These networks have different structures that reflect the social activity within them: divided, unified, fragmented, clustered, and inward and outward hub ad spokes." Essentially, the study looks at who replies to and mentions who in tweets. For example, for political topics, "it is common to see two separate, polarized crowds take shape," forming two groups that don't interact with each other. Here's an image of the Polarized Crowd: So, while social media sites are good sources of information about possible clients, witnesses, and the like, consider the bigger trends and points you can make when looki

The International Privacy Law Library on WorldLII has been expanded. The World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) is a free, independent and non-profit global legal research facility developed collaboratively by the following Legal Information Institutes and other organizations (one of which should be quite familiar): Australasian Legal Information Institute ( AustLII ) British and Irish Legal Information Institute ( BAILII ) Canadian Legal Information Institute ( CanLII ) Hong Kong Legal Information Institute ( HKLII ) Legal Information Institute (Cornell) ( LII (Cornell) ) Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute ( PacLII ) Wits University School of Law ( Wits Law School )  The International Privacy Law Library includes 32 databases and court decisions from hundreds of courts around the world. More content will be added regularly. h/t LLRX

You have probably never heard of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).   If Senator Tom Coburn has his way, this may be the last time you do.   The NTIS “ seeks to promote American innovation and economic growth by collecting and disseminating scientific, technical and engineering information to the public and industry, by providing information management solutions to other federal agencies.”   This agency sells many publications, including the Homeland Security Annual Privacy Report for April 2003-June 2004 – listed at $38.   You can also find this report at the Department of Homeland Security website – for free.   As simple Google searches often yield free versions of NTIS materials, Senator Coburn has introduced a bill entitled the “Let Me Google That For You Act” to abolish the NTIS.   So like any remaining NTIS users, consider multiple places to look as you research!