Moritz Legal Information Blog

Over the summer months, students at the Moritz College of Law can continue to access their student accounts with the three major legal research platforms (Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance, and Thomson Reuters Westlaw). For graduating students, access will be extended for a limited period after graduation. However, students should be aware that each platform sets different restrictions on summer and post-graduation use. Bloomberg does not have any restrictions on summer use and will continue to be available to graduating students for six months after graduation. Lexis also does not have an “academic use only” policy and will continue to be available to graduates until the end of the year. Westlaw permits limited use for education-related or non-commercial purposes. Graduates can continue to access Westlaw for 18 months after graduation, but must first register with Westlaw's Grad Elite Program . For more details, see the Moritz Law Library’s Research Assistant Resources Guide or ask

As you are selecting your courses for the 2017-18 academic year, consider registering for a one-credit Advanced Legal Research course taught by one of the Moritz College of Law’s reference librarians. Each ALR course is focused on a specialized practice area or jurisdiction, but all will help you to further develop the legal research skills you were introduced to in your LAWI & II courses. The following courses will be taught in next year’s spring semester: Business and Tax Legal Research (taught by Matt Cooper) provides an introduction to business and tax related materials as well as advanced training on finding and effectively using these materials for legal research. Topics covered include business forms, company filings and SEC research, and foreign and international business research. Advanced Legal Research: Litigation and ADR (taught by Paul Gatz) focuses on finding and using materials related to litigation or ADR practice, covering formbooks, court rules, trial techniq

The Republican leadership in the United States Senate hopes to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court before the Senate’s April recess. Before that happens, you can take advantage of numerous resources available online to learn more about Judge Gorsuch and the Supreme Court nomination process. The Law Library of Congress , the Georgetown Law Library , and a collaborative project among law librarians have each curated collections of Judge Gorsuch’s 10th Circuit decisions, his scholarly writings, and other materials by or about him. The website of the Senate Judiciary Committee provides access to Judge Gorsuch’s responses to the Committee Questionnaire and related documents. The Moritz Law Library’s research guide on Justice Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and Supreme Court Nominations provides links to all these resources and more, including a number of Congressional Research Service Reports on Judge Gorsuch and video of his confirmation hearings on C-SPAN .

Thanks to the approximately 150 Moritz students so far who have completed the Moritz Law Library and Information Technology survey . The survey will remain open for one more week, closing at the end of the day on Monday, March 27th. Please complete the anonymous survey and separately enter your email address for a chance to win a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card. Gathering input through this survey is very important to Library and IT planning, helping to identify the current needs and concerns of Moritz law students. If you are a returning student who completed the survey two years ago, some of the questions have changed so please submit new responses for another chance to win the gift card.

As Spring Break approaches, you might like to take a break from reading cases to…read stories about cases! The Moritz Law Library has a collection of legal fiction to help you take a mental break. The newest books are in the Reserve Room, older books are in the upper floor stacks. Would you like to try one of the classics of legal fiction? How about To Kill a Mockingbird or The Ox-Bow Incident ? Seen the movie and now want to read the book? Then try The Runaway Jury or The Lincoln Lawyer . Interested in a popular, tried-and-true author? We have some of the latest from John Grisham and David Baldacci . Prefer a historical setting? We have The Butcher of Smithfield and The Secret Trial of Robert E. Lee . If you’re pressed for time and would like shorter stories, try Legal Briefs , Trial and Error , and Monkey Suit . For something a little closer to home, try these legal novels with a law school setting: Paper Chase and Called On . As well, Reference Librarian Paul Gat

As you swipe your BuckID to enter the law library, look to your left at the legislation display we’ve created. The law librarians have highlighted three legislation-related matters that affect your professional life. The first set of panels provides a visual representation of the legislative process and some online sources you can consult for research. When a professor or supervising attorney or judge asks you to provide “the legislative history” for the Affordable Care Act, consider this display a starting point for your research. If you need a bit more help, stop by the reference desk ( or call, email, or chat ) for some quick tips to get your research moving in the right direction and completed accurately and efficiently. Second, our law school community is comprised of professors who have testified before the U.S. and Ohio Congresses. Not only are they exceptional teachers and scholars, they are often on the front lines of legislative decision-making. Professors Dakota Rudesill ,

Whether you are writing a brief or a seminar paper, take care to avoid plagiarism. Your legal readers, from judges to fellow scholars, expect to be able to identify which words and ideas are yours and which come from others, in part to evaluate the evidence underlying your arguments. The Moritz Law Library offers resources on identifying and avoiding plagiarism in the guide to Legal Writing and Research Success. Here are a few tips: Keep track of your research. Use a research log to note useful resources, identify proper citations for each source, and trace your process. Put quotation marks around quoted language as you work. It is too easy to copy and paste and forget to cite later.   Do not worry about overciting. In both practical and academic legal writing, because all nonoriginal content must be credited, you will see more citation than often appears in the work of other disciplines. If you need to review Bluebook basics, take a look at Peter W. Martin’s free eb