Moritz Legal Information Blog

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.

Time management is a critical skill. It can be tough to learn because if you have everything coming at you at once, it's difficult to figure out what to do with it because you're so busy just trying to stay afloat. Missing deadlines or waiting until the last minute may be working for you in law school, but in practice, it could mean losing your job, losing clients, facing ethics sanctions, or being sued for malpractice. And in law school, your time is actually your own, which theoretically makes it "easier" to manage your time in school rather than in practice. So what to do? Read up on Getting Things Done from the Lawyerist. (The blog post provides suggestions for implementation for lawyers; the book itself is on order for the law library.) Also check out these titles in our library: Get Organized and Get Things Done Help Me Get Organized!: Sixty Proven Case Management and Billing Tips Project Management for Lawyers

Facebook is a great way to find old friends and snoop to see what they're up to. It's also a great way to find information about clients, potential clients, and witnesses. Facebook's Graph Search allows you to search for all posts about topics (e.g., Ohio State football), things people "like" (e.g., recreational drug use), places they've been (e.g., Franklin County Court of Common Pleas), and more. Once you have that first group identified, you can sort or filter the results by people's marital status, employer, hometown, etc.  It's a little clunky, but it takes just a few minutes of tinkering. Unrelated to the Graph Search, you can also find photos of people on Group or Event pages, regardless of whether the person has high privacy settings. Let's say, for example, you know an event like a 10K race happened on a particular date. Simply go to the Group or Event page and scroll through the photos, and you just might find photographic evidence th

Good day, With warm heart I offer my friendship, and my greetings,and I hope this letter meets you in good time. It will be surprising for you to receive this proposal from me since you do not know me personally. However, I am sincerely seeking your confidence in this transaction,which I, propose with my free mind and as a person of integrity. A) It is practically impossible for me to carry out this business alone. B) You live in a foreign land far away from mine. This should normally not be a requirement, but when you understand the transaction then you will understand why it is important that you live far away from me. C) The amount of money involved in this transaction is Fifteen Million one hundred thousand united states dollars (US$15,100,000.00) which is too much for a man of modest means like myself to handle in my country. Sound familiar? This text is just one sample of the Nigerian e-mail scam in which a person receives the e-mail, is somehow asked to set up an

An in-house counsel position can be very satisfying: you really get to focus on the business of a single client and get to move that business forward in an effective way because you are so attuned to the details and practical realities of the company. In-house counsel is frequently positioned to evaluate ways to avoid harm before it happens rather than clean up legal issues after the fact. How do you land a job as in-house counsel? Talk to Career Services early about internship and fellowship opportunities. Also, read up on what the work entails. Through the law library, you can access articles from InsideCounsel.com . Simply click through this catalog record . Finally, take a look at one of our popular job search books in the law library, In-house: A Lawyer's Guide to Getting a Corporate Legal Position .

Exam season yields a law library full of anxious students.   How do you cope with exam stress?   The growing mindfulness movement provides one option:   mindfulness meditation.   In fact, an increasing number of lawyers find benefit from meditation, including Justice Breyer .     One advocate describes the benefits of mindful meditation , noting that through this technique lawyers often "enhance their capacity to be more genuine and present for what arises in their interactions with their clients, their colleagues, with witnesses, and their adversaries,"  adding "[t]hey are also able to focus with greater clarity on assignments and work." Interested in trying this practice or in learning more?   Today, the Ohio Union is offering several meditation sessions .   The Mindful Law Student offers many related resources, and the law library’s collection includes Scott Rogers’s Mindfulness for Law Students .

A recent article in The Daily Reporter  explains how one condo association addressed the unfortunate situation of condo owners failing to pick up after their pooches. The solution? Doggy DNA testing. It was simply a matter of revising the condo rules. Now, condo owners who have dogs must pay $60 to have their dogs' cheeks swabbed to record DNA information. When a dog is not picked up after, the sample is tested (a $50 charge), and the offending dog's owner is responsible for the testing charge plus a $100 fine. Problem solved. Curious to know whether Ohio condo laws permit these kinds of restrictions on owners? Check out Ohio Condominium Law in the Reserve Room.

Clearly you love law blogs (or---ugh---blawgs). You're reading this one. If you're looking for new blogs to peruse, check out the American Bar Association 7th Annual Blawg 100. You can vote for your favorites. Here are a few of our recommendations: The Girl's Guide to Law School JD Careers Out There Technologist Dewey B Strategic