Classes are winding down, and most of you are deep into exam preparation. This is just a reminder that the Library has a number of study aids you may find useful.  Among them:

• West’s Sum and Substance CD series
• West’s Outstanding Professor CD series
• Lexis Understanding series
• Wolters Kluwer Examples and Explanations
• Lexis Q&A series
• West’s Nutshell series

We have some more general guides on preparing for exams available as well. The most recent editions are on Reserve available at the Circulation Desk. They can be checked out for two hour in-Library use.

Our Guide for 1Ls has a more extensive list of study aids and hornbooks for first-year courses and general guides to exam preparation. Links to podcasts from CALI are included as well.

Speaking of CALI, don’t forget that CALI has a wide range of exercises you can use for exam review. You’ll need to use our CALI code to set up your account.

If you are struggling putting your outlines together, Lexis has some area of law outlines available for free that may help you get organized.

Old exams are useful for practicing issue spotting. Some Pace Law professors release old exams to the Library, and these are available on the Law Library on TWEN site. If you can’t access this site just add it to your list of TWEN courses.

The Library is open for extended hours for exam study beginning April 17. Hours are available here.

Good luck on your exams!

Tags: exams, study, study aids

Do you need a break from studies? Do you just need a break? How about movie night at Pace? If you are free today (4/12/12) at 6 pm, come by the Pace Law Library to see The Conspirator, a film by Robert Redford starring Kevin Kline. In connection to the prestigious traveling exhibit Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War, which has been on display at Pace Law Library since March 5, 2012, the library is showing this last movie on the closing night of the exhibit. Bring a friend!

To read more about Lincoln, the exhibit, or the grant, see our previous post: Lincoln and Grant (Writing, that is).

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, constitutional law, exhibit, film, movie, Pace Law Library, slavery, The Conspirator

In order to have access to Westlaw and Lexis during the summer take a minute to extend your passwords. If you neglect to do this your access will be limited to 2 hours a month during June and July.

For Westlaw summer access click here. There are separate links for current and graduating students. Current students are restricted to the following uses:

• Summer law school classes
• Law review or law journal work
• Project for a professor
• Moot court
• Unpaid, nonprofit public interest internship/externship pro bono work required for graduation.

Passwords may NOT be used for research for law firms, government agencies, corporations or other purposes unrelated to law school coursework.

Graduating students’ passwords expire on May 31, 2012 but can be extended for bar preparation. If you extend your password you will receive 10 hours of Westlaw access during the summer – 5 hours in June and another 5 hours in July. Note that password extension in no way alters the WestlawRewards membership agreement. WestlawRewards points expire 30 days after graduation.

If you have already registered your Lexis Advance password, you don’t need to do anything to have access over the summer. For Lexis.com summer access, click here. Current and graduating students are restricted to the following uses:

• Summer course preparation and assignments
• Research associated with Moot Court, Law Review, or Law Journal
• Research associated with pursuing a grant or scholarship
• Service as a paid or unpaid research assistant to a professor
• An internship, externship or clinic position for school credit or graduation requirement
• Study for the bar exam
• Research skill improvement

Additionally, Lexis has the ASPIRE program again this year. The ASPIRE program enables students and graduates pursuing public interest work to benefit from free access to LexisNexis tools and services. Eligibility includes all students and graduates (including December 2011 graduates) engaged in verifiable 501(c)(3) public interest work, including:

• Deferred fall associates engaged in verifiable public interest work
• 2012 graduates engaged in verifiable public interest work while searching for employment
• 2012 graduates engaged in verifiable public interest work as a continuing profession
• Current students engaged in verifiable public interest work

Students/graduates must work directly for a non-profit or charitable organization, and access continues throughout public interest employment until September 1, 2012. The registration form is available here, and more information is available here.

One last thing–the Law Library website has a number of research guides that you might find helpful, especially the guide to Free and Low Cost Resources for Legal Research. Remember that the reference librarians are here all summer long and that you can always call the reference desk at 914-422-4208, or use our Ask Us service to email questions.

Tags: Lexis, Lexis Advance, summer access, Westlaw, WestlawNext

Here is my periodic blog post listing the most recent additions to the Pace Law Library Law in Film Collection, which is located on the main floor of the library; behind the reference desk and in the cell phone lounge. This collection keeps on growing. All library patrons with borrowing privileges may check any of the movies out for up to five (5) days at no charge.

The following are the most recent additions to our Law In Film Collection

New Fiction and Legal Dramas:

• The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures; an Ad Hominem Enterprises production; directed by Alexander Payne; screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; produced by Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor; made in association with Dune Entertainment and produced in association with Little Blair Productions and Ingeneous Film Partners) [PN1997.2 .D47 2012 DVD] – Starring George Clooney as Matt King, who is an indifferent husband and father of two girls that is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.
• J. Edgar (Warner Bros. Pictures; an Imagine Entertainment production, a Malpaso production; directed and produced by Clint Eastwood; written by Dustin Lance Black; produced by Brian Grazer, Robert Lorenz) [PN1997.2.J43 2012 DVD] -  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover “who [was] head of the FBI for nearly 50 years. Hoover was feared, admired, reviled and revered, a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it. His methods were at once ruthless and heroic, with the admiration of the world his most coveted prize. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.” Container.
• The Whistleblower (Séville Pictures; director, Larysa Kondracki; writers, Larysa Kondracki, Eilis Kirwan; producers, Christina Piovesan, Celine Rattray) [PN1997.2 .W45 2012 DVD] - When Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac accepts a U.N. peacekeeper position in post-war Bosnia, she discovers a deadly sex trafficking ring. She uncovers an international conspiracy that is determined to stop her, no matter the cost.

Continue Reading »

Tags: crime, docudrama, documentary, environmental film, fiction, film, free, human rights, human trafficking, immigration, International law, legal, movie

Attention all law students! Looking to distinguish yourself as you enter the internship and/or job market? One of the best and easiest ways to get yourself noticed by prospective supervisors and employers is to get an article published while you are still in law school. The benefits of getting published are many as a well written article demonstrates your ability to analyze complex issues of law, your dedication to your chosen profession, and your initiative.

However, despite the abundance of publishing opportunities out there, students repeatedly return to the idea that getting published is something that only “expert” or “established” attorneys can do. This is not the case. Although getting an article published is never “easy” it is also not as daunting as it may seem. In an effort to demystify this process, this blog post, and the series of posts that follow will provide guidance and tips on how successful law students (particularly in the New York area) can break into the publishing field.

To begin this series, below please find a list of Tips to assist in this process: Continue Reading »

Tags: law school, law students, legal writing, publishing

In connection to the traveling Lincoln Exhibit currently on display on the third floor of Pace Law Library until April 12, 2012, titled Lincoln: The Constitution and Civil War,  the law library presents movie nights! If you are free, come and join Jack McNeil tonight (3/29) at 6:00 pm in the Problem Room. The movie Glory, starring Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington, will be shown!

Click here to read more about the Exhibit.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, exhibit, film, movie, Pace Law Library

Thanks to a terrific grant-writing effort by Associate Director Jack McNeill, Pace Law Library was selected to host a traveling exhibit entitled “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Constitution Center, and the American Library Association. We know Jack must have written a great application because we were one of only  50 chosen libraries – and the only law library!

The exhibit is made up of several large, impressive panels with reproductions of documents that illustrate the conflict between the Constitution and the need to protect the republic.  The major sections are:

"Do you ever have one of those days when everything seems unconsitutional?

“Divided,” which describes the secession of the southern states; “Bound,” which examines  how Lincoln had to overcome constitutional hurdles in order to abolish slavery; and “Dissent,” which deals with civil liberties in times of war and relates Lincoln’s responses to the post-9/11 challenges faced by the United States. As author and producer Philip B. Kunhardt III noted in “Lincoln’s Contested Legacy,” his February 2009 article in Smithsonian:

[e]ach generation evokes a different Lincoln.

The exhibit should help you make up your own mind about Lincoln’s legacy. It is set up on the third floor of the Law Library - but, be quick, it’s  only there until April 11th.

Continue Reading »

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, constitutional law, exhibit, film, movie, Pace Law Library, slavery, U.S.Constitution

We have written about Google Scholar and legal opinions in the past, but it is time for an update. Google has recently announced changes to its Google Scholar display of legal citations. Via Google Scholar Blog post titled Finding Significant Citations for Legal Opinions, Google has significantly changed the way it displays citations for legal opinions. When Google Scholar for legal opinions first came out, the citations for legal opinions were organized by the prominence. However now, the results list is sorted by the depth of discussion.

Opinions that discuss the cited case in detail are presented before ones that mention the case briefly. We indicate the extent of discussion visually and indicate opinions that discuss the cited case at length, that discuss it moderately and those that discuss it briefly. Opinions that don’t discuss the cited case are left unmarked.

For example see Dique v. New Jersey State Police, 603 F.3d 181 (3d Cir. 2010). By clicking on How Cited, Google displays on how this document was cited. On the right hand side of the display, a list of cases that cited this document is now organized by the depth of discussion, which is visually indicated by either one, two, or three horizontal bars to the left of the case name. By clicking on all citing documents (in this case 84), a new page opens displaying documents citing Dique that are organized by the depth of the discussion. Nice going Google!

Tags: case law, court decision, free case law, free legal research, Google Scholar, Google Scholar Citations, legal citation, legal research

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report addressing the 2011 annual averages of state and regional unemployment.

In 2011, annual average unemployment rates declined in 48 states and rose in 2 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment-population ratios decreased in 24 states and the District of Columbia, increased in 19 states, and were unchanged in 7 states. The U.S. jobless rate in 2011 was 8.9 percent, down 0.7 percentage point from the prior year. The national employment-population ratio continued to trend down to 58.4 percent in 2011.

This 12-page report is available in PDF.

Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, statistics, unemployment

From the Congressional Research Service, the Financial Performance of Major Companies 2007-2011 is available.

This report examines the financial performance of the five major oil companies for the period 2007-2011. Both the sources and uses of revenue and profit are analyzed. The recent behavior of oil prices and company profits have led to changes in the structure of the market for oil in the United States which could have implications for gasoline prices and availability, and energy security. These issues are also analyzed in this report.

Written by Robert Pirog, Specialist in Energy Economics, and published on Feb 17, 2012, this 9-page report is available in PDF format.

Tags: Congressional Research Service, financial report, oil company