CMLawLibraryBlog

Many of you already know that our old friend, ex Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, is suing the Cleveland Browns for not sterilizing their training facility in Berea properly which has led to numerous staph infections. This comes as a shock to me as I never knew the Browns trained! The staph infection problems have been a problem for the Browns, amongst many other things, since 2003. It should be interesting to see how the Browns tackle this lawsuit. Oh who am I kidding, the Browns can't tackle anything. The basis of the complaint is negligence and fraud. Take a look at the complaint in all its pdf glory. Take a look at the article from the Plain Dealer as well.

Entering the summer writing competition for Law Review?

1. Read the blog post Writing a Case Note from Law X.0, which discusses how to make a casenote interesting and worthwhile.

2. Take a look at the books Law Review put on reserve: Academic Legal Writing : Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review , Eugene Volokh, KF250 .V6 2007 and Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes, and Law Review Competition Papers, Elizabeth Fajans, Mary R. Falk, KF250 .F35 2005.

3. Try Suffolk's handy online Bluebooking Guide

Obtain federal dockets free via Courtport's FreeCourtDockets.com. Avoid paying up to $2.40 per docket on PACER, which charges 8 cents a page. While dockets are free via FreeCourtDockets, copies of the documents from the case must be purchased via PACER. FreeCourtDockets directly links to PACER so you can purchase the documents.

You can not search for case name, only for docket number. However, you can use Justia dockets, also free, to search for the party name and obtain a docket number for federal district court cases.

You must request an invitation code to access FreeCourtDockets.

For more information, see a review of FreeCourtDockets at Wisblawg. As Wisblawg points out, searching is a little cumbersome, but it is free.

For more information on docket searching, see our research guide, Court Webpages, Dockets and Briefs.

Lexis and Westlaw have topic specific case databases. For example, you can search a database for Ohio criminal justices cases instead of a broader all Ohio state cases database. Using a topical database can make your search results more precise. Subject specific databases help when your search terms can apply to different areas of law. For example, "warrant" may be a search term in a criminal law research question, or a consumer law or securities law question.

There is a slight possibility that a case is not included in the subject specific case database, but should be. Both services use computer algorithms to select cases to include, although there is some human tweaking. The algorithms err on the side of inclusion. Note that the state subject case databases only include state court cases, and you may want to search state courts and federal courts in the state.

If cost is an issue, be aware that subject specific case databases on Westlaw (e.g. Ohio Family Law Cases) usually cost slightly more than the general case law databases (e.g.Ohio Cases). Lexis charges the same price for a search in a subject specific and a general case database.

In summary, if cost and/or getting every possible case is important, you may want to stick with a general case database.

To access subject specific case databases:

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The Workplace Prof Blog has posted a call for papers from the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law (Revue femmes et droit) on the topic “Decent Work for Domestic Workers.” Selected papers will be published in volume 22:2 of the journal. The topic anticipates the adoption by 2011 of an international treaty sponsored by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on decent work for domestic workers. Final papers must be submitted by September 30, 2009.

Back in May, we posted some summer reading suggestions for women in the law. A perfect addition to the list and one definitely not to be missed this summer is Reaching the Bar: Stories from Women at All Stage of Their Law Careers [find it], edited by Robin Sax. The volume collects 25 compelling stories from women in all areas of the legal profession, from the board room to the court room, and from prosecutors to asbestos litigators. What’s more, the book’s an ideal summer read. It won’t weigh you down like your upcoming fall semester armload of casebooks and each vignette is the perfect beach-time distraction.

Image source: http://tinyurl.com/n3w9t6

In recent months, several lawsuits have been filed against Victoria's Secret alleging defective underwear, specifically a chemical toxin that causes severe rashes. Several of the plaintiffs moved to consolidate their cases, to avoid duplication and conflicting pretrial rulings, reduce cost and lead to a more efficient trial. However, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation felt differently. The plan was to file in federal court in Columbus, OH, where Victoria's Secret is headquartered. But last week, the JPML ruled against their petition. The panel stated, "Victoria's Secret sell a vast array of brands, styles, and colors of undergarments, and they are manufactured by various factories with components from various suppliers. Therefore, it is likely that discovery will vary among the actions".

It has been noted that the chemical formaldehyde may be the cause of the rashes. Limited Brands, parent company of Victoria's Secret, had the products tested independently and found that either there were only traces of the chemical or none at all. Prior to the ruling being made, attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were prepared to file over 600 other cases from around the country.

Tweets are serious business, as the impact of Twitter on the Iranian political situation demonstrates so well. Now the folks at Common Craft have created a clever demonstration of the power of Twitter Search in Plain English (thanks to the Law Librarian Blog for the heads up):

The Law & Humanities Blog has posted an announcement from Suffolk University Law School, requesting submissions for a collection of essays on law and justice on television. Interested writers should submit 250 word abstracts by the end of July 2009. Full drafts of the text will be due May 2010. Publication is planned for early 2011, following a blind referee process. Topics for consideration include: