Each year, the Princeton Review puts out the Best 170 Law Schools and the Library just got in the 2008 edition. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find out about us.

Academics

Academic Experience Rating 78
Profs interesting rating 75
Profs accessible rating 79
Hours of study per day 4.59

Academic Specialties

Civil procedure, commercial law,
Corporation securities law,
Criminal law, dispute resolution,
Environmental law, labor law,
Taxation, trial and appellate advocacy

Survey Says...

Diverse opinions accepted in classrooms
Great research resources
Great library staff [sniff!]

And much more. If you want to read all the details, the book will be in the Reserve Room KF266.H744 (ask at the Information Services Desk).

There are several new resources related to this critical issue area that you may find useful:

SUBPRIME-FILING. Use this to retrieve selected trial court filings from both federal and state courts.

Earlier this month the Ohio Supreme Court announced that it has made available to Ohio courts a Foreclosure Mediation Program.

To gain a better perspective on impact related to Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, the CWRU Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has issued Foreclosure and Beyond - A Report on Ownership and Housing Values Following Sheriff’s Sales, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 2000-2007 by Claudia Coulton, Kristen Mikelbank & Michael Schramm.

see U.S. General Accountability Office Report - GAO-08-78R (October 16, 2007,) Information on Recent Default and Foreclosure Trends for Home Mortgages and Associated Economic and Market Developments

<While this issue area was not his main focus, you may also want to listen to remarks by the U.S. Secretary of HUD, Alphonso Jackson, Feb. 22 at the City Club of Cleveland. A podcast of his remarks is available for listening or downloading. (Aside - you can check the list of available podcasts of City Club speakers at Podcasts. Need more info about City Club podcasts? Click here )

The March / April issue of the Faculty Current Awareness Bulletin has been posted. In it, you'll find information on upcoming symposia and conferences, opportunities for scholarly publishing, and a few research notes. The Bulletin comes out six times a year.

Yes, the law has its own vocabulary, and it takes a while for students to comfortably throw around terms that have one meaning in everyday English and a completely different one when expressing a legal concept. Facility comes with complete understanding and incorporation of the underlying issue, so that when you say “ripeness” you aren’t even thinking about fruit. Check out Definition of the Day, a new occasional feature of the Legal Information Institute’s Blog LII Announce, to enhance your vocabulary comprehension: see ripeness and assumption of the risk for example. References to primary authority and links to extended discussion in LII’s online encyclopedia Wex, provide additional opportunity to firm up your legal language skills.

Many of you are probably busily using tags on del.icio.us for sharing and discovering general information on the Web. CiteULike offers the same ability to share your resources with others and find out what others are interested in – but with an academic twist. Whereas del.icio.us is an all-purpose social bookmarking tool for the wide wide Web, CiteULike is designed with students and academics in mind. You’re much less likely to find shopping sites and YouTube videos tagged on CiteULike, and much more likely to find the latest research on computers, science, and even law.

Using social booking applications like CiteULike allows you to keep your online research all in one place while you’re researching and writing, and the “social” aspect allows you to discover what other people find useful on your topic by exploiting the tagging feature.

What makes CiteULike even more attractive for academic users is the site’s ability to automatically draw in the citation information from certain databases [see faq for which ones] directly into your personal CiteULike library. Full disclosure: no, this automatic citation feature unfortunately doesn’t work yet for Lexis and Westlaw, so you’d still have to type the citation information into your personal library. Does this ruin the appeal of CiteULike for law researchers? No, since think of all the legal research that’s done outside of these two traditional legal databases.

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII) reports that the Internal Revenue Service has asked permission to use LII’s version of Title 26 as part of the IRS’ own Tax Products CD/DVD package, distributed to tax preparers, members of Congress, free tax clinics, libraries, IRS officers and others. According to LII, The IRS prefers LII’s version of the tax laws because it is more current and easier to use than the government’s own U.S. Code available from the Government Printing Office’s web site. To make the comparison, see the online version of LII’s Title 26 , and the “How Current Is This” table showing updates through February 19. Then go do your taxes!

American University, Washington College of Law Professor Angela J. Davis’ lecture on Wed. Feb. 27, 2008, 5 p.m., Moot Court Room, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law provides an opportunity to learn more about this timely topic from a speaker who has had experience both as a staff attorney, and also as director of the Washington, D.C. Public Defender Service. Details.

For information about Prof. Davis’ teaching, writings, organizational involvement, honors, and many presentations, see her Faculty Biography at the American University College of Law site .

Many Law students are likely to already be very familiar with: Basic Criminal Procedure, 4^th ed. (with Stephen Saltzburg & Daniel J. Capra) (Thomson/West 2004) KF 9619.3 .S25 2005

However, to “Read More About” the topic discussed in her lecture, go to her recent book of the same title, Arbitrary Justice: The Power of the American Prosecutor (Oxford Univ. Press 2007) KF 9640 .D38 2007 or at least the information at arbitraryjustice.com

For your convenience, click on < More> for links to selected journal articles.

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Attorney Jack Thompson filed motions containing images of a kangaroo court, swastikas and photos of celebrities. The pleadings were filed in a disciplinary case pending against Thompson in the Florida Supreme Court. Thompson went so far as to state the pleading was a children's book, necessary because the Court did not understand his arguments. The Florida Supreme Court issued a show cause order and threatened sanctions for the filing of this pleading, as well as 46 other meritless and abusive filings. Debra Cassens Weiss, Lawyer Could Face Sanctions After Adding Images of Kangaroos, Swastikas to Filing ABA Journal Law News Now, Feb. 22, 2007.

Here is the filing, courtesy of GamePolitics.com. See their post: Did this Document Bring Florida Supreme Court's Wrath Down Upon Jack Thompson?

The NALP, the association for legal career professionals, recently adopted guidelines requiring second and third years to accept summer employment offers within 45 days, or by Dec 30, whichever comes first. Offers can be extended by the firm. Check out the guidelines for more details. For example, the rules are different for firms which have fewer than 40 attorneys. The change is for one year only, but may become permanent. Almost all law schools, and 900 employers are members of NALP. Leigh Jones, Summer Associate Job Offers Must be Accepted in 45 Days, National Law Journal, Feb. 25, 2008.

See NALP Directory of Legal Employers, NALP Directory of Law Schools. You may want to look up Cleveland-Marshall (don't forget the hyphen) for some interesting stats on our school.

If you’re a 1L, chances are CALI has a lesson that could help you study for your classes. CALI lessons are online tutorials created by law professors, attorneys and other legal professionals that are often geared toward understanding specific points of law.

This should give you an idea of what’s available:

Civil Procedure - 21 lessons, including ones on diversity, joinder, jurisdiction and venue, personal jurisdiction, preclusion, and summary judgment.

Contracts – 71 lessons, including ones on acceptance, anticipatory repudiation, consideration, damages, remedies, contract defenses, foreseeability, and good faith.

Criminal Law – 30 lessons, including ones on actus reus, consent, insanity, mens rea, mistake, burden of proof, and self defense.

Property – 70 lessons, including ones on adverse possession, future interests, covenants, equitable servitudes, easements, estate in fee tail, fee simple absolute, inter vivos gifts, causa mortis, joint tenancy, life estate, and the ever favorite rule against perpetuities.

CALI requires registration – but that’s something you took care of during the library portion of orientation, so jump right in.

While classes are canceled campus wide, the Law Library will be open regular hours tomorrow, 8am-11pm . Some parking areas may be closed, please call the CSU Parking department @ 687-2023 as the lot closures may change frequently. If you weren't able to get a ticket for the debate, CSU Residence Life and Student Life, is sponsoring a Debate Watch Party in Fenn Tower room 302 for members of the CSU community only. Doors open @ 8pm and you must show your CSU Viking card. Also, food and drinks will be served and attendees will receive a free debate T-shirt. Enjoy yourself at this historic event on the CSU campus!

The IRS provides numerous free email newsletters that range from tax tips during tax season to year round news for tax professionals. (Thanks to Karen Zima for the tip) For current tax law news, including news on how the economic stimulus package will affect 2007 tax filings and rebates, see A Taxing Matter blog by tax professor Linda Beale. Don't forget that the IRS webpage also has all the current tax forms and instructional publications. For links to states' tax forms, try The Tax Foundation.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the Washington Post, the NFL will permit churches to host big-screen viewings of the Super Bowl, beginning with next year’s game, bowing to Congressional pressure in the form of S. 2591, introduced on February 4, by Senator Arlen Specter. The bill would provide a copyright exemption to certain nonprofit organizations for displays of

“a performance of a professional football contest intended to be received by the general public, originated by a radio or television broadcast station licensed as such by the Federal Communications Commission, or if an audiovisual transmission, by a cable system or satellite radio, if `(i) no direct charge is made to see or hear the transmission or retransmission;`(ii) during the communication no money is accepted or received by the organization; and`(iii) the transmission or retransmission is not further retransmitted by the establishment where the transmission or retransmission is received.”

See prior post. Amen.

The Library has just received these new study aids. All will be available in room AO66. If you’re super quick on checking them out, you might need to ask for them at the Information Services Desk.

From the Kaplan PMBR “Core Concepts and Key Questions” series:
Evidence KF8935.Z9 E853 2007
Conflict of Laws KF412 .C66 2007
Corporations KF1414 .C694 2007
Remedies KF9016 .R45 2007

And these others:
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: With Resources for Study KF8816 .A19417
Property (Sum + Substance Exam Pro Series) KF570 .Z9 W45 2007
Questions & Answers: Civil Procedure KF8841 .D67 2003

On Feb. 19, President Bush met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame to sign a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) that would guarantee legal protection for investors in this small east-central African nation. According to a White House Fact Sheet, this is the first BIT concluded between the U.S. and a Sub-Saharan African country since 1998. The signed treaty will enter into force following ratification by the U.S. Senate and the Rwandan Parliament.

The CIA World Factbook states that coffee and tea are Rwanda’s primary trade commodities, but this Jan. 28 article from AllAfrica.com states that the tourism industry overtook the coffee and tea industries in 2007 as the country’s top foreign currency earner. The mountain gorillas are one of the major ecotourism attractions in Rwanda.

You can find more information on the U.S.-Rwandan BIT through the Library’s subscription to BNA International Trade Reporter, including in this overview article [on-campus IP access, otherwise requires authentication].

Times Square street musician the Naked Cowboy sued M&M Mars Inc. for trademark infringement (Lanham Act). The suit is based on a commercial where a blue M&M is dressed in briefs, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, and is playing a guitar in Times Square. Dan Slater,Naked Cowboy's Lawsuit Drives M&M Outta Dodge The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Feb. 15, 2008. Justia Dockets provides free basic information on the case, as well as a link to the PACER federal court docket. A Boolean search of the trademark registration database, TESS , for owner name = "Burck, Robert John" yields two registered trademarks.

From yesterday's Legislative History research seminar, here are a few tips:

1. Be sure to check out the library's newly revised Legislative History Research Guide, which contains lots of how-tos on both federal and state legislative history research.

2. Some legislative history documents have more persuasive authority than others. See Chart - Most Persuasive Legislative History Documents, in Order. A recent article advocates that conference reports and committee reports are the only reliable legislative history documents. See Law Librarian Blog, Professional Reading: Should Some Forms of Legislative History be Excluded During Judicial Review?

3. Try to find a compiled legislative history, which are available for major legislation.

4. You will use different sources to locate legislative history for older (generally, pre-1969) acts than newer acts. The research guide sets out the Steps for both old and new acts.

5. Pending legislation can be tracked automatically by GovTrack.us (free) or by setting up a saved search of a bill tracking database on Lexis or Westlaw.

An online version of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is available for purchase. Online order form. The cost is $25 for the first year and $15 for each additional year. Up to three years can be ordered for this price. Thanks to The Legal Writing Prof Blog, Online Bluebook Feb. 19, 2007.

For free citation information on the web, see Basic Legal Citation via LII. You may also find handy Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.

Science works its way into a surprising number of legal cases, and lawyers aren’t always ready to handle some of the most basic scientific information. Eric Drogin’s new book Science for Lawyers K487 .S3 S255 2008 can help scientifically-challenged JDs tackle the fundamentals of ballistics, chemistry, computer forensics, engineering, genetics, medicine, physics, statistics, even linguistics and dentistry. Drogin promises that the book will be “[a] non-threatening, even absorbing, half-hour read on the train to work” that will “reacquaint counsel….with dimly recalled undergraduate survey topics often comprising a personal list of “reasons I didn’t go to medical school.””

So go ahead -- relish the fact that you chose law school over med school and grab this book when in [scientific] doubt.

The Library has just received these following titles from the Kaplan PMBR “Core Concepts and Key Questions” series. All copies are located in room AO66 and are available for check out.

Criminal Law KF9219.85 .C75 2007
Criminal Procedure KF9619.85 .C75 2007
Property KF573 .Z9 P8 2007
Torts KF1250 .Z9 T653 2007
Wills KF755 .Z9 W555 2007

Check out this video of a lecture on interviewing techniques by Professor Gregory Wells Bowman of the Mississippi College School of Law. He covers resumes, story-telling (the truthful kind!) and research on employers. Prof. Bowman is the author of the Law Career Blog.

Source: Law Career Blog - Interviewing Techniques Talk

The latest free case law databases:

1. The Public Library of Law by Fastcase contains the case law of all states, 1997 to present, all Supreme Court decisions and Circuit Court decisions from 1950 to present. There are handy links to other websites containing state statutes, court rules, the Code of Federal Regulations and more. Public Law Library's U.S. Code is the official version of the code, which is published every six years. The Public Law Library does not have an update feature like Cornell's U.S. Code. Prior versions of the official U.S. Code are available back to 1988. Don't get too excited about the forms section - the forms are all for a fee. Thanks to Wisblawg- Public Library of Law Gathers Free State & Federal Law - Cases, Statutes, Regs, Etc.

2. Justia is not new, but has recently added Federal Appellate decisions from 1950 forward, complete with F.2d and F.3d cites. (Thanks to Wisblawg - Free Federal Case Law (F.2d and F.3d) Available on Justia)

3. PACER Recycling Center - Access PACER documents (Federal court documents) donated by others. There are not many documents in the Recycling Center at the moment, it is somewhat difficult to use, and it does not contain dockets. Try Justia Dockets, which has dockets and a limited amount of documents. (Thanks to Wisblawg- Recycled PACER Documents Available at No Cost.)

4. PreCYdent contains cases in the public domain, including U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of appeals cases from 2004 to 2008. Recent state cases will be added. The site will also contain legal documents uploaded by the site’s registered users. Registration is free. PreCYdent has a unique search algorithm which hopes to enable people to search for legal precedent with a Google-like search of just a few words. There is also an advanced search using boolean operators, field searches and date restrictions. The site is in the very early stages of development. Thanks to LexLibris - PreCYdent: New Public-Domain Law Search Engine

Also, see our prior post regarding: Altlaw. As the comment below states, Altlaw now contains appeals decisions back to 1950. It also now has all U.S. Supreme Court cases and Boolean search capability.

The Law Library will be CLOSED, Monday, February 18th in observance of President's Day. We will be open regular semester hours on Saturday, February 16th, 9am-8pm and Sunday, February 17th, Noon-11pm.

Thanks to Joe Hodnicki of the Law Librarian Blog, we now know there is an actual reasonable man:

More than thirty years ago, some enterprising C-M students made a classic film of Palsgraf v. The Long Island Railway Company. Alas, attempts to locate a copy have not been successful. Perhaps it is time for a remake?

Cleveland Marshall's Democratic Law Organization (D-LO) held a very informative presentation today highlighting the similarities and differences between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. For those who missed it, check out D-LO's powerpoint presentation. At the end of the presentation, links for more information are provided. There are links such as 2decide.com ,an independent source with information on both Democrat and Republican candidates.

Professor S. Candice Hoke spoke concerning how you can make sure your vote counts. One suggestion for absentee ballots was to find out how your signature is registered at the Board of Elections. For example, you may use your initial or spell out your first name. If the signature on your absentee ballot does not match the signature on file with the Board of Elections, your ballot can be rejected.

You may also want to look at Judge4Yourself.com ,which has ratings of the candidates for judicial office running in the 2008 contested Democratic primaries. (All the Republican candidates for judicial office have no opposition) Local bar associations surveyed their members to obtain the ratings.

Governor Ted Strickland issued a new Executive Order Feb.12th to implement Common Sense Business Regulation in Ohio. The press release 2008-04S and the text of the order 2008-04S list a number of fairly significant new guidelines for state agencies to follow as they review their regulations, and as they draft and prepare to submit any to JCARR. Rules under the regular 5-year review will be examined in view of these standards, with some rules likely to be reviewed sooner.

Creating this "more efficient and effective regulatory environment" should make Ohio a more attractive place in which to do business. The announcement mentioned Governor Strickland's noting that "Regulations for conducting business in Ohio exist to promote health, safety, and economic vitality."

According to the Report in the Gongwer News Service the development is a product of collaborative work of business leaders and the Governor's special representative on regulatory reform, Scott North.

Current rules: Ohio Administrative Code

Last night, Harvard University’s Arts and Sciences faculty voted to adopt a policy that requires faculty to submit their research to an open-access repository maintained by the university library. The text of the Harvard policy is posted at the Open Access News blog. News coverage of the move is available here [Chronicle of Higher Education] and here [New York Times].

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has already launched a free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature called PubMed Central. The European Research Council has likewise released its Guidelines for Open Access.

CSU’s Center for Election Integrity is in the forefront of making Ohio the national leader in transparent, legal, efficient, and accurate elections. Transport the Center for Election Integrity to Russia, and there’s a good chance it might be shut down, along with the entire Cleveland State University.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports today that a Russian court in St. Petersburg closed down the European University of St. Petersburg [more on university], citing fire code violations. As the article points out, the University was targeted for political reasons under President Vladimir Putin. See Russian Court Shuts Down University That Offered Politically Sensitive Courses.

Concerns about election monitoring are far from being unique to Ohio. The European University of St. Petersburg conducted research on elections and offered a course on election law. The University also offered courses on human rights and democratic institutions. Russia’s presidential election is coming up on March 2^nd.

C-M Law students interested in learning more about law in Russia have the opportunity to attend the St. Petersburg Summer Law Institute in Russia from June 30 – July 26, 2008. [more]

"Right Star Rising: American Politics and the Limits of Leadership in the 1970s" - A lecture by University of California Santa Barbara History Professor Laura Kalman, Feb. 12, 5:00 p.m., Moot Court Room, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Event Information

Books by Prof. Kalman (and if the Law Library copy is out, you know how to click on OhioLINK to locate other copies):

Yale Law School and the Sixties: Revolt and Reverberations (Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Pr., 2005) KF 292 .Y314 A55 2005

The Strange Career of Legal Liberalism (New Haven: Yale Univ. Pr., 1996) KF 4552 .K35 1996

Abe Fortas: A Biography (New Haven: Yale Univ. Pr., 1990). KF 8745 .F65 K35 1990

Legal Realism at Yale, 1927 – 1960 (Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Pr., 1986). KF 292 .Y314 K35 1986

To learn a little more about Prof. Kalman, consider checking a few of her journal articles (available on HeinOnline):

 (More)

Searching for recent CLE materials on ethics, office management, family law, estate planning or other topics? Try the library’s revised Ohio CLE page. Alumni can borrow these materials with an Alumni Borrower’s Card.

***All prizes have been won, but you can try the contest for fun and research practice!********

Try out your research skills on this short Valentine's Day-themed research challenge. The first seven people to submit correct answers to the information services desk, in person or by email to sue.altmeyer@law.csuohio.edu, will win a free bag of treats. Prizes must be picked up in person at the information services desk. I will indicate on this post when all the prizes have been won.

1. In Ohio, is a husband who gives an engagement ring to his wife-to-be entitled to the ring back if the marriage is annulled? Cite a case for your conclusion.

2. European Convention on Human Rights, Article 12 asserts a right to marriage. Find the European Court of Human Rights case which held that the United Kingdom’s denial of a marriage to a father-in-law and daughter-in-law was a violation of Article 12.

3. Find the Florida divorce case which held that the trial court erred in awarding custody of a dog and visitation rights to the dog, because a dog is personal property and must be awarded by property division.

4. In BNA’s Family Law Reporter, what two cases are cited in the most recent index, for the topic of premarital agreements?

5. Find the 2004 case where singer Mariah Carey was sued for copyright infringement based upon a love song she (and others) composed and performed.

Thanks to Jessica Mathewson, Amy Burchfield, Laura Ray and Kevin Garewal for their help with this quiz.

Check out this fantastic collection of historical photos posted by the Library of Congress to Flickr. LC invites Flickr fans to post tags and comments about the photos and plenty of folks already have. Law-related photos include these of the U.S Supreme Court building here, and here.

Research and writing for seminar papers and notes doesn’t have to be a painful process. Here are a couple tips from this week’s Scholarly Writing research seminar that might help you out this semester.

1. Keep a Research Log
“Uhhhh, where did I read that argument that could so support this point in my paper?” If you keep a detailed research log, you won’t be searching far and wide for the answer.

2. Gather Your Sources Early
“Hmm, I ordered all this great stuff from another library, but it hasn’t come yet.” Fact is, OhioLINK and interlibrary loan (ILL) can take time to arrive, so identify the sources you need quickly. Plus that saves you more time for writing.

3. Avoid Plagiarism
“But I didn’t mean to plagiarize!” Sorry, that one doesn’t cut it – there’s no need for intent in plagiarism. To get the details, see Avoiding Plagiarism.

4. Footnote, Footnote
“That law review article has how many footnotes?” They’re everywhere, and frankly, you can’t get enough of them.

5. Get a Second Opinion
“So, do you think this section needs some work?” This isn’t the time to be shy about sharing your work with others and asking for their honest feedback.

If you think your interview did not go well, listen to this one: Two attorneys set up fake interviews to pump a former judicial clerk for information on the possible bias of the judge. Using fake identities, they interviewed the clerk for an in-house counsel position at a fictitious multinational corporation. (Could research on the company have revealed the sham?) When the interview did not yield the information the lawyers hoped, they used a tape of the interview to threaten the former law clerk into making a sworn statement against the judge. During the interview, the law clerk disclosed that he had submitted a character letter in his bar application written by someone who did not know him. Besides the threats, the attorneys conducted surveillance of the law clerk after the interviews.

The attorneys who conducted the fake interviews were disbarred. Sheri Qualters, Two Lawyers Disbarred for Plot to Dupe Former Law ClerkNational Law Journal, Feb. 8, 2008; In the Matter of Kevin P. Curry, No. SJC-09904 (Mass.), In the Matter of Gary C. Crossen, No. SJC-09905 (Mass.)

Most legal researchers know it is perfectly good form to start one’s hunt for legal authority with a legal encyclopedia, but it is almost never good form to cite to one, not so much because the information isn’t to be trusted, but because the purpose of using it in the first place is to find primary authority. But Wikipedia is a different sort of animal, like more scholarly, edited, and established general or subject specific encyclopedias, it is often a starting place for information and background that should be verified or expanded with further research. Curiously, though, according to a recent ABA Site-tation blog, Wikipedia is “gaining a place in American Jurisprudence,” citing a recent New York Times article Courts Turn to Wikipedia, but Selectively, documenting the phenomenon of judicial opinion Wikipedia references. Wikipedia itelf provides a table of documents used in legal proceedings citing Wikipedia dating back to 2003, including European Union, Canadian, Australian, and German matters as well as U.S. cases.

You know you love it -- the blood, the gore, the autopsies, the DNA investigations.

If you're a fan of forensics, come join the Journal of Law and Heath and the Criminal Law Society this evening at 5:00 p.m. to hear the Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank P. Miller speak on the topic "The Role of Forensic Science in Suspicious Death Investigations." The event will take place in the Moot Court Room of the Law School.

Don't worry, you'll be home in time to catch tonight's episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation at 9.

Disturbing news stories have been pouring out of this east African country since the start of the tribal unrest following the Dec. 27, 2007 presidential elections. To catch up on the recent events, see the New York Times’ Times Topics page for Kenya, which provides an overview of the situation and brings together recent archived news stories.

To learn more about Kenya, try Portals To The World from the Library of Congress, which includes a section on Kenyan Government, Politics, and Law. More legal information about Kenya can be found at GlobaLex and WorldLII, see in particular Researching Kenyan Law [GlobaLex] and WorldLII’s Kenya page.

The situation in Kenya raises various human rights concerns, which are summarized on the country pages at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. To find out what human rights treaties apply to Kenya and how the country has followed up on its reporting obligations, see bayefsky.com.

For an example of the use of a blog for a law school class, see Prof. Douglas Berman's Legislation Course (at) Moritz College of Law. Professor Berman uses the blog to discuss legal issues as well class requirements. Source: Using Blogs Instead of Propriety eCourse Management Services, Law Librarian Blog.

While Prof. Berman's blog can be viewed by the public, blogs can be set up to be exclusive to class members. Students can comment and ask questions anonymously, which may encourage student questions. Discussion lists on TWEN, Lexis Course Pages and Web CT are another option. TWEN, Blackboard and Web CT also offer anonymity features.

There has been some controversy of late over a professor giving students course credit for writing posts on the professor's blog. See Should Law Profs Require Student Blog Participation?, Law Librarian Blog.

Because of the recent economic downturn, some predict that firms will cut back on hiring new law graduates. See Some Law School Grads Don't Go the Firm Route Lawjobs.com, Feb. 4, 2008. This article predicts that, as a result, recent grads will take more nontraditional jobs in business, financial planning, real estate and politics. More information on alternative legal careers.

According to Robert Half Legal, a legal staffing company, students with experience in a specific practice area are highly sought. Robert Half Legal offers a free 2008 Salary Guide. (Thanks to Stark County Law Library Blog)

Ursula Furi-Perry, How Much Will You Earn? National Jurist, Jan. 2008 includes a chart of new graduate's average salary by law school. More information on salaries: Firm Statistics and Salary Charts by Findlaw; National Compensation Survey (scroll down to Get Detailed NCS -Wages Statistics - Create Customized Tables); Survey of Law Firm Economics by Altman Weil.

Ohio 127th General Assembly HB 248 would allow companies to provide advances to persons with a pending civil claim, if the person is represented by an attorney. In exchange, the company would receive a right to a percentage of the recovery in the civil action. If the person loses their case, they do not have to pay the legal funding company anything. The House Civil & Commercial Law Committee will consider the bill on Wednesday. (House Committee Schedule). Source: House Bill Would Allow Legal Funding Advances in Ohio , Gongwer News, Feb. 1, 2008.

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