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CMLawLibraryBlog

The CM Law Library Blog seeks to inform the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law community about key legal education, research, practice, and law library news, with a particular focus on Cuyahoga County and Ohio as well as faculty research interests.

Five Tips for Writing Better Papers

Amy Burchfield, Access & Faculty Services Librarian amy.burchfield@law.csuohio.edu | February 08, 2008 - 13:58

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.


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Attorneys Used Fake Interviews to Get Info From Former Clerk

Sue Altmeyer, Electronic Services Librarian, sue.altmeyer@law.csuohio.edu | February 08, 2008 - 10:54

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.)


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An Encyclopedia by Any Other Name is Still...Wikipedia in Court?

Jan Novak, Associate Director jan.novak@law.csuohio.edu | February 08, 2008 - 09:30

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.


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