CMLawLibraryBlog

According to SoYouWanttobeaLawClerk.com, 3Ls and 4Ls need to start planning now for your federal clerkship application. You can apply to judges who do not use the OSCAR system now. Check Clerkship Vacancies on the SYWTBALC site to see which judges do not use OSCAR. OSCAR system applications are due September 3, 2008, but you need to ask professors now to write a recommendation letter for you. You will need to submit electronic requests for recommendation letters and OSCAR will electronically invite the people you specify to log onto the system and create and upload letters of recommendation. Be sure to gather up your transcript, cover letter, etc. and upload them to OSCAR before the deadline.

Also see Judicial Clerkship Handbook (MS Word File) from our Career Services Office, which has information on federal and state clerkships.

For information about federal judges, take a look at the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, in the first floor reference area of the library, KF8700.A19A4, which contains attorneys' evaluations of the judges and other biographical information.

I hesitate to post this during exam period, but here goes.

Check out yesterday’s post by blogger Aaron Schmidt from Walking Paper on no babies in the library. It’s worth a click, if only for the über-cute baby pic.

But the point he makes is a good one, too: if we wouldn’t think of banning a crying baby from a library, then why are we so apt to ban cell phones? Both, he points out, are occasionally loud disrupters of library patrons.

This prompted me to pull out a copy of the C-M Law Library’s Patron Code of Conduct to look up any pertinent information. It states: “Please be respectful of those who are trying to study. We recommend you leave the library if you need to talk to anyone on a cellular phone.”

With our middle-of-the-road cell phone policy in mind, I hope the library is a pleasant place for studying during this exam period.

The May / June issue of the Faculty Current Awareness Bulletin is now available. The Bulletin is published six times a year and provides information on upcoming conferences and symposia, calls for papers, and useful research and Library news.

Last night on 60 Minutes (April 27, 2008), Justice Scalia was interviewed by Lesley Stahl. If you missed it, you may want to see the video of the interview for a number of unexpectedly candid statements on both his personal life and his work.

Justice Scalia also discussed his new book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges (St. Paul: West Group, 2008, ISBN 0314184716 ). Scalia's co-author is Bryan A. Garner, the Editor-in-Chief of Black’s Law Dictionary, as well as other titles on language and law. The Law Library has Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges on order.

Despite a $7 billion capital infusion, National City's troubles are far from over. Since the first of the year, shareholders and employees have been filing lawsuits against the company in the Federal District Court, Northern District of Ohio. The lawsuits are of three different types: (1) A securities class action, alleging that the company issued false and misleading financial statements. (2) Shareholder derivative suits filed by representatives of the company on behalf of the shareholders, asserting that executives harmed the company. These suits are more about seeking corporate reforms than recovering money. (3) Suits by employees claiming that company executives violated their duties as pension plan fiduciaries by misleading employees as to the financial strength of the company.

The suits are consolidated under National City Corporation Securities, Derivative & ERISA Litigation, Case No. 1:2008cv07000, before Judge Patricia A. Gaughan. For a copy of the docket, current as of this morning, see natlcitydocket.pdf . More information on the case can be obtained via the court's ECF system, with a PACER account.

Source: Jay Miller, Lawsuits Still Nat City Thorn Crain's Cleveland Business, Apr. 28, 2008 (available from their site with password - password available at the reference desk. Will soon be available on LexisNexis).

On May 3rd, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will enter into force, joining the ranks of the now eight core U.N. international human rights instruments [full list of instruments here]. The purpose of the treaty is to “protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity” (Article 1).

Some of the rights protected in the treaty include:

• Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (Article 16)
• Right to respect physical and mental integrity (Article 17)
• Freedom of expression and opinion (Article 21)
• Respect for privacy (Article 22)
• Right to adequate standard of living (Article 28)

The Convention also includes an Optional Protocol, which establishes a system that allows individuals with complaints of violations under the Convention to lodge ‘communications’ with a monitoring Committee.

The U.S. has not signed the Convention – no surprises there. The State Department's position statement on the Convention explains why. See this map to find out which countries are State Parties or signatories.

The United Nations Enable page provides details on development, history and news about the new Convention.

Congress is close to passing milestone legislation concerning genetic bias and employment discrimination known as GINA, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. The Senate voted unanimously last week to pass the bill and the same is expected in the House this week. The bill, H.R. 493, bars insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums due to an individuals' genetic information. Employers are also barred from using genetic information in their hiring and firing practices. The bill applies to those who have the RISK of disease but do not already have it. For obvious reasons, employers are not pleased, even though anyone choosing to sue must first get approval from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While insurers can not deny coverage due to genetic risks, rates for those seeking their own insurance coverage will still be determined by pre-existing health conditions.

Would you like summer access to LexisNexis and Westlaw, even if you’re graduating and studying for the bar? No worries, if you meet the eligibility requirements, it can be done!

For LexisNexis, all eligible students (including graduating students) should register before June 1st. To do so, after logging on to LexisNexis, click on the box in the middle column of information when it displays “Summer Access...” At the next page, click on “Summer Access Registration.” At the next page, complete the required information and indicate your legitimate reason for summer access. Legitimate reasons are: Summer School, School-Related Research Assignment, Moot Court Research, Law Review or Journal Research, Working as a Professor’s Research Assistant, Non-Profit Externship, Unpaid Internship/Externship, and Bar Review.

For Westlaw, non-graduating eligible students should register before June 1st. To do so, after logging on to Westlaw, click on “Learn More” in the “Does your summer forecast call for Westlaw?” box in the middle column of information. At the next page, indicate your legitimate reason for summer access. Legitimate reasons are: Summer law school classes, Law Review and Journal work, Project for a professor, Moot Court, and Unpaid non-profit public interest internship/externship or pro bono work required for graduation. Graduating students should have already received an email from Westlaw notifying them of their eligibility for five hours of access in both June and July (ie, a total of ten hours). Within this email you are asked to complete a survey to register for access. Please note! If you have received such an email from Westlaw and are not graduating, click on the link provided in the email to notify Westlaw of its error.

Steve Shellhorn, of Seattle, was recently sued for giving NEUTRAL feedback for a purchase he made on EBay. Mr. Shellhorn purchased some Silver dollar coins from a seller in North Carolina. When the purchase arrived, the coins were placed in an envelope, without any additional packing. The seller requested feedback. While the price was fair, the packaging was sub par, so Mr. Shellhorn gave neutral feedback. Next thing he knows he is being sued for $10,000 for tarnishing the seller's reputation. The case was eventually tossed but not without Mr. Shellhorn having to spend another $500 hiring an attorney. Interesting tidbit about the seller...he is a wanted man in North Carolina.

This parody of "Project Runway" made me laugh out loud. Join advocates Chris, Jillian, Romy and Christian (he's so fierce!) to find out who is guilty, and who is not.

Thanks to Jan Novak and the Law Librarian Blog.

Earth Day is *officially* over, ho-hum. But summer clerkships are right around the corner, just past exams. I know – the link between the two thoughts seems tenuous, at best.

But actually, those two thoughts are related. The ABA’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources is hosting a Law Office Climate Challenge in conjunction with the EPA to encourage law offices to go green. Law offices can participate in three environmentally-friendly programs – WasteWise, Green Power, and ENERGY STAR.

So, is your summer clerkship firm up to the challenge? Find out here on the “Partners and Leaders” list. The Cleveland office of Porter Wright made the cut, as did a couple other Ohio firms. But IMHO, the Buckeye State is fairly under-represented on the Climate Challenge leader board. So could you work on that this summer while you’re clerking? Thnx.

What do you hate about The Bluebook? ("everything" is not an option). Now you have a chance to offer input into revisions for the upcoming 19th Edition: the editors invite you to complete a Web-based Bluebook 19th Edition Questionnaire to express your opinions about the changes you would like to see. Surveys must be received by June 30th, and respondents are eligible for a prize drawing. For a paper or electronic copy of the survey, email editor@legalbluebook.com. You can also email comments to suggestions@legalbluebook.com.

The City Club Forum on Friday, May 2, 2008 will feature Cleveland-Marshall Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Phyllis L. Crocker, speaking on The Rule of Law: Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity, about fairness issues and Ohio’s death penalty. Information and Reservations. The City Club is at Euclid Ave. & E. 9^th, and in case you weren’t aware, it has student memberships . See CityClub.org

Dean Crocker headed the ABA team that produced the comprehensive report Evaluating Fairness and Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems: The Ohio Death Penalty Assessment Report, An Analysis of Ohio’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices (2007). The 495 page report is available electronically.

Bar Association Law Day is in partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (recently formed by the merging of the Cleveland and the Cuyahoga County Bar Associations).

Working on an appellate brief ? Be sure to consider the standard of review, and how it can work in your side's favor. Read why the standard of review is so important, and how it can help your client in "A Thought on Standard of Review" by the Drug and Device Law Blog.

This post sites to a handy Standards of Review Outline, written by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Even if you are working on a case for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, or a state court of appeals, the outline is still useful. Just look up the Ninth Circuit cases cited in the outline on Lexis or Westlaw, and find the corresponding Westlaw Key Number or Lexis Headnote. If you are not sure how to do this, just ask a research librarian for help.

The library staff can also point you to other helpful resources, such as the handy tables in LexisNexis® 19-206 Moore's Federal Practice - Civil § 206.08 , (also available in print) or LexisNexis® 1-6 Appellate Practice and Procedure in Ohio § 6.02, Section 8 (also available in print). or OH. App. Prac. Appendix G (2007-2008 ed.) (also available in print).

Thanks to the Legal Writing Professor Blog for pointing out the Drug and Device Law Blog post.

What is the C-M Law faculty writing about these days? A lot.

Try labor law, international law, capital punishment, bioethics, or antitrust immunity. Or predatory lending, cybermedicine and data protection, citizenship and immigration, or genetics and sexual orientation. Or race and freedom of expression, Black rights in Canada, or integration in the schools.

The Faculty Publications database provides full-text links to Lexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline, SSRN, and free online sources for faculty scholarship. Search features allow you to pull up forthcoming works or works in progress, or to search by author, subject or publication type. New articles, books and other works are always being added to the database, so it’s an up-to-date resource for C-M Law faculty writing.

Have you ever had to trace the legislative history of a federal law? Ever wonder if there was an easier way to do it? Well, there is a resource called the U.S. Serial Set that has been digitized by Lexis and Readex to help with the researching process. The Lexis Serial Set covers 1789-1969, while Readex covers 1819-1940 (they are currently updating their materials to the year 1980.) The Serial Set contains Committee Reports, House and Senate Documents and Journals and other publications.

The Lexis advanced search option allows you to search a number of resources at once including: Committee Prints (1830-current), CRS Reports (1916-2003), Hearings (1824- current), House and Senate Documents (1970-2003) & Committee Reports (1819-current), Legislative Histories (1969-current), Serial Set, and Serial Set Maps. Lexis markets each of these components individually for purchase.

The Readex databases includes: America’s Historical Newspapers, American State Papers 1789-1838, House and Senate Journals 1789-1817, Senate Executive Journals 1789-1866, US Serial Set, Serial Set Maps.

If you are interested in trying these materials just click on the links below. (However, there is no remote or wireless access for these materials at this time.)

The Law Library is currently evaluating both resources. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact me at kevin.garewal@law.csuohio.edu. If you would like to take a short survey, which would help us evaluate the sources please click here.

Readex Serial Set


Lexis Serial Set (click on advanced search at the top and select the search options you would like to try.)

According to an article in the Washington Post, new DNA tests are now able to detect the minutest details of a person. It's beyond determining whose blood is at a crime scene. They claim they can now tell the psychological state of a person and if there are biological factors that predispose them to violence, possibly leading to a "DNA defense". The DNA tests may also play a role in determining amounts awarded in civil cases based on life expectancy of the plaintiff.

DNA may explain why someone committed a crime, but it does not it excuse it. The tests will probably play a role in sentencing. While these tests are not admissible yet, they will raise some interesting challenges to the legal profession in the future.

So next you get pulled over, use the "DNA defense"..."But officer, according to my DNA, I have lead in my right foot...I can't help but speed"...Good Luck with that one!

Darby Dickerson, Dean of Stetson University College of Law and author of the ALWD Citation Manual, offers her take on the relative importance of correct citation form in a new article, Reducing Citation Anxiety. Claiming that solid research, writing and analysis trump citation in significance, she offers ten tips or guidelines to help the legal writer keep the fears of citing incorrectly in perspective. She argues for a reasonableness standard, and a balancing of the utility of spending too much time on form over substance. Tip #7 should resonate: "Accept that you will never find the answer to every citation question in a citation manual. Legal citation is an art, not a science." (p.91).

Dickerson, Darby, "Reducing Citation Anxiety" . Scribes Journal, Vol. 11, No. 85, 2007 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1117085

Want to send your vote directly to your Senator or Congressperson? Govit allows you to vote on pending legislation important to you and to send your vote to your representative in Congress. You can also track voting on a bill by other Govit users and your Representative. Additional information about the bill includes the sponsor and co-sponsors, their voting behavior and contributors to their campaigns.

Other sites that track bills thomas.gov.bill summary, GPO Access-Legislative or review our Legislative History Research Guide. These three links can provide access to legislative history documents, such as Committee Reports and the Congressional Record.

The Law Library will have extended hours during Reading/Exam period, beginning Wednesday, April 23 through Wednesday, May 7th. Hours are as follows...

Monday-Thursday-8am-Midnight

Friday-8am-10pm

Saturday-9am-10pm

Sunday-Noon-Midnight

Please note...Thursday, May 8th we will be open 8am-9pm and Friday May 9th from 8am-6pm.

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Study Rooms-The Law Library has 9 study rooms. Rooms are reserved at the Information Services Desk. Rooms may also be reserved in advance, 72 hrs in person and 24 hrs via phone. There must be 2 or more students in order to reserve a room. Only law students may reserve rooms. We strongly suggest you reserve the rooms in advance during exam season.

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Study Aids---If you are in need of some study aids, Nutshells, Hornbooks or Examples & Explanations, take a look in room A066 located on the Atrium level. All of the materials will circulate. We also keep the most recent editions, on reserve at the Information Services Desk, however reserve materials do not circulate. For additional resources, check out our Exam Prep Guide.

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Good Luck With Finals & Enjoy Your Summer!

The Journal of Law and Health presented its 2007-2008 Awards at its annual banquet on April 13th. Also announced were the student Notes selected for publication in the 2008-2009 academic year. Congratulations to all of you!

Awards:

• Editor of the Year - Donald Bulea
• Associates of the Year - Jana Pavlic and Kathryn Kramer

Student Notes accepted for publication:

• Barbara Tyler Best Note Award - Joel Juan Tovanche - Dying to Wait: How the Abigail Court Got It Wrong
• Amy Chaho - To Pay or Not to Pay: Medicare and the Preventable Adverse Event: A Rational Decision of Dangerous Philosophical Change?
• Shannon Folger - The Neglect of the Umbilical Cord: Ohio's Failure to Adequately Promote Banking of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells and the Need for New Legislation
• Kathryn Kramer - Shifting and Seizing: A Call to Reform Ohio's Outdated Restrictions on Drivers with Epilepsy
• Jana Pavlic - Reverse Pre-empting the Federal Arbitration Act: Alleviating the Arbitration Crisis in Nursing Homes

In honor of Earth Day, here’s a list of five useful resources for researching environmental law available at C-M Law Library:

• BNA Environment Reporter (password or IP access)
  Great for current awareness – super up-to-date.

• Environmental Law Handbook KF3775 .E473
  In-depth resource.

• Treatise on Environmental Law KF3775 .G7
  In-depth resource.

• Environmental Law in a Nutshell KF3775.Z9 F56 2008
  An easy overview.

• Environmental Law Resource Guide
  Leads you to many more sources.

Just for fun, try taking the Ecological Footprint Quiz. You might be surprised at your results!

If you’re researching in the area of human rights, you’ll definitely want to consult human rights reports. These reports, conducted by governmental entities or major non-governmental organizations, document human rights conditions in all countries worldwide. In them, you’ll find country-specific information on topics such as torture, extrajudicial killing, disappearances, unlawful detention, prison conditions, freedom of speech, human trafficking, rights of women and children, freedom of religion, child soldiers, and more. Some reports broadly describe conditions in a country, while others discuss particular instances of human rights violations with some detail, complete with names and places of incidents.

Three major sources for human rights reports are the U.S. Department of State, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. All three base their reports generally on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The State Department submits its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices annually to Congress in compliance with sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA). Its 2007 report was released in March. Archived reports are available online back to 1999.

Unlike the State Department, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch include the United States in the list of countries reported. Both AI’s 2007 report and Human Rights Watch’s 2008 World Report on the United States discuss Guantánamo, torture and other ill-treatment, military commissions, domestic prisons, death penalty, and other topics.

For a basic background on human rights, check out International Human Rights in a Nutshell.

The University of Chicago's Law School Dean Saul Levmore instituted a policy of shutting off access to the Internet in classrooms, according to a report in the National Law Journal. Finding faculty requests that students refrain from surfing while learning weren't getting the desired level of voluntary compliance, he resorted to blocking wired and wireless access.
"It got a lot easier when I found I had technology on my side," he said.

Lexis Hub was created for new attorneys and law students. You don't need a Lexis account to use the Hub. The site includes:

• Career Guidance: webinars and articles
• Legal Research tutorials and webinars
• Subject Matter Tutorials
• Discussion Boards
• Legal News Feeds

Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's lethal injection method does not violate the 8th Amendment. Baze v. Rees, No. 07-5439 (Apr. 16, 2008). Ohio's lethal injection method is similar to Kentucky's. The Baze decision may resolve a federal lawsuit filed by Ohio death row inmates, claiming that Ohio's lethal injection method is unconstitutional. There is also a Lorain County case pending where the trial judge is determining whether the lethal injection process amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Death penalty opponents argue that Baze does not address mistakes in the injection process that have prolonged executions. See Reginald Fields, Ohioans React to Lethal Injection Ruling , The Plain Dealer, Apr. 17, 2008, Alan Johnson, Lethal Injection Gets Go-Ahead Columbus Dispatch, Apr. 17, 2008. Reginald Fields, Supreme Court upholds Kentucky's Lethal Injection Process; Clears Way for Ohio to Move Forward with Executions.,Openers Political Blog.

For more information on the federal suit challenging Ohio's death penalty, see More Inmates Challenge Lethal Injection, Cleveland Law Library Blog.

See our prior post: Ohio Death Penalty News

Adjunct Professor Alan Rossman will speak about the case on Tuesday April 22, from noon to one, LB 202. The lunch presentation is open to the first 30 C-M students/faculty/staff who RSVP to Jason Grimes by Monday.

Looking for something legal-like to add to your Facebook profile? For fun, try Legal IQuiz, a user-generated trivia quiz on the categories Supreme Court, criminal law, torts, minutia & miscellaneous, and the law in TV & movies. It’s kinda hard.

For research, you can add PreCYdent, a new open-source legal search engine / database that Sue blogged about here. PreCYdent gives you a nice, simple search box, and tabs up top to limit your search to a specific category of results. But instead of the typical tabs for searching web, images, video, shopping, etc., you get search tabs for opinions, statutes, GPO, uploaded documents, legal questions and others. It’s kinda cool.

When nonprofits are filling out their Form 990's for 2008 using the new Final Form 990 and Schedules (announced Dec.20, 2007 – Release IR-2007-204) they will also have new Instructions!

The IRS has Announced that the Draft of the Instructions is open for comment, and that “Included…are special highlights indicating certain items … on which the IRS would especially like to receive public comments.” Anyone may comment, but must do so by June 1^st.

Law Professor Paul Butler of George Washington University is the 2008 Friedman & Gilbert Criminal Justice Forum Lecturer, Wed. April 16^th, 5 p.m., in the Moot Court Room. Announcement. His faculty website includes links to a listing of his numerous publications and the BlackProf blog where he is a contributor. Check the following HeinOnline links to a few of his articles. (If you somehow need a brief “Hip-Hop 101” see the Stanford article, p. 989. And for a little on retribution and respect, see p. 1002, same article.)

 (More)

Remember all the news coverage about fashion models being too thin? Now France is taking measures against this. The lower house of the French Parliament has adopted a bill that would make it illegal to “provoke a person to seek excessive weight loss by encouraging prolonged nutritional deprivation that would have the effect of exposing them to risk of death or endangering health.” [full text of bill, in French, from the National Assembly] The bill is particularly aimed at websites that promote eating disorders and starvation as a means of weight loss. Full news coverage from the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.

Research Tip!! How’d I find the text of that proposed French legislation? (No, it wasn’t mentioned or linked in either newspaper article.) Answer: I went over to GlobaLex and looked up a research guide on French law, which led me to the National Assembly site and the bill text.

Do you want daily e-mail delivery of C-M blog posts? Or perhaps you want to keep getting e-mail notification of C-M blog posts after you graduate and no longer have a student e-mail account? All you have to do is enter your e-mail address in the box on the righthand side of the blog, labeled "Subscribe Via Email, Enter Your E-mail Address" and follow the instructions.

Of course, you can always subscribe to the blog via an RSS Reader such as Bloglines. If you have an RSS Reader set up, just click on the link "RSS 2.0" on the righthand side of the page.

Graduation is a time for celebration and hopefully all of you will remember your time at Cleveland Marshall as a great experience. I'm sure the first question you are asking is, by golly jeez will I still be able to use the Law Library? Well of course you can! As an alumni you can fill out a form for, now get ready for it, an alumni card. Don’t like social interaction? Then here is the link for the online form. The alumni card functions pretty much the same way as your CSU ID. You can still check out books and use Ohio Link. Another benefit is the use of the alumni room which has a computer accessible to the internet and attached printer. You can access Lexis or Westlaw, but only if you have your own subscription. Alumni also have many other services available to them, but I'm still bummed about Borowski blowing another save against the Red Sox last night, so click here for everything else you need to know.

As we enter that delightful season of non-stop studying, don’t forget that the Library has plenty of resources to help. They’re all explained in detail in Preparing for Law School Exams.

Some of the most popular study resources that you’ll find include:

• Study Materials on CDs
• Past Exams
• Nutshells
• “Examples and Explanations” series
• “Understanding” series
• “Concepts and Insights” series
• Hornbooks
• …and more!

With finals just around the corner, a word to the wise...book study rooms EARLY! You can book rooms in person 72 hours in advance and 24 hours by phone. Booking early ensures a nice, comfortable, & relaxing place to study.

If you are interested in why American judges wear robes and why judges in other countries wear wigs, the Legal Writing Professor Blog has some great links for you. My favorite is Judges of the World,from the Canadian site FilibusterCartoons.com. This site has lots of pictures of judicial garb from around the world.

PBS will be airing a documentary on the Cuyahoga River, Friday, April 18th @10pm. "The Return of the Cuyahoga" will discuss the 1969 fire on the river and how that spurred enviromental reform, specifically the Clean Water Act. The special is being aired in conjunction with Earth Day.

Dunkin' Donuts is offering some relief on Tax Day, Tuesday, April 15th. Nationwide, they are offering a free dounut with the purchase of any size cup of coffee, whether you owe taxes or not! Enjoy!

When studying for the test or the bar exam, you might want to use mnemonics. Some examples:

My Legs for the statute of frauds.

Marriage
Year
Land
Executor
Goods
Suretyship

Heluva for adverse possession:

Hostile
Exclusive
Lasting
Uninterrupted
Visible
Actual

There are many more mnemonics on the Bar Exam Blogspot, A Girl Walks Into a Bar Exam , The 3-L Word and JD Jinx.

Do you have any mnemonics you would like to share? Post a comment !

JSTOR Scholarly Journal Archive launched a new interface incorporating lots of new features. From the basic search, you can select a discipline to search within. The advanced search now has a proximity search, so one can search words within 5, 10 or 25 words of each other. There is also a search within results feature. For more on the new interface, see Recorded Webinar and the JSTOR Sandbox.

Thanks to LexLibris.

HeinOnline will soon be made available on Google Scholar. HeinOnline is the largest distributor of legal periodicals and has quite an extensive collection, including many out of print legal materials. In addition to law review articles, Hein offers other collections such as, session laws and information from the Supreme Court Library. Hein has created a YouTube channel, posting training videos..Check 'em out

April 13 – 19 is National Library Week! The event has been sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) since 1958 and celebrates all types of libraries – school, public, academic and special. This year’s honorary chair is none other than Mary Poppins herself, Julie Andrews.

Beware Bloggers...You may get Cyber-Slapped...Kathleen Seidel runs a personal blog, neurodiversity.com. On her blog she discusses autism issues, as one of her two children has been diagnosed. Recently, she posted comments on her blog about the drug Thimerosal, a preservative previously found in vaccines, thought to cause autism. While she is somewhat leery of the thimerosa position, she also commented on lawyers that are eager to cash in with lawsuits.

Last month, Ms. Siedel was subpoenaed by one such lawyer. The subpoena requests documents pertaining to her blog, its' financing, research and maintenance. Also any and all communication she has had with the feds, pharmaceutical companies, PACs, and the list goes on. In response, Ms. Siedel filed a motion to quash, citing violation of her First Amendment rights and a ploy to intimidate and harass, amongst other things.

This raises some serious issues concerning blogs, which are everywhere, and the rights of the public individuals who run them. This may just be a case of Ms. Siedel being cyber-SLAPPED (strategic lawsuit against public participation).

Legistorm is a non-partisan site that tracks how members of Congress are spending public money. Their databases include information on Congressional salaries, travel, financials and information on the latest happenings on the House and Senate floors and committees. For additional information on who is donating to legislators, correlated to their votes, take a look at our previous post..Show 'Em The Money.

On Saturday, May 3rd, at 9am, a team of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law faculty, students, and staff will participate in the 2008 Cleveland Arthritis Walk at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. This will be an excellent way to take a brief break from academic work and get some exercise, as well as contribute to the Arthritis Foundation's efforts in the prevention, control and cure of rheumatic disease. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, affecting 46 million people, and it costs our nation at least $80.8 billion every year!

To join our team, and learn more about rheumatic disease, connect to the Arthritis Walk web site. Then click on "Sign Up." At the next page, you will be prompted to agree to a "Waiver/Release." After agreeing, at the next page, click inside the circle next to "Join a Team." At the next page, click on "Show All" to reveal all of the Team names, then click on "Join Team" next to "Cleveland-Marshall College of Law." Continue to follow the prompts and directions to create your personal Web page -- you'll be able to set your personal fund-raising goal as well as easily email family and friends. Donations can be made electronically, or you can collect donations.

For additional information, contact Laura Ray, Educational Programing Librarian, 216-687-6880, laura.ray@law.csuohio.edu. Thanks for your consideration and support!

What Entertainment Esquire would you like representing you??? Entertainment Weekly has compiled a list of their favorites. Some Big Screen lawyers making their list include...

Atticus Finch-To Kill A Mockinigbird

Jake Brigance-A Time To Kill

Lt. Daniel Kaffee-A Few Good Men

Jack McCoy-Law & Order

Victor Sifuentes-L.A. Law

Personally I would add, Patty Hewes of Damages...Who would you add?

The Cleveland State Law Review presented its 2007-2008 Awards at its annual banquet on April 4th. Also announced were the Associate Notes selected for publication in the 2008-2009 academic y