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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.

Let the Cases be Free!

Jan Novak, Associate Director jan.novak@law.csuohio.edu | May 08, 2008 - 14:04

Two of the champions and leaders of the movement to bring case law into the public domain so that attorneys, legal scholars, and the general public can freely access federal and state court decisions, participated in a recent podcast on Lawyer2Lawyer. Tom Bruce, co-founder of the Legal Information Network, and Carl Malamud, founder of PublicResource.org spoke of the importance of removing barriers so that, in our nation of laws, the law itself should be available without “passing a cash register.” Answering charges the Westlaw and LexisNexis duopoly prevents new entrepreneurs from developing more cost effective legal research systems was Andy Martens of Thomson West.

Not quite the flip side of the public access issue, is Tom Bruce’s thoughtful blog discussion of the issue of privacy facing legal information providers: in our clamoring for free and open access to the workings of the legal system, how do we balance the public right to know with the individual’s right to privacy and security? He argues that it is the responsibility of the courts to determine, with “vigorous public involvement” the standards and policies that best preserve both interests.


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Law Professor Discovers Flaw in Appointment of Patent Judges, Could Undo Thousands Of Decisions

Kevin Garewal | May 08, 2008 - 10:15

Professor John F. Duffy, of George Washington University School of Law, has discovered a defect in the appointment process of Patent Judges. These Judges have been appointed by a government official, who does not have the Constitutional power of appointment. Currently, 46 of the 74 Judges on the Patent Court have been appointed by this flawed process. This flaw could invalidate thousands of patent law decision by these courts. To read the NY Times article click here. To download Prof. Duffy's article click here.

This post is courtesy of Tim Woods, 2005 CM Alumni.


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Laptops No More?

Jan Novak, Associate Director jan.novak@law.csuohio.edu | May 08, 2008 - 09:42

Many law schools impose a mandatory lap top requirement; at Cleveland Marshall, over 90% of the students have their own laptop computers as it is. But there is also a backlash from faculty in some places claiming that laptop use in the classroom interferes with teaching and learning. We reported earlier about the University of Chicago Law School banning internet access in the classroom. Now Kevin Yamamoto has published “Banning Laptops in the Classroom: Is it Worth the Hassles?” (Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 57, 2008 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1078740 ), recounting his experience banning laptops in his classroom and citing studies on the effect of classroom web browsing on student grades, as well as the effectiveness of typing over handwriting for note-taking. Yamamoto concludes that professors should ban or restrict laptops absent a showing that their use increases learning.

Thanks to the Law Librarian Blog

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