Legal Research Tune-up

The SU law library is pleased to offer a legal research workshop to help prepare students for summer employment positions. The workshop will cover state and federal legislative history, regulations and practice materials using a problem based approach. Students will have hands-on practice working through research issues.

The workshop will be held on May 23rd from 9:30- 11:30 am in Sullivan Hall room 109. Coffee and snacks will be provided. This program is open to all law students working in Seattle this summer. Please RSVP below by May 21st. Click to register for the Legal Research Tune-up

Check it Out: The Rainmaker

Francis Ford Coppola scripted and directed the film based on John Grisham’s novel The Rainmaker. In the film Matt Damon plays Rudy Baylor, an inexperienced young lawyer, who takes on the case of a terminally-ill leukemia patient who was denied treatment, a life-saving bone marrow transplant, by an insurance company. Check out The Rainmaker from the law library and watch as Baylor takes on the insurance company and the high-priced legal firm that defends it.

Wait, These Shoes Won’t Make Me Look Like Kim Kardashian?

Sketchers shoe company has reached an agreement with the FTC to pay out a $40 million settlement for unfounded claims that their tone-up/shape-up shoes would help people lose weight. Consumers can file a claim at the FTC website.

 

WestlawNext—What’s inside the Box?

Looking for a specific treatise, reference book, or other research resource and wondering if it is on WestlawNext?  Westlaw next now provides access the directory and publication list (just like Westlaw).

My Content shows WestLawNext subscribers exactly what’s included in their subscription. So, when you are out in the world doing legal work, you can determine whether a specific source is included in your firm’s WestlawNext® plan.

The My Content feature is available from the WestlawNext home page: Click on the Tools tab, then click on My Content (displayed below the Subscriber Pricing Guide).

The My Content page lists content included in your WestlawNext subscription. There are some options for searching the content:

  • Search the list: Use the search box to find titles within your content list.
  • Browse the list: The default is to display the content by Name in alphabetical order. Links at the top of the page offer the ability to jump to a particular letter.
  • Sort the list by Content Type: Use the drop-down menu to change the sort order and then limit the list to a particular content type, such as Cases.
  • Download the list: Click the link to download a full list of content for your reference.
  • Access in-plan content: Click on individual links to go directly to the corresponding page where the content can be searched or added to Favorites.

Note—My Content is available on Academic plans, but when you access the list, you will see at the top “SAMPLE PLAN FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY”.  So from the law school account you can refer to a list of sources, but it does not reflect the actual content available with the Seattle University subscription.

What Other States Have Stand Your Ground Laws?

Propublica sumarizes “stand your ground” or “castle doctrine” laws. The article inks to the laws of the 24 states with these types of self-defense statutes.

 

M.J. Anderson’s “Column of Light”

“Column of Light” by M.J. Anderson

One of the most visible pieces of art in the library is M.J. Anderson’s sculpture, Column of Light (2000), at the base of the stairs on the 2nd floor. Commissioned specifically by the Seattle University Law School in 2000, the statue was first carved from marble in Carrara, Italy, before arriving in the Law Library. Anderson, one of the best-known sculptors in the Pacific Northwest, says she sculpts in stone because “it is the least artificial of art forms and the most enduring to our humanity … I try to carve what it feels like to be human, to convey the unspoken emotions of our being here, to create an image of the intangible.” (MJAndersonsculpture.com)

Column of Light displays the giving and receiving of truth and wisdom by the sculpted hands, which then guide interpretations towards ideas of God, nature, and humanity. With studios both in Carrara, Italy, and on the Oregon Coast, check out this Oregon Art Beat clip to see Anderson at work!

Check it Out: The Man in the Glass Booth

Maximilian Schell plays Arthur Goldman, a Jewish millionaire entrepreneur living in Manhattan in 1965, who is kidnapped by Israeli agents and brought to trial in Israel for war crimes. His accusers claim that he is not a Jew, but a Nazi war criminal. They place him in a bulletproof glass booth and put him on trial for heinous crimes against humanity. Check out The Man in the Glass Booth from the law library.

Finding Research Guides

Do you need to do research in an area that’s new to you? Rather than just throw search terms into your favorite research system, start by educating yourself about the area by using a research guide. Use a search engine to search the internet for your legal topic plus “research guide” to find helpful introductions that will identify major treatises, laws, regulations and cases that may be helpful.

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