Law Commons^™

Build A Career That Aligns With Your Passions, Ashley A. Ahlbrand

Articles by Maurer Faculty

When I was wrapping up my final semester of law school, I was fretting about what I would do next. The job market for new attorneys had tanked, less than half of my classmates had job offers lined up, I had no connections of my own that I could work, and worse, I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Expressing my anxiety to our school’s Westlaw rep at the time, she asked me to reflect on my favorite parts of law school. That was easy: I loved any class where I could write a …

Is Open Access Equal Access? Pacer User Fees And Public Access To Court Information, John L. Moreland

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Our country has a long history of striving for openness and transparency in government processes. In 1978, the United States Supreme Court held, “It is clear that the courts of this country recognize a general right to insect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Long before America’s high court recognized this common law principle, court records were historically accessible for inspection by lawyers, journalists, land title companies, credit agencies, academics, and members of the general public. These individuals were also permitted to take notes as a part of their right to inspect court documents. Having …

Stepping Up Access To The Indiana Code: Partnering For Increased Access And Preservation, Susan David Demaine, Benjamin J. Keele, Hannah Alcasid

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Empirical Environmental Scholarship, Robert L. Fischman, Lydia Barbash-Riley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The most important development in legal scholarship over the past quarter century has been the rise of empirical research. Drawing upon the traditions of legal realism and the law and economics movement, a variety of social science techniques have delivered fresh perspectives and punctured false claims. But environmental law has been slow to adopt empirical tools, and our findings indicate that it lags behind other fields. There are several clear benefits from an empirical agenda to explore how to make environmental law more effective. But no previous article has applied the lessons from empirical scholarship in other fields to environmental …

Access To Print, Access To Justice, Kimberly Mattioli

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article examines the relationship between self-represented litigants and digital literacy and how this particularly vulnerable patron group stands to be harmed by the elimination of print materials from public law libraries. An examination of the literature and a survey help to shed light on this growing problem.

Book Review. Locating U.S. Government Information Handbook, 3rd Ed. By E. Herman And T. Belniak, Jennifer Morgan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Indiana's Government Information Day Focuses On Change, Access & Continuity, Jennifer Morgan, Sally Holterhoff

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

From Disability To Usability In Online Instruction, Susan David Demaine

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article is a primer on the work needed to ensure accessibility in online instruction. It discusses different disabilities, reviews relevant laws and standards, and explores the relationship between accessibility and the principles of universal design. The article introduces a number of best practices for creating accessibility in online instruction.

Not Just For Scouting Anymore: Digital Badges For Legal Research Skills, Alcasid Hannah, Susan David Demaine, Catherine A. Lemmer, Benjamin J. Keele

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Review Of Writing For Dollars, Writing To Please, Susan David Demaine

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Issues Facing Academic Law Libraries - New Challenges, New Opportunities, Linda K. Fariss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Law libraries are facing new challenges, including evolving methods of legal research, and space and budget constraints. This article explores those challenges, and looks at the opportunities that accompany changes.

Degree Pedigree: Assessing The Effect Of Degree-Granting Institutions’ Ranks On Prospective Employment At Academic Law Libraries, Ashley A. Ahlbrand, Michael Johnson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In the academic law library hiring process, candidates are assessed based on a variety of factors. The study conducted here focuses on education—specifically the institutional rank of degree-granting law and library science institutions—to explore how the rank of one’s graduate education might influence hiring decisions at academic law libraries.

Citators: Past, Present, And Future, Laura C. Dabney

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Citators are one of the oldest and most important tools in the legal researcher’s arsenal. They serve both as precautionary measures against bad law, and as a means of doing primary legal research. The evolution of citators plays an important role in the development of both the legal publishing industry and legal research itself. This article examines many aspects of the legal citator—its history, development, uses, and possible future.

Book Review. Teaching Legal Research And Providing Access To Electronic Resources (Gary L. Hill, Et. Al., Eds.), Peter A. Hook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

What's On The Horizon?: A Report From The 1996 Conference For Law School Computing, Juliet Casper Smith

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Law And Linguistics: Is There Common Ground?, William D. Popkin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Top Fives: An Internet Pathfinder For Law Librarians, Yolanda Patrice Jones

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Many law librarians are currently beginning to explore the Internet as a source of legal information. One of the most frequently asked questions after one gets an Internet connection is "Where do I go from here?" The following pathfinder is a list of what I consider to be the most important resources which will lead the legal researcher to the widest possible amount of legal information on the Internet.

This list is purely subjective, and certainly not complete. I tried to stick to the 'top five' format as much as possible, but every so often I couldn't help myself from …

Writing In A Different Voice, Elizabeth Perry Hodges

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Salute To A Great Legislative Draftsman: Elmer A. Driedger, Q. C., Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Legal Information Management Index, Linda K. Fariss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Plain English Statutes And Readability: Pt. 1 - History, The Problem And The Case For A Statute, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 1965 Reed Dickerson, Professor of Law at the University of Indiana Law School, wrote the classic Fundamentals of Legal Drafting, published by Little Brown and Co., Boston, a book that has become the most referred to of all books on legal drafting. Little Brown and Co. will soon be publishing Professor Dickerson's Second Edition of Fundamentals of Legal Drafting. With the permission of the author and the publishers, the Michigan Bar Journal and the Plain English Committee are pleased to present excerpts from a chapter in the Second Edition regarding plain English statutes and readability.

Law And Language: The Role Of Pragmatics In Statutory Interpretation, M. B.W. Sinclair

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In everyday conversation social conventions constrain our speech and aid understanding of the speech of others. These social conventions have been analyzed by the philosopher H.P. Grice and others. Professor Sinclair explores the applicability of such conventions to statutes and thereby derives a set of pragmatic rules of statutory construction. These rules explain some of the intuitions underlying "canons of construction" and their limitations and provide a basis for understanding and for criticizing some important judicial decisions.

Plain English Statutes And Readability: Pt. 2 - Readability Formulas And Specifications For A "Plain English" Statute, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 1965 Reed Dickerson, Professor of Low at the University of Indiana Law School, wrote the classic Fundamentals of Legal Drafting, published by Little Brown and Co., Boston, a book that has become the most referred to of all books on legal drafting. Little Brown and Co. will soon be publishing Professor Dickerson's Second Edition of Fundamentals of Legal Drafting. With the permission of the author and the publishers, the Michigan Bar Journal and the Plain English Committee are pleased to present excerpts from a chapter in the Second Edition regarding plain English statutes and readability. "Part I - History, …

Anglo-American Legal Citation: Historical Development And Library Implications, Byron D. Cooper

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legislative Process And Drafting In U.S. Law Schools: A Close Look At The Lammers Report, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Clear Legal Drafting: What's Holding Us Back?, F. Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Should Plain English Be Legislated?, F. Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Dale, William, Legislative Drafting: A New Approach, Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Teaching Legal Writing In The Law Schools (With A Special Nod To Legal Drafting), Reed Dickerson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Federal Information Sources And Systems: A Directory For The Congress, Colleen Kristl Pauwels

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.