Law Commons^™

Low Cost Alternatives For Legal Research: Using Casemaker And Loislaw, Emily Janoski-Haehlen

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Clarion Call Or Sturm Und Drang: A Response To Pierre Schlag's Lecture On The State Of Legal Scholarship, David R. Cleveland

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Precedent And Justice, William D. Bader, David R. Cleveland

Law Faculty Publications

Precedent is the cornerstone of common law method. It is the core mechanism by which the common law reaches just outcomes. Through creation and application of precedent, common law seeks to produce justice. The appellate courts' practice of issuing unpublished, non-precedential opinions has generated considerable discussion about the value of precedent, but that debate has centered on pragmatic and formalistic values. This essay argues that the practice of issuing non-precedential opinions does more than offend constitutional dictates and present pragmatic problems to the appellate system; abandoning precedent undermines justice itself. Issuance of the vast majority of decisions as nonprecedential tears …

Judicial Opinion Writing: An Annotated Bibliography, Ruth C. Vance

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Saving Some Green: Free Resources On Environmental Law, Suzanne B. Corriell

Law Faculty Publications

Environmental legal research often requires examining federal, state, and local laws, in addition to understanding science and technology. While there are many print and subscription-based resources available for a fee, websites also can help you navigate the laws and stay current with environmental news, and legal and scientific developments.

Universal Citation And The American Association Of Law Libraries: A White Paper, Timothy L. Coggins

Law Faculty Publications

This white paper is a collaborative endeavor of many individuals, including members of the American Association of Law Libraries and its Digital Access to Legal Information Committee (DALIC), formerly the Electronic Legal Information Access & Citation (ELIAC) Committee. First, Justice Yvonne Kauger introduces the topic by identifying the groundbreaking steps taken by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Law librarians Carol Billings and Kathy Carlson next provide a detailed and comprehensive history of citation reform and the American Association of Law Libraries' leadership and involvement in the issue. They also summarize the citation reform steps taken in selected jurisdictions. Finally, John Cannan, …

Authenticating Digital Government Information, Timothy L. Coggins

Law Faculty Publications

The quotation above from St. Clair v. Johnny's Oyster & Shrimp, Inc., a 1999 US federal district court case, captures a perception of the trustworthiness of digital information that over ten years later is, in many instances, still uncomfortably close to reality. It raises two important questions with which governments providing online information and users of that information must grapple: Is digital government information reliable and trustworthy? Has the government entity providing digital information online taken the care necessary to ensure its authenticity? This chapter presents a historical perspective of authenticity of government information, provides definitions of significantterms and phrases …

Mobile Legal Research: Do We Need An App For That?, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

A month after the conference, Thomson Reuters launched the WestlawNext iPad app. Current marketing touts mobile access to WestlawNext that is suitable on four major smartphone platforms. At right is a screen shot from the native iPad app as well as WestlawNext in Apple's Safari browser. The iPad app does not let you send documents to your Kindle, and in fact does not let you download or print items directly, as shown in the highlighted screen element in each.

Using this as a starting point, below I suggest arguments for and against using apps for mobile legal research. The focus …