Monday, June 30, 2008

Black's Law Dictionary Digital Available in Reference Wing


If you need a quick legal definition and would prefer not to use a print version or sign on to Westlaw or Lexis to access a legal dictionary, the digital version of Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed.) is now available on the public access terminal in the Reference Wing

Immigration Law Continues to be Hot Topic

The Associated Press reported last week that the Department of Labor is "probing" the work of the largest immigration firm in the nation. The Department of Labor inquiry is intended to determine if the firm, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, has been advising its clients how to circumvent federal requirements that the companies seek qualified American workers before applying for a green card for a foreign worker. As a posting on Legal Blog Watch points out, last year the firm of Cohen and Grigsby "came under fire"when a video of its seminar on how to circumvent the requirements became available on YouTube.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

D.C. v. Heller has Legal Blogs Buzzing

Legal blogs are buzzing about the recent Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. With amusing and creative titles like Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition and New Ruling on an Old Technology it seems like every blog has some discussion of the ruling. With a video posting of Professor O'Shea's appearance on KWTV to discuss the decision, OCU Law School's blog is no exception.

Friday, June 27, 2008

New Database: BNA Corporate Practice Library

The Law Library recently added the BNA Corporate Practice Library to our BNA Core package of databases. The Corporate Practice Library includes Corporate Counsel Weekly and a number of portfolios providing coverage in these subject areas:

ANTITRUST AND TRADE REGULATION
CORPORATE POLITICAL ACTIVITY
FORM OF BUSINESS
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
CORPORATE AND SECURITIES
ENVIRONMENT
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
SELECTED STATE CORPORATE LAWS


OCU Law Students, Faculty, and Staff can access the Corporate Practice Library (and all the other titles in the BNA Core collection) from on and off campus from the Law Library's page of databases

After accessing the database from the link above you can sign up to receive weekly e-mail alerts. Just click “sign up for e-mail highlights” link in the bottom left hand corner of the page.

In the next month or so you will also have access to all the BNA titles we subscribe to through LexisNexis and Westlaw.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Legal Blog Information Overload? New Tools to help.

With approximately 2,000 law related blogs, it is not difficult for lawyers to quickly become overloaded with information. News aggregators such as Google Reader may offer assistance; however, now there are two new tools.
Alltop - Law, pulls headlines from a diverse collection of popular law blogs and list the headlines on one page. LexMonitor, described as a "daily review of law blogs and journals," provides "channels" that enable readers to follow postings from blogs on certain subject matters in one Web-based feed.

Source: Introducing LexMonitor on Legal Blog Watch, June 23, 2008 at 12:32 PM

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tax Ruling on Law School Loan Forgiveness

Rev Rul 2008-34, 2008-28 IRB IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/

In a revenue ruling, the IRS has ruled that the forgiveness of a law student's loan in exchange for the borrower working for a certain period of time in a qualifying law-related public service position wasn't includible in his/her gross income. The revenue ruling clarified that a law school loan made under a Loan Repayment Assistance Program.

Source: University of Minnesota Law Library LexLibris Blog, citing Federal Taxes Weekly Alert 06/26/2008, Volume 54, No. 26 via RIA Newsstand 6/23/08 (RIA Checkpoint Academic Advantage Library is available via the OCU Law Library Database page)

Friday, June 20, 2008

Are you Linkedin? Social Networking is Here to Stay.

LinkedIn Valued At $1 Billion: What It Means for Lawyers was the title of a recent post on Legal Blog Watch. The conclusion reached was that "social networking sites are here to stay and lawyers need to get on board." Read the entire posting. OCU Law is providing social networking opportunities as well. OCU Law has established an online community on Facebook.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Do Lawyers Rock?

Do Lawyers Rock? The answer appears to be yes. See Above the Law for a listing of the Top Ten Law Songs. In addition to the listing, ATL provides links to performances of the the songs on YouTube.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Bar Exam Study Materials

The Oklahoma Bar Exam - July 29-30, 2008
Are you ready? Materials to help with bar exam preparation are available at OCU Law School's Conquering the Bar web page. Additional materials are available at the Law Library.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

What do reference law librarians do?

Are you interested in law librarianship? Or maybe you've just wondered what legal reference librarians do? In addition to providing traditional reference services, legal reference librarians teach Advanced Legal Research courses, serve as guest lecturers for 1L Legal Research and Writing and other upper level courses, review electronic and print materials to add to the collection, serve as liaisons to Westlaw and LexisNexis, assist faculty with research ... In addition to these responsibilities, legal reference librarians conduct their own research and writing projects. View a select collection of the works written and edited by the OCU Law Library Reference and Administrative staff as you enter the West entrance to the library; and read a short piece about "What Do You [Legal Reference Librarians] Do All Day?"

Meet the Law Library Staff

In the last year we have had some Law Library staff retire and some to move on to other positions. We are excited that we have been able to hire some excellent new staff members to fill the positions. If you are entering through the West entrance, take a moment to learn about our staff. Additional information about the staff can also be accessed from the Law Library Staff web page.

On Display - National Home Ownership Month


Despite the national crisis in the home mortgage market, it has been reported that prospective homeowners in Oklahoma are finding favorable conditions. In recognition of June 2008 as National Home Ownership Month, the library is displaying materials available to assist home buyers and attorneys involved in real estate finance or homeowner association representation.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Meet Sammy Grimes - New Law Library Circulation Assistant


Sammy Grimes has joined the Law Library Circulation Staff. Sammy has previously worked in several special libraries; however, this is his first position in a law library. In addition to assisting patrons at the Circulation Desk, Sammy will be assuming responsibility for the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) program.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

First Circuit dismisses challenge to Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently dismissed a challenge to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy. The suit was brought by twelve former US military member who had been dismissed under the policy. The appellants were represented by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). See a more detailed story on the decision at Jurist. Also see a member of the SLDN discussing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy and the Solomon Amendment at a program co-sponsored by OCU's PCDC, the Lesbian and Gay Law Student Association, American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Kalnins' Article in June Issue of AALL Spectrum

AALL Spectrum, the monthly magazine for members of the American Association of Law Libraries, publishes articles on topics of interest to law librarians, as well as news about the American Association of Law Libraries. A short piece on the AALL Leadership Academy, entitled Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today, by our own Karen Kalnins appears in the June 2008 issue of AALL Spectrum.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Peoples attends AALS Law Librarians Workshop

This week Lee Peoples has been attending a Law Librarians Workshop at the Association of American Law Schools Mid-Year Meeting. Click on the link to access clips from Law Librarians, including Lee discussing the Workshop.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Summer Reading

If you are interested in reading law-related books this summer, the OCU Law Faculty list of suggested reading may assist you in identifying an appealing title.

There is a special collection of the books on the suggested reading list in the Reference Wing of the Law Library. Stop by and browse the collection.