LawCite - Shepards for International & Foreign Law

In Advanced Legal Research - Foreign, Comparative and International Law we discuss how there is no citator for international courts. Well this has changed a bit with the introduction of LawCite:

Graham Greenleaf and the team at the Australian Legal Information Institute have released LawCite Alpha. LawCite Alpha provides, free of charge, case citations from international tribunals, such as ICJ and ICTY, and dozens of foreign courts, including Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Thailand, South Africa and the United States. The database includes common law and civil law jurisdictions. Fortunately, the search interface is quite forgiving, so there is no need to worry about spacing and periods, as long as the citation is correct. In addition to citations, one can search by jurisdiction, party name and legislation. LawCite Alpha also contains citations to law journal articles, searchable by citation, author, and title.

Hat tip to Legal Research Plus for the content of this post.

President (Professor) Obama

In one of his previous jobs President Barack Obama was a law professor at the University of Chicago. Here are a few articles about his teaching career:

NYT Article on Obama as Law Professor

Obama's "lost" law review article

Increasing Study Areas in the Law Library

The Law Library and Facilities staffs have been hard at work to create additional study areas in the Law Library. Resources were shifted from the Reference Wing to allow the removal of shelving and to make space for additional tables. In the 3 North Wing, lighting was installed and tables added to create a quiet study area under the eaves.

Inauguration Day at the Law Library

The Law Library has TV coverage of the Inauguration of President Obama available this morning in three locations: on a TV in the 1st Floor Lobby; on the big screen (streaming video) in the Special Collections room (1-North wing); and on the flat screen TV in the law students’ lounge (on Lower-Level).

We also have free coffee available in the first floor lobby this morning.

Additionally, on display in the Reference Wing and 1st Floor Lobby are books on inauguration events and presidential powers.

Presidential Transition & Appointment Resources

This comprehensive list is courtesy of Cornell's InSite:

2008-2009 Presidential Transition Resources
http://directory.presidentialtransition.gov/

Change.gov: the Office of the President-elect
http://change.gov/

PrunesOnline: a Guide to Presidential Appointments
http://www.excellenceintransition.org/

White House Transition Project
http://whitehousetransitionproject.org/

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Foreign and International Law Librarian and Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School has created the following resources:

The Legal Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Selected Resources (pdf)
Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Activists and the Law: Selected D'Angelo Law Library Resources (pdf)

Outsourcing Legal Work Overseas

Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson discuss this important topic and the ethical implications of EDD outsourcing in the October Edition of their Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology podcast. Take a few minutes to listen to their comments on Outsourcing EDD Review Abroad in this 12th edition of The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology.

Hat tip to Jim Calloway's Law Practice Tips Blog

Gold Star Featured in Journal Record Article

These Walls: Gold Star Memorial Building, an article by Kelley Chambers, appears on page 1B of the January 12, 2009 Journal Record. The article focuses on Bud Miller's recent trip to the top of the tower. Over 50 years ago, while working on the gold star that adorns the top of the tower, Mr. Miller had made similar trips. The article features several photos of the tower and the view from the tower.

OCU Law Welcomes Chinese Visiting Scholars

This year OCU Law will host two visiting law scholars from Nankai University School of Law. Professor Liu Shixin specializes in criminal law. He will be working on
A Comparative Study of Causation in Anglo-American Criminal Law and Chinese Criminal Law. Professor Wei Jianxin specializes in constitutional law. She will be working on A Comparative Study of Constitutionalism Between US and China.

If you are interested in Chinese law or our summer study abroad program at Nankai University please stop by and say hello to them. Their office is Goldstar 265. You will also see them at law school events and possibly sitting in on classes.

Citation Tools for Lexis & Westlaw

You may have heard of Cite Genie, http://www.citegenie.com/, a tool that automatically copies citations from Lexis and Westlaw and formats them to Bluebook format. I have used this a limited number of times. It has a few limitations. It only works on cases. Also, it doesn't always get every element of the citation perfect. However, it is free!

OCU Law Faculty Speak at AALS Conference

Three members of the OCU Law faculty spoke at this year's AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. Dean and Professor of Law Lawrence Hellman will speak on a non-degree certificate in American law program that has been offered at Oklahoma City University to Chinese law students from Nankai University in Tianjin, China, and to lawyer members of the Tianjin (China) Bar Association. This program has served as a gateway to LL.M. programs for some of its participants.

Professor Carla Spivack will speak on Donative Transfers, Fiduciaries and Estate Planning.

Professor Lee Peoples will speak on a panel titled Librarian as Scholar and will present his paper Controlling the Common Law: A Comparative Analysis of No-Citation Rules and Publication Practices in England and the United States, 17 Indiana International & Comparative Law Review 307 (2007).

Happy New Year

Happy new year from the OCU Law Librarians and Staff. We hope you have a restful holiday. Law Library hours over the break are available here.