Article on LLRX tangentally related to research

Interesting article discussing the problems with writing that come out of the case law method of instruction. I'd argue the same problems are created with research because of this method. The Art of Written Persuasion: The Problem with the Case Method and the Case for the Problem Method by Troy Simpson, Published on September 1, 2008

Re-entry Article

I know re-entry isn't quite up our alley, but I thought it was interesting to consider the different types of training programs that are out there.
Jaye

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/08/american-univer.html

American University Launches Lawyer Re-entry Program
This fall, the 1-Ls won’t be the only ones at American University’s Washington College of Law trying something new. While they’re just getting started down their legal career paths, others will come to campus to break back into the world of law.
The school is launching a re-entry program designed to help lawyers return to a legal career after taking leave to, say, raise a family. The courses will run for six days in late October and early November.

Articles from 8/28 Meeting

LLRX.com article on summer associate programs, with links to existing "bridge the gap" programs: http://www.llrx.com/colums/reference58.htm

Arthur Miller video: An fyi that the Arthur Miller 14-minute legal research video that West showed at the Town Hall at AALL is now available at the following link:
http://tnalcorpcomm.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/arthur-miller-interview-featured-at-aall/

Legal Research tutorials (special access required to view, but list is available):
http://cali.org/index.php?fuseaction=lessons.subjectlist&cat=LR)

Here's the article I mentioned today, and the SSRN link to the download page:
Legal Education in the Age of Cognitive Science and Advanced Classroom Technology
Deborah Jones Merritt Ohio State University College of LawAugust 2007Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 94 Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies Working Paper No. 63
Abstract: Cognitive scientists have made major advances in mapping the process of learning, but legal educators know little about this work. Similarly, law professors have engaged only modestly with new learning technologies like PowerPoint, classroom response systems, podcasts, and web-based instruction. This article addresses these gaps by examining recent research in cognitive science, demonstrating how those insights apply to a sample technology (PowerPoint), and exploring the broader implications of both cognitive science and new classroom technologies for legal education. The article focuses on three fields of cognitive science inquiry: the importance of right brain learning, the limits of working memory, and the role of immediacy in education. Those three areas are fundamental to understanding both the effective use of new classroom technologies and the constraints of more traditional teaching methods.

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1007800
Susan

LLRX Piece on Summer Associate Training Resources

Margi Heinen and Jan Bissett have an article on LLRX.com about good resources for summer associate reference and training.

WestBlog.net has posted a link to the Arthur Miller Video

WestBlog.net has a link up to the video interview featuring West Key Author Arthur Miller. This video was shown at AALL as part of the West town hall on legal research skills. They blogged about that event in a previous post. Definitely worth a look!

They broke the 14 minute interview with Miller in half, into two video clips:
Arthur Miller (Part 1): Legal research and writing training at law schools
Arthur Miller (Part 2): The “starting point” for legal research and use of technology for it.

A Little Grafting of Second Life into a Legal Research Class

From LLRX:
http://www.llrx.com/features/secondlife.htm
Rob Hudson discusses how Second Life can be used to enhance legal research instruction/ Experiments in full class lectures and other uses of Second Life in higher education offer a mixture of hype and excitement.

JL

Real World Examples of Career Limiting Behavior by Summers

Here is a link to the post on Above the Law that I mentioned in our meeting today, which includes a list of "real world" examples of less-than-desirable summer associate behavior. The list was compiled by NYU Law's Career Services office. Some legal research blunders from the list: "Summer associate turns in a research project that did not answer the question assigned"; "Summer associate plagiarizes paragraph in memorandum from hornbook"; and "Summer associate fails to Shepardize."

Rebooting the Approach to Teaching Legal Research

Rebooting the Approach to Teaching Legal Research: Embracing the Computer Age [2007-32]Carrie W. Teitcher Law Library Journal, V.99, n.3

I haven't read it.
JL

LawFirmInc. Article on Law Firm Librarians' Changing Roles

Interesting article highlighting the evolving role of the law firm librarian from Law.com today. I'm not sure I agree with the Orrick approach of treating "library" as a dirty word, though.

Can We Throw Away the Books Yet?

Brought to our attention by Susan Mart.

(7 Aug) In a meeting the other day, someone asked if I agreed with the general sentiment that research materials were going electronic. He explained that he thought print as a medium was losing ground. And assuming his suppositions were true, he expressed concern that those who continue to conduct research primarily through the books would soon become inefficient, costly and possibly, negligent researchers.

I'm delighted that law firm management is thinking about research resources and methodology. It has always been important. Information is the foundation on which lawyers build a case or advise their clients.But in the past, the act of gathering, assessing and analyzing information hasn't always received the attention it deserves.

Read the rest of the article at the TVC site.
Alternative link: http://tinyurl.com/yttkad

Does online research affect legal analysis?

This is the working paper by Betsy McKenzie and her colleague that I mentioned a the lunch today. The gist seems to be that the authors see less analogic reasoning in briefs today than previously.

McKenzie, Elizabeth and Vaughn, Susan, "PCs and CALR: Changing the Way Lawyers Think" (February 2007). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=969078.

How to Bring Associates Into the Law Library

How to Bring Associates Into the Law Library
William P. Atkins Legal Times July 20, 2007

I found this on Law.com

Death of Legal Research

Here is the article that I mentioned today discussing why computers aren't great at finding concepts/analogies. It also discusses the legal research process that Susan described in which a lawyer writes a brief and fills in the cases later, based on his/her knowledge of the area.
http://terrenceberres.com/sto-cor.pdf

Good meeting today.

-KS
Regional Information Resources Manager
-Northern California-
Morrison & Foerster LLP

Recent report on Information Obesity Touches on Legal Research

A recent report issued by Harvard and LexisNexis concludes:

"A large majority of lawyers perceive critical gaps between what they are taught in law schools and the skills they need in the workplace, and appropriate technologies are not being used to help close this gap. This was the core conclusion of a new study by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, in partnership with LexisNexis."

Legal Research Starting Points - Web from TVC

TVC has updated their legal research guide as of 6/18/2007. Some of the sites referenced are at the URL below. http://www.virtualchase.com/topics/startingpoints_legal.shtml
-JL

Pillsbury Summer Associate Research Challenge

Check out this program that the Librarians at the DC office of Pillsbury put on this summer.

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog sarcastically titles their post Pillsbury Summer Associates: Rockin’ the Law Library. Sounds like a cool program to me! Unfortunately, many of the Law Blog commentators had some negative things to say about legal research and law librarians.

Funny Post from Joe Hodnicki

Joe Hodnicki from Univ. of Cincinnati Law Library has issued his annual apology to law firm and court librarians, acknowledging that law students working in law firms and courts over the summer are woefully unprepared for real legal research projects. Joe says, "as long as legal research is taught to 1Ls in legal writing courses, instead of in standalone courses, this situation is not going to improve much."

The Tethered Generation Article

I thought this article might provide some insight into some of our summer associates.
Brief glimpse:

"The Tethered Generation," a recent article in HR magazine, is a must-read for anyone interested in compelling insights on how this breed of employees (born between 1978 and 1999) is changing and will continue to change the workplace. According to the piece, authored by Kathryn Tyler, members of the Tethered Generation are, among other things:

1. Extremely responsive to parental guidance and influence. The impact on employers: You'll need to figure ways to deal with so-called "helicopter parents" who are accustomed to intervening and orchestrating on behalf of their children. The piece, for instance, recounts how some employers are finding that parents call to discuss particulars of a job offer or to negotiate salaries.

2. Highly adept with technology. The impact on employers: You'll want to offer training on the basics, like research skills and writing, since modern technological "conveniences," including the Internet and spell checkers, have eliminated the need to be hands-on with many tasks.

3. Accustomed to immediate gratification. The impact on employers: Regular and immediate feedback is essential, explains one college career director who notes that "This generation has grown up sitting in front of a monitor playing video games. Players always know how they're doing by the score on the screen; [they] won't want to wait for a semiannual or annual performance review. They will require ongoing feedback."

Library Research in Law Firm Environment

From Nick Worthington:

The last section reads:

Firm Libraries - Services, Not Shelves
Your firm probably has a library, and may employ one or more professional research librarians. It's most helpful to think of your firm library as a bundle of services, rather than a place where books are stored. (In fact, firm libraries tend to be light on books, due to space considerations.) However, firm libraries often provide excellent research and retrieval services that more than make up for the lack of books onsite. Most large firm libraries have an extremely speedy system for obtaining books of all kinds for you - either from other libraries or by purchase. Often journal articles, or even books, can be obtained from offsite in a matter of hours. If you identify a treatise or other research source that you suspect would be helpful - ask-you may have it in your hands just a few hours later, and it could save you and your clients significant time and money.

Bridge the Gap Programs

I did a quick Google search tonight while I was at the reference desk to find web pages that described "Bridge the Gap" programs for summer associates or new first-year associates. I've gathered all of the links that I could find to relatively recent programs on my Delicious page so that we can refer to them over time.