Summer Access to Legal Databases

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During the Summer, GMUSL students have the following legal database access:

  • Bloomberg Law: Unlimited, unrestricted access.
  • Lexis:  Unlimited access for work (paid or unpaid) and academic purposes using a Lexis Advance ID.
  • Westlaw:  Limited access June 1-July 31.  Students retain access to all TWEN courses and materials.  Students may apply for a password extension here for the following acceptable uses: Summer law school classes, law journal work, projects for faculty, moot court, and unpaid, nonprofit public-interest internship/externship work required for graduation. Summer passwords may not be used for research for law firms, government agencies, corporations or other purposes unrelated to law school coursework.

During the Summer, students continue to have full access to all other Law-Related Databases and databases available from the GMU Libraries Database Portal.

Reference Librarians will be available throughout the Summer to answer any research-related questions.  Please feel free to call, email, or stop by the Reference Office. Full contact details are available from the library Staff Directory.

 

Law Day 2013

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In 1961, Congress officially designated May 1 as Law Day (36 U.S.C.113).  Each year, the American Bar Association selects a theme for the Law Day celebration.  This year’s theme is Realizing the Dream: Equality for All:

The promise of equality under the law is what has made America a beacon to other nations. It is a pledge clearly set forth in the Declaration of Independence and in the opening words of the Preamble of the Constitution, “We the People.” It is, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, the proposition to which our nation is dedicated.

 

The year 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1963, during the Proclamation’s centennial, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and called upon our nation to live up to the great promise, enshrined in its founding documents, of equality for all. Five decades later, the inspirational words of Rev. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech continue to resonate and challenge us to live up to our national ideal of equality under the law. The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement can be seen in the strides that have been made against discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, disability, and sexual orientation.

 

Law Day, May 1, 2013, will provide an opportunity to explore the movement for civil and human rights in America and the impact it has had in promoting the ideal of equality under the law. It will provide a forum for reflecting on the work that remains to be done in rectifying injustice, eliminating all forms of discrimination, and putting an end to human trafficking and other violations of our basic human rights. As Rev. Dr. King pointed out in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Law Day 2013

Study Aids

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The law library has numerous print study aids on reserve that may be useful during exams:

  • Get a broad overview: Nutshells
  • Focus on the core principles: Concise Hornbooks and Understanding Series
  • Go in-depth: Hornbook Series and Aspen Student Treatise Series
  • Test yourself: Examples & Explanations Series and Questions & Answers Series
  • Study on the Go:  Gilbert Law School Legends Audio Series and Sum & Substance CDs

Many of these titles and more are also available to students by accessing our West Study Aids Subscription.

Law Library Exam Period Hours

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Friday, April 19 – Thursday, May 9

  • Sunday 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM
  • Monday – Friday 8:00 AM –  Midnight*
  • Saturday  9:00 AM – 11:00 PM

Friday, May 10 – Sunday, May 12

  • Friday  8:00 AM – 10:00 PM
  • Saturday 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
  • Sunday 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Monday – Tuesday, May 13 – 14

  •  8:00 AM – 10:00 PM

*Note: In order to use the Law Library between 11 p.m. and midnight, you must be in Hazel Hall PRIOR to the time when the building locks at 11:00 p.m. If you leave the building after 11 pm, you will not be able to get back in.

 

Fine Amnesty Returns: Happy National Library Week!

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In honor of National Library Week, the law library’s circulation department is once again forgiving fines. Patrons who return all overdue books during National Library week (April 14-20, 2013) will be forgiven for up to $10.00 in fines.  Please see Rob, Maya, or Mark if you would like to have your fines forgiven.

First sponsored by the American Library Assocation in 1958, National Library Week celebrates the important contributions of the nation’s libraries and librarians to our communities and educational institutions.

GMU Libraries Provide Access to Vault Career Insider

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Career Insider by Vault provides career information and management tools including:

  • Vault Career Guides (includes legal practice areas and law firms)
  • Industry and company profiles
  • Resume and cover letter resources
  • Salary information
  • Job alerts
  • Online career forums

GMU patrons may access Career Insider using the link above or from the GMU Database Portal (listed alphabetically under “C” or “V”).  First time users are required to set up a personal username and password.

 

 

A Response to The Donkey

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Dear The Donkey,

Yesterday you made your annual April Fools’ Day appearance. While we readily acknowledge that all was intended as lighthearted jest, it was difficult not to feel one’s gander rise when confronted with the arbitrary mocking of a venerated colleague, friend, and trusted ally. We speak here, of course, of the lead headline titled, “Mysterious Artifacts Found Near Computer Labs” and its wanton denigration of The Book.

While readily acknowledging the virtues of the digital medium, we would be remiss in not reminding our loyal readers that The Book is far from an “artifact.” These bound instruments remain a vital tool for the best researchers—not mere luddites. Seasoned and resourceful information seekers know the belief that “everything is online” is mere popular mythology promulgated by naive digital natives. Just think tenure people.

To be sure, no one would wish to pull the Shepard’s volumes out of the dumpster or abandon the opportunity of performing standard legal research with a few deliberate clicks. But do not forget that The Book is a technology that has survived for more than six centuries. The iPad has some catching up to do.

Respectfully yours etc……

Baseball and the Law

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It’s opening day for major league baseball.  As throngs converge on Nationals Park and other stadiums we (i.e. those of us at work/in class instead of at the game!) can take a moment to remember the unique legal status of baseball in all of sports: i.e. its antitrust exemption.

Well timed for the start of the new season, UCLA Law Professor Stuart Banner has just published a concise history of baseball’s antitrust exemption—The Baseball Trust. Banner traces the sport’s legal battles highlighted by the Supreme Court’s 1922 decision in Federal Club v. National League (holding federal antitrust laws do not apply to baseball), reaffirmed 50 years later in Flood v. Kuhn— a decision that famously devotes its introductory paragraphs to a history of “The Game.”

 

Same-Sex Marriage Cases Set for Oral Argument

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All eyes and cameras (outside anyway) will be on the U.S. Supreme Court next week as the justices hear oral argument on March 26 in Hollingsworth v. Perry (California Proposition 8) and March 27 in United States v. Windsor (the Defense of Marriage Act). The question presented in each of these cases are provided in a previous blog post.

It will be hard to avoid the flood of commentary in media outlets about these cases. Scotus Blog is highly recommended for accurate reporting on all things happening at the Court.The blog has extensive previews of both Hollingsworth and Windsor.

Audio recordings of the arguments should be available on the Supreme Court Website on Friday, March  29.