ZiefBrief

Read Law Professor Barack Obama’s Final Exams

There has been a lot of commentary about an article in the New York Times that discussed Barack Obama’s 12 years as a law professor at University of Chicago (click here to see article). Turns out he was generally considered brilliant by most students but enigmatic by some fellow professors. What the readers of the print version of the article didn't get to see is a collection of Professor Obama's final exams and the syllabus to his class Current Issues in Racism and the Law.

Links to the materials:

Syllabus: Current Issues in Racism and the Law

2003 Final Exam
2002 Final Exam
2001 Final Exam
2000 Final Exam
1999 Final Exam
1998 Exam
1997 Final Exam | Answer Memo
1996 Final Exam | Answer Memo

Monica Goodling -- Poor Lexis Researcher?

The release of  "An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General" (click here for the 524 KB .pdf file from the DOJ site) has been all over the news and blogosphere ever since it was released on the 28th of July. For those of you who haven't read the 150 page document we offer the following condensed version: allegations confirmed. What caught Ziefbrief's eye was the discussion of the techniques Ms. Goodling used to determine the political leanings of applicants. According to the report: "We found that Goodling’s Internet research on candidates for Department positions was extensive and designed to obtain their political and ideological affiliations." In a footnote the report noted " It does not violate federal law or Department policy to search for and consider  political information concerning candidates for political positions.  However, Goodling  also conducted such searches, and considered the results of those searches, for  candidates for career positions, including IJs and career candidates for temporary details."
The report also includes the actual lexis/nexis search that Jan Williams, her predecessor as the Department’s White House Liaison, passed on to her to use in screening applicants:

"[First name of a candidate]! and pre/2 [last name of a  candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or  charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra  or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or  controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or  layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict!  or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired  or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or  controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or  firearm!"

We note a number of problems with the search technique in the above search. Ignoring the redundant search term "fired", we note that the search is incredibly broad -- especially if the search is run in one of the general news collections on Nexis. We challenge all ZiefBrief readers to come up with a better search to identify the political inclinations of potential members of the AG's staff. Submit your suggestion as a comment to this posting.

Neat Research Tools -- Capitol Words and LOUIS

Just so we are clear on this, ZiefBrief is the alter ego for a crew of dedicated law librarians here at the Dorraine Zief Law Library. After surfing the web for a while, some of the members of the team feel like a spider on Benzedrine. We find cool stuff, which leads to more cool stuff, that links to more… you  get the picture – there_is_SO_MUCH_STUFF!! So we find a little item, you might call it “web candy.” But on closer examination it is so much more.

Take for example a recent discovery, Capitol Words. To quote the web site: “Capitol Words gives you an at-a-glance view into the daily proceedings of the United States Congress through the simplest lens available-a single word. For every day that Congress is in session, Capitol Words displays the most frequently used word in the Congressional Record.” Here is the latest example:

Fun, not earth shattering and you can add the site to your RSS aggregator and get a daily heads-up on what they are saying in the halls of congress.

"But Wait! (as they say on all the infomercials) There's More!!" Capitol Words is just one project of a group called the Sunshine Foundation (named after the Brandeis quote that "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.") Another interest project they are working on is LOUIS (click here to visit), an acronym for the Library Of Unified Information Sources. Through LOUIS their "ultimate goal is to create a comprehensive, completely indexed and cross-referenced depository of federal documents from the executive and legislative branches of government.... LOUIS currently contains, in fully searchable format, seven sets of federal documents:

• Congressional Reports
• Congressional Record
• Congressional Hearings
• Federal Register
• Presidential Documents
• GAO Reports
• Congressional Bills & Resolutions"

So check out Capitol Words and the other works of the Sunshine Foundation today. Its worth the trip.

Legal Blogs: Inspiration for Finding Law Review Topics

The annual hunt for law review topics is another seasonal activity revealed by ZiefBrief's current usage statistics.

Immersing yourself for a time in the legal news is a great way to get at least a kernel of a topic. The following collections of law blogs let you skim a vast number of posts in a short time, so that you can get a sense of what's new, hot, and — most important of all — interesting to you.

• Alltop.com's "Law" category - current headlines from about 150 major legal blogs, all displayed on one page for easy skimming
• LexMonitor - a daily review of legal blogs, with the option of browsing by topics ("channels")
• Justia's BlawgSearch - currently covering over 2800 legal blogs in 62 categories
• ABA Journal - current legal news and a Blawg Directory

For more ways to get a foothold on your law review topic, see our previous post, Summer Reading - Finding Paper & Law Review Topics.

Once you have that kernel, you can flesh it out with the techniques outlined in chapter two ("Inspiration: Choosing a Subject and Developing a Thesis") of Elizabeth Fajans & Mary R. Falk, Scholarly Writing for Law Students (3d ed. 2005).

Gossipy Law Blogs and Biglaw

The National Law Journal has an article today, "Gossip Blogs Bedevil Law Firms," which discusses how quickly law firms' dirty laundry -- things like layoffs, firings, associate lawsuits, and "Summer Associates Gone Wild" incidents -- gets aired for public consumption on blogs like Above the Law and WSJ's Law Blog.  The instant I read this headline, I immediately flashed back to childhood afternoons watching Scooby Doo with my sister.  At the end of each episode, the captured villain always shook his or her fist at the Scooby Doo Gang and said something like, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!!"  I imagine a few law firm partners have expressed similar sentiments after finding their firms' inner workings discussed in great detail on gossip blogs.  (My apologies to any young readers out there who are shaking your heads in dismay over my antiquated cultural references -- I am of a certain age and cannot help myself!) 

It seems to me that this new transparency is a pretty good thing for those who are entering the Biglaw job market.  Back in the dark old pre-blog days, it was pretty tough to obtain detailed information about a firm unless you already knew someone who summered there before you or people who were currently working at the firm.  If you didn't have an inside source of information, you were stuck with NALP data and the inevitably glowing stories about what it's like to work at the firm that you get from associates during on-site interviews.

That's all changed.  Above the Law and other sites now regularly post detailed information about Biglaw bonuses, associate salaries, family leave policies, "real" versus "advertised" billable hour expectations, layoffs, and more, making it much easier to compare firms.  While you have to have some healthy skepticism about the veracity of readers' comments, the Wall Street Journal reporters and Above the Law's David Lat let readers know whether they have been able to substantiate the information in their posts.  Given the amount of time that you'll spend at a Biglaw firm after you accept an offer, it doesn't hurt to check out as many sources of information as possible so that you can make a decision that works for you. 

Clever Viral Video: Legal Research - The Movie

It takes a lot to make ZiefBrief chuckle at something on YouTube but our crack librarian-in-training/intern Suzanne Mawhinney shared this with us and we thought we would pass it along. The work of Stanford Law students, it is only NSFW if you lip read. Enjoy:

Fifty Most Powerful Blogs

ZiefBrief's authors are shocked and dismayed to find that ZiefBrief has not made it onto the list of the "50 most powerful blogs," compiled by the UK publication, the Guardian.  How could we have been overlooked? 

The top 5 on the list?  The Huffington Post, Boing Boing, Techcrunch, Kottke, and Dooce.  I'm sure we'll make it next year. 

New Internet Meme Would Make Great Law School Final Exam Question

What would you do if you came home one day and found a mob of 30 people looting your home? Robert Salisbury, a Jacksonville, Oregon contractor, faced such a crowd and it appears that the Internet is to blame. Someone placed an announcement on Craigslist stating that Salisbury was moving and that everything was up for grabs -- and grab they did. The distraught  homeowner said "I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back, they showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did." Eventually, the local constabulary arrived, but not before several cars and trucks filled with Salisbury's possession had fled the scene. Read the full Seattle Times article here.

This incident is eerily similar to one that took place about a year ago in Tacoma, Washington. In that case the police were successful in tracking down the author of the bogus ad and she was later charged with second-degree burglary, malicious mischief and criminal impersonation. Read the full Seattle Times article here.

Original link in the decidedly non-legal blog, BoingBoing

Valentine's Day

Here is a roundup of notable Valentine's Day posts and news stories:

• Law and Letters: Against Love, Or At Least The Idea Of It
• Law Blog: Office Romances & The Law: a Q & A With Ashley Brightwell
• AP: Radio Station Giving Away Free Divorce.  What a way to observe Valentine's Day!
• South Carolina Family Law Blog: Valentine's Day Tips to Stay Happily Married
• CM Law Library Blog: Valentine's Day Research Contest
• And for you bargain-hunters out there, some recommendations on budget bubbly from the New York Times:  Champagne: How Low Can You Go?

Happy Valentine's Day! 

The US Government Has a Blog

It seems like everybody, but everybody has a blog these days (including Geoffery Chaucer at the ZiefBrief favorite Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog.) Not wanting to be left out of the fun, the US Government is blogging up a storm at Govgab. This new effort is the product of the Office of Citizen Services and Communications out of the U.S. General Services Administration. This rather breezy look at the Federal Government has been around since September of '07 so it looks like it is here to stay. The bloggers state:

In our daily jobs, we encounter a staggering amount of U.S. government information and services that can benefit your life. From saving money and visiting National Parks to finding out about government auctions and the latest recalls, we want to bring these resources to you in a new way—through our blog.

This is not the site to go to conduct a legislative history or to track current regulations but it might be fun to add to your collection of blog feeds -- who knows when you might need to know about the Fed's take on Preparing for a Baby on a Budget or Buying a New Car.