The Goodson Blogson

The United States Supreme Court has designated two opinion release days this week: Thursday and Friday. With more than two dozen still-pending decisions from October Term 2023 to release before the traditional end of the term (including five from the November and December oral arguments), the next few weeks promise to be busy at One First Street! You can keep up with the activities of the Court at its website, including new opinions as they are released. Seasoned Court-watchers gather at the SCOTUSblog homepage on opinion days at 10:00 am Eastern for expert commentary and live updates on opinion releases. The blog's Cases section includes helpful overviews of the issues under review, with links to relevant case documents. The Statistics section also includes handy information about decided and pending decisions. The Newsfeed provides daily updates on pending petitions, opinion analysis, and other Court activities (such as the justices’ financial disclosures , released earli...

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will open its annual October Term, with its first oral argument scheduled for 10 am. The "First Monday in October" has marked the start of the Supreme Court's year since 1916. The Court recently confirmed plans to continue live-streaming oral arguments on its website; the first case of the new Term, Pulsifer v. United States , concerns the "safety valve" provision in federal criminal sentencing laws. To learn more about individual cases on the Court's docket this year, SCOTUSblog offers quick access to case information and filings on its October Term 2023 page , organized by argument date. The ABA also publishes a regular Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases (available in HeinOnline; Duke NetID required) that provides an overview as well as legal analysis of each featured case. ( Pulsifer is featured in the latest Preview issue, along with other cases from the October sitting.) A looming federal government shut...

Legal matters seem to generate an avalanche of headlines every day, in both mainstream and specialized publications. How can a reader possibly keep up with the latest news? A few well-chosen RSS feeds and/or browser bookmarks may help, such as from the recommended legal news resources below. The ABA Journal website provides recent news stories from the American Bar Association, as well as articles and issues of its monthly print and digital magazine. (Back issues and articles can also be found in a number of third-party databases .) State and local bar association journals are another good source to keep up with legal developments in a particular jurisdiction. Many titles are available online, though often only to association members; the Duke community can access many titles through HeinOnline's Bar Journal Library . Law.com and Law360.com are two popular legal news sources. The full text of articles on their websites can be accessed directly from within the Law School...

The end of June usually marks the conclusion of the U.S. Supreme Court's October Term, when the Court issues the last of its opinions in cases argued since the start of the term in the previous fall. Last term, with disruptions to Court operations and argument sittings in the spring of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Court's final ten opinions of OT19 were issued in July. This week, the Court has five opinions left to issue from the 2020 October Term. Will they successfully conclude the term before the end of the month, or push into July for the second year in a row? Court-watchers will be following the activities at One First Street closely this week. To join them, you can visit SCOTUSblog , which live-blogs order and opinion release days at the Court beginning at 9:30 am Eastern time. SCOTUSblog's FAQ page on Announcements of Orders and Opinions provides some additional detail about the process. Although the Court highlights opinion release days on its publi...

Monday, October 7 marks the official start of oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court 's new term. In 1916, Congress enacted a law establishing the Court's opening date as the "first Monday in October," although the number of sessions per year and the timing of the opening day has varied throughout American history. This new term is already packed with dozens of cases, with still more to come as the Court continues to decide on pending petitions for certiorari. The Supreme Court website provides Calendars in PDF and HTML formats. First up on Monday morning is argument in Kahler v. Kansas ( docket ), on the ability of individual states to abolish the insanity defense for criminal defendants. To learn more about individual cases on the Court's docket, SCOTUSblog offers quick access to case information and filings on its October Term 2019 page, organized by argument date. Yesterday, Bloomberg published A Lawyer's Guide to the Upcoming Supreme Court Term ...

Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based artist Tuesday Bassen accused international clothing retailer Zara of stealing several of her designs for its clothing and jewelry. Her Instagram post featured side-by-side comparisons of Bassen's art next to Zara's designs, which incorporated suspiciously similar elements. Bassen was incensed by the company's response, which denied any legal wrongdoing and insinuated that Bassen is not well-known enough for the public to confuse Zara's designs for hers. In a follow-up social media post , Bassen noted that she had retained "an aggressive lawyer" and is pursuing litigation. In fashion, runway "knockoffs" are nothing new – many clothing companies produce low-cost variations on high-end designer duds, usually taking sufficient steps to change the design enough to avoid legal problems. But lesser-known clothing designers and independent artists sometimes find their work emblazoned on an international retailer...

Are you one of the millions of users who downloaded the Pokémon GO app in its first week of release? Or have you spent the last few days confused by your friends' sudden stream of social media references to "PokéStops," "Poké Balls," and "Pidgeys"? For the uninitiated, Pokémon GO is an augmented-reality game, available in the US on iPhone or Android mobile devices, which encourages players to head outdoors in search of computer-generated creatures which pop up on your screen. Users catch the Pokémon by throwing a virtual ball, then engage in competitive battles with other users' Pokémon. The game was an instant cultural phenomenon, capitalizing on nostalgia for the Pokémon cartoons of the early 2000s and the prevalence of smartphones. Almost immediately, users began to flood public spaces which have been designated as Pokémon "Gyms" (including many churches, parks, and even the White House ). Despite safety warnings from municipal pol...

Monday, October 2 marked an important annual legal event: as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2 , the "First Monday in October" begins a new term of the U.S. Supreme Court . The Court has already begun to hear oral arguments in the cases it will decide during this term, which adjourns in June 2013. Court-watchers regard First Monday with great anticipation, and much was written earlier this week about the current docket and expected additions. See coverage at CNN , the New York Times , and the Washington Post , among others. But once the mainstream media's excitement about First Monday dissipates, how can you keep up with the goings-on at One First Street? The Goodson Blogson has some ideas. The Court's own website includes argument calendars and transcripts, links to briefs and other docket materials, and opinions and orders as they are released.  For news and commentary, many legal researchers subscribe to U.S. Law Week , which is available electronically to the Duke L...

With less than a month until the July bar exam, heads are probably swimming with legal concepts, case names, and prep-course mnemonics. If you’ve come down with a case of bar-exam brain-freeze, it might be time to try some alternative ways to learn: CALI, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction , provides interactive tutorials on more than 900 legal topics. Tutorials range in scope from general areas of law to very specific legal concepts. A Duke Law registration code is needed for accessing the tutorials on the web, and can be obtained from the library Reference Desk or online with a NetID and password . If you like an interactive Q&A approach to studying, you might also prefer to download the mobile app versions of popular aids like the Law in a Flash flash-card series or the Q&A books from LexisNexis . Though the online version of each series is only slightly cheaper than the tangible versions, the ability to “shuffle” and annotate the flash cards and re-ta...

What do you get the legal eagle who has everything? Just like any other law-related question: “It depends.” When cash seems too impersonal and disaster kits seem too depressing, turn to the Goodson Blogson for legal-themed gift ideas. The Billable Hour is probably the largest collection of gifts aimed squarely at the legal profession. They offer board games like LAWSUIT! , office accessories, and “ survival kits ” for all stages of law careers, including law school and the bar exam. Constitutional law fans and other SCOTUS geeks will find something to love at the Supreme Court Gift Shop , including its popular annual holiday ornament series . There seems no limit to what the Court will lend its official seal, including a ruler , guest room soap , and drinkware . (For the lawyers and judges of tomorrow, also consider the ABA’s Supreme Court Coloring Book , which comes complete with its own crayons.) If money is no object, try some of the gifts and fine art at LawGallery . The most aff...

Since 1978, the Duke Law School’s library newsletter has published under the tongue-in-cheek title "D.U.L.L. News". Although the monthly print publication evolved into a blog in 2006, the name remained as long as we were called the "Duke University Law Library". However, the recent rechristening of the J. Michael Goodson Law Library has left D.U.L.L. News in flux (it's temporary called "News & Announcements", which is even duller than D.U.L.L.). As our new acronym doesn’t lend itself well to a snappy blog title, we turn to the Duke Law community for assistance, and offer the promise of lasting fame and a fabulous prize. Can you help us rename D.U.L.L. News? Contest Rules: Contest is open to entry only by current Duke Law School students, faculty, and staff. The winning blog name must not be in use by any other law libraries (see a list at http://library.law.wisc.edu/wisblawg/blogslistpublic.htm [link not working? try an archive version ]), or oth...

In an entry last month , D.U.L.L. News reported on two blogs devoted to linking legal scholars with upcoming conferences and calls for papers: Legal Conference Watch from the University of Washington School of Law (http://depts.washington.edu/lawref/confblog), and the Legal Scholarship Blog from University of Pittsburgh (http://legalscholarship.wordpress.com/). However, it’s time to update your bookmarks! Both schools have now joined forces to form the Legal Scholarship Blog ( http://legalscholarshipblog.com ). This new, collaborative blog will replace both of the separate sites.

Law School faculty and ambitious student researchers: have you written a paper that’s still in need of a loving home? Two relatively new blogs may help you locate an appropriate conference at which to present your work. The Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington School of Law has recently announced the relaunch of Legal Conference Watch ( http://depts.washington.edu/lawref/confblog ), a blog announcing law-related conferences around the world. The blog is searchable by keyword, and browseable by date and/or topic. In addition, the Legal Scholarship Blog ( http://legalscholarship.wordpress.com/ ) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law provides similar access to conference announcements by subject, in addition to calls for papers.