Thursday, December 8, 2022

Winter Break Reading Recommendations

As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, winter break is a great time to curl up with a good book! We asked the staff of the Goodson Law Library to share some recommended reading – either books they've enjoyed recently or titles they're looking forward to reading next. If you need some inspiration for your to-be-read pile, check out our seven winter 2022 recommendations below.

What We Liked

Candice Millard, River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile (2022). (Request a print copy!): "A gripping account of adventure, personal rivalry, and innumerable obstacles in the search for the headwaters of the Nile by a formerly enslaved man, a British aristocrat, and the English translator of One Thousand and One Nights and the Kama Sutra. In this epic tale, Millard pulls together the history of British imperialism, literature, science, and geography (not to mention disguises, burrowing beetles, and Dr. Livingstone). I couldn't put it down!" – Laura Scott, Assistant Director for Reference, Clinics & Outreach and Senior Lecturing Fellow

 

Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (2011). (Request a print or Kindle copy!) "This book was such a pleasure to read. It is both a historical mystery story and a fascinating introduction to an ancient poem, Lucretius' On the Nature of Things, which was astonishingly ahead of its time." – Don Hopkins, Data Scientist

 

Erika Krouse, Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation (2022). (Request a print copy!) "This memoir of a rookie PI's work for an attorney on a Title IX lawsuit against a university athletics program reads more like a novel. It's a fascinating view into a part of legal practice that you don't hear much about in law school, vividly told by an author whose own past trauma informs her approach. (Content warnings: sexual assault & child abuse.)" – Jennifer L. Behrens, Associate Director for Administration & Scholarship and Senior Lecturing Fellow


Marlon James, Moon Witch, Spider King (2022)
. (Request a print or e-book copy!): "I'm currently reading the second novel in the Dark Star Trilogy. Set in ancient Africa, Moon Witch, Spider King dives into the origin story of Sogolon, the Moon Witch. I am excited to continue diving deeper into the fantasy world from the first novel in the trilogy, Black Leopard, Red Wolf.” –Julie Wooldridge, Research Services Librarian and Senior Lecturing Fellow

 

What We’re Excited to Read Next

Nina Totenberg, Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships (2022). (Get on the hold list!) "This book was written by someone I have a lot of admiration for, about someone I have a lot of admiration for. Haven't read it yet, but will do so one of these days, over dinner." – Jane Bahnson, Assistant Director for Research & Instruction and Senior Lecturing Fellow


Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere (1997)
. (Get on the hold list!): “I'm excited to start Neverwhere because I liked American Gods, and the reviews for this book are very good: it is one of NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy books of all time!” –Chelsey McKimmy, Research Services Librarian and Lecturing Fellow

 

Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart: A Memoir (2021). (Request a print or e-book copy!). "I would like to read this critically-acclaimed memoir by musician Michelle Zauner (of Japanese Breakfast), about reconnecting with her Korean heritage after the death of her mother. I think that her reflections on grief and loss will be relatable to a wide audience, although they (and I!) may want to save it until after the holiday season." – Alex Zhang, Archibald C. and Frances Fulk Rufty Research Professor of Law, Associate Dean of Information Services, and Director of the J. Michael Goodson Law Library

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Finals without Fear

Hard to believe that fall finals are just around the corner! As you prepare for a marathon of studying and essay-writing, fill in those outlines and clarify confusing concepts with the help of the Law Library. The Library offers access to hundreds of online study aids and supplements that can help you get ready for finals:

  • The West Academic Library Study Aids provides full-text access to hundreds of study aids, treatises, audio lectures, and flash card sets published by West Academic. Series available include Acing, Concepts and Insights, Hornbooks, Nutshells, Black Letter Outlines, Legalines, Sum and Substance audio, and many more.
  • The Aspen Learning Library (formerly known as Wolters Kluwer Study Aid Library) contains nearly 200 study aids published by Aspen Publishing. Available series include Examples & Explanations, Glannon Guides, Emanuel Law Outlines, and more.
  • Elgar Advanced Introductions to Law is a small but mighty collection of brief, accessible texts on over two dozen topics, particularly strong in comparative and international law.

Additional study aids are available in the library's print collection. Find titles and call number/locations by searching the Duke Libraries Catalog.

The Library collection also includes guides to studying for, and writing, law school examinations. The Law School Success handout in the online Orientation Packet describes a number of these titles in the Exam Preparation section. A catalog search for the subject heading "Law examinations -- United States" will return print and online book results with guidance for studying, outlining, and writing exam answers

Please note if borrowing print materials that items are subject to recall requests by other borrowers, and that demand is particularly high during exam period. As a result, your due date may be shortened, and you will be notified by email of any recall requests.

How else can the library help you prepare for exam period? Foam earplugs are available at the service desk to help you focus, courtesy of CALI. CALI also provides students with access to hundreds of online tutorials, free e-books, and other materials. Registration codes are available in Sidebar on level 3 (along with limited quantities of CALI's interlocking brick highlighters!), or via the download link with NetID and password.

For help with locating or accessing the materials described here, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers and Law Students 2022

Thirteen years after the very first Goodson Blogson holiday gift guide, one thing is certain: our readers seem to really enjoy looking at holiday gift inspiration from a law school library blog. Fortunately, we enjoy finding new recommendations each year! This list includes suggestions (at a variety of price points) for items that might be suitable for the law students and/or lawyers in your life.

Some gadget ideas that could be suitable for law students and lawyers alike include a stylish wireless charger (Wired breaks down 25 recommendations). Smartphone charger and UV sanitizer combos might also be welcomed. Noise-canceling headphones will likely be in use from law school final exams all the way to lawyer business travel (CNET recommends its top picks for 2022). While digital notebooks have been around for several years now, the brand recognition of Moleskine Smart might appeal to those who are just starting to make a transition toward paperless. (They also have some well-loved paper notebooks and planners for your more traditional friends.)

Maybe you can help your exhausted lawyerly loved ones by giving the gift of better sleep. The plush vegan blankets at UnHide are available in a variety of sizes, colors, and price points. For recipients with whom you have a close relationship (because this one could get pretty awkward otherwise), a nice set of cozy pajamas or a bathrobe might also be appreciated: The Cat's Pajamas offers a wide selection of styles and prints. If PJs would be a bit too intimate, a quality sleep mask may be appreciated by the jet-lagged practitioner. Nidra's Deep Rest Eye Mask is an affordable option that comes recommended by the New York Times Wirecutter blog, while Saatva offers a few higher-priced luxury options. Portable white noise machines can likewise improve sleep at home or on the road (see New York magazine's top 9 recommendations).

Alternatively, you could help your recipient stay awake with the gift of caffeine. Coffee subscriptions like Durham's own Little Waves, or the Atlas Coffee Club, can keep a variety of brews coming to your loved one for as long as you like. Or, you may want to share a specialty bag like Pappy & Co.'s Bourbon Barrel-Aged Coffee (aged in barrels that once held the elusive and coveted Pappy Van Winkle bourbon), or the unbelievably strong Death Wish Coffee. Does your loved one prefer tea? Atlas also offers a Tea of the Month Club, and tea box sets are available from vendors like Cup of Té and Ackroyd's Scottish Bakery.

Foodie friends and family members might also appreciate Maya-Camille Broussard's just-released cookbook Justice of the Pies: Sweet and Savory Pies, Quiches, and Tarts Plus Inspirational Stories from Exceptional People: A Baking Book. Broussard, known from Netflix's Bake Squad series, owns the Justice of the Pies bakery in Chicago, named in tribute to her late father, criminal defense attorney Stephen J. Broussard. (Other enduring law-themed cookbooks that we've previously recommended include the loving tribute Chef Supreme: Martin Ginsburg and Table for 9: Supreme Court Food Traditions and Recipes, both available from the Supreme Court Historical Society.) If your recipient would rather eat their holiday gift than read it, Chicago-area readers can pick up one of Broussard's pies at several partner locations, while others can have one shipped via Goldbelly.

Or, brighten up your law student’s nights and weekends with some fun and games. Jackbox Games offers a "Party Pack 5", featuring five of its popular online games which are played with smartphones and tablets as controllers. Guidance on purchasing other Jackbox games as gifts is available. For a little more nostalgic gaming experience, WS Game Company sells Vintage Bookshelf Games that fold into book-sized boxes, which could be tucked away discreetly on your favorite lawyer's shelves. Jigsaw puzzle fans might enjoy the 1000-piece Declaration of Independence or U.S. Constitution puzzles, available in the National Archives Store.

For the hobbyist lawyer whose office is in need of natural light, how about a LEGO Orchid, Succulents, or Bonsai Tree set? The artificial plants are fun to assemble, and could offer some cheerful decoration until that promotion to a window office comes through.

In pop culture news, AMC's Better Call Saul concluded its six-season run this summer, and a new Blu-Ray box set of the complete series is due out on December 6. Pre-orders of the masterful Breaking Bad prequel about shady lawyer Saul Goodman are available now on Amazon and Best Buy.

As much as we enjoy scouring the Internet for far-flung gift ideas, it's also important to support your local vendors and help keep your community thriving. For example, Durham's own Bright Black candle company offers a variety of scents, including a tobacco-forward one named for the company's hometown. Melina's Pasta offers cookbooks and pasta-making kits available for shipping, in addition to their fresh pastas and sauces available for local pickup. Julz's Creations features small-batch hot sauces and other condiments, including a Hot Sauce Gift Box whose spice level can be customized to your recipient’s tolerance for heat. To locate unique vendors in your own backyard, check out the listings for your local farmers' markets and/or flea markets.

Other sources to watch this November for law-themed gift ideas include Reid Trautz's Reid My Blog (whose gift guide returned in 2021 after a 5-year hiatus), Above the Law, and the ABA Gift Guide Galleries.

If you plan to do a lot of your own gift-scouting this year, please note that current members of the Duke University community can access the Consumer Reports Buying Guide from MasterFILE Premier (including recommendations and charts for air purifiers, headphones, fitness trackers, and computers). Consumer Reports magazine is also available through MasterFILE Premier as well as Nexis Uni, the campus-wide version of the Law School’s Lexis database (where Consumer Reports can also be found in full-text). For help with access to Consumer Reports or other e-journal sources, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

On behalf of all of us at Goodson Blogson HQ, have a safe and happy holiday season!

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Gimme a Chancery

As the legal fallout over Elon Musk's bid to purchase social network Twitter continues to unfurl, the Wall Street Journal recently explored the situation from an unusual perspective: what would Charles Dickens think of it all? In a story for the paper's humorous A-Hed section, Ellen Gamerman notes the parallels between Twitter v. Musk and Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, the all-consuming inheritance dispute at the center of Dickens's 1852 novel Bleak House (available to the Duke community in a variety of formats). Although Gamerman is careful to note that the lumbering Chancery Court of the Dickens tale (described at one point in the tale as "being ground to bits in a slow mill") bears little resemblance to Delaware's Court of Chancery today, she quotes a few fans and even one Dickens descendant who express amusement at the prospect of a modern-day chancery case playing out, should the parties fail to settle the dispute before the November trial date.

Gamerman briefly mentions the history of chancery courts in the Anglo-American legal system, describing their decline by the late 1800s in most jurisdictions. For the unfamiliar, though, a bit more detail would be helpful, such as the explainer on the Delaware Court of Chancery's own website. Courts of equity have deep roots in medieval English law, from a time when the King authorized his Chancellors with the discretionary authority to hear petitions and redress citizens' grievances outside the limitations of a court of law. Courts of law and courts of equity became parallel systems which handled different types of suits, depending on the remedies being sought. By the mid-19th century, both the English and American legal systems began to abolish separate courts of equity, in favor of reforming the courts of law as a single point for civil actions. Some states, like Delaware, retained their separate chancery courts for specific types of actions.

More information about Delaware's Court of Chancery, including its history, can be found in Wolfe & Pittenger, Corporate and Commercial Practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery, 2d ed. 2021 (online in Lexis). This extensive treatise discusses the history and practice before the Delaware Court of Chancery, with footnotes to relevant primary law. For more general information on chancery courts and the law of equity, check out some of these resources:

  • Principles of Remedies Law, 4th ed. 2022 (online in West Academic Study Aids Library): Includes a helpful overview to the development of courts of equity in chapter 2.
  • Law of Remedies: Damages, Equity, Restitution, 3d ed. 2018 (KF9010 .D6 2018 & online in West Academic Study Aids Library): This West Hornbook covers modern equitable remedies more generally, but includes some discussion of the history of chancery courts in chapter 2.
  • Equity and Law: Fusion and Fission, eds. Goldberg, Smith, and Turner, 2019 (Christie Collection K247 .E64 2019 & online): chapters explore various aspects of the history of equitable remedies in the US and UK.

Finally, if you wish to follow along with the Twitter litigation, the Delaware Chancery Court’s e-filing system requires registration to access filings on its website. However, current members of the Duke Law community can access the materials from Twitter v. Musk, Docket No. 2022-0613, via Bloomberg Law's docket search or Lexis CourtLink. Be warned that while Delaware's modern Court of Chancery may have little in common with Dickens's version, the volume of docket entries – more than 1,500 since July – gives the notoriously long Bleak House some stiff competition. (Fortunately, 21st-century researchers can use the "search within" features to speed up their reading.)

For help with accessing any of these resources, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Monday, October 3, 2022

Saving Time with 50-State Surveys

Monday, October 10 is a federal and state government holiday, although the holiday differs depending on your jurisdiction. While many states continue to call the second Monday in October "Columbus Day," a number of others have renamed the holiday a variation on "Native Americans' Day" or "Indigenous Peoples Day," or observe the newer holiday in addition to the old one.

Celebrations of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus's 1492 landfall in North America have occurred in various American locations as early as the eighteenth century, and October 12 (later moved to the second Monday in October) was established as a federal holiday in the 1930s. However, Columbus Day has sparked protests by Native American communities and others, who have highlighted the impact of colonization on indigenous people in the Americas, and the related history of violent conflict and forced assimilation.

As noted in Smithsonian Magazine, South Dakota was the first state to rename the holiday in 1990, to Native Americans' Day. (Hawaii had previously renamed the second Monday in October as "Discoverers' Day" in 1988, but also clarified that it is not an official state holiday.) Other states have co-observed the holidays, such as Alabama's addition of "American Indian Heritage Day" alongside "Columbus Day and Fraternal Day" in 2000 . Last year, the federal government followed a similar approach, with a presidential proclamation for Columbus Day as well as one for Indigenous Peoples Day – the first time the federal government had formally acknowledged the newer holiday.

Researching the legal holidays (or any other research topic) in all fifty states can be a time-consuming process. Fortunately, fifty-state surveys exist to help speed things up. These resources compile statutory or regulatory code citations on a particular topic for all U.S. jurisdictions. Even a slightly outdated fifty-state survey can be a helpful starting place to point researchers to the correct section or area of an individual state’s current code.

How, then, to find 50-state surveys? Both Lexis and Westlaw have collections of topical surveys from their secondary source menus, but other options also exist. The National Survey of State Laws (9th ed. 2022, online in HeinOnline) is a long-running publication that compiles 50-state surveys on selected topics, including one on "Legal Holidays" state-by-state. Charts include the relevant code section number and a summary of the state information.

Another useful database for locating 50-state surveys is the Subject Compilations of State Laws, 1960-2018 (online in HeinOnline). Drawn from the contents of another long-running book series, the Subject Compilations database will often point to the 50-state surveys contained in Lexis and Westlaw, and the state comparison charts in Bloomberg Law. For the topic of state holidays, one helpful result in this category is Lexis's Banking Law – Bank Activities: Legal & Bank Holidays chart (last updated May 2020). The Subject Compilations database may also point to footnotes in law review articles or court opinions that list various jurisdictions' laws on a topic, relevant treatise sections, and even web links to non-governmental organizations. (Because the latest edition of the Subject Compilations in the database is from 2018, it will also point to older editions of the National Survey of State Laws in HeinOnline.)

For help with locating, or guidance on compiling, relevant 50-state surveys on a topic, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

First Monday in October

Monday, October 3 marks the start of the United States Supreme Court's October Term. Congress established the "first Monday in October" as the beginning of a new Court term in 1916, as seen in 28 U.S.C. § 2.

The term will be the first for new Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was sworn in on June 30 following the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer. (A formal investiture ceremony for Justice Jackson will be held on Friday, September 30.)

With less than a week before the opening of oral argument, the Court looks a little more welcoming than it did at the end of the last term, although it has maintained some pandemic-era access protocols. In late August, the Court removed the 8-foot security fence that was erected in advance of the controversial opinion Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade. However, the building still remains closed to the public, except for official business. The Court began streaming real-time audio of oral argument during the pandemic, and has not yet announced any changes to that plan for the upcoming term. (UPDATED at 4:32 pm: The Court has just announced that it will continue the live audio feed of oral argument, and will allow limited public seating for oral argument during this Term.)

To learn more about individual cases on the Court's docket and petitions for certiorari under consideration, SCOTUSblog offers quick access to case information and filings on its October Term 2022 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. If you are interested in attending a preview event, SCOTUSblog also has a roundup of free public events highlighting key cases from the 2022-23 October Term.

For more information on the history and practices of the U.S. Supreme Court, check out the resources linked in the library's research guide or Ask a Librarian.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Secondary Sources: Still the First Stop for Research

On August 28, a new law took effect in the state of Missouri, which in part added Mo. Rev. Stat. § 1.016: "A secondary source, including a legal treatise, scholarly publication, textbook, or other explanatory text, does not constitute the law or public policy of this state to the extent its adoption would create, eliminate, expand, or restrict a cause of action, right, or remedy, or to the extent it is inconsistent with, or in conflict with, or otherwise not addressed by, Missouri statutory law or Missouri appellate case law precedent."

Most law students learn that secondary sources do not constitute the actual law of a jurisdiction in their first semester of legal research instruction, so this code section's text may seem strangely obvious. However, it's not the only such law on the books enacted or proposed recently: even North Carolina has one specific to insurance law at N.C. Gen. Stat. § 58-1-2 which took effect last year, and a nearly identical version of that text died in the West Virginia legislature this summer.

Why the sudden rush to codify the status of secondary sources in so many states, particularly for states that focused solely on insurance? These laws all draw their text from a model act developed by the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), as a response to the drafting of the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance. Attorneys Lorelie S. Masters and Geoffrey B. Fehling detail the background of this controversy in a 2020 Connecticut Insurance Law Journal article. NCOIL model act drafters expressed concerns that the Restatement would provide "more of an ALI wish list than a statement of the majority rule of current law," and that courts would promptly adopt the Restatement view on various aspects of insurance law. The recent Missouri statute broadened the model act text beyond just the confines of insurance law.

Although state legislatures may continue trying to limit the adoption of secondary sources' text by courts in their jurisdiction, you should never be deterred from consulting them early in your research process! Secondary sources remain a great place to start your research for an overview of your topic and citations to selected relevant primary authority. Some sources to help you begin your project include:

  • Encyclopedias are available that cover the law across the United States (American Jurisprudence 2d on Westlaw, Lexis, and the campus-wide Nexis Uni; Corpus Juris Secundum on Westlaw) and individual states (such as Strong's North Carolina Index on Westlaw or in print in the library). Harvard Law School Library's guide to Legal Encyclopedias is a great list of links to available titles.
  • Study aid series like Nutshells and Hornbooks can provide a basic introduction to topics in an accessible, one-volume format. The West Academic Study Aid Library features Nutshells, Hornbooks, Concepts & Insights, among many other series; Aspen Learning Library includes Glannon Guides and Examples & Explanations. Additional introductory topical overviews are available in Elgar Advanced Introductions to Law.
  • Multi-volume scholarly treatises provide more in-depth analysis about a particular topic. Treatises are available online in Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg, and other databases depending upon the publisher. Guides like Georgetown Law Library's Treatise Finders are a great place to locate recommended titles, as is Appendix B of Legal Research in a Nutshell.
  • Journal and law review articles can help you focus on a more specific topic in law. Articles from major legal journals and law reviews since the early 1980s can be found in Lexis, Westlaw, and campus-wide databases like LegalTrac and Nexis Uni. The SSRN repository also contains a number of forthcoming articles and unpublished working papers in law, in addition to copies of published articles.

For help with locating relevant secondary sources on a topic, or learning more about model legislation like NCOIL's, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Global-Regulation Database Now Available

The Goodson Law Library has recently added a campus-wide subscription to the Global-Regulation database. This resource contains more than 4 million laws from 110 countries, with side-by-side machine translations provided for non-English documents. Access this resource via the library's Legal Databases & Links page or the Duke Libraries Catalog.

The Database Coverage map provides an illustration of the included jurisdictions; the Americas, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia have the deepest coverage, with only a limited number of African jurisdictions represented.

Additional resources for locating laws of foreign jurisdictions, either in translation or original format, include:

  • Foreign Law Guide: A subscription database, available to current members of the Duke University community. Entries for a particular country will provide an overview of the legal system, details about primary sources of law, and a subject index. Foreign Law Guide includes pointers to online availability, in both free and subscription resources. Notes about English translations (either official or through unofficial secondary sources) are also often included.
  • GlobaLex: A free website maintained by NYU Law's Hauser Global Law School Program, GlobaLex’s Foreign Law Research section provides detailed guides to researching the law of most countries, including some not featured in Foreign Law Guide (such as North Korea and South Sudan).
  • Worldwide Tax and Commercial Laws (via Checkpoint > International): includes translations of business and tax laws from around the world.

For help using Global-Regulation or these other databases, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Bloomberg Law Docket Access Update

Last week, Bloomberg Law announced a change to its academic subscription docket usage caps. Effective July 2022, the system will reset educational account users' docket "billing" for the year on July 1, rather than January 1, to more closely track the academic calendar.

As many Law School community members already know, Bloomberg Law provides subscribers with robust access to federal and state court dockets and filings. Individual users can request the full text of documents that are available for electronic retrieval, and track/update pending case dockets as well. Although this service comes at a cost to commercial subscribers, Bloomberg subsidizes these costs for academic users: up to $1,500 per person each year or up to an institutional cap (equivalent to 30% of the annual subscription cost paid by the institution, which varies depending on size). (Note: Academic subscribers are not eligible to request items that require courier service to retrieve.)

More information is available at Bloomberg's Policy on Academic Use of Dockets. Users who exceed their annual allotment will be restricted from incurring additional docket charges (for retrieval or updating/tracking) until the next annual reset. Bloomberg pledges to provide 30 days' notice before suspending docket retrieval access (except in the case of data scraping or other automated download methods, which can result in immediate suspension under the terms of service). Users can always review their current docket "charges" in the top right corner of Bloomberg Law, under My Accounts > My Docket Billing.

What happens if your docket access is someday restricted, either due to your personal or Duke's institutional usage cap? Once retrieved, an individual document becomes freely available in the system (labeled "View" rather than "Request" on the docket), and subsequent readers incur no charges for accessing those materials. Current members of the Duke Law community can also access many court filings and docket materials through Westlaw (Filings tab for a particular case) and Lexis (CourtLink). CourtListener's Advanced RECAP Archive Search includes federal court documents provided by users of the RECAP browser extension

For additional options in researching federal and state dockets, check out our research guide to Court Records and Briefs or Ask a Librarian.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Expanded Access to ProQuest Supreme Court Insight

The Goodson Law Library has recently expanded its access to historical content in the ProQuest Supreme Court Insight database, adding U.S. Supreme Court records, briefs, and case histories back to 1933 (expanded from its previous start date of 1975). The Duke University community can now access this nearly half-century of additional materials via the Duke Libraries Catalog or Legal Databases & Links page.

ProQuest Supreme Court Insight provides browse and search capability for U.S. Supreme Court materials. For quick access to a specific case's materials, use Search by Number or select "Supreme Court Case Name" from the Basic or Advanced search menus. A section of Landmark Cases also allows browsing or searching for selected noteworthy cases decided during the coverage period. Results will include petitions for certiorari, briefs, appendices, docket listings, and the Court's final opinion. (Cert petitions are also included in cases where the Court did not grant the petition; the Advanced Search menu allows users to restrict results to only "Heard"/"Denied" cases, if desired.)

Looking for Supreme Court case filings before 1933? The Duke community can also access the database The Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, 1832-1978. Researchers will likely wish to consult this database in addition to ProQuest Supreme Court Insight for case materials from the overlapping time period of 1933-1978, as each may include unique materials for a particular case. For example, both databases contain results for 1L perennial favorite Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938) -- while both databases contain the petition for certiorari and the case briefs, ProQuest includes a scan of the elegantly handwritten docket and Making of Modern Law includes a 555-page transcript of record, neither of which is currently found on the competing resource.

For additional sources of U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs, check out the Law Library’s research guide or Ask a Librarian.

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Summer Access to Research Databases

Whether you are graduating from Duke Law this May or continuing your legal studies next year, your access to legal research services and other campus databases may change this summer. Below is a summary of policies for the major legal research databases that you might wish to access over the summer.

Graduating Students
  • Westlaw: You may opt in to Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw and Practical Law, for six months after graduation for non-commercial use. This "Grad Elite" access allows 60 hours of usage on these products per month to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills. While you cannot use it in situations where you are billing a client, Thomson Reuters encourages you to use these tools to build your knowledge of the law and prepare for your bar exam.
    In order to activate Grad Elite access:
    1) Log in at lawschool.tr.com; use the drop-down menu by your name to access Grad Elite Status
    2) Or click on this link: https://lawschool.westlaw.com/authentication/gradelite
    In addition to the six months of Westlaw/Practical Law access for non-commercial purposes, Grad Elite access provides Knowledge Center eLearnings and Tutorials on Westlaw for 18 months after graduation.
  • Lexis: Spring 2022 graduates will have access to Lexis+ via their Lexis law school IDs until 12/31/22. Graduates can use their Lexis IDs for job research, professional development, and commercial purposes. Graduates do not need to register for this access; it is automatic.
    Graduates going into non-profit work may apply for a LexisNexis ASPIRE ID which lasts 12 months beyond graduation. Learn more about the LexisNexis Graduate programs and/or apply for an ASPIRE ID.
  • Bloomberg Law: Access to Bloomberg Law continues for six months after graduation. Graduated students may be limited in their ability to retrieve docket filings marked "Request," update dockets, or set up docket tracking. Graduates may download docket items already uploaded in the Bloomberg system (labeled "View").
Access to most other Duke University research databases will expire upon graduation, when your status in Duke’s directory changes to "Alumni." Recent graduates who register with the Duke Alumni Association for a OneLink account receive remote access to selected databases (including ABI/Inform, several video databases, and JSTOR).
Continuing Students
  • Westlaw allows continuing students to use Thomson Reuters products, including Westlaw® and Practical Law, over the summer for non-commercial research (i.e., "to gain understanding and build confidence in your research skills, but you cannot use them in situations where you are billing a client"). Examples of permissible uses for your academic Westlaw password include the following:
    o Summer coursework
    o Research assistant assignments
    o Law Review or Journal research
    o Moot Court research
    o Non-Profit work
    o Clinical work
    o Externship sponsored by the school
    Your Westlaw summer access will continue automatically - no action is needed on your part.
  • Lexis: All returning students have automatic, unlimited access to their Lexis law school IDs for the entire summer. Law School Lexis IDs may be used for non-commercial purposes, as well as commercial purposes if your employer permits such use.
  • Bloomberg Law: Your Bloomberg Law access continues over the summer automatically. IDs may be used for non-commercial purposes, as well as commercial purposes if your employer permits such use.

For questions about using legal research services or other Law Library/University electronic resources this summer, feel free to Ask a Librarian.

Friday, March 11, 2022

Crime and Punishment in Victorian London

As part of a new consortial arrangement, Duke now has campus-wide access to all database titles published by Adam Matthew Digital. While the Duke University Libraries already subscribed to a number of the company's historical research titles, the deal has added more than a dozen new sources to the Duke community’s access.

One of the most intriguing of these new additions is London Low Life: Street Culture, Social Reform and the Victorian Underworld, a full-text research database of primary sources related to London in the 1800s and 1900s. The "Browse Documents" section provides easy access to materials on topics like "Crime and Justice" (pamphlets, broadsides, and news accounts of crimes and trials), "Politics, Scandal, and the News" (political cartoons and other publications, often related to legal proceedings), and "Disreputable London" (tourist guides to the seedier side of the city as well as slang dictionaries of the era). The database also includes an Interactive Map featuring 3D street views, galleries of visual material in the database (such as "An Old Bailey Trial," below), and contextual essays. 

Image of "An Old Bailey Trial" by Robert Cruikshank (1838)

 Other fascinating Adam Matthew Digital additions to the campus database list include World's Fairs: A Global History of Expositions, African American Communities (featuring primary sources related to various Black communities, including some in North Carolina); and Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 (foreign relations papers from the UK).

Databases and individual publication titles from the various Adam Matthew collections can be found in the Duke University Libraries catalog. For help locating and using these historical resources, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Sunday, February 20, 2022

World Trade Online Database Now Available

Current members of the Duke University community now have access to the database World Trade Online, a news and current awareness service for international trade topics. This database is accessible from the Legal Databases & Links page, the campus library Research Database Finder, and the Duke Libraries Catalog. Off-campus access requires a current Duke University NetID and password.

World Trade Online includes access to the weekly newsletter Inside U.S. Trade, as well as breaking and archived news stories. Users can browse or search the site, as well as sign up for alerts in several categories (breaking news, weekly headlines, etc.) under About Us > E-mail Alerts and Mobile Devices.

The new campus-wide database joins WorldTradeLaw.net (available to members of the Law School community on networked computers) as a resource for international trade law news and analysis. For additional resources in the library collection related to international trade, be sure to Ask a Librarian.

Friday, January 28, 2022

The Next Supreme Court Justice

Earlier this week, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intent to retire from the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of this term. The vacancy will be the first on the high court for President Biden, who has spent much of his first year in office filling vacancies in the U.S. District Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeals. (A running list of confirmed judicial nominations, as well as all judicial nominations, is available at the Senate Judiciary Committee website. Similar data can be found on the Judicial Vacancies page at the U.S. Courts.)

President Biden had pledged on the campaign trail to nominate the Court's first Black female justice in the event of a vacancy during his presidency, a promise he reaffirmed at the White House yesterday following Breyer’s announcement. Washington insiders have circulated a shortlist of likely nominees, including current D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and Judge J. Michelle Childs of the U.S. District Court for South Carolina (who is currently a pending Biden nominee for the D.C. Circuit). The ABA Journal places both Jackson and Kruger at the top of the potential nominee list, and also highlights the credentials of a few other candidates.

As outlined in a recently-updated CRS Report on Supreme Court Nominations, both the President and the legislative branch play an important role in confirming a new Supreme Court justice. Following the President’s nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducts investigation, including hearings, with the nominee before a confirmation vote. The CRS report provides a comprehensive overview of this process throughout American history, with data tables about past nominations.

At yesterday's press conference, the president noted that he expected to announce a nominee by the end of February. Justice Breyer expressed hope that his successor will be confirmed by the time he steps down in the summer, following the conclusion of the Court's term. Expect the process to receive extensive coverage in the media, and follow the latest developments on legal news sites like ABA Journal and SCOTUSblog in addition to mainstream news outlets.

For more information about the history and operation of the U.S. Supreme Court, check out the library’s research guide. For help locating resources related to the Supreme Court justices or the nomination process, be sure to Ask a Librarian.