Law Librarian Blog

Pope Being Charged with Not Wearing Seat Belt While Traveling in Popemobile

And apparently evidence by way of YouTube videos can be offered. Works for me. You?

Lowering the Bar reports:

As a repeat offender, the suit claims, the defendant should face the maximum fine of 2,500 euros (or, presumably, an alternative currency if said euro no longer exists)."

Well, damn Martin Luther to hell. In the good old days, the Pope could have bribed offered to waive fees for granting all interested parties indulgences to vaporize this allegedly repeated moving violation.

Hey, my little county law library gets a portion of traffic fines. Considering the current collection problems our local courts are experiencing, I want our share. Oh, my bad, this happened in Germany. {JH]

Your Phone Is Spying On You But You Weren't Supposed To Notice

There are a number of reports in the technology press about software provided Carrier IQ to phone vendors that track what users are doing.  Phone companies and manufacturers have come under fire for tracking user locations in the name of better geo-location services, at least without notice and the ability to opt out (or in, depending on one’s moral view of tracking).  Malls have come under fire for using visitors’ cell phone signals to track customers’ traffic patterns.  Some have backed off on the practice due to an outcry raising privacy concerns.

The interesting thing about Carrier IQ software is that it is so embedded and hidden in phones that it can’t be turned off or manipulated by users without, essentially, destroying the phone.  One article in CNET describes the software as logging keystrokes, phone numbers, text messages, and other details and sending that information off to who knows where.  The company denies that its software inspects the content of electronic communications, but the researcher who discovered the software maintains evidence to the contrary.  Who knows how this will play out?  Senator Chuck Schumer doesn’t like mall tracking, but so far no legislator has asked pointed questions on phone snitching.  They must not use smart phones much, or more typically, Congress will make its phone exempt.  

Much of the discussion in the press has focused on Android phones, though there is evidence that phones made by Blackberry and Nokia use the software as well.  Doesn’t President Obama use a Blackberry?  Maybe someone should tell him about this.  Nokia, I might add, just bet the farm on Windows 8 phones by signing a deal with Microsoft to use the MS operating system somewhat exclusively on their phones.  There are reports that iPhones have Carrier IQ software as well.   The software is attractive to carriers as it can give them statistical information as to how their networks are used.  

It’s all positive until the ugly privacy issues come to the fore.  A company representative has stated that it is possible to see user content, but the company doesn’t look at it.  Perhaps that might change if there became a need to have a look.  Note also that smart phones are becoming the new credit cards.  Just think of the marketing possibilities in the connected world where phone transactions are viewable -- by someone.  And though I try not to be the paranoid type, I wonder what law enforcement and security agencies think about this capability.  

There is a more practical consideration to this mound of data.   How would Carrier IQ react when someone in a court case tries to subpoena the data they collected to show where someone was at a particular time, or what is the content of a message that may have been deleted.  I couldn’t have killed Colonel Mustard in the drawing room with the candlestick.  I was Facebooking across town at the time and I can prove it.  One of the comments to the CNET article suggested that phones are turning into personal black boxes.  It just may be coming to that, and the evidentiary possibilities are quite interesting when it comes to documenting personal activities.  It all comes down to who is in control of that documentation.  [MG]

Hello Congress, Want to Eliminate Wasteful Public Spending in the Legal Academy?

Why do we keep reading that new law schools are being launched when there is and has been for some time an oversupply of lawyers in the labor market? Because employment prospects look great based on fudged placement data? I don't think so. It is because there is an endless supply of federal loans for prospective students willing to gamble that they will be one of the lucky ones to get a job. If loan money were to dry up, the legal academy's tuition bubble would burst. In $53 Billion in New Law School Debt by 2020, Matt Leichter observes:

Knowing how anemic job growth has been for lawyers over the last few decades, it is clear that the federal government will waste a lot of money supporting the legal education system due to the impracticability of repayment under even 25-year repayment plans.

Matt Leichter is an attorney who knows how to crunch numbers. His Law School Tuition Bubble blog hasn't come under attack as a "law scam" blog by law profs. Perhaps that is because he is just beginning to receive national attention. Or perhaps it is because the legal academy doesn't want to call attention to his data out of concern that any Congressional hearings on placement stat gaming will lead to Congress eliminating government waste by pulling the rug out from under the legal academy's guaranteed revenue stream.

Some law profs have been criticizing one minor (read sideline) topic in Eric Segal's recent New York Times article, What They Don’t Teach Law Students: Lawyering, namely an estimate of the cost of legal scholarship. Segal was assisted by "law scam" blogger-prof and object of law prof blogosphere criticism Paul Campos to produce the guestimate. WIth respect to the cost estimate for legal scholarship, the criticizing is justified on the basis of fundamental labor economic analysis.

How Much Does Legal Scholarly Work Cost? No one really knows what academic legal scholarship costs. One would first have to define the unit of production. Is it a new idea that pops into a law prof's head. Is output going to be defined by a written work? Does the written work have to express something original? In the day in the life of a law prof, is scholarship also evident in courses taught: all courses, some, none, only new ones for their first "perfomance on stage"? Does minor tweaking of set piece lectures "performed" year after year after year count?

The traditional metric is unit labor costs. The basic forumla encompasses total compensation + cost of materials + cost of means of production/ unit of production. Even if we all agree that the unit of production is a law review article and assume that total compensation is reduced to salary and benefits for the time spent by the author (and his/her research assistant and library staff) to produce the article, costs for materials (let's just limit that to information resources) and means of production (let's just limit that to equipment and software to produce the article) have to be factored in.

Who Funds Legal Scholarly Work? I doubt law faculty really want to calculate the economic cost of legal scholarship on the campus shop floor or industrywide. Why? One source of the revenue funding legal scholarship is tuition. It sure as hell isn't the profits from the sale of goods produced. Hell, if a law prof earns anything from his publications, he gets to keep that money.

Clearly tuition is not the only source but tuition is the one virtual guaranteed revenue stream available. Tuition revenue might be shared with the law school's IHE but IHEs can and have made non-tuition-related budget cuts. Sure some criticize the irresponsiblity of law schools burdening students with heavy debts but few identify the source of debt funding; it is ultimately federal loan programs. Obviously calling attention to this is not something most in the legal academy want to do.

What If... . Congressional examination of the legal academy gaming placement data could eventually leads to curtailing the legal academy's federally financed revenue stream. Imagine the consequences if federal loan programs placed loaned money in escrow until law school grads obtained jobs requiring a JD? And if they did not within a specified period of time the law student did not have to repay the loan because the loan program would not pay the law school. The law school tuition bubble would burst. Unlike the Internet and housing bubbles, impact on the economy would be nil. No bailouts allowed. Welcome to the breadline... . Granted, some careers would be disrupted by my hunch is academic law librarians would find law library gigs one hellva lot sooner than most law profs.

Frankly, I believe the legal academy deserves this. Money talks and it is the only likely cure for the moral corruption evident in the administration of law schools. For example, to obtain loan funds held in escrow, admission practices would have to take into account applicant qualifications while being labor market sensitive which in all but perhaps the top 20 law schools. would be based on localized, not national labor market trends.

From this hypothetical point of view, take a look at Leichter's ranking of public and private law schools by debt revenue in 2010 at The Law School Debt Blob. These are not per capita stats because total dollar amounts matter when it comes to revenue streams. Note well, for once Thomas Cooley ranks in the top ten of something legitimately. In fact Thomas Cooley ranks first by "earning" more money than any other law school from student debt last year.

Leichter observes

The list of top 20 public law schools by graduate debt-revenue doesn't contain too many surprises, but for private law schools, it's an interesting mix of expensive, prestigious law schools and less expensive ones that have very large enrollments... .

For an contrary view on Tuition Debt Bubblenomics see James Surowiecki's Debt By Degrees (The New Yorker, Nov. 21, 2011). NB Surowiecki's case focuses on college student debt, not professional school student debt. It makes a difference. [JH]

Opening: Legal Research Librarian for Information Technology and Scholarly Communications, Berkeley Law

Legal Research Librarian for Information Technology and Scholarly Communications
Law Library at the University of California Berkeley, School of Law
Associate Librarian VI, $66,492 - Librarian IV, $91,140 (annual salary, 11 month basis)

Overview of Responsibilities: Under the general direction of, and reporting to, the Reference and Research Services Director, provide high-level, in-depth reference and research assistance in a dynamic and challenging environment to faculty, students, and other library users.

Working with the Law Library's web developer, the Legal Research Librarian for Information Technology and Scholarly Communication designs, develops, and implements technologically innovative services and applications and web-based access to information resources. Oversees and produces library web content and develops related best practices and procedures. The position monitors and investigates emerging technologies related to the delivery of library services and digital collections, and assists in the development and deployment of these new technologies. The position will develop research guides, instructional materials, and workshops and trainings for students, faculty, and library staff in the use of library electronic resources and tools.

Provides outreach and education on scholarly communication issues to the Law School community. Monitors and reports on current developments affecting scholarly publishing, particularly open access and institutional repositories. Provides leadership, expertise, direction, and planning for the Law Library's support of scholarly communication and the development of a robust institutional repository. Responsible for assessing faculty and student scholarly communication needs, and providing services to support digital scholarship and the production of digital content. Serves as an advocate for new forms and practices of scholarly communication. Develops educational opportunities for sharing information on scholarly communication, open access, and institutional repositories.

Librarians are also expected to participate in other aspects of Law School life that will further the mission of the Law Library and Law School. Participates in campus library and planning committees and task forces, and regional and national professional organizations.

Experience and Training:
 
Required: Graduate degree in librarianship from an ALA-accredited library school or equivalent.

Preferred: A JD from an ABA-accredited law school. Law library public service experience is highly desirable. Library training and experience must demonstrate an ongoing and active commitment to public service in a diverse environment. Candidates must have thorough knowledge of legal bibliography as well as a mastery of legal research sources in both print and electronic formats.

Demonstrated knowledge of scholarly publishing, new models for scholarly communication, and the associated technical, legal, and information policy issues. Proven knowledge and experience of institution-wide repositories and the ability to communicate their benefits. Expertise in the creation, dissemination, and use of digital information resources.

Familiarity with contemporary web standards such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript; familiarity with bibliographic markup standards such as MARC, Dublin Core, MODS/METS, RDF; awareness of current trends and developments in library and information technology; knowledge of integrated library systems. Experience with content management systems such as WordPress, Drupal, et al., and scripting languages such as PHP or Ruby is desirable.

Candidates must also have the ability to balance priorities and meet deadlines; a strong commitment to enhancing service through teamwork; and a proactive approach to library services. This requires the candidate to demonstrate excellent interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills.

The Law Library at the University of California, Berkeley, is committed to the support and encouragement of a multi-cultural environment and seeks candidates who can make positive contributions in a context of ethnic and cultural diversity.

Salary and Benefits: Salary is commensurate with training and experience. A description of UC benefits and compensation can be found at the University of California, Berkeley, Office of Human Resources website: http://hrweb.berkeley.edu.

To Apply: Applicants should apply via email including a cover letter discussing qualifications, a full resume of education and relevant experience, and three references to:

Michael Levy
Associate Director, Patron & Computer Services
LL1 62 - Berkeley Law Library
UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
mlevy(at)law.berkeley.edu
510-643-4025

Applicants may also use the above email address and telephone number if they have inquiries about the position. The deadline for applications is December 21, 2011.

The University Of California is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Bonuses And Pro Bono Work Down Somewhat At Big Firms

How bad is it getting for the legal-industrial complex?  The ripple effect of not enough jobs and clients balking at paying for new lawyer training now includes smaller end-of-year bonuses and a small decrease in pro bono hours.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that major firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is keeping its bonuses at around 2010 levels, with the most senior associates taking around $37,500, and the most junior attorneys getting $7,500.  It’s shocking as the higher figure can only buy the entry level Lexus at best.  Seriously, though, that’s a drop of around 20% from 2007 figures when the markets collapsed.

Fortune is picking up on figures reported last June issued by the Pro Bono Institute and its Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®, where major law firms contribute legal services to those who could not otherwise afford them.  The number of donated hours significantly increased between 2005 and 2009, ranging from 2.226 million hours to more than double at 4.868 million hours.  The number of reported pro bono hours in 2010 fell to 4.451 million.  Fortune cites a number of anecdotal reports from various large firms suggesting that while they still contribute significant hours, they need to concentrate on the paying customers.  The bright side, if one could call it that, is that new lawyers needing real world experience often find it in a firm’s pro bono work. [MG] 

Bloomberg v Thomson: Playing Risk for World Domination

In The Daily Beast article titled Bloomberg's Plan for World Domination, Nick Summers profiles media giant Bloomberg (the company) while observing that

It’s impossible to talk about the aspirations of Bloomberg the business without addressing Bloomberg the man: it is a company owned by a politician, buying companies that influence politicians.

Summers adds

Long averse to acquisitions, Bloomberg has also started buying up things it covets, like Businessweek magazine and, just this August, the legal-political research behemoth BNA. There is talk that the Financial Times might be its next meal.

And after spending $900 million to acquire BNA this year, it sounds like the Company's got plenty of cash on hand.

For 2010, revenue approached $7 billion. Comparisons to public companies are inexact, but the New York Times Co. reported $2.4 billion in revenue for 2010, and Thomson Reuters $13 billion. But while Reuters’s operating margin is 19.6 percent, and the Times Co.’s is about 10 percent, Fortune estimates Bloomberg’s to be an astonishing 30 percent.

Given that most of Bloomberg's revenue and its associated  estimated profit margin came from Bloomberg's online financial data and information services in 2010, one can understand why the Thomson family is kicking Thomson Reuters executive butt to ratchet up Markets performance. I'm thinking the Thomsons thought they would have an easy go at dominating the world. Risk is underway. Meet Bloomberg... . Here's where the Corporate just might get Personal in the world of family mega-fortunes. In this game of Risk, I would bet on Bloomberg winning.

It is clear that Reuters’ Eikon and Elektron platforms haven't been attracting as many financial services customers as TR hoped. "The Bloomberg" as the service is called in the financial industry continues to be a well-established platform. Bloomberg's move to extend its user population beyond its core financial markets clients by adding multimedia and social media features is a matter of concern for Reuters. Here's a thought ...  why not steal some talent to play this game of Risk.

Oh wait, TR did that recently. paidContent's David Kaplan reports that Dan Colarusso is leaving his post as managing editor of Bloomberg Television to join Reuters as the news service’s global head of programming. Colarusso will take over responsibility for Reuters Insider, a video on demand option for its subscribers. Ain't competition grand.

Playing Risk in the Professional Legal Services Marketplace. In the professional legal services product mixes of both TR Legal and Bloomberg, only one is competitively positioned to integrate multimedia content into its online service. Yup, that would be BLaw and BGov. But multimedia is only one facet in this game. Already positioned for the 21st century New Normal is much more fundamental.

What are the odds that TRI made an offer to acquire BNA during the bidding war with Bloomberg? I think the odds are very high. If so, what are the odds that BNA would accept any competitive offer from TRI? Considering TR Legal's track record of distroying the editorial quality of past legal publishing acquisitions, my hunch is the odds are slim to none. The Bloomberg offer presented a golden opportunity for BNA to participate in the New Normal of 21st century e-delivery of high quality legal content with a digital-first publisher not hampered by TR Legal's legacy of a 20th century business model. Sure BNA also had a similar legacy. However, the Company recognized that to be a 21st century player, it did not have the cash or credit line to make the transition. But Bloomberg did and did without the baggage of TR Legal's corporate reputation. Due note that Nick Summers' Bloomberg's Plan for World Domination discusses Bloomberg's acquisition of BNA in the context of the Company's overall strategy one can expect to be played out on the Board(room) table game known as Risk.

What are the odds that Bloomberg will make a bid for Lexis Legal and Professional? Since the launch of BLaw I've been asked that question by several European investment house analysts (usually after the question re what impact will BLaw have on WEXIS). Both questions were repeated after the BNA acquisition. My 2-cents response has been that it doesn't make a lot of sense in terms of acquiring online primary and secondary content. But the more I think about it, the more I think about the competitive advantage Lexis has over TR Legal in terms of productivity-workflow "solutions." Lexis has been much more software engineering focused than legal publishing focused vis-a-vis TR Legal for many years now.

I view "solutions" (some which integrate legal search) as the strategic objective of WEXIS. The hodge podge of various WEXIS offerings will be more integrated eventually in an attempt to offer one-vendor-will-fit-all (private sector)-needs as soon as you sign the licensing agreement. Lexis certainly has the executive suite and product development team talent but does Reed have the intestinal fortitude to make the capital investment required to take this next step?

Don't know. But I do know one thing. Bloomberg may. Bloomberg also does not have a competitive "solutions" line of product and services yet. If the Company intends to be a player by integrating "solutions" to become a more complete professional legal services vendor for its high-end business and law subscriber base, Bloomberg will have to make a choice -- create "solutions" internally (some of which can be organically enhanced  extensions of what BNA already offers) or acquire them. If the latter, Lexis Legal & Professional, or some part of Lexis Legal & Professional would be a logical target of acquisition. [JH]

Opening: Head of Access Services, Loyola University Chicago, Law Library

Loyola University Chicago is accepting applications for an experienced librarian to assume the position of Head of Access Services.  The Head oversees all aspects of access to the law library’s space and collections, both print and electronic.  To be considered, applicants must hold an MLS degree from an ALA accredited institution; at least five years of academic library experience; and at least two years of supervisory experience. 

Excerpts from the official job announcement (link provided below):

Duties and Responsibilities: The head of access services oversees all aspects of access to the law library's collections, both print and electronic. Those responsibilities include the circulation, reserve, interlibrary loan, and stacks maintenance functions as well as the law library's webpage. Members of the access services department are often the first contact patrons have with the law library. It is the responsibility of the head to establish and model a high level of patron service by ensuring that all staff are knowledgeable, courteous and helpful.

The head supervises a department of three full time paraprofessionals and approximately 12-15 part time student workers to complete the work of the department. In consultation with the director, the head sets departmental goals and priorities; oversees all hiring, training and management of staff; establishes departmental policies and procedures; monitors all departmental activities and adopts and adapts policies and procedures as appropriate.

Minimum Education or Experience: ALA accredited MLS; at least 5 years of academic library experience; at least two years of supervisory experience; excellent oral and written communication skills. Experience with ILLIAD and webpage development preferred.

For Complete Information and To Apply: https://www.careers.luc.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1322145442755

Loyola University is an equal opportunity educator/employer.  Women and minorities are
encouraged to apply.

Being There: From Existential Angst to Professional Optimism

While my Thanksgiving Day LLB post was full of existential angst about the future from a personal, that is to say non-professional, perspective, Jenny Wondrackek's RIPS Law Librarian  post offers a more positive professional perspective:

With all of the budget cuts, vendor price increases, library closings, and other depressing things that have happened this year, I thought that it would be appropriate to share some of the things in my professional life for which I am thankful.

See Wondracek's A Law Librarian’s Reasons To Be Thankful for details. All good reasons IMH professional opinion to push forward thoughtfully. [JH]

European Court of Justice Says No To Filtering Internet Traffic As A Response To Copyright Infringement

The European Court of Justice issued an opinion last week holding that it is a violation of EU law for member states to impose filtering requirements on ISPs.  The case came by way of a dispute between Belgian IP licensing company SABAM and ISP Scarlet Extended SA.  A lower court in Belgium found that copyright infringement was taking place over Scarlet’s network through its customers’ use of peer-to-peer software.  That court ordered Scarlet to filter out traffic containing SABAM’s unlicensed content.  Scarlet appealed to a higher court in Belgium which referred the case to the European Court of Justice.

The question before the ECJ as appealed by Scarlet is whether the imposition of a filtering requirement violates EU privacy, data protection, and human rights laws.  Apparently, it does, as the mechanism for identifying SABAM’s copyrighted content requires monitoring all content to make the distinction.  That would interfere with Scarlet’s business, and it would not respect the right to protection of personal data and the freedom to receive or impart information.

One statement from the Court’s opinion is likely to offend copyright holders everywhere:

43      The protection of the right to intellectual property is indeed enshrined in Article 17(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’). There is, however, nothing whatsoever in the wording of that provision or in the Court’s case-law to suggest that that right is inviolable and must for that reason be absolutely protected.

Or putting it another way, yes, intellectual property is important, but we’re not going to destroy the Internet to protect it.  Aggrieved parties may sue intermediaries such as ISPs, but the remedies will not include the imposition of a filtering system.  The Viacoms of the world will not be happy with this one.  

Congress, in contrast, takes the opposite attitude, hence the PRO-IP Act and SOPA.  I suspect that the U.S. Government will put Europe on a watch list or such over this decision.  The ECJ judgment is here, and the press release accompanying the decision is here.  [MG]

Thank You LLMC. I Heart You!

Law journals seem to be taking the brunt of the space burden in the world of the shrinking library.  My impression is that many libraries are tossing them, though there are some old fashioned librarians like me who are philosophically opposed to throwing out our legal scholarship without a comprehensive preservation plan in place - even if many think those articles are useless or impractical.  From what I understand, the tossing libraries will depend on currently friendly commercial vendors like Hein Online, or the currency of SSRN.com, for future access.  It really isn't the fault of the librarians.  Tossing those titles is just the best of several bad choices that responsible librarians are being forced to make.

[Perplexing note:  Dean wants Library space for law professors' offices so that they have a place to write more law journal articles that will be published in law journals that their library will buy and then throw out, or may not purchase at all.]

So what is LLMC doing that I find so wonderful?  LLMC is saving the law journals.  More importantly, and quite selfishly, they are saving my (my as in the UH Law Library) law journals. And, in a very James Bond sort of operation, are storing them in a salt mine 5 miles under the mantle of what us terrestrials call Kansas.  Our journals will be neighbors to the Hollywood vault, financial institution 'stuff' and who knows what else people store in 50 foot salt bays that sit in a 42 acre underground storage facility made of NaCI.

I inherited this stroke of brilliance so I cannot take credit for it, but I will certainly benefit from it and so will you.

Right now, articles published from 1923 forward, are still in copyright.  They cannot legally be scanned by LLMC to be added to their digital collections.  But, they can take the paper copies and scan them year-by-year as they fall out of copyright (LIPA is responsible for the digital only journals that are now being produced by schools).  The staff at the UH Law Library is diligently boxing up hundreds of volumes and the boxes are pilng up all over our staff space waiting to be carted over to Kaneohe across the island.  Understandably, it is a slowish process but one to which we are all excited to contribute.  (Well, I am excited but I'm not so sure about the students who are doing the labor.)  And it frees me from having to make the hard decision about tossing legal scholarship produced by the academy, and hopefully, might make the decision a little less painful for others.

Along with taking over the stacks at the Richardson School of Law, comes a closer working relationship with LLMC.  Closer physically, and professionally.  I feel like we need to shed some PR on the good work this organization is doing with regard to preserving what many libraries are tossing in the dumpster - relying for one reason or another on commercial database vendors to replace print titles in favor of the latest space needs for the school.  After JH's post last week (see Right-sizing Academic Law Library Print Collections), which summarized some of the problems with the tossing policy, I wanted to remind all of us that there are groups out there, like LLMC, who are fulfilling a mission that has traditionally been part of research library operations.

Some other current digitization projects include:

• Court records for California, New York (joint Google project re:Records and Briefs series) and South Carolina
• Inner Temple Manuscripts (12th to 20th Century Inns of Court materials)
• LLMC Native American collection
• Haiti Legal Patrimony Project

Take a look at LLMC's most recent newsletter for more information about these projects.

So thank you LLMC Staff, Board of Directors and members of the Advisory Council for your vision and good work. (VS)

RIP Michigan Law's Wolverine Scholars Program

In 2008, Michigan Law established the "Wolverine Scholars" program which would admit Michigan undergrads into law school if they had a minimum 3.80 GPA. No LSAT required. One may say, no LSAT wanted. A fair amount of criticism was leveled at Michigan Law back then. See Paul Caron's LSAT-Free Law School Admissions Can Goose U.S. News Ranking ("The rankings benefit is that there is no LSAT score to report to U.S. News, while the minimum 3.80 GPA will boost Michigan’s median 3.64 GPA, which counts 10% in U.S. News’ methodology")

In Michigan's New Admissions Policy, Bill Henderson wrote

The lofty rhetoric of the Wolverine Scholar program cannot be squared with the unnecessarily rigid admissions criteria. In my opinion, the only rational explanation is that Michigan seeks a rankings payoff. Here, an elite law school sets a new low in our obsession of form over substances — once again, we legal educators are setting a poor example for our students….

The law prof blogosphere criticism didn't stop Michigan Law but the school now has killed the Wolverine Scholars program. ATL's Elie Mystal wonders if it has anything to do with the recent Univ. of Illinois College of Law admissions scandal. For more, see The Life and Death of the Michigan ‘Wolverine Scholars’ Program. [JH]

Hardly a Strong Call for Reforming the Legal Academy from the New York Times Editorial Staff

See Legal Education Reform (Nov. 25, 2011 editorial). [JH]

Opening: Educationa​l Technology Librarian, The John Marshall Law School (Chicago)

The John Marshall Law School Library is seeking an energetic candidate for a new, full-time Educational Technology Librarian position. The Educational Technology Librarian will play an important role in the library’s efforts to create, promote, and facilitate the use of technology-rich learning environments. This position reports to the Assistant Director for Academic Technology. The Academic Technology team is responsible for leading the creation of technology-rich learning and research environments, supporting the distance education program, and digital media production.

Primary Duties:

• Lead the library in using new technology for instruction, research, and information dissemination
• Manage library web pages, which includes interfaces for web-based resources·
• Coordinate library information technology and serve a key role in planning technology-related library projects.
• Povide technical support and training on classroom technology use.
• Collaborate with faculty in the use of educational technology both in the classroom and online
• Keep up to date with market trends and new developments in classroom and library technologies
• Gather and analyze statistical data to assist with the library’s decision making
• Some work during evenings and weekends
• Other responsibilities and special projects as assigned

Qualifications:

Required:

• Master of Library and Information Science (or equivalent) degree from an ALA accredited school
• Demonstrated knowledge of standards-based Web and data design and programming (such as PHP, CSS and XHTML)
• Strong knowledge of educational technologies, such as presentation tools
• Proven self-starter with multi-tasking abilities
• Highly organized and detail-oriented
• Ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization
• Must be able to carry or lift 25 lbs. and be able to walk/stand for a long periods of time

Preferred:

• Juris Doctor from an ABA accredited school
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related technology field
• Knowledge about and experience with Innovative Interface Millennium system
• Supervisory and/or teaching experience.

Salary: The John Marshall Law School offers excellent benefits and a highly competitive salary. 

To apply:  Please email your resume, cover letter, links to examples of your work, and contact information for three work references to: Ibukun Fasoranti, Library Office Manager, at ifasora(at)jmls.edu

Application deadline:  All applications must be received by December 5.  Review of applications will begin immediately.

Browsing On A Sunday: Lobbying SCOTUS, The Legal Cloud, And Defending Law Faculty Idealism

The idea that deep pockets can affect congressional action is hardly a new one.  What surprises me, however, is this account in The Hill, describing lobbying attempts to affect the deliberation of the Supreme Court as it considers the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law.  These take the form of media campaigns designed to sway public opinion on the law.  The Supreme Court is mostly immune to these actions, though it’s hard to imagine that the Justices never watch television.  Another new partisan tactic is raising the debate on whether several of the Justices should recuse themselves from the consideration of the case.  Justices Scalia and Thomas, for example, had dinner with challengers to the law.  Justice Kagan was part of the administration when the law was pending.  If history is a guide, all nine Justices will weigh in.  Amicus takes on a whole new meaning in this context.

Somewhere back in February of 2010 the LLB reprinted with permission an article from BNA called Privacy and Data Security Risks in Cloud Computing.  BNA now reports on an Iowa State Bar Association ethics opinion concerning the storage of client data in the cloud.  Iowa says it’s ok, provided a lawyer perform due diligence as to the mechanism and security of the storage.  The concerns raised include whether the lawyer will have unfettered access to the data, including a back-up in case the cloud is down; whether the lawyer has a clear understanding of the reputation of the storage company and the terms of the contract to store data; and what happens to the ownership of the data if the lawyer does not pay the required fees.  Other practical concerns include who at the company has access to the data and passwords, whether third parties can get to it, and whether the lawyer controls the encryption scheme.  Expect to see future ethics opinions (or court cases by aggrieved clients) as reality meets standards.

Noah Feldman defends law professors in light of the article in the New York Times that paints faculty as out of touch with the legal practice class.  He notes in Bloomberg how former and current law professors dominate politics, including Justice Anthony Kennedy, Elizabeth Warren, Cass Sunstein, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and of course, President Barack Obama.  Law professors, he says, tend to compare the ideal with reality and become frustrated with the way reality works out.  Faculty members do not want to accept “messy compromises” that exist in reality.

Because they tend to like logical principles, law professors are also big believers in the power of reason to prevail. If they could just get the public to see things clearly, they tell themselves, results would surely improve.

Well, Professor Feldman, as many of the faculty you cite who are now part of government, they have all had to deal with those messy compromises dictated by politics.  Justice Kennedy, for example, tends to be pragmatic despite being labeled a conservative.  Presidents Clinton and Obama surely understand negotiating deals that are less than ideal but pass into law.  If anything, it seems they have not let their law faculty past affect too much their roles in government.

Law professors consider having an impact on policy to be a plus. One test of the value of a legal scholar’s ideas is whether anyone in the real world bothers to listen to them.

Indeed, though even philosopher-kings had to exercise power at some point.  [MG]

Round-Up of Law Practitioner Blogs

Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog
http://www.arizonabankruptcyblog.info/
http://www.arizonabankruptcyblog.info/index.xml
Discusses bankruptcy cases, news, and related matters in Phoenix, Arizona. Published by Joseph C. McDaniel
 
Orange County Injury Lawyer Blog
http://www.orangecountyinjurylawyerblog.com/
http://www.orangecountyinjurylawyerblog.com/index.xml
Examines injury cases, news, and opinions in Orange County, California. Published by Johnson Attorney Group
 
South Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog
http://www.southfloridacaraccidentlawyerblog.com/
http://www.southfloridacaraccidentlawyerblog.com/index.xml
Examines car accident cases, news, and opinions in Florida. Published by David I. Fuchs.

Massachusetts DUI Lawyers Blog
http://www.massachusettsduilawyersblog.com/
http://www.massachusettsduilawyersblog.com/index.xml
Examines DUI cases, news, and opinions in Boston, Massachusetts. Published by the Law Offices of Benjamin P. Urbelis.

Illinois Trucking Accident Attorney Blog
http://www.illinoistruckingaccidentattorneyblog.com/
http://www.illinoistruckingaccidentattorneyblog.com/index.xml
Examines truck and auto accident cases, news, and opinions in Illinois. Published by Nemeroff Law Offices, Ltd.

A Law Prof's Courageous Public Reckoning with Being a Sexual Abuse Victim as a Child

Law prof Mark McKenna speaks out for the first time about being victim of sexual abuse on Slate. From the opening paragraph of The Cruel Lesson of Penn State: How what happened in State College forced me to confront my own abuse:

A student raised his hand in my torts class last week and asked whether Joe Paterno might be exposed to liability for failing to tell the police about Jerry Sandusky’s alleged sexual assault of a young boy in the Penn State locker room. It was a perfectly legitimate question—we had been studying tort law’s general reluctance to impose liability for omitting to act. And it didn’t come as a surprise—I have always encouraged students to bring current events to class, and the Penn State situation was nearly impossible to avoid last week. Still, I had prayed no one would ask about it because I was not sure I could make it through any sort of answer. As I’d feared, the question stopped me cold.

Hat tip to Orin Kerr's post on The Volokh Conspiracy. [JH]

Richards' Study of Non-MARC Metadata Practices in AALL Libraries

From the abstract of Robert Richards' The Use of Non-MARC Metadata in AALL Libraries: A Baseline Study, 103 LLJ 631 (2011): 

This article reports results of a 2009 survey of AALL libraries respecting non-MARC metadata practices, with a focus on interoperability. Results cover types of collections described with non-MARC metadata, as well as metadata standards, platforms, and tools. Results suggest substantial, though incomplete, awareness among respondents of metadata interoperability and the factors that enable it. This study is intended as a preliminary inquiry that affords some sense of law libraries’ recent non-MARC metadata activity and offers findings that may furnish a baseline for future studies of such activity.

Hat tip to Gary Price's INFOdocket post. [JH]

Giving Thanks Today but Worrying about the Future

Traditionally on LLB, a Thanksgiving Day post links to legal and historical resources about the Thanksgiving tradition. Not this year. We certainly should give thanks today but perhaps because I am an aging and decrepit Boomer-gen law librarian human being I am in more of a blues funk than usual.

I wonder about what younger people will be giving thanks for years from now. I'm not refering to law librarianship, per se. I'm thinking in terms of opporunties for all regardless of the career paths younger-gens hope to pursue and even X and Yers who already are on their career paths and are hoping to continue pursuing their chosen careers. I just don't see a bright future ahead. Even if we assume that someday equal opportunity will be realized in this country regardless of gender, race, national orgin, etc., I just don't see as big a sky on the horizon for current younger generations and future ones, particularly when in comes to white collar professions.

White collar professions are facing the same structural dynamics the blue collar workforce experienced starting in the late 1970s economic upheaval in US manufacturing industries. Are we approaching a "rest belt" in some sectors of the white collar industry? Looks to me like we are in law and related careers in the US. See The Vanishing American Lawyer, (OUP, 2010) by Thomas Morgan, Oppenheim Professor of Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law at The George Washington University Law School, former dean at at the Emory University School of Law, and former AALS President. From the product blurb:

Over 4,000 lawyers lost their positions at major American law firms in 2008 and 2009. In The Vanishing American Lawyer, Professor Thomas Morgan discusses the legal profession and the need for both law students and lawyers to adapt to the needs and expectations of clients in the future. The world needs people who understand institutions that create laws and how to access those institutions' works, but lawyers are no longer part of a profession that is uniquely qualified to advise on a broad range of distinctly legal questions.

... Law schools must also recognize the world their students will face and prepare them to operate successfully within it. Professor Morgan warns that lawyers must adapt to new client needs and expectations. The term "professional" should be applied to individuals who deserve praise for skilled and selfless efforts, but this term may lead to occupational suicide if it becomes a justification for not seeing and adapting to the world ahead.

Unlike US manufacturing which became "rust belted" because corporations refused to make capital investments in a timely manner which unions contributing to the "rust belting" by refusing to accept management calls for productivity enhancements by way of job classification reforms, pay structures more in line with individual employers than industry-wide pattern CBA, the first steps toward "rust belting" white collar professions is the failure to reform the current cartel structure of the legal services industy and professional legal education. With respect to the former, the reform of legal services in the UK is an expression of adapting to the New Normal, one that is certainly a disruptive change but one that is needed to avoid occupational suicide.

More generally, much more generally, every new debt crisis in Europe makes me shutter a little bit more and makes me wonder when we in the US will be facing our own debt crisis the minute countries like China decide to stop propping up US currency because it has become a "bad investment," because the US economy is no longer the most stable national economy in a globalized economy, because there are other ways to keep the value of their own national currency deflated by hedging their bets on other national economies.

Every time the Beltway substitutes partisian politics for addressing structure reforms that might achieve some sort of long-sighted consensus on national issues, issues that ultimately are international, I see another opportunity lost. With each lost opportunity, the problems just increase by another order of magnitude. But political leadership is absent.

Were do we go from here? Hell if I know but in the future I will be thankful if during my "retirement years" I can get a job as a Walmart greeter. [JH]

Quoting from "walmart greeter", definition 2, in the Urban Dictionary:

As I entered the store, I was approached by the walmart greeter. Our eyes met for only a moment, but it was enough to see the deep, painful hopelessness in his gaze. Whoever the person he used to be had died long ago, leaving a spent shell, an automaton. An emotionless drone pretending to be a human being. "Good morning." he said to me. In subtext he might as well have said "Please kind stranger, kill me and end my existence, for I have not the strength to do it myself." Pity stayed my hand, and I made a mental note to avoid Walmart at all cost.

[JH]

Penguin Pulls Books From Overdrive Lending Program for Libraries

Penguin announced on Monday that it was pulling its digital editions from Overdrive’s library lending program because of security reasons.  This may have more to do with Overdrive’s relationship with Amazon, who angered publishers by offering free ebook loans to its Prime account customers in limited circumstances.  The Authors Guild raged against the Amazon machine for that one.  Security may be the cover for the move, but it’s questionable given that the security for the Overdrive lending program is the same for books sold to Kindle users.  

If Penguin is concerned about piracy, consider that only one paying customer need have the skill to strip away the DRM from their titles.  The rest of the world need only have the skill to click on a download link.  You’d have to kill the entire web to stop piracy in those circumstances.  Oh, wait, isn’t that what SOPA is for?  [MG]

Right-sizing Academic Law Library Print Collections in and for the 21st Century: Cornell substituting print with digital like "all other top law schools are doing" but consequences need to be addressed

Most every academic law library director knows that when their institutions need more space, the law library's big footprint on the blueprint becomes an attractive target for a land grab. Law firm directors too. At least since the hiring boom of the 1990s, many firms have cut back firm library square footage to build new offices. One could argue the case that is why private sector electronic information budget spend increased proportionately higher than print info budget spend a decade ago and has continued to escalate.

Law firms led the way. Commercial leasing costs for increasing space was trumped by e-spend increases but that was back in the bill-back to client days. The new normal is for clients to view e-spending as law firm overhead (like p-spending for a law library collection was). Eventually, no client will pay for firm e-research spending. But I digress... . However, law firm e-spending is a leading indicator of where all law libraries are heading. Government and academic e-spend as a percentage of total information budget spending has reached record highs according to a recent survey of AALL reporting libraries. In terms of academic law libraries, reported e-information spend is largely based on virtual wholesale pricing for WEXIS and some other commerical vendors for near "total package" offerings. Imagine what it would be if academic law libraries had to face pricing options offered in the private and public sectors.

Substituting commercial e-Law access for law library square footage. At one time, the academic land grap of library space was fairly small ... a study room here, a nook there. No longer. A case in point is Cornell. Cornell Law School is enacting a three phrase renovation and expansion construction plan that will cost between $55 and $60 million. The project will be completed by 2014 at the earliest. Student, faculty, administrative and academic program spaces will be constructed. The law school's dorm will be re-purposed. Most of the Cornell Law Library's stacks on the bottom five floors of Myron Taylor Hall will be removed to accommodate other space needs.

About the law library, The Cornell Daily Sun quotes Law Dean Stewart Schwab: “As the world goes digital, libraries everywhere, including here, are replacing print collections with digital ones in order to reallocate space. Frankly, all other top law schools are doing this as well.” Indeed that is the case with respect to major (and minor) law school libraries. It's the Shed West Era. Who really needs print reporters, digests, Shepard's, legal encyclopedic sets, law reviews, federal and state statutory and administrative codes in print anymore? In the context of academic law libraries, why maintain lightly used practice-oriented sets of BNA, CCH and Matthew Bender loose-leafs in print?

The difference between academic libraries, particularly ones which other law librarians hold an antiquated tradition-bound perception that assumes our "great academic law libraries" will provide extensive research collections, and law firm libraries is the 21st century transformation of academic law library collection development mission statements. Academic law libraries are becoming just as insititional user focused as law firm and corporate legal department libraries have always been. Today the legal academy defines its user "community" much more narrowly. In The Cornell Daily Sun story Cornell Law Library director, Femi Cadmus, is quoted: "Both print and digital collections, important to the research and scholarship of our faculty and students, will continue to be maintained." In and of itself, I find this to be appropriate objective and not a radical departure in academic law librarianship as practice today, so no criticism of Cornell is intended or implied. However big-picture consequences do need to be addressed.

While many major (and smaller) academic law library collection development practices, if not official policies, can be viewed as format neutral, the reality is that many decisions are being made on the basis of whether or not the resource is available on WEXIS, HeinOnline and other e-vendors. Due to print price inflation vis-a-vis virtual wholesale pricing for WEXIS online, for example, one can expect more and more secondary titles to fall into this cancel-print-and-substitute-WEXIS-access decision. This has sometime been called the "law library without walls" approach. However, in many instances, there is the invisible wall of license-restricted access only to institutional users. What about the 21st century equivalent to good old interlibrary loan, namely document delivery fulfillment by way of a fair use provision in e-licensing?

Consequences: we are all pirates now. Aargh, a case in point. In response to an out-of-state public law library request for a practice-oriented overview on an Ohio state law topic, I downloaded and emailed my colleague a section of a Matthew Bender Ohio secondary resource we have on Lexis in both or user account and patron access plans (so sue me Lexis, if you think I violated our license; ah ... well, it is very rare indeed that I do any "ILL" work). In the good old days, we would have photocopied and mailed or faxed the material if we had it on our shelves. Those good old days are history.

(Note to Lexis: we have two copies of the title on our shelf but, you know what, when this aging and decrepit law library director is filling in for other staff, I'm not wasting my time to photocopy and fax p-text because I have to review my annual renewal notices. Note to readers: I didn't check my Lexis licenses to see if the Company accommodates "fair use;" perhaps it does. Note to self: Am I publishing this adverse interest admission today because it is just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and I am hoping that Lexis forgets it next week? Plus I am taking today off as vacation time to extend the holiday weekend. Oops, my bad, some Lexis senior executives and my Lexis online and print account managers know how to contact me at home. Wendy and Jen, hope you enjoy Thanksgiving! Please note, I haven't shown my staff how to download multiple sections of an online title in one click but that doesn't mean they don't know how to do it. Loop back up to how we have two print copies of the title on our shelves for text I "ILL-ed" in 21st century.)

The notion that major academic law libraries are supposed to maintain the greatest print collections accessible to all researchers does not reflect the realities of the 21st century now and that will probably most certainly increase in the near future to encompass more substitute e- for p- secondary materials. Think possible eBook licensing restrictions. Yes, I know many current law library patrons inside and outside the legal academy don't like law eBooks but two factors will change that: (1) enhanced law eBooks, when they come to market in mass, will convert some users and (2) more importantly, generational shift from a user population that has not be exposed to enhanced eBooks to one that has been exposed to enhanced e-textbooks in grade and high school will change user attitudes.

Earlier this year, the Cornell Library System announced that it was rejecting all NDAs in publisher and vendor agreements because "an open market will result in better licensing terms." Perhaps Cornell will take the next step by insisting on a fair use provision in all e-licensing. Someone has to. [JH]