Law Librarian Blog

Update of the Revolving Door of Law School Dean Offices

Dan Filler has updated his Law School Dean Searches 2010-11 Edition at The Faculty Lounge. [JH]

Former Justice Stevens Speaks

The Atlantic has a short interview with former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens available on its web site.  I don't know if he is stating the obvious with this one question and answer:

You say that justices are "playing the role of advocate [during oral argument] more than they should." Advocates for what?

 Often you go into an oral argument and you've made up your mind on a case and you want to convince your colleagues.

Was this covered in Stern and Gressman? Justice Stevens answers the very next question by stating some of the advocacy could be ideological.  Have any particular colleague(s) in mind?  The complete interview is here.  [MG]

Tying the Royal Knot: Fashion and the Law for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Fashion: Kate wore McQueen (no, not Steve), William, oh who cares, and "Camilla's hat looks like a sombrero" according to New York Magazine. See the minute-by-minute blog post and the royal wedding slideshow.

And the Law: See --

• Meg Kribble's Royal Wedding: Pomp, Circumstance, and Law
• Simon Fodden's Royal Marriage and the Law
• Clare Feikert-Ahalt's William and Kate Plus a Pre-nup?

[JH]

Friday Fun: Katedown to the Royal Willding - The Nuptials of the Century

From the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, of course. [JH]

The Daily Show - Katedown to the Royal Willding - The Nuptials of the Century
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Less Than Half of the Class of 2010 Have Real Legal Jobs

Even The New Republic is publishing articles critical of the games played by law schools in reporting job placement data now. In a recent TNR article, Colorado law prof Paul Campos writes:

Many law schools all but explicitly promise that, within a few months of graduation, practically all their graduates will obtain jobs as lawyers, by trumpeting employment figures of 95 percent, 97 percent, and even 99.8 percent. The truth is that less than half will.

Campos criticizes employment stats used by US News and NALP as being misleading high in reported employment rates in part because the self-reported data is not audited and includes employment that does not represent actually practicing law. Prospective law school students are not likely to attend law school if they know how many grads were employed "doing temp work, such as being paid $20 an hour to proofread financial documents in a warehouse, or $12 an hour to do slightly glorified secretarial tasks."

Reporting on an audit of one top-50 law school, Campos writes:

When we take temporary employment into account, it appears that approximately 45 percent of 2010 graduates of this particular top-50 law school had real legal jobs nine months after graduation. And the overall number is likely lower, since it seems probable that the temporary employment figures for the graduates of almost any top 50 school would be better than the average outcome for the graduates of the 198 ABA-accredited law schools as a whole.

Campos concludes with the following call for reform:

All of this suggests the extent to which prospective law students need more and better information. Of course, such information will make law school look like a far worse investment than it does at present. Still, if we assume that the point of academic work is to reveal the truth, rather than to engage in the defense of a professional cartel from which law professors benefit more than almost anyone else, then this work needs to be done.

(Emphasis added.)

Apparently Professor Campos has forgotten the first rule of real lawyering -- never assume. For details, see his The New Republic article Served: How law schools completely misrepresent their job numbers.

"My Bad." It's read and exam time for the Class of 2011.

Perhaps it is not too late to rectify "my bad." Deborah K. Hackerson, Law Librarian & Legal Research Adjunct, Univ. of St. Thomas School of Law has posted Resources to Help Law Students Prepare for Final Exams on Legal Skills Prof Blog. [JH]

Multitasking "Older Brains" Have a Harder Time Getting Back to the Orignial Task: Time for "Quiet Hours"

Well damn it all to hell. Thanks Jim for providing empirical evidence that we Boomer-generation law librarians truely are aging and decrepit. In his recent Legal Skills Prof Blog post, Jim Levy covers a NYT's post, Multitasking Takes Toll on Memory, Study Finds, observing in pertinent part (applicable part?) that "the subjects [of the study] were older - 60 to 80 - rather than digital natives" and that "[t]he researchers concluded that older brains have a harder time reengaging with the original task. 'As your brain ages, it’s harder to get back to the task at hand after an interruption.'"

Why? Short term memory more negatively affects "older brains" in a multitasking context than "younger brains." Personally, I would have preferred that this wasn't publicized. Got any idea how often, for example, I go to one of my email accounts to do X, then see Y and Z and forget about X because something else has come up. Guess I need "Quiet Hours." Hat tip to another of Jim Levy's posts, Distracted at work? There's an app for that. [JH]

While British "Subjects," Not Upstart Former Colonials a/k/a US Citizens, Eagerly Await the Hoped-For Balcony Royal Kiss, an Update on Who is Invited and Who Has Been "Univited"

Well, of couse, "Mr. Bean" actor Rowan Atkinson, a personal friend of Prince Charles, and Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, a friend of Prince William are on the "A-list" for this event. Singer Joss Stone (sorry, who?) will be there, as will former British Prime Minister John Major (OK I know who he is or was). But former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have not been invited. Ah, does the Royal Family prefer the Conservative Party over the Labor Party?

But the guest list is also notable for who won't be there. Margaret Thatcher for example. Ditto for Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS. So I'm thinking that the partisan political criticism of the Royal Family is a cheap shot. Hey, can't we all just be happy about the royal nuptials. Shouldn't we be much more worried about whether or not there will be a balcony royal kiss. NB: Royal Wedding weather: Showers threaten balcony kiss ("William and his new bride are expected to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at 1.25pm.") Ah ... when is that Colonial Eastern time???

Then there is the once invited but no longer so.. . Syria's ambassador was invited but then was uninvited a day before the wedding. Apparently, the Royal Family prefers that its royal napkins not be stained with fresh blood from the on-going slaughter of human beings in Syria. Like Syria's ambassador just returned to London after having shot off from his engraved and gold-plated AK-47 a clip or two or three back home.

Of course, no problem with the invited blue-bloods of the once mighty British Empire whose bloody hands have been cleansed by the convenient forgetfulness of a-historical mindlessness. Time for CNN's latest (as in about 1:00 Am Eastern time] "newsworthy" video clip.

End Note. Just in case any regular LLB readers are wondering, the only reason I am up something like five hours past my normal bedtime is because I'm still basking in the afterglow of a four-day extented Easter weekend without using any damn electronic device other than the cable remote control. I'll be back to "normal" very, very soon. {JH]

When Kate Middleton Marries Her Cousin, Prince William, She Will No Longer Be Permitted...

to vote according to a longstanding custom that precludes the Royal Family from voting. Hat tip to Gerard Magliocca's Concurring Opinions post. Here is Life's slideshow of Royal Wedding Trivia. Borrowing from Magliocca's comment, and you thought LLB could not find a way to join the royal wedding hysteria. [JH]

Thomson Reuters Is Unloading BAR/BRI and Has Anyone Noticed that Lexis Unloaded Some Updated Monographs on Juris?

Flash ... think hearing telegraph sounds. ATL is reporting that Thomson Reuters is selling BAR/BRI to Leeds Equity Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in educational products and services. Details on ATL here. As noted on LLB on November 19, 2010, "BAR/BRI no longer fits TR's strategic vision." See On Strategic Vision: Thomson Reuters Acquires Indian Legal Process Outsourcing Firm, Pangea3; Wants to Sell BAR/BRI.   

Juris Has Acuired Some Updated Lexis Print Titles. Meanwhile ... (again, think hearing telegraph sounds as background "music") with all the hullabaloo over the Lexis-ALM deal (more about that some other time), are invoice-paying law librarians noticing that Lexis has unloaded some updated print monographs on Juris Publishing? Which titles? Don't know but you will know when you receive an invoice or a statement from Juris for a title formerly thought to be published by Lexis. Juris customer service is very helpful and according to a recent telephone conversation, you may (1) receive a statement for billing purposes that may include late charges for ex-Lexis titles which will be waived and (2) Juris will be taking over editorial content production for future updates and editions. Both, but particularly the latter, may be a "good thing" since it appears that the former Lexis titles are marginal in LN's grand scheme of legal publishing while not necessarily being marginal to institutional buyers, their user populations and practitioners generally. Perhaps I missed the press release... . Was one published? [JH]

The Chesapeake Digital Preservation Group's Fourth Annual Analysis Finds the Pace of Link Rot May Slowing Down but ...

Link rot is still present in more than 30% of the URLs in the Group's sample of URLs originally collected in 2007 and 2008. Do note that the sample includes URLs primarily from state government (.state.__.us), government (.gov), and organization (.org) top-level domains.

From "Link Rot" and Legal Resources on the Web: A 2011 Analysis by the Chesapeake Digital Preservation Group:

The Chesapeake Group conducted its first link rot assessment at the program's one-year mark in 2008.  During the program’s first year, 1,266 online titles were harvested preserved within the digital archive. A random sample of 579 titles from the archive was generated for the link rot study, ensuring results at a 95 percent confidence level and confidence interval of +/- 3. When this sample was first analyzed in March 2008, link rot was found to be present in 48 of 579 URLs, or 8.3 percent.

One year later, in 2009, the sample was analyzed a second time as part of the program's second-year evaluation. The second analysis demonstrated that link rot was present in 83 out of the original sample of 579 URLs. In other words, 14.3 percent of the archived titles had disappeared from their original URLs within 12 to 24 months of harvest.

By March 2010, the prevalence of link rot had increased to 160 out of 579 URLs. Within two to three years of harvest, link rot among the sample URLs had increased to 27.9 percent, compared to 14.3 percent in 2009 and 8.3 percent in 2008.

The current March 2011 analysis shows that 176 URLs have succumbed to link rot within a period of 12 to 48 months. This means that 30.4 percent, or nearly one-third, of the archived titles have disappeared from their original URLs. Although this figure is significant, it represents only an additional 2.5 percent of URLs lost to link rot within the past year.

Whereas the prevalence of link rot among URLs in the sample nearly doubled every year during the first three years of the study, it slowed significantly in the fourth year.

Another snip from this very informative Report:

In the original 2008 analysis, link rot was present in 10.8 percent of URLs with state top-level domains, 10 percent of URLs with government top-level domains, and 8.3 percent of URLs with organization top-level domains. Education (.edu) and commercial (.com) URLs were found to have relatively high inactivity levels of 11.8 and 15.4 percent in 2008, respectively.

In 2009, the prevalence of link rot increased among URLs with state, government, organization, education, network (.net), military (.mil), and information-oriented (.info) top-level domains. URLs with organization top-level domains increased significantly in 2009, to 35.3 percent from 11.8 percent in 2008, while no increase in link rot among commercial URLs was observed.

The 2010 analysis of the sample showed link rot to be present in more than 32 percent, nearly one-third, of the URLs with a state-government top-level domain. Link rot was found in more than 22 percent of URLs with an organization top-level domain and in 25 percent of government URLs. Commercial and network URLs both experienced a jump in link rot to nearly 30 percent among .com domains, and to more than 27 percent among .net domains. The single IP address and.uk top-level domain in the sample also succumbed to link rot in 2010.

New and interesting patterns among top-level domains emerged in 2011. While .org and .gov URLs continued to demonstrate an increase in link rot, link rot among state government and academic URLs actually began to reverse.

Link Rot and the Digital Archive Today. Also note that "[f]or the present analysis, a new, separate sample was generated representing all of the content in the archive at the time of the program’s fourth anniversary. In the four years since the program began, 3,246 born-digital online titles were harvested from the Web and preserved within the digital archive. A random sample of 803 titles was selected for the link rot study, ensuring results at a 95 percent confidence level and confidence interval of +/- 3."

For a detailed analysis, see "Link Rot" and Legal Resources on the Web: A 2011 Analysis by the Chesapeake Digital Preservation Group. Highly recommended.

Endnote. Hat tip to Sarah Rhodes, Digital Collections Librarian, Georgetown Law Library, for the heads-up. Participants in the Chesapeake Group include the Georgetown and Harvard Law Libraries and the State Law Libraries of Maryland and Virginia. Professionally speaking, I think we are all indebted to the law librarians who have dedicated their time and effort over the course of the last four years by executing this continuing series which provides an empirically sound analysis of link rot. As noted in the Group's announcement of its latest findings, this is National Preservation Week 2011 and their work product also is a valuable contribution in that context.

The Chesapeake Group is a founding member of the Legal Information Preservation Alliance (LIPA) Legal Information Archive, a collaborative digital preservation program for the law library community. For more information, visit the LIPA Web site or the Chesapeake Group website. [JH]

Ms. Gloria Marcela Orrego Hoyos, Recipient of the FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians, to Speak at AALL's Annual Meeting in Philly on the Role of Libraries and Archives in Reconstructing Memory of Argentina's Dirty War

From the announcement:

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

On behalf of the Selection Committee of the FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians, I am thrilled to announce that we have selected Ms. Gloria Marcela Orrego Hoyos as recipient of the 2011 FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians. [image, right] Please join me in welcoming Ms. Orrego Hoyos to AALL in July.
 
As you probably know, the purpose of the FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians is to provide financial assistance to ensure the presence and participation of a foreign librarian at the AALL Annual Meeting.  This year the Committee received a total of 44 applications from 27 countries:  Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Barbados, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Micronesia, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay.

Ms. Orrego Hoyos is a native of Colombia, where she obtained her law degree, and is now living and working in Argentina, where she obtained her library degree and a master’s degree in law. Ms. Orrego Hoyos is the Legal Reference Librarian and a Professor of Law and Legal Research at the Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires. She will give a talk at FCIL Executive Committee Presents entitled, "Never Again, Never Forget: The Role of Libraries and Archives in Reconstructing Memory of Argentina's Dirty War."  Read more about Ms. Orrego Hoyos and her presentation in conjunction with the FCIL-SIS Executive Committee Presents on the FCIL-SIS website.

Many thanks to my colleagues Lucie Olejnikova and Roy Sturgeon, who worked so diligently and with incredible dedication in this process, and to Ellen Schaffer who gives us her unfettered support each year.  This year marks the 10th anniversary of this special Grant!

Best regards,

Teresa Miguel (Chair), 2011 FCIL Schaffer Grant for Foreign Law Librarians Selection Committee

Editor's Note: Ms. Orrego Hoyos' presentation, "Never Again, Never Forget: The Role of Libraries and Archives in Reconstructing Memory of Argentina's Dirty War," will take place on Monday, July 25, 2011, 12:00-1:00pm, PCC Room 112(B). This event is open to the entire AALL community. An important topic, in my opinion, one we all can learn something valuable from in the context of documenting and preserving the history of Argentina as well as the dark side of US history. [JH]

Supreme Court Action Today - Arbitration In Consumer Contracts

Today's opinion, AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (09-893), represents a major win for corporations wanting to enforce arbitration terms in their consumer contracts.  In this case, AT&T was sued by the Concepcions for false advertising and fraud because they were charged sales tax on what was supposed to be a "free phone."  The Concepcions sought class action status.  The District Court denied AT&T's motion to compel arbitration and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed.  Both relied on a California Supreme Court case, Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 36 Cal. 4th 148, 113 P. 3d 1100 (2005), which held that class-action waivers in arbitration agreements were unconscionable under California law and unenforceable as a matter of public policy.  There was such a clause in AT&T's contract for cell service, including terms that excluded even class-action arbitration proceedings.

Justice Scalia, writing for the majority in a 5-4 split, said that §2 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) pre-empts state law that stands in opposition to the “liberal federal policy favoring arbitration.”  The key to the ruling is the interpretation of the saving clause in §2.  That provision basically says that arbitration agreements are enforceable, "save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.”  The Concepcions argue and the dissent agrees that California's Discovery Bank decision falls in that exception.

Justice Scalia brushes this aside, stating §2's savings clause may preserve generally applicable contract defenses, but it may not preserve state-law rules that stand as an obstacle to the FAA's objectives.  That objective is to “ensure that private arbitration agreements are enforced according to their terms."  He uses examples of the efficiency of arbitration in resolving disputes and notes how even class-action arbitration is ill-suited to that efficiency.  California rules, he says, intereferes with the arbitration process.  He notes, however, that the Discover Bank case is limited to adhesion contracts but goes on to say "but the times in which consumer contracts were anything other than adhesive are long past." 

I suppose by that he means that no one is forced to sign up for cell service from AT&T even when the contract is a form contract.  There is no duress or fraud involved after all.  However, he fails to point out that virtually all consumer cell phone contracts have similar if not identical language.  Then again, no one is forcing anyone to enter into the contract for cell service.  I'll simply say there are times when I read an opinion by Justice Scalia and believe it to be a perfectly internally consistent description of the law that is parallel to reality.  It becomes reality by its mere existence.  This opinion represents one of those times.

Justice Thomas reluctantly joins the majority, but only because he doesn't believe the Court put enough limits on the §2 savings clause language.  He would require the arbitration agreement to be procured by fraud or duress before invalidating it.  The dissent believes the California rule falls within the language of the savings clause. 

My advice in light of this opinion is to read the arbitration statements in any consumer contract to know the range (or lack of) of remedies available for disputes.  It won't matter practically, of course.  But at least there will be knowledge of the limited options.  That's the best a consumer can hope for these days.  [MG]

Take No Source for Granted or Why Vendors Need to Audit the Content of Their Databases Regularly: 2011 Revision of Connecticut General Statutes Not Available on Lexis

From an AALL listserv message dated April 21, 2011 and republished with the author's permission:

We've discovered that Lexis has not loaded the 2011 revision of the Connecticut General Statutes, effective January 1, 2011.  They do provide updates through their advance legislation service, but we advise researchers of Connecticut law to use the Connecticut General Assembly website www.cga.ct.gov  for current law.
 
We have confirmed that Westlaw's version of the statutes is up to date as well.
 
Just a good lesson to not take any source for granted.  I have spoken with Lexis and am waiting confirmation that this omission has been corrected.
 
Chris Graesser
Legislative Librarian
Connecticut Legislative Library

As of yesterday, the Company was still "looking into it."

Let's follow Chris' advice during Preservation Week, April 24–30, 2011, by making sure our user populations take no source for granted. I would add along those lines that it might be wise for our very expensive legal search vendors to perform regular audits of their databases. Chis has called attention an example of one huge gaping hole in the provision of online legal resources by Lexis. One has to wonder what was the cause, why no alert was broadcasted via Lexis online or emailed to account holders and whether an audit would have identified the problem.

Not too late, is it, for adding a question to ALR final exams about how to check on the currency of vendor database resources. [JH]

"I need a webinar." Maybe not!

"As librarians, we are used to using the reference interview as a tool to peel back layers of poor recollection, unintelligible notes, and outright misinformation. By dialing a query back to the point of finding out what is required and differentiating that from what is asked for, we can find the real answers our patrons seek," writes Jill Smith, Research and Instructional Technology Librarian, University of Maryland School of Law, Thurgood Marshall Law Library, in Librarian 2011: Using Basic Library Science Techniques to Manage Technology Requests, Spring 2011 issue of Law Library Lights at 12.

Conducting a technological reference interview has all of the hallmarks of a more traditional reference interview: the patron may insist that you “just get me the thing I asked for,” they may be embarrassed by their own lack of a clear idea of what they want, or they may have tried other avenues before seeking your help and are already frustrated and confused. The keys to solving these problems are the same in the tech suite as they are at the reference desk: patience, good humor, and basic questions. Instead of saying, “What sort of webinar would you like?” it is wiser to start with something like, “I’d love to help you. How many people are involved? Do you want people to be able to ask questions? How many presenters are there? Do you have a budget for this?” If you get a lot of these sorts of requests, developing a questionnaire to ease and organize planning is essential.

...

Having conducted your reference interview, you also need to know what resources are available to match to the user’s request, what the level of expertise required to use them is, and how much they cost.

The message of Smith's article is clear and insightful; do not "over-geek" the IT request. By asking a few questions, one can find out what the patron thinks he or she is asking for, how much technical expertise the patron has, what the patron needs and which tech solution best fits the situation. In some cases, the asked-for webinar may be exactly what is needed. In other cases, something else may be more appropriate for the intended use and tech user. [JH]

Supreme Court Action Today

The Supreme Court decided on case today, U.S. v. Tohono O'odham Nation (09-846).  It covers the issue of whether two suits on the same facts but not the same requested relief can be filed in the district court and the Federal Court of Claims (CFC) in the face of 28 U.S.C. §1500 which bars CFC jurisdiction in an action “for or in  respect to” a claim that is also the subject of an action pending in another court.  The Nation's suits were commenced on accounting failures by the Department of the Interior concerning trusts on behalf of the Nation.  The suit in the district court sought equitable relief and that in the CFC sought money damages.  The CFC denied the suit but the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed, largely on Circuit precedent.

Justice Kennedy's majority opinion analyzed earlier Supreme Court precedent, specifically Keene Corp. v. United States, 508 U.S. 200 (1993) which barred similar suits when based on the same operative facts and when requested relief overlapped.  The question was whether the same operative facts was enough to bar suit.  Keene reserved the question, according to Justice Kennedy.  Keene, he says, stated that "claim" and "cause of action" were synonymous, and neither contemplates a remedy.  This, he says, means that operative facts alone were enough for a bar to suit.  He also states that the two courts have different remedial powers.  Given that situation, the statute precluding duplicate CFC suits would be more unlikely to require remedial overlap.  This result is consistent with principles of preclusion and res judicata.

Justices Breyer and Sotomayor concurred in the judgment.  They stated that the Court reaches a question that was never asked.  The record, they say, shows that the Nation had asked for both forms of relief in the action and the district court.  Thus, the same result could have been reached without reinterpreting Keene.  Justice Ginsburg dissented, suggesting their are procedural mechanisms that could have preserved both suits to allow the Nation to have full access to their remedies.  Justice Kagan did not participate in the case.

Today is the last day of arguments in the current term.  From here on out, the Court will be releasing the bulk of its opinions in the cases its heard.  [MG]

Prosecutors Should Demand that Judges Skip Lunch

A study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at 1,112 judicial rulings made by eight Israeli parole board judges over a 10-month period. It found that prisoners saw a 65% success rate if their cases were heard early in the day or immediately after a judge had eaten, but the number of requests granted dropped to nearly zero just before a break period and at the end of the day. "A hungry, tired judge, it turns out, is much less likely to grant a defendant’s request than one who has just eaten or taken a break. At least that’s the finding of an ingenious new study looking at the rulings made by Israeli parole board judges in relation to when they had taken a meal break," writes Miller-McCune's Michael Haederle in Judges’ Decisions More Lenient After Lunch. Haederle reports that the researchers don't know whether the judges got grumpier because (1) they grew tired, (2) they were hungry and/or (3) their glucose levels were dropping. [JH]

"Rightsizing" BigLaw's Legal Workforce

According to the National Law Journal's annual survey almost 10,000 fewer attorneys are employed by Big Law then in 2008, including 2,868 fewer attorneys than in 2009. "In the 34 years The National Law Journal has been surveying large firms to gather headcount numbers, there have never been multiyear declines of this magnitude." Details here. [JH]

Good Luck Brazilian Legal Community: Country's "First Online Legal Research Service" Launched

Recently Thomson Reuters launched Revista dos Tribunais Online.

It is a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind product that gives legal professionals a full view of Brazilian legal information and promises to dramatically increase productivity for legal professionals across the country, which is second only to the United States in numbers of attorneys per capita.

Revista dos Tribunais Online combines the technology that powers Westlaw, the leading legal research product in the United States, with the high-quality content and intimate market knowledge available in the volumes of Revista dos Tribunais.

(Emphasis added.) Quoting from Legal Current.

"High quality" content, well, at least until Thomson Reuters establishes the same sweatshop practices used to produce US legal publications. Good luck Brazilian legal community. If there is one thing TR knows how to do it is to maximize economies of scale to dominate a market. Perfected in the US market, now coming to a market that is "second only to the US in number of attorneys per capita." From the press release:

“There are some 600,000 lawyers in Brazil,” said Jim Smith, chief executive officer, Thomson Reuters Professional Division , “and we are well positioned to serve this important market with next-generation tools that meet the needs of business and legal professionals in the region. We’re doing this by building upon the blueprint that has made our Westlaw online service the gold standard for legal professionals around the world: exceptional content, state of the art technology and an unmatched reputation for service excellence.”

"[E]xceptional content, state of the art technology and an unmatched reputation for service excellence," really? Perhaps we US law librarians better send an envoy to our colleagues in Brazil  for an education in the costs associated with so-called "next-gen" tools because

“Revista dos Tribunais Online is leading the way in modernizing the legal research tools available to professionals in Brazil,” said Antonio Belinelo, managing director, Revisita dos Tribunais. “This product will bring about a richer view of Brazil’s legal system by enabling legal professionals to search for and find a century of tradition and editorial excellence in just a few clicks. Revista dos Tribunais Online truly will revolutionize the Brazilian legal industry.”

(Emphasis added; quoting from the press release).

Thomson Reuters acquired Revista dos Tribunais in May 2010. See The Sun Never Sets on the Thomson Reuters Empire: On Restructuring for the 21st Century's New Normal.  Since then the Company has acquired Argentina- and Chile-based Legal Publishing Group. [JH]

Round-Up of Law Practitioner Blogs

A fairly regular LLB Sunday feature is our round-up of law practitioner blogs. But since many folks do not check out blog posts over the weekend, I thought I would post one this week day which highlights the variety of practitioners who are using this web communications platform. So here it is. [JH]

Virtual World Law Blog
http://www.virtualworldlaw.com
http://www.virtualworldlaw.com/index.xml
Reports on virtual and social media law news, opinions and cases in the United States. Published by Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP.

White Collar Criminal and Regulatory Lawyer Blog
http://www.whitecollarcriminalandregulatorylawyerblog.com
http://www.whitecollarcriminalandregulatorylawyerblog.com/index.xml
Reviews white collar crime cases, news and reports in New Jersey. Published by Ambrosio & Tomczak.

Agriculture Lawyer Blog
http://www.agriculturelawyer-blog.com
http://www.agriculturelawyer-blog.com/index.xml
Analyzes agriculture law legislation, opinions and news in Ohio. Published by The Miltner Law Firm, LLC.

Lawsuit Loans
http://www.lawsuitloansblog.com/
http://www.lawsuitloansblog.com/index.xml
Discusses lawsuit loan news, cases, and reports in New York. Published by Case Cash

Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
http://www.orangecountycriminaldefenselawyerblog.com
http://www.orangecountycriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/index.xml
Discusses criminal law news, reports and cases in California. Published by the Law Offices of Rudolph E. Loewenstein.
 
New Jersey Estate Planning Lawyer Blog
http://www.newjerseyestateplanninglawyerblog.com
http://www.newjerseyestateplanninglawyerblog.com/index.xml
Provides insight on estate planning opinions, reports and news in New Jersey. Published by Failla & Banks, LLC.
 
Chicagoland Vein Doctor Blog
http://www.chicagolandveinblog.com
http://www.chicagolandveinblog.com/index.xml
Examines medical news, reports and opinions of vein diseases and treatments . Published by Dr. David Rosen, MD.
 
Comm Law Center
http://www.commlawcenter.com
http://www.commlawcenter.com/index.xml
Reviews communications law legislation, reports and opinions in the United States. Published by Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, LLP.

Opening: Faculty Services Librarian, Duncan School of Law, Lincoln Memorial University.

Lincoln Memorial University invites applications for the position of Faculty Services Librarian, located in the Duncan School of Law in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Faculty Services Librarian is responsible for managing the Faculty Research and Document Delivery Services at the Duncan School of Law, including hiring, training and supervising student research assistants. Provide reference assistance, legal research instruction and collection development in a library comprised mostly of digital legal and non-legal information. Performs planning, administrative and technical tasks in support of public services of the LMU Law Library. LMU's hiring policies are in accordance with EEO regulations and policies. LMU is committed to diversity and is an equal opportunity employer. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applicants should submit an LMU application for employment, a cover letter addressing qualifications for the position, a resume, contact information for three references and official transcripts (if applicable) to Lincoln Memorial University, 6965 Cumberland Gap Parkway, Harrogate, TN 37752, Attention Pamela Lester.  Electronic submissions are encouraged to pamela.lester@lmunet.edu. LMU's hiring policies are in accordance with EEO regulations and policies.  LMU is committed to diversity and is an equal opportunity employer.  Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.  Internal Posting period expires Friday, April 22, 2011.

Job Summary:  The Faculty Services Librarian will be responsible foor managing the Faculty Research and Document Delivery Services at the Duncan School of Law, including hiring, training, and supervising student research assistants.

Duties and Responsibilities: As part of the Library Information Services team, the Faculty Services Librarian will be required to perform traditional and virtual reference services for students, faculty, and staff; to provide bibliographic instruction; and to develop research guides and content for the law library’s webpage. Additionally, the Faculty Services Librarian will be expected to teach in the Lawyering Skills program. Other duties may be assigned on an as needed basis. This position may require weekend hours on a rotating basis.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:   Sound knowledge of legal systems and legal bibliography; strong research skills; excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills; creativity and adaptability in the face of multiple simultaneous demands; and group instruction experience.

Required qualifications: A Juris Doctor from an accredited law school. A Master’s Degree in Information and/or Library Science from an accredited graduate school. 

Preferred qualifications: Experience teaching legal research; experience and/or a strong interest in teaching legal writing; and experience conducting legal research in an academic, government, or private practice setting.