Sunday, January 31, 2016
“How to Conduct Free Legal Research Online”
Barbara Bavis, Senior Legal Reference Specialist in the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., will present a program at the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting in San Diego this Friday, February 5, 2016, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Hotel. The program is free and well worth the investment of your time if you're attending the ABA Meeting in San Diego. The program is organized by the ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress.
(mew)
January 31, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, January 29, 2016
The Latest Issue of The Scrivener is Now Online
The Scrivener is the newsletter for Scribes -- The American Society of Legal Writers. The Winter issue is now available online at the Scribes website.
Professor Maureen Collins (pictured at the far right) of The John Marshall Law School serves as the chief editor of The Scrivener. She and other professors at John Marshall, including Professor Maureen Straub Kordesh (pictured near right), comprise the editorial board of the Society's newsletter.
The latest issue of The Scrivener includes a column from the new Scribes President Michael Hyman, a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court (pictured at left). His column invites Scribes members to become more involved in Scribes committees.
The issue also includes photos from the Scribes luncheon held in Chicago during the annual meeting of the American Bar Association. The keynote speaker at the luncheon was Bryan Garner, a former Scribes President and current board member.
At that luncheon and annual meeting, Bryan Garner presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Lord Woolf of the United Kingdom, who had served as Master of the Rolls from 1996 to 2000 and was Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 to 2005. The Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 made him the first Lord Chief Justice to be President of the Courts of England and Wales. When he served as Master of the Rolls (the third most senior judge in England and Wales), Lord Woolf brought forth legal reforms that have been described as “the most fundamental reform of the civil justice system of the 20th century.”
The Winter Issue of The Scrivener also includes remarks from the winner of the Scribes Book Award, Professor John Bessler of the University of Baltimore School of Law. His book was on The Birth of American Law: An Italian Philosopher and the American Revolution (Carolina Academic Press, 2014), and focused on Cesare Beccaria, an Italian philosopher who had a profound effect on the development of proportional punishment in criminal matters in early American society.
The issue also includes a photo and remarks from the winners of the Scribes Brief-Writing Award, Camile Rosca and Andrew Obergfell of Seton Hall University School of Law. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in moot court competitions, comparing the winning briefs from different national and international moot court competitions to find an overall winner.
The issue also includes other news for Scribes members, including the revised bylaws for the Society, news of articles published in the Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, an update about the new website for Scribes, and a save-the-date for a Scribes CLE Program to be held in Chicago on Friday afternoon, April 15, 2016, at The John Marshall Law School.
Individual membership in Scribes is limited to members of the legal profession who have: (a) published a book on a legal subject; (b) published two or more articles on legal subjects in a journal, magazine, or newsletter; (c) published two or more opinions as a judge; (d) served as an editor of a legal publication; or (e) received an award or recognition from Scribes. Membership is also open for law schools and other institutions, and to associate members.
(mew)
January 29, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
CFP Institute for Law Teaching and Learning
Here's a reminding of the upcoming deadline for proposals for the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning—Summer 2016 Conference on “Real-World Readiness,” June 10-11, 2016 at the Washburn University School of Law—Topeka, Kansas
The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning invites proposals for conference workshops addressing the many ways that law schools are preparing students to enter the real world of law practice. With the rising demands for “practice-ready” lawyers, this topic has taken on increased urgency in recent years. How are law schools and law professors taking on the challenge of graduating students who are ready to join the real world of practicing attorneys? Can we be doing more?
The Institute takes a broad view of educational practices that promote real-world readiness. Accordingly, we welcome proposals for workshops on incorporating such teaching techniques in doctrinal, clinical, externship, writing, seminar, hybrid, and interdisciplinary courses. Workshops can address real-world readiness in first-year courses, upper-level courses, required courses, electives, or academic support teaching. Workshops can present innovative teaching materials, course designs, curricular or program designs, etc. Each workshop should include materials that participants can use during the workshop and also when they return to their campuses. Presenters should model best practices in teaching methods by actively engaging the workshop participants.
The Institute invites proposals for 60-minute workshops consistent with a broad interpretation of the conference theme. To be considered for the conference, proposals should be one single-spaced page (maximum) and should include the following information:
- · the title of the workshop;
- · the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the presenter(s);
- · a summary of the contents of the workshop, including its goals and methods; and
- · an explanation of the interactive teaching methods the presenter(s) will use to engage the audience.
The Institute must receive proposals by February 1, 2016. Submit proposals via email to Emily Grant, Co-Director, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].
Conference Details
Schedule of Events:
Washburn University School of Law will host a welcome reception on the evening of Thursday, June 9, and the conference workshops will take place at the law school all day on Friday, June 10, and until the early afternoon on Saturday, June 11.
Travel and Lodging:
Topeka is about 75 minutes away from the Kansas City airport (MCI). You may wish to rent a car at MCI for the drive to Topeka. There are a few shuttle services available. A block of hotel rooms will be reserved for a discounted rate at the Ramada Topeka Downtown Hotel and Convention Center.
Fees:
The conference fee for participants is $450, which includes materials, meals during the conference (two breakfasts and two lunches), and a welcome reception on Thursday evening, June 9, 2016. The conference fee for presenters is $350.
(mew)
January 27, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Submit a Proposal for the Global Legal Skills Conference in Verona
The 11th Global Legal Skills Conference will be held in Italy at the University of Verona Department of Law from May 24-26, 2016 with an additional day field trip to Padua on May 27, 2016.
The conference focuses on legal skills training for lawyers and law students around the world, although there's also a substantive international law track. Presenters include experienced and new teachers and directors, as well as law students from Italy and the Philippines. Other confirmed presenters are coming from Mexico, Italy, Qatar, and the United States. Participants are expected from approximately 20 countries. There will also be sessions for law students who want to pursue LL.M. degrees or other advance study opportunities in the United States and Canada.
Early bird registration is now open and presentation proposals are now being accepted. Visit the conference website for more information. First round proposals are due by the end of the month but proposals can still be submitted after that date on a space-available basis.
The photo is of Juliet's balcony in Verona. We acknowledge that there's some debate as to whether this is the actual balcony, but we also remember that Juliet was not a real person but only a fictional character. So we're calling it THE TRUE BALCONY!
:)
(mew)
January 26, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Global Legal Skills Awards
A list of past individual and institutional recipients of Global Legal Skills Awards is now available by clicking here.
The GLS awards were first given out in Costa Rica at the seventh Global Legal Skills Conference. Awards are given for individuals, scholarship (including new books and new editions of previously published books), institutions, and law schools. Nominations for 2016 Awards are now being accepted in all categories. Send nominations to [email protected] by March 30, 2016. There is no particular form for nominations, but please include sufficient information to explain to the Awards Committee why the person, institution, publication, or law school is deserving of the award. Contact Professor Mark E. Wojcik at The John Marshall Law School for more information about the GLS Awards.
The next Global Legal Skills Conference (and Awards Presentation) will be held May 24-26, 2016 at the University of Verona Department of Law. Click here for more information about the conference, including how to submit a proposal for presentation.
(mew)
January 21, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, January 18, 2016
The John Marshall Law School Holds its 200th Graduation Ceremony
The John Marshall Law School held its 200th Graduation Ceremony yesterday in Chicago. Pictured here are Professor Kim D. Chanbonpin, Director of the Lawyering Skills Program at The John Marshall Law School, and the Honorable Rita Garman, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
(mew)
January 18, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Save the Date: Legal Research Program at the ABA Midyear Meeting in San Francisco
Barbara Bavis, Senior Legal Reference Specialist in the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., will present a program at the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting in San Diego on Friday, February 5, 2016, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Hotel. We expect the program to be in the Newport Beach Room, but you can check the monitors and ABA Schedule that day if it isn't there. The program is free and well worth the investment of your time if you're attending the ABA Meeting in San Diego. The program is organized by the ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress.
(mew)
January 17, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, January 15, 2016
Stanford Law School Symposium
Stanford Law School is hosting a symposium on January 30 on Narrative and Metaphor in the Law.
Many scholars familiar to the legal writing and rhetoric community will be presenting there: Linda Berger, Peter Brooks, Michael Smith, Kathryn Stanchi, Bernadette Meyler, and L. David Ritchie, as well as thinkers in the fields of anthropology, media studies, cognitive psychology, and public policy, including Raymond Gibbs, Dahlia Lithwick, Simon Stern, and Kathryn Young.
For more info, go to https://conferences.law.stanford.edu/narrativeandmetaphorinlaw/.
hat tip: Jeanne Merino
(njs)
January 15, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Roberta I. Shaffer has been named as the next Law Librarian of Congress
Roberta I. Shaffer has been named as the next Law Librarian of Congress, effective February 21, 2016. She has been serving in as Acting Law Librarian of Congress since October 2015 and had previously been the Law Librarian of Congress from August 2009 to November 2011.
Ms. Shaffer graduated cum laude from Vassar College with an A.B. degree in Political Science and Demography, with highest honors from Emory University with a Master’s degree in Law Librarianship, and cum laude with a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law. She is admitted to the bars of Texas and the District of Columbia as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.
She was previously the Director of the University of Houston Law Center’s Legal Communications Program and Associate Director of that school's Law and Technology Program. In 1984, she became the first person appointed to the position of special assistant to the Law Librarian in the Library of Congress.
In 1987, Shaffer was named a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law in Israel. Upon her return to the United States, she served for a year as Director of the Law Library at the George Washington University National Law Center Library during the director’s sabbatical.
From 1990 until 1999, she served concurrently as adjunct coordinator of the law librarianship specialization at the School of Library and Information Science at the Catholic University of America and as director of research services at the law firm of Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C. In 1999, she was appointed and served for two years as dean and professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin. After working briefly with the Special Libraries Association and as a consultant, in 2002 she accepted the position of director of external relations and program development and professor at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland in College Park, where she implemented the Master of Information Management (MIM) degree.
Shaffer returned to the Library of Congress in 2005 as executive director of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee/Federal Library Network (FLICC/FEDLINK). In this position, she has overseen procurement, provided advocacy and advice on technology and managed education and training for a federal program servicing more than 1,500 federal information professionals and 130 vendors. She was appointed Director of the Law Library of Congress in 2009
Click here for more information about her appointment.
Founded in 1832, the mission of the Law Library of Congress is to make its resources available to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, other branches of the U.S. government, and the global community of legal scholars. Its mission is also to preserve a universal collection of law for future generations. The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest collection of law books and other resources from all countries. It provides online databases and guides to legal information worldwide through its website at www.loc.gov/law/.
Mark E. Wojcik, Member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress
January 10, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Thursday, January 7, 2016
CFP Institute for Law Teaching and Learning
CALL FOR PRESENTATION PROPOSALS
Institute for Law Teaching and Learning—Summer 2016 Conference
“Real-World Readiness”
June 10-11, 2016
Washburn University School of Law—Topeka, Kansas
The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning invites proposals for conference workshops addressing the many ways that law schools are preparing students to enter the real world of law practice. With the rising demands for “practice-ready” lawyers, this topic has taken on increased urgency in recent years. How are law schools and law professors taking on the challenge of graduating students who are ready to join the real world of practicing attorneys? Can we be doing more?
The Institute takes a broad view of educational practices that promote real-world readiness. Accordingly, we welcome proposals for workshops on incorporating such teaching techniques in doctrinal, clinical, externship, writing, seminar, hybrid, and interdisciplinary courses. Workshops can address real-world readiness in first-year courses, upper-level courses, required courses, electives, or academic support teaching. Workshops can present innovative teaching materials, course designs, curricular or program designs, etc. Each workshop should include materials that participants can use during the workshop and also when they return to their campuses. Presenters should model best practices in teaching methods by actively engaging the workshop participants.
The Institute invites proposals for 60-minute workshops consistent with a broad interpretation of the conference theme. To be considered for the conference, proposals should be one single-spaced page (maximum) and should include the following information:
- · the title of the workshop;
- · the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the presenter(s);
- · a summary of the contents of the workshop, including its goals and methods; and
- · an explanation of the interactive teaching methods the presenter(s) will use to engage the audience.
The Institute must receive proposals by February 1, 2016. Submit proposals via email to Emily Grant, Co-Director, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].
Conference Details
Schedule of Events:
Washburn University School of Law will host a welcome reception on the evening of Thursday, June 9, and the conference workshops will take place at the law school all day on Friday, June 10, and until the early afternoon on Saturday, June 11.
Travel and Lodging:
Topeka is about 75 minutes away from the Kansas City airport (MCI). You may wish to rent a car at MCI for the drive to Topeka. There are a few shuttle services available. A block of hotel rooms will be reserved for a discounted rate at the Ramada Topeka Downtown Hotel and Convention Center.
Fees:
The conference fee for participants is $450, which includes materials, meals during the conference (two breakfasts and two lunches), and a welcome reception on Thursday evening, June 9, 2016. The conference fee for presenters is $350.
(mew)
January 7, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Legal Research and Writing Classes for Non-U.S. Lawyers
Here's a reminder of a program on Saturday at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. The program is sponsored by the AALS Section on Graduate Programs for Non-U.S. Lawyers:
Saturday, January 9, 2016, 3:30 to 5:15 p.m.
New Law Teacher Program – Pedagogy:
Legal Research and Writing Classes for Non-U.S. Lawyers
This program will review legal research and writing assignments, materials, and teaching needs for non-U.S. lawyers attending LL.M. programs in the United States. The program will also consider how professors and law schools can better serve the needs of international students.
Moderators: Lauren Fielder (University of Texas School of Law)
Speakers:
Hether Clash Macfarlane (Pacific McGeorge School of Law)
January 6, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Your AALS Legal Writing Dance Card
AALS Dance Card
Here are the legal writing events for the 2016 annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools
Wednesday, January 6
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Association of Legal Writing Directors, Legal Writing Institute and AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research Scholars and Scholarship Workshop at Fordham Law School, 150 W. 62nd Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam, near Lincoln Center).
6:00 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Legal Writing Outreach Committee Happy Hour at Bridges Bar at the New York Hilton Midtown
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Blackwell Award Reception – Hilton, Second Floor, Nassau East
Legal Writing Institute and Association of Legal Writing Directors Reception Honoring Coleen Barger (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), Recipient of the 2016 Thomas F. Blackwell Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Legal Writing
Thursday, January 7
10:15 am - 12:00 pm
Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research
Best Practices for Supervising Seminar Papers and Other Scholarly Writings
Sheraton, Second Floor, Empire West
Noon - 1:15 p.m.
LWRR Luncheon
Sheraton, Second Floor, Central Park West
Presentation of the Section Award to Suzanne Rowe (University of Oregon) and Remembrance of Molly Lien (The John Marshall Law School and Chicago-Kent College of Law)
1:45 – 3:00 p.m.
Coffee at Starbucks hosted by ALWD’s New Directors’ Committee, at Starbucks, 1335 6th Avenue, just across 54th Street from the Hilton
3:30 - 4:45 p.m.
Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research
Pedagogy for New Law School Teachers: What Every Law Professor Should Know About How Students Learn
Sheraton, Second Floor, Empire West
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
AALS Opening reception
Hilton, Third Floor, Grand Ballroom
Friday, January 8
8:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Arc of career program – re: non TT jobs, lots of LRW folks speaking
Hilton, Second Floor, Gramercy East
1:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Graduate Programs for Non-U.S. Lawyers
Recruiting LL.M. Students: Promises, Expectations, Resources, and Realities
Panel will include bar exam preparation ans legal writing and research needs of students who speak English as a second language.
Hilton, Second Floor, Murray Hill West
4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Afternoon refreshment/coffee for experienced legal writing professors.
7:00 to 11:00 p.m.
Carolina Academic Press Reception for authors and friends
Saturday, January 9
7:00 a.m.
LWRR Business Meeting at the Hilton, Fourth Floor, New York Suite. No one knows why it's this early, but it is.
3:30 to 5:15 p.m.
Legal Research and Writing Classes for Non-U.S. Lawyers, a program for new teachers of lawyers and law students who speak English as a second language. Sponsored by the AALS Section on Greaduate Programs for non-U.S. Lawyers.
Hilton, Second Floor, Murray Hill West
Sunday, January 9
8:30 a.m.
Arc of Career: Leadership (lots of LRW folks speaking)
Hilton, Second Floor, Gramercy East
10:30 am - 12:15 pm
Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research
Reimagining the Curriculum to Address Student Needs and Bench and Bar Demands
Hilton, Second Floor, Beekman Parlor
12:30 p.m.
Legal Writing Informal Lunch and Walking Tour (weather permitting)
(mew)
January 5, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
