The American Association of Law Libraries announces the first annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Contest

Currently enrolled students attending graduate programs in library science, law, history, or related subjects are eligible to enter the competition. Papers may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives. Papers must be submitted by April 15, 2009.  

   

More information is available at: http://www.aallnet.org/sis/lhrb/Cohenessayprocapp.pdf

Associate Dean Maine Steps Down, Associate Professor Knott Named Interim

In anticipation of sabbatical semester in Spring 2009, Professor Jeff Maine will step down as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the end of this calendar year. As he focuses more substantially on his teaching and scholarship in the coming years, Jeff will continue to share his institutional memory and expertise in administration of academic affairs. We extend many thanks to Jeff for his extensive and valuable work as Associate Dean.

I am pleased to report that Professor Chris Knott will serve as interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs as of January 2009. He already is working with Jeff in transition and meeting regularly with Assistant Dean Sherry Abbott and with me to plan for next semester and beyond. Thanks, too, to Chris for assuming this responsibility.

--Peter

Student Lounge in Law Library

The library has responded to numerous requests for student community space. In collaboration with the Student Bar Association, we have re-purposed our under utilized large student lab into a lounge space for students. The furniture in the space has been "borrowed" from the Berman Lounge. The library staff and the SBA would love to hear furniture suggestions that would best suit the purpose of this new space. There are still 3 computers in the student lounge intended for email viewing, printing and web surfing.

The small computer lab is still available for student work space. It is equipped with 2 MACs and 2 PCs. In addition, the computer located on the 2nd floor of the library is now a student use only machine to provide another quite place to work in the library. Please also note that all 10 computers located in the library can print to the circulation desk.

We hope you enjoy your new student space and would love to hear comments from you. Email http://mailto:lawlib@usm.maine.edu/ or just stop by the Reference Desk and share your thoughts.

Most Cited Journals on HeinOnline

The HeinOnline Weblog has posted a list of the most cited journal titles and most cited journal articles in HeinOnline. Check it out at http://heinonline.blogspot.com/2008/06/most-cited-journal-articles-titles-in.html.

Source: HeinOnlie

U.S. Courts with Audio Recordings Online

Five courts in the U.S federal court system have added digital audio files to the Case Management/Electronic Case File System, including the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maine. The audio files are accessible through the PACER system. It should be noted that not all the judges in the participating courts are making the audio files available.

Source: beSpacific

Podcasting Legal Do's and Don'ts

For those of you interested in podcasting, Colette Vogele, Esq. and Mia Garlick from the Standford Center for Internet and Society, in cooperation with the The Berkman Center Clinical Program in Cyberlaw at Harvard, have created a guide to the legal issues specific to podcasting, Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution. This guide covers the legal issues concerning the creation, and the distribution of podcasts. For those new to podcasting, this guide also includes a section on the basics of podcasting.

Source: InSite

Edward S. Godfrey Professor of Law Don Zillman Publishes Two Books

Edward S. Godfrey Professor of Law Don Zillman has had two books recently published. The first book, Beyond the Carbon Economy - Energy Law in Transition (Oxford University Press, 2008), which is co-edited with Catherine Redgwell, Lila Barrera-Hernandez and Yinka Omorogbe, explores the legal ramifications of the unsustainability of our carbon-based, global economy. The book was discussed at a conference of the International Bar Associations, held recently in Copenhagen, Denmark. The second book, Strategic Legal Writing (Cambridge University Press, 2008), which is co-authored with Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan J. Roth, is designed to help law students sharpen their writing skills. The text was used by Professor Zillman and Assistant Dean Sherry Abbott in their spring Advanced Legal Writing course.

Director of Legal Research & Writing Nancy Wanderer Elected To AALS Section Executive Committee

Earlier this year, Nancy Wanderer, Director of Legal Research and Writing, was elected to the Executive Committee of the Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS). This spring, the committee has been planning a full-day program for the Annual Meeting to be held in San Diego next January--Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Across the Curriculum: The Challenge of Keeping Law Schools Current with Recent Developments in LGBT Issues. Professor Wanderer will be leading a breakout section--Legal Research, Legal Writing, and Moot Court: Pink Ink and Beyond--in which participants will discuss guidelines for using sexual orientation and gender identity issues in legal writing problems and examine specific topics (such as criminal and civil actions for hate crimes) that have made for particularly effective legal writing assignments. In addition, Professor Wanderer's law review article, "Writing Better Opinions: Communicating with Candor, Clarity, and Style," was recently cited in a Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion, and will be used for an upcoming CLE with Ohio state judges.

Associate Professor Dave Owen Published

Associate Professor Dave Owen recently had two articles published. "Climate Change and Environmental Assessment Law" was published this spring in Volume 33 of the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. And, "Law, Environmental Dynamism, and Reliability: The Rise and Fall of CALFED" was published this spring in Volume 37 of Environmental Law.

Associate Clinical Professor Northrop Speaks at AALS Conference

Associate Clinical Professor Christopher Northrop spoke earlier this month (with co-presenters Ken King, Suffolk Law School; Jennifer Lee Koh, Stanford Law School; Jayashri Srikantiah, Stanford Law School) in Tucson, Arizona, at the AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education. The title of the session was "Clinical Engagement at Multiple Levels: Exploring the Relationship Between Direct Representation and Policy Reform Work." The presentation ended with a general analysis of "best practice" findings for selecting policy projects to integrate with individual representation clinics.

Emeritus Professor Orlando Delogu Published

Emeritus Professor Orlando Delogu's most recent "wind energy" piece, "Wind Energy in Maine: An Assessment of Where We Are Now, was published in the Maine Lawyers Review. Although Professor Delogu was not on the Governor's Wind Energy Task Force, he was invited to participate in Task Force proceedings and was asked to prepare and present three papers to the full Task Force, one of which was printed in full in the Task Force's final report. Professor Delogu was also asked to and did appear before the legislative committee that addressed LD's designed to implement Task Force recommendations.

Associate Professor Smith Article Published

Associate Professor Deirdre Smith's article, "An Uncertain Privilege: Implied Waiver and the Evisceration of the Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege In Federal Courts" has been accepted for publication this fall in volume 58 of the DePaul Law Review.

Associate Professor Knott Contributes to Books on Librarianship

Associate Professor Christopher Knott has recently been asked to contribute to two important projects. Professor Knott has been asked to contribute a chapter to an Aspatore/Thomson West book called Inside the Minds: The Changing Role of Academic Librarianship, which will be written by several academic law library directors. He also has been asked to contribute an article on teaching advanced legal research for a Legal Reference Services Quarterly symposium issue on the role of librarians in the law school curriculum. Both the book and symposium issue are scheduled for publication later this year.

In addition, Professor Knott was recently asked by the ABA to join the group of faculty members serving as ABA site team members for law schools undergoing the sabbatical accreditation process; he will serve as a site team member beginning in Fall 2008.

Hepler Article Published

Christine Helpler's article "Researching Initiatives and Referenda: A Guide for Maine" was recently published in Legal References Services Quarterly. The article discusses the history of the initiative and referendum processes in Maine, and provides a detailed bibliography of research materials on the Maine initiative and referendum processes.