Source for Federal, International and State Market Statistics

The United States Department of Labor, Bureau
of Labor Statistics web site features a list of links to
statistics and information from: more than 70 agencies
in the U.S. Federal Government; State Labor Markets;
and International Statistical Agencies.

New Media & Technology Law Blog

Jeffrey D. Neuburger and Daryn A. Grossman at
Proskauer Rose LLP have launched the New Media
& Technology Law Blog. The blog focuses on legal
developments related to technology, media and
communications, including Internet and emerging
technologies, new distribution platforms, electronic
and online commerce, technology-based marketing,
mobile issues and more.

Recent posts include:

Let's Go Crazy: What Does It Mean to "Consider" Fair Use?
Plaintiff's Postings on MySpace Negate Invasion of Privacy Claim
Things We Are Running Out of Besides Oil: IP Addresses

The Citation of Wikipedia in American Judicial Opinions

Joe Hodnicki at the Law Librarian Blog points us to
a recent article on SSRN by Lee Peoples entitled, The
Citation of Wikipedia in American Judicial Opinions.

Here's an excerpt from the article abstract:

"This article will comprehensively examine citations
to Wikipedia in American judicial opinions. The impact
of references to Wikipedia in judicial opinions on law of
evidence, judicial ethics, the judicial role in the common
law adversarial system, the de-legalization of American
law, and the future of stare decisis will be explored.
Best practices for the citation of Wikis in judicial opinions
will be discussed."

Article author Lee Peoples is Associate Professor of Law
Library Science & Director of International Programs
at Oklahoma City University School of Law.

Worth Noting: United Nations Infonation For Country Data

The United Nations Infonation database on the
U.N. Cyberschoolbus web site allows researchers to view
and compare statistical data for countries that are a
part of the United Nations.

Infonation now offers basic and advanced versions.
In the basic version, you can choose up to six countries
from an alphabetical list of all countries. In the advanced
version you can choose up to six countries from 57 different
country groupings arranged by geographic region, membership
in intergovernmental organizations, or socio-economic status.
In both versions, data can be displayed as a bar graph that
can be printed.

New York State's Problem-Solving Courts Newsletter

PSC is the official newsletter of the Office of the Deputy
Chief Administrative Judge for Court Operations and
Planning. The Office was established in January 2003 to
"oversee the implementation and operation of New York’s
problem-solving courts and other special projects and court
initiatives." The courts address drug and alcohol addiction,
domestic violence, mental illness, sex offenses and other
issues.

The inaugural issue (July, 2008) of PCS provides
a statistical snapshot of problem-solving courts
and litigants, "features the first annual Problem-Solving
Courts Symposium and provide[s] an overview of the
different types of problem-solving courts. Future issues will
cover other topics of interest to PSC judges and staff as well
as those looking to learn more about problem-solving courts
in New York State."

Lexis Launches Web Search for Legal Information on the Internet

LexisNexis has launched (in beta) a free web search
tool that retrieves targeted legal information on the
Internet from sources vetted by LexisNexis editorial staff.
According to the User Reference Guide, "all content has
met LexisNexis' criteria for being authoritative and
accurate."

The search engine operates much the same as Google.
In addition to the web search results, Lexis Web includes
a selection of "LexisNexis Recommended Sources"
available to LexisNexis subscribers.

While the product is in beta, Web Search is separate
from from the LexisNexis research system.

Second Circuit Judge Slams Pro Bono Work

The ACS Blog reports on Second Circuit Chief Judge
Dennis Jacobs' controversial comments about pro bono
work made during a Federalist Society meeting
in Rochester last week.

The blog cites an article from the Daily Record of Rochester
which reports Jacobs' assertion that pro bono work is primarily
an "antisocial" and self-serving activity lawyers use to
develop their skills, firms use to recruit and "give solace"
to associates, and nonprofits use to further a political agenda.
Jacobs is quoted as saying that "No public good is good for
everybody."

CiteGenie - Automatic Bluebook Citations When Using Westlaw

Marc Hershovitz has a new article on LLRX describing
CiteGenie, an extension for the Firefox web browser that
automatically creates Bluebook formatted pinpoint citations
when copying from Westlaw.

Here's an example cited in the article:

"To test CiteGenie with state cases,"Georgia" was selected as
the target jurisdiction in the CiteGenie configuration. Selecting
text in 278 Ga. 268, CiteGenie cited it as:

'The courts should be extremely hesitant to interfere
with the electoral process." Mead v. Sheffield,
278 Ga. 268, 273, 601 S.E.2d 99, 102 (2004).'

Changing the CiteGenie configuration to use "Florida" as the target
jurisdiction, CiteGenie cited the same case as:

'The courts should be extremely hesitant to interfere
with the electoral process.' Mead v. Sheffield, 601 S.E.2d 99,
102 (Ga. 2004).'

CiteGenie ...knows...that both the state and regional reporter
should be cited, but when citing to a court outside of Georgia,
only the regional reporter should be used."

Hershovitz explains how to install and configure the software and
describes the features of this innovative new software. He also
provides examples from state and federal cases; unpublished
electronic cases; neutral and public domain citations; and statutes.

Of course, CiteGenie doesn't mean the end of the Bluebook;
researchers should have a solid knowledge of citation rules,
since no software program is perfect!

According to the CiteGenie web site, the company is working
on a version of the software for LexisNexis citations and is
developing a version for Internet Explorer 6.x.

The Future of Digital Casebooks

Robert Ambrogi reports on a conference of 40 legal
academics and law-book publishers held Sept. 27 on the
topic of the future of the legal course book. The conference
was organized by Ronald K.L. Collins of the
First Amendment Center in D.C. and David Skover of
Seattle University School of Law.

Excerpts from Ambrogi's post as it appeared on Legal
Blog Watch (10/8/2008) :

"Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Andrea James concluded
that traditional publishers are confused about what professors
want and where the industry is heading, she writes, while
teachers want more flexibility in course materials and new
ways to engage students. Equally clear was that electronic
course books could be just the ticket."

The next step? Conference participants have agreed to
form a "loose consortium" to foster the development
and promotion of electronic course materials.

Another report on the workshop appears in the Chronicle of Higher
Education (10/1/2008).

New Blogs on the Law Profs Blogs Network

New blogs from the Law Professor Blogs Network:

Native American Law Blog is edited by Timothy Pleasant and
Deena DeGenova (both at Concord Law School) .

Clinical Law Prof Blog has been relaunched. The blog is
now edited by Amy Graham and Naima Manley (both
are Public Interest Fellows & Staff Attorneys at Michigan
State).

Hat tip to Joe Hodnicki at the Law Librarian Blog.

United Nations Yearbook Now Free Online

The Yearbook of the United Nations is now available for
free online. The Yearbook is the principal reference work
of the United Nations and provides a detailed overview of
the Organization's activities. Each Yearbook is fully indexed
and includes all major General Assembly, Security Council
and Economic and Social Council resolutions.

The collection, which currently covers the years 1946 - 2005,
may be searched or browsed.

i.lex: The Legal Research System for International Law in U.S. Courts

i.lex: The Legal Research System for International Law
in U.S. Courts, is an online database of select U.S. court cases
and related materials involving international law. An
initiative of the American Society of International Law,
the database is a resource for identifying and understanding
how international law is interpreted and applied by U.S.
courts at both the federal and state level.

Users may browse and search the i.lex database for cases
involving international law in the follow ways: 1) by using one
of the drop down menus that groups content by international
treaty, topic area, US state and federal jurisdiction, and
international tribunal; 2) by keyword search using the search bar;
3) and by clicking on the search terms provided in the i.lex tag cloud.

New "Google Blog Search" Homepage

The Official Google Blog (10/1/2008) announces that
Google has launched a new Blog Search homepage.

From the press release:

"Adapting some of the technology pioneered by Google
News, we're now showing categories on the left side of the
website and organizing the blog posts within those categories
into clusters, which are groupings of posts about the same
story or event. Grouping them in clusters lets you see the
best posts on a story or get a variety of perspectives.
When you look within a cluster, you'll find a collection of
the most interesting and recent posts on the topic, along
with a timeline graph that shows you how the story is gaining
momentum in the blogosphere."

FindLaw Adds RSS Feeds for 23 Courts

Robert Ambrogi (LawSites) reports that FindLaw has added
RSS feeds for case summaries from the Supreme Court, the
federal circuit courts and state appellate courts in California,
Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas. It has also
introduced practice-area feeds that provide case summaries
for 16 practice areas. Feeds provide summaries of the opinions
and links to the full text.

List of feeds : FindLaw: RSS Feeds.