INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
February 26, 2006
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #223 of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, a newsletter that delivers relevant and timely legal research information, and other fun stuff, to your inbox every Sunday. If you like what you read, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to do the same! To subscribe, all you have to do is visit Inter Alia and fill out the subscription form -- it's free!
Non-Law Blog of the Day for Lawyers (and Podcast)
David Maister is one of the great minds in professional service firms, and his writings and teachings are a mainstay of the legal field. And now he's got not only the Passion, People and Principles blog, he's also podcasting with Lessons I've Learned. I've listened to a few of the podcasts, and they are terrific. Definitely worth a place in your newsreader.Strongest Links on Human Resources
The theme of this month's Law Practice Today is "People," and so I decided to focus my Strongest Links article on Human Resources. Lots of HR and employment law sites featured in this article. (Check it out now, because later this week a new issue of Law Practice Today is sure to be posted)Adding Graphics to Your Word Documents
If you're like me, you know that adding graphics to a Word document can be a pain. Well, Microsoft apparently understands that pain, and wants to ease it. Check out this free tutorial on how to add graphics and keep them where you want them.Search Copyright Law with askSam
askSam sure puts out some terrific, free products. One of them is a free searchable version of The Copyright Law of the United States. It's available in an online searchable database, or you can download the complete eBook to your computer and search it there using the free askSam viewer or free-form database. askSam says that the downloadable version offers more power and flexibility than the online version, so give it a try.Blawgs of the Week(s)
I've reviewed quite a few law-related weblogs in the past few weeks; here are a selection of some of the best: first, Sui Generis is a New York blog, and "your online source for commentary on recent decisions and issues of interest to New York civil litigators and criminal defense attorneys in the Fourth Department and beyond." It's written by Nicole Black, a Rochester lawyer who provides legal research and writing services to attorneys across New York state and beyond. The Law Professor Blogs Network is a powerhouse of law professor blogging. The Immigration Prof Blog is published by Kevin Johnson, Bill Hing, and Jennifer Chacon, all of the UC-Davis School of Law. The Legal Ease Blog is the blogchild of Allison Shields. Her goal is to partner with successful solos and law firms to establish higher value practices by developing strategies to increase growth and profitability. She's blogging about it, too. Grant D. Griffiths of the Kansas Family and Divorce Lawyer blog is publishing another one -- this one is called Home Office Lawyer, which is "a blog for information on home office, home office lawyer, law office, using Mac's in the law office, blogging for the lawyer, and anything else we can think to talk about." Blackprof.com is a group blog from nine African-American law professors, discussing matters of race, law and culture.Here's an interesting niche blawg, from a big firm no less. The CAFA Law Blog is published by the firm of McGlinchy Stafford, and it's providing "information, cases and insights regarding the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005." The folks at McNabb Associates are sure busy blogging -- their third is the International Extradition Blog. Here's another blog from a bunch of law professors -- LawCulture features "law, culture, politics and life inside and outside the legal academy." It's brought to you by professors from Harvard, UCLA, Suffolk, Princeton, and Virginia law schools. The Texas Salt Law Blog is not about condiment law; it's the Texas State and Local Tax Law Blog, and Alan Sherman is the Dallas attorney behind it. One of the few tax law blogs out there, this one with a Texas flair. Ann Bartow is a law professor at South Carolina School of Law, and she has created a "web log community for feminist law professors." Not surprisingly, the blog is titled Feminist Law Professors. Last but not least, Opinionistas is written by Melissa Lafsky, an attorney living in Manhattan. Several months ago, this was an anonymous blog written by an associate in a big New York law firm. Then the media discovered the blog, which led to her leaving the law firm. She's now writing a book, so I'm not sure this is still a law-related weblog. Anyway, it's popular.
Caught in the 'Net
Whonu about this search engine?
whonu is a new, Web 2.0-type search tool that's really an interface for a whole lot of other search engines. That's both a plus and a minus in my book -- it offers so many features that it can be overwhelming at times. What whonu really does is automatically formulate queries for you, and send them to multiple search engines. There are so many different types of searches currently available, including:
That's just the first screen of searches -- there are a bunch more, and even more on the way. If you'll notice, these searches aren't much different from the types of searches that Google or Yahoo offer -- the difference is that you get links to configured searches for many other search tools.
I've still got some exploring to do with this site, but I'm definitely intrigued. The only thing that concerns me is the sheer volume of searches that are available -- it may scare some searchers off, the ones who yearn for the simplicity of the Google interface.
Having trouble connecting to a wireless network? Sometimes, Windows XP will connect automatically to a wireless network, but if multiple networks are available you may need to connect manually. Here's how to do it:
Legally Relevant – Sites on the Internet
American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Okay, so this may not be the most pleasant subject, but definitely an interesting site. Many of the resources here are for members of the Society, but through the Endoscopic Practice link there are links to lots of PDFs and other documents on patient care, practice management, infection control, and more.Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government
The bigger our government gets, the more abbreviations and acronyms they create. That's why we'll always need a page like this, where you can access government agencies and web sites just by knowing the acronym.Alaska Statistics
This series of pages is part of the Alaska State Library, where you can access statistics generated by Alaska state agencies, indexed by subject. You can also see the statistics listed by the individual agency. This is a great, easy way to get to Alaska statistics -- if you find yourself happening to need Alaska statistics, that is.Australian Law Online
This looks a little like FirstGov for Australia -- there are tabs across the top, For Individuals, For Families, For Businesses, and For Service Providers. But it looks like it's more for legal issues, given the tagline "Making it easier for Australians to solve their legal problems." Each section allows you to drill down through the categories to specific links. You can also search through the entire database.Annual Review of Banking and Financial Law
From Boston University's School of Law, this journal is billed as "the country's leading scholarly banking and financial law journal. Unfortunately, like most law journals they don't have their content available for review here. Still, sites like this are good to find the articles you need, before you head to the pay services to download them.
Finally, some fun and useful sites to start off your week:
Zillow's an interesting new real estate site. In one place, you can view real estate valuations and data for virtually any address in the United States. Just plug in an address, and you'll get a Google-Maps-style map, with the property values of adjacent properties. The data page for each has a wealth of information on the property -- I looked up the page for my house, and the data was mostly accurate.
Well, we're 57 days into 2006, and no doubt many of you have abandoned one or more of the resolutions you so positively set at the beginning of the year. Here's a new site that will annoy you into keeping those resolutions: HassleMe is a site that will send you reminder e-mails at irregular intervals to remind you about tasks you need to complete. They're also working on a feature that will nag you via instant message.
Well, that’s it for Issue #223 – I hope you liked it! If you did, pass this along to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to subscribe. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail any time if you have questions, or if you have websites or other topics you want included in a future issue.
Tom Mighell
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