Author: library

Group Study Room Policy

Please remember the policy governing the Group Study Rooms on L2 and L3 in the Mendik Library:

Group study rooms are designated for groups of students to work on academic tasks.  A study group consists of two or more students, conversing in a normal tone of voice.  Study groups are welcome to use the room on a first-come-first-served basis.

Individual quiet study is allowed only when study groups are not using the room.  Quiet studiers must share the room, or yield it if the conversation bothers them.  Be considerate of other library users who may require this room.  Do not stay for more than four hours.

Also, remember to leave this room clean and in order.  All trash should be placed in waste baskets and furniture returned to original locations.  Do not store or leave your belongings unattended.

Birthday of Clarence Darrow, “The Great Defender”

April 18 marks the birthday of Clarence Darrow in Kinsman, Ohio.  Although Darrow never completed his studies at the University of Michigan Law School, he became a legal apprentice and gained admission to the bar in 1878.

Darrow’s most infamous cases lay in the field of criminal defense. In 1924 he defended the notorious thrill killers Leopold and Loeb, affluent Chicago teens who murdered another boy with no motive other than trying to commit “the perfect crime.” Darrow, opposed to the death penalty, convinced them to plead guilty, and then set about saving them from execution. His presentation of a large amount of psychiatric testimony proved successful; Leopold and Loeb escaped hanging and each received sentences of life plus 99 years.

In 1925, Darrow defended John T. Scopes, a Tennessee schoolteacher charged with teaching evolution.  Darrow‘s unconventional defense included calling one of the prosecutors, William Jennings Bryan, as a witness. Bryan claimed to be a fundamentalist who interpreted the words of the Bible as the literal truth, but Darrow elicited Bryan’s admission that sometimes he interpreted passages on his own. Darrow’s examination of Bryan was seen as a blow to religious fundamentalism and a setback to the anti-evolution forces.  Although Scopes was convicted, the verdict was overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court a year later.

Darrow retired shortly after the Scopes case and spent the following years lecturing. He died at his Chicago home in 1938.

For further information:

The Story of My Life, by Clarence Darrow

FBI documents related to Clarence Darrow

The People v. Clarence Darrow, by Geoffrey Cowan

Inherit the Wind, dramatization of the Scopes Trial

Compulsion, dramatization of the Leopold and Loeb Trial

How the Tax Code Drives up the Cost of Yankees/Mets Tickets

According to a Duke Law professor and a Rutgers Business professor, average ticket prices for baseball games have increased 265% over the last two decades, more than four times the inflation rate.  Those same professors suggest that tax laws that allow businesses to write off tickets to sports events as entertainment expenses are partly to blame.  They argue that because businesses are able to buy what amounts to government-subsidized luxury seating, demand for those seats has increased along with an expansion in the number of skyboxes and a concomitant reduction in the number of other ballpark seats.

Read more in this NYTimes.com Op-ed.

24-Hour Library Study Hall

Effective Monday April 12, study areas and computer labs in the Mendik Library at 185 West Broadway will remain open to NYLS students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  This Study Hall schedule will remain in effect through the end of the exams period.

During the Study Hall period all areas behind the Circulation Desk, including the Reserve Collection and the Reserve Reading Room, will close at 11 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and 10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The Library opens for business at 8 a.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. on weekends.

During overnight Study Hall hours there are no librarians on duty; security guards patrol Library rooms and study areas.  All Circulation transactions, including borrowing and return of books, as well as charge-out and charge-in of Reserve materials must be complete by regular closing time.  Policies regarding food, drink and quiet study remain in effect.

Overnight Study Hall is for NYLS students only; you’ll need your NYLS OneCard ID to stay at closing time, and to enter the Library after closing. Please have your ID ready to show the guard.

Add Us to Your Buddy List!

Remember that you can IM with the librarians at the Reference Desk (AIM screen name nylslib).  We welcome your IM inquiries about library services, facilities, and legal research.  A librarian is available to answer IMs whenever the Reference Desk is staffed (M-F 9 AM to 9 PM and Sat-Sun 11 AM to 6 PM).  Please take advantage of this service, but remember that for some things, an in-person visit to the reference desk will still be your best bet.

Fire Alarm Testing

On Saturday, April 3rd, the Fire Department will conduct fire alarm testing at 185 West Broadway. The testing will begin in the morning and is expected to be completed by early afternoon.  Alarms will sound from time to time as the FDNY inspectors move from section to section of 185 West Broadway.

Get the Health Care Reform Bill, and More

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has made available in electronic form the health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this past weekend.  Click here for a PDF document that provides links to the Act, the Reconciliation Act, and the House floor debate.

 

Bridge the Gap Deadline Extended

If you would like the opportunity to develop practical skills to help you master your summer employment, you are in luck!  The registration deadline for the Bridge the Gap program has been extended, so even walk-in registration is possible.  Click here to read the official announcement extending the registration.  Click here for the registration form.

The full-day program will enhance your research skills in practice areas including criminal law, securities and corporate law, bankruptcy, New York Internet legal research, employment/labor law, international law, and patents.  The program concludes with a panel discussion about life as a summer associate, with perspectives from a law firm partner, a practitioner for a non-profit, a judge, an Assistant District Attorney, and a New York Law School student.

Two Great Law Student Events

An embarrassment of riches comes your way next Friday, March 26, 2010.  You are invited to two different programs (details below) focusing on your legal career and preparation for it.  Although you can’t attend both you also can’t make a mistake choosing either one of them.  Take a look!

Bridge the Gap

Want to develop practical skills and approaches to master your summer employment?  Attend the Bridge the Gap program at the New York City Bar, sponsored by the Law Library Association of Greater New York.  Click here for a PDF version of the program announcement and registration form.

This full-day program will enhance your research skills in a number of specific practice areas (including Securities & Corporate Law, Bankruptcy, Business/Company Research, Criminal Law, Employment/Labor Law, International Arbitration, International Law, New York Internet Legal Research, and Patents).  The program concludes with a panel discussion about life as a summer associate.  Panel members will include a law firm partner, a practitioner for a non-profit, a judge, an Assistant District Attorney, and a New York Law School student.

Bloomberg Law Second Annual Legal Career Symposium

Bloomberg Law invites NYLS students to its Second Annual Legal Career Symposium. You will have the opportunity to hear top legal professionals discuss traditional and non-traditional career paths and share their personal and professional insight to the legal profession.

The symposium is on Friday March 26, 2010, from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.  Lunch will be provided.  Click here for complete details, including information about the speakers. If you have any questions, contact Pamela Haahr at 212.617.2285.  You must RSVP via email to blawls@bloomberg.net (name, law school, year and phone number) and you must bring your NYLS ID.