Among the most important skills all lawyers rely upon ins the ability to do legal research– to find what’s needed to interpret and analyze legal issues. It’s an integral part of the “competencies” that NYLS and the ABA require of law students.  Effective research skills are vital to students engaged in any type of legal […]

The Practising Law Institute’s new on-demand webinar, Your First 90 Days in a Firm, offers new and aspiring attorneys practical advice on navigating life as a new lawyer.  Experienced attorneys address basic questions new associates may have about their role in a firm and suggest best practices to adopt and conduct to avoid as a […]

Finding federal court records online has always seemed more difficult than it should be!  While Westlaw and LexisNexis provide access to the federal docket sheets that list the filings for each case, the filed documents themselves are not always available.  Instead, a service called “PACER” (an acronym for “Public Access to Court Electronic Records”) became […]

Have you tried the Bluebook app yet?  It’s available for iPads, iPhones, and iPods (with an Android version probably in the works we’re told). The app supports full-text searching, browsing, highlighting, bookmarking, and annotating.  Among its features, the continuous display of the Table of Contents and hyperlinking of cross-references make navigation a breeze.  You don’t have […]

Learn how to do cost effective legal research using WestlawNext and Lexis Advance.  It’s a vital skill that employers expect you to have and that you’ll want to tout.  Check the training calendars for Westlaw and Lexis and register while you can.  On Westlaw, select the Training tab at the top of the toolbar.  Then […]

On February 1, the New York Court of Appeals launched a free online document database called Court-PASS. Practitioners will be able to upload court papers and the database will serve as permanent digital archive of all cases filed after January 1, 2013. Researchers will be able to search or browse Court-PASS and view decisions, briefs, […]

Bloomberg Law is offering a series of trainings on how to use Bloomberg Law to search for various content types.  If you are a 1L, these trainings satisfy the Research Skills Workshops component of your Legal Practice Course requirement. The current schedule of training classes is as follows: Finding and Researching Administrative Regulations on Bloomberg […]

The 2011-2012 term of the United States Supreme Court begins Monday, October 3, 2011, the first Monday in October.  In most terms, the Court usually completes its work by the following July 1.  Of the approximately 10,000 petitions filed with the Court each term, very few cases are granted review and receive signed opinions. Many […]

BNA, a leading legal publisher used extensively by practicing attorneys, can be a valuable component in your legal research toolbox.  Don’t miss these opportunities to learn how to use it effectively. No preregistration is required for any of the 45-minute sessions. Legal Research Using BNA Students will learn how to conduct legal research using BNA […]

Just a reminder that this coming Friday April 8, you can take your research skills up a notch (or two) by attending the annual Bridge the Gap Program, which this year is being held right here at NYLS.  Registration has been extended until Friday and you can register at the door for no extra cost.  […]